NBE, IDA, Gas Companies in Talks Over Financing Behira Factories

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is in talks with gas companies and Industrial Development Authority over financing factories in Behira in order to convert them to run on natural gas instead of fuel oil.

Sources said NBE is doing studies to determine the number of factories and estimate the costs of conversion. Besides, NBE has allocated EGP 120 million to finance 130 brick factories in Al Saf City in Helwan to convert them to run on natural gas instead of mazot, sources added.

The minimum cost of financing a factory is EGP 900,000 which may vary according to ovens’ number in each factory, sources noted.

This came as part of NBE’s efforts in reducing the emissions produced by factories powered by diesel and mazot.

NBE also considers financing 19,000 mazot-fuelled bakeries in Cairo to run on natural gas. Sources said financing this process in one bakery costs between EGP 40-50 thousand, varying according to the areas of these bakeries.