The Egyptian housing ministry has confirmed that the World Bank (WB) contributions to the first phase of the state’s social housing project and the first phase of the sustainable sanitation program stand at USD 500 mn each, Invest-Gate reports.

The WB has also financed the second phase of the sanitation program, which amounts to USD 300 bn, according to a ministerial statement released on April 3.

This came during a meeting between Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar with Dean of the Board of Executive Directors at WB Mirza Hassan in Washington, US, to discuss means of cooperation in implementing infrastructure projects.

During the meeting, El Gazzar briefed Hassan with a detailed explanation on the various development projects currently being implemented in Egypt, including the National Roads Project and Suez Canal Area Development Project.

In addition, Nasr emphasized the importance of the WB cooperation to support Egypt’s infrastructure sector as it will help enhance the living conditions of its citizens, while boosting the country’s investment climate, according to the statement.

For his part, Hassan lauded Egypt’s success stories in the fields of social housing and sustainable sanitation in rural areas, stressing the bank’s keenness to support the North African country’s infrastructure projects in the coming period due to its vital role in improving the people’s lives, which will significantly contribute to attracting more foreign investments into Egypt.

In March 2018, Egypt received the third and final USD 1.15 bn loan from the WB as it concluded a series of three annual loans issued by the bank -“Fiscal Consolidation, Sustainable Energy, and Competitiveness Development Policy Financing Loan”- worth USD 3.15 bn, in efforts to aid the country’s economic reform program.