Expenditures on transport projects amount to EGP 1.7 trillion in 10 years

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Egyptian Transport Minister Kamel el Wazir said that expenditures on the Transport Ministry’s projects amount to EGP 1.7 trillion during the period from 2014 to 2024.

This was announced during the minister’s participation in a session on financing efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change as part of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group’s 2022 annual meetings that are held in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Egypt accounts for 0.6% of global Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are often measured in carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, the minister said.

Thus, Egypt has moved in the direction of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, he added.

In the field of curbing the negative impacts of climate change, the Transport Ministry has expanded eco-friendly mass transit projects, including the light rail transit project, which will be operational on June 8 and officially opened by the end of this month.

The projects also include the Cairo Monorail and the metro, the minister said.

The third phase of the Cairo Metro Line 3, which connects Ataba Square, Cairo, and Kitkat in Imbaba, Giza, is set to be inaugurated on July 15. As of early 2023, this phase will be ready for the official opening, he added.

The Cairo Metro Line 4 is currently being implemented by Egyptian private companies, the minister said, hoping that the implementation of the Alexandria Metro; a proposed rapid transit system for Egypt’s second largest city, will start in July.

Regarding the funding sources, the minister said that all the funding agencies that Egypt has dealt with offer soft loans with grace and maturity periods ranging between 15 and 25 years.

The transport minister further disclosed that a fourth line of the high-speed electric railway will be constructed by the Egyptian private sector.

As for Egypt’s ports, the minister said that the principle by which the State deals with when it comes to projects in this sector is the management, operation and non-ownership of ports by the private sector.