France’s AFD Oks €50 mln loan for Cairo Metro Line 1

France’s state development agency AFD approved on Sunday a loan of €50 million ($58 million) to finance rehabilitation works on one of Cairo Metro’s oldest lines.

The loan aims to support the partial rehabilitation plan for Cairo Metro’s Line 1, the oldest of the Cairo Metro lines – which remains the backbone of the system and is used by 500 million customers per year.

The AFD new financing package will finance the urgent infrastructure rehabilitation works to accommodate for the increased ridership capacity, improve the level of service to cater for future demand, and decrease the current headway, an official source in the Egyptian Ministry of Transport told Amwal Al Ghad.

“The ministry and AFD will sign the loan deal soon,” the official added.

The Cairo Metro, the major means of public transport in Egypt’s capital, currently consists of three lines and a fourth is under construction. Line 1 is 42.5km long and has 33 stations. It covers the Egyptian capital from the north to the south.

AFD is the French state’s development agency. Its mission is to implement in foreign countries and in French overseas territories financial operations supporting economic and social development.