Kuwaiti Fund signs Egypt $100 mln water desalination loan

Egypt has signed Tuesday a Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED)’s KD 29 million (around $100 million) loan to finance building five water desalination stations in South Sinai.

This is the first agreement the Egyptian government signed with the Kuwaiti Fund for financing developmental projects in Sinai Peninsula.

It is a soft loan, of an annual two percent interest rate, with a five-year grace period to be paid over 20 years, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr stated.

Nasr signed the agreement with KFAED’s Director General Abdulwahab Al-Bader in Cairo in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail.

The first station will be built in El-Tor city, southern of Sinai, with a capacity of 20,000 cubic metres per day. The other four stations will locate in Ras Sedr, Abu Zenima, Dahab, and Nuweiba, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic metres per day in each.

Egyptian government plans to starts building the five stations early 2017, to be ready before the end of 2019.