Egyptian president approves AIIB loan for rail upgrade in Alexandria

CAIRO, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has approved a loan from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance an electric metro line in the northern coastal province of Alexandria, according to a presidential decree published in the country's official gazette on Thursday.

Signed between Egypt's Ministry of International Cooperation and the AIIB in July last year, the loan deal worth 250 million euros (about 277 million U.S. dollars) was approved by the Egyptian government in August 2023 and by the House of Representatives in June 2024.

The loan is agreed to be repaid over 18.5 years with a five-year grace period.

According to the agreement, the multilateral development bank will finance a project to upgrade and electrify the existing Abu Qir railway in Alexandria into a highly efficient metro line.

The project, estimated to cost 1.5 billion euros, will be co-financed by the AIIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, and the French Development Agency.