São Paulo – The World Bank announced this Thursday (29) the disbursement of a USD 500 million loan to Egypt to foster job creation in the Upper Egypt region. This area is home to 67% of the poorest people in the country. The data is from the World Bank’s website.
The loan is part of a program developed to support Egypt with USD 8 billion in the 2015 to 2019 period. The spending of these funds will focus in the poorest areas in Upper Egypt, Qena and Sohag. With the money, the local governments in these areas will be able to improve infrastructure and services for economic development, job creation and social wellbeing.
“We are pleased to support the government’s broader efforts in developing the lagging regions of Egypt. This operation is a key part of the World Bank’s strategic focus in Egypt to promote jobs, address spatial inequality, and improve governance in service delivery”, said Asad Alam, World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti in a statement.
According to information from the World Bank, Upper Egypt is lagging behind in comparison to the rest of the country when it comes to economic growth, job creation, connectivity and access to quality services. The organization says that the specific program for the region will be divided in two parts.
The first part will focus on government to business services, competitiveness of economic sectors with unrealized potential and industrial zone management and services for the existing six industrial zones. The second part will support the introduction of a performance-based grant system and increase the governorate’s budget.
“The program is in particular aiming to address the most critical institutional development constraints at the local level by providing financial incentives for improved local governance enhanced services to the citizens”, explained Ayat Soliman, World Bank Manager for Urban and Social Development, and Disaster Risk Management in MENA.
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
