CAIRO –
The National Bank of Egypt plans to invest at least $40 million to grow “strategic” crops in Ethiopia for export to Egypt, Al Alam Al Youm newspaper reported, citing the bank’s Chairman Tarek Amer.
The state-owned bank has asked Ethiopian authorities to allocate up to 20,000 hectares (49,420 acres) for the cultivation of the crops, the Cairo-based business daily reported.
The bank will also give six Ethiopian banks credit facilities worth 80 million Egyptian pounds ($14.6 million) to fund foreign trade to countries including Egypt and other Nile basin countries, it said.
The announcement was made by the visiting Egyptian Prime Minister,
Dr.Ahmed Nazif who is on a working visit to Ethiopia starting on
Tuesday.
The Egyptian delegation assured the Ethiopian officials that Egypt was
keen to be involved in various investment opportunities in the country.
The Egyptian PM said that the National Bank of Egypt will initially
develop 20,000 hectares of land of agricultural products as from 2010.
According to state media reports, Egypt will invest the undisclosed
amount of agricultural investment in the Afar regional state of
Ethiopia, known for its livestock resources.
The two countries prime ministers held talks late on Tuesday on how to
boost their trade and investment cooperation, which in the past few
years was poor.
The Egyptian delegation also showed interest to invest in other areas
such as drug manufacturing.
It was also reported that Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan are expected to
reach an agreement on installation of electricity connectivity in the
near future to link the three countries with hydroelectric power supply
from Ethiopia, which is currently undertaking a multi-billion
investment on hydroelectric projects.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his Egyptian counterpart Dr.
Ahmed Nazif also expressed their commitment to work together in the
efforts to ensure benefits for the peoples of the two countries.
