Millions of commuters across Egypt will benefit from a €290 million financing provided by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) in its fleet expansion and upgrade of services.

As part of ENR’s locomotive renewal programme, the EBRD will finance the acquisition of up to 100 new diesel locomotives under a supply-and-maintenance contract outsourced to the private sector in accordance with the EBRD’s procurement policy.

The ENR fleet of locomotives is very old with an average age of 30 years. This has caused a lack of availability, along with issues regarding carbon emissions and maintenance. The acquisition of the new locomotives will enable the railway company to provide a more reliable and higher quality service to its customers.

The new fleet will also contribute to lowering carbon emissions by replacing life-expired inefficient rolling stock, delivering additional revenues due to better locomotive availability, improving access to jobs and achieving significant operating cost savings through improvement in fuel consumption.

The EBRD will also provide technical assistance support to ENR to develop and implement a comprehensive freight reform programme and a commercialisation plan for the freight sector.

“This project will provide a better quality of life and economic development opportunities. It complements the EBRD’s continued support for Egypt’s development strategy of building new roads, highways, tunnels and connections across the country,” said Dr Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation.

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD and has been receiving funding since 2012. To date the Bank has invested €2.3 billion in 47 projects in the country. The EBRD’s areas of investment include the financial sector, agribusiness, manufacturing and services, as well as infrastructure projects such as power, municipal water and wastewater services and support for transport services. The EBRD has also provided technical assistance support to more than 500 small and medium-sized local enterprises.

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Press release

EBRD in Egypt