AfDB signs $50mn loan deal with Egypt for Sharm El-Sheikh airport

Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed a US$50 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB), provided through the Africa Growing Together Fund.

The loan is designated to complete financing Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport.

In a statement Sunday, the ministry said Nasr signed the loan agreement on the sidelines of the bank’s annual meetings and that of the International Monetary Fund in Lima, Peru.

The statement added that Sharm El-Sheikh International Airport is considered one of the projects that will contribute to the redevelopment of infrastructure and increasing the civil aviation sector’s competitiveness in Egypt, serving the economic and social development goals in South Sinai.

The project aims to increase the capacity of Sharm El-Sheikh airport, and redeveloping it’s infrastructure to serve the tourism sector; this will be through establishing a new passenger terminal with all its annexes and facilities. The total capacity of the airport is expected to reach about 18 million passengers annually.