EU, France sign 940 mln euro metro deal with Egypt

The European Union and France have signed a 940 million euro agreement with the Egyptian government to fund the construction of a new metro extension, the EU mission in Cairo said in a statement on Sunday.

The EU and the French Development Agency (AFD) inked the deal on Saturday, fulfilling nearly half of the French commitments allocated for Egypt during the Deauville summit in 2011 aimed at supporting the Arab Spring, the EU said.

The package is a loan on 25 years with a less than two percent interest rate, it said.

France has already provided financial and technical support for Cairo’s two existing metro lines built in the 1980s.

The third line — the first phase of which became operational in March — will carry up to 1.8 million passengers a day, the EU said.

International bids will be launched by the beginning of 2013, and the implementation of the project is expected to take eight years, it said.

The metro system has helped ease Cairo’s notorious traffic congestion.

According to state media reports, a fourth line is to be completed by 2019.