Egypt negotiating EBRD for wastewater management loan

Egypt is negotiating for a new financing assistance from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to back a wastewater management scheme in the country.

The depollution of the Kitchener Drain scheme will address environmental issues through a mixture of wastewater and solid waste treatment, while rehabilitating the infrastructure around the drain.

The 69-km drain system handles some 3.8 million m3/d of mixed agricultural, domestic and industrial wastewater, with heavy metals from industrial discharges meaning it is unsuitable for reuse.

The government is determined to secure financing soon to solve the depollution of the Kitchener Drain in Kafr El-Sheikh, said Egyptian Investment Minister Sahar Nasr during meeting with Philip Bennett, EBRD’s first vice president, and Alain Pilloux, EBRD’s vice president, in London on Tuesday.

EBRD’s portfolio with Egypt currently amounts to €2.6 billion ($3 billion) in several projects in Egypt, in areas of infrastructure, energy, transport, private sector support, small and medium-sized enterprises, and entrepreneurship.