By Hossam Mounir
Emirates NDB has provided a EGP 250m loan to the National Port Said Steel Company (NPSS), according to Sahat El-Damati, the bank’s Deputy Managing Director and Board Member.
The loan is part of a larger, syndicated loan given to the NPSS, and includes contributions from the Commercial International Bank (CIB), Alexandria Bank, Bank Audi Egypt, and Ahli United Bank.
In a statement to Daily News Egypt, El-Damati clarified that, put together, the total worth of the loan, including contributions from all banks involved, is EGP 1.9bn. The eight-year loan would be used to fund a part of the investment cost of building a new steel factory in the Ain Sokhna area.
NPSS is one of the companies affiliated to the Egyptian Steel Group, owned by businessman Ahmed Abou Hashima.
The company expects to hire up to 700 direct workers in that factory, while the targeted production capacity amounts to830,000 tonnes per year of steel billets, and 530,000 tonnes per year of steel rebars. The factory has decided to operate in the third quarter of 2016.
El-Damati said the bank’s participation in the loan comes as part of its desire to fund the different economic activities in the Egyptian market.
She added that, in the same line, the bank participated in the loan acquired by the Suez Canal Authority to buy dredgers to finish dredging operations in the New Suez Canal.
El-Damati clarified that the total value of that loan amounted to $1bn, adding that the bank participated with a total of $100m.
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, CIB, the Arab African International Bank, Banque Du Caire, Mashreq Bank, and the Arab Bank participated in that loan.
