- The World Bank lends $400 million to strengthen the railway line between Alexandria and Cairo.
- The initiative will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 965,000 tonnes by 2050 in cities with intense port activity.
The World Bank provides $400 million to implement the Cairo to Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project. The initiative aims to develop a rail network between these port cities 218 km apart, improving productivity and facilitating trade.
“The project will provide a rail bypass to the congested Greater Cairo area. Additional freight trains will run between the port of Alexandria, Upper Egypt and the Red Sea, including 15 container trains per day by 2030 and 50 trains by 2060 to this dry port,” says the World Bank.
According to the financial institution Marina Wes represents in Egypt, the objective is to move 18,400 containers and other items yearly by train instead of the road. By doing this, the project will spare the environment from 965,000 tons of CO2 emissions every 30 years. In the end, this will help to achieve the UN’s 13th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on climate action and decarbonize Egypt’s transportation infrastructure.
Other development finance organizations, such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), located in Kuwait, Export Development Canada (EDC), located in Ottawa, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, located in London, will also support the Cairo to Alexandria Trade Logistics Development Project (EBRD).