By Nibal Zgheib
As a country with a growing population and economy, Egypt needs urgent investment in its infrastructure capacity to alleviate the pressure on existing ports, shipment points and trade centres. New facilities are required to reduce congestion, allow for a better distribution of goods and let trade flow freely.
A key element in this chain are dry ports, inland intermodal terminals directly connected by road or rail to a seaport, operating as centres for the shipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. Egypt’s latest transport master plan calls for the development of nine dry port and logistics centres throughout the country under public-private partnership (PPP) structures.
In a first step, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the construction of a dry port and logistics centre in 10th of Ramadan City, Egypt, with a €1 million(US$1.21million) contribution to project preparation and procurement. The city was founded in the 1970s in close vicinity to the capital Cairo and is one of the most industrialised municipalities in the country.
The new dry port is expected to improve the efficiency of Egypt’s transport infrastructure by reducing congestion at seaports and creating the conditions for accelerated customs processes and procedures. Facilitating trade will contribute to an increase in the competitiveness of local producers, which will help accelerate sustainable economic growth and create employment opportunities.
The project is part of Egypt’s transport master plan, which recommends the development of an intermodal corridor extending from Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast to El Sokhna on the Red Sea coast.
Infrastructure development is one of the strategic priorities of the EBRD and one of the pillars of the Bank’s business activities.
EBRD Managing Director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region, Heike Harmgart said: “We are very proud to support the preparation of sustainable infrastructure in Egypt to be implemented and financed by the private sector. The dry port in 10th of Ramadan City is the second in Egypt to receive funds from the Bank’s Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility which demonstrates our commitment to this approach.”
Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of the Bank’s operations there in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €7 billion in 127 projects in the country.
