The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) is considering a US$50 million finance in favour of a solar energy project in Egypt, an AfDB source with knowledge of the mater told Amwal Al Ghad. The solar energy project will be carried out by one of the private sector firms in Egypt. The source further said on Wednesday that the bank is still in the assessment stage. The Egyptian solar energy finance will be part of AfDB's planned financial assistance package for 2015 which ranges between US$450-500 million, the source noted. Last week, The Board of Directors of the AfDB approved a US$140 million loan to Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh Development Project on April 15, 2015 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The Board also approved a US $1.90-million Middle Income Countries Technical Assistance Fund Grant to finance the project, which includes construction of a new terminal, runway and control tower within the confines of the Sharm El-Sheikh airport. Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and ministers of international cooperation as well as of housing had paid a visit in March to AfDB's headquarters in Cote d'Ivoire. The two-day visit aimed to activate the cooperation between Egypt and AfDB and to force the pace on carrying out the signed joint agreements. Also in March, AfDB reached an agreement with the Egyptian government over a US$2.5-3 billion in aid, marking a three-year strategy of cooperation with Egypt for 2015-2019.
