Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed an agreement with the World Bank Group (WB), worth $300m, for completing the Sustainable Rural Sanitation Services Programme. The agreement aims to support Egypt's infrastructure, and was reached during the course of WB and IMF meetings in Bali, Indonesia, according to a ministerial statement on Saturday 13 October. WB's Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj, who signed the agreement with Nasr, affirmed his keenness on supporting Egypt's infrastructure, following the success stories and achievements of Egypt in this field. He also added that Egypt was ranked as the top investment destination in Africa for 2019, according to the latest report from Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). “Infrastructure investments were the main reason for which Egypt attained the highest ranking in RMB's report. What Egypt is doing in infrastructure is unprecedented,” noted Belhaj. For her part, Nasr explained that the agreement comes within the framework of the government's efforts to both improve the infrastructure in rural areas and disadvantaged governorates, as well as enhance social protection networks for underprivileged citizens. Nasr relayed that the project aims to provide 892,000 citizens in the most necessitous governorates with sanitation services, noting that Sharqia, Dakahlia, Damietta, Gharbia, and Monufia are covered by the project. Nasr also mentioned that some 818,000 citizens have already benefited from the project's first phase, noting that the current agreement will bring the total number of benefiting citizens to 1.7 million.
