The Diplomat
The Council of Ministers has authorized the granting of a 159 million euro loan to finance the modernization of the Cairo Metro by the Spanish company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, S.A.(CAF).
The loan, repayable under OECD concessional conditions and charged to the Fund for the Internationalization of Enterprise (FIEM), will finance the modernization of the rolling stock of Line 1 of the Cairo Metro, with the aim of extending the useful life of the 23 train units by 20 years. The project amounts to 185 million euros, of which 71.7% corresponds to Spanish goods and services, 14.2% to goods and services from third countries and the remaining 14.1% to local expenditure at destination.
The project has been awarded by the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) -an agency of the Egyptian Ministry of Transport in charge of the execution of metro line projects in the country- to CAF, a multinational group with more than one hundred years of experience and with a notable presence in the international market and a strong focus on Europe. The Group has production plants in countries such as Spain, Poland, United Kingdom, France, United States, Mexico and Brazil.
According to the Spanish company, the project will be carried out in collaboration with Mitsubishi Corporation, the original supplier of the trains, with which CAF and NAT have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the future rehabilitation of the Japanese trains currently serving Line 2 of the Cairo Metro system.
The Cairo Metro network, inaugurated in 1987, is the oldest in Africa and the Middle East and currently has three operational lines, with a fourth line under construction. Line 1, where the trains to be refurbished operate, has 35 stations along its 44-kilometer route.
Egypt is currently undertaking an ambitious plan to expand and improve infrastructure and transport systems, which generates significant business opportunities. “This fact, together with the support of FIEM funds for this project, confirms the momentum of Spanish collaboration and investment on the African continent, which has among its objectives to enhance the competitiveness and technology of national companies in a sector as relevant for the modernization of the country as passenger transport systems,” said CAF in a press release.
