Kuwait, Egypt sign a $100 million loan for 5 desalination plants in Sinai

Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr signed contracts for a $100 million loan from the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to complete the financing of five water desalination plants in South Sinai.

This comes after the Islamic Development Bank Group agreed to offer funding for several development projects in Sinai during a meeting in Tunisia last week with Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, according to a ministry statement.

The two sides did not settle on the amount of funding but agreed that it would be used in part to finance water treatment plants in the peninsula. The meeting also included talks on developing a USD 3 billion cooperation strategy for the next three years to finance other development efforts in Egypt.

Nasr is expected to drum up more financing commitments for Sinai development projects from four other regional financial institutions during meetings in Amman today, ministry sources say. In addition to representatives from the KFAED, the Saudi Fund for Development, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the sources say Nasr might also meet with officials from the World Bank in hopes of signing a loan agreement for the peninsula’s development.