The African Export-Import Bank
(Afreximbank) has granted a $75-million medium-term loan to the Egyptian
Ethylene and Derivatives Company (ETHYDCO) to support expansion of Egypt’s petrochemical
industry, boost its exports and natural gas processing capacity and equip the
sector with better environmentally-friendly infrastructure, the Bank announced in
Cairo.
Afreximbank, which served as mandated lead arranger for the
facility signed on 16 September, said that its funding will complement the
closure of a $1.25-billion syndicated facility initiated
in 2012 among a consortium of 18 Egyptian Banks. Banque Misr served as
the facility agent, Commercial International Bank as the security agent and
technical bank, and National Bank of Egypt as the account bank.
The
facility is to be used for partial financing of the $1.925 billion ETHYDCO
Complex, a greenfield partnership project between Egyptian Petrochemicals
Holding Company, Egyptian Natural Gas Company, Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals and a
number of Egyptian banks. The complex will accommodate factories that would
produce ethylene and ethylene derivatives which are widely used in the
construction and plastic packaging industries, said Afreximbank.
Located in the Nahda industrial area in Alexandria
governorate, the complex is a key initiative under the Egyptian government’s
Petrochemicals Master Plan aimed at driving economic diversification and
increasing local content and value addition in the country’s natural gas sector
through the production of exportable petrochemical products.
The syndicated facility will finance the construction of an
ethylene and butadiene plant, a polyethylene plant and a permanent gas fired
power plant, all equipped with the latest eco-friendly technology to ensure
zero discharge of industrial wastewater outside the complex, according to
Afreximbank.
Most of the output from the complex will be for the export
market, mainly Europe and North America, although some products will go to
African markets.
The facility brings Afreximbank’s support to the Egyptian economy since
the Bank began operations in 1994 to almost $5.1 billion in approved financing.
Fleur Tchibota
Communications Unit
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