The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) will donate EGP 200 mn to finance the construction of “Ahalina” social housing project, Invest-Gate reports.

Cairo Governor Atef Abdel Hamid, the Central Military Zone Commander Ayman Abdel-Hamid Amer, and NBE chairman Hisham Okasha laid the foundation stone for the project scheduled for completion within 18 months.

Located in Cairo’s El-Salam district, the project will comprise 25 residential buildings spanning an area of 9.5 feddans, in addition to 216 stores and a commercial center to be built over 4,400 meters.

The project comes as part of the bank’s ongoing support for social responsibility projects. The bank’s financing for such projects is estimated at around EGP 2 bn over the past five years, of which EGP 1 bn is allocated to develop shanty towns, Okasha says.