The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), through its affiliate Al Ahly Co. for Land Reclamation and Cultivation – plans to reclaim 10,000 feddans in Farafra, the bank chairman Hisham Okasha announced on Monday.
According to Okasha, the reclamation process will be with total cost of 200 million Egyptian pounds (US$26.2 million). The project will be implemented in five years.
Following the prominent success made in the Egyptian Economic Development Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Okasha said soil and groundwater testing would start immediately to detect the perfect area that would be allocated under a usufruct contract. The reclamation process will then start and will last for five years, he noted.
The board chairman made it clear that the company would plant crops, such as corn and wheat, which Egypt needs most.
Al Ahly Co. for Land Reclamation & Cultivation already has 5,000 feddans in Nubariya area in addition to 5,000 feddans in northern Om Durman in Sudan.
Moreover, the National Bank of Egypt signed a loan agreement worth €120 million with the European Investment Bank during Egypt’s Economic Development Conference to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
