Egypt negotiating $500 mln World Bank loan for major agriculture project

Egypt is negotiating a $500 million loan from the World Bank to help finance the country’s national project to green 1.5 million feddans.

The project will expand Egypt’s prospective agricultural land 20 percent, from eight million to 9.5 million feddans. It aims to reduce the food gap and increase the populated area through the creation of new urban communities.

The negotiations took part during a meeting on Saturday between Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and a World Bank delegation, which are visiting the country to hold talks with various entities taking part in the reclamation project.

The meeting was with the presence of Agriculture Research Centre’s President Abd El-Moneem El-Bana, and representatives in the state-administered Egyptian Rural Development Company, which is in charge of running the project.