Emirates NBD-Egypt and the Egyptian Marakez Group, a subsidiary of the Saudi Al Hokair Group, have signed a long-term loan agreement of EGP 395m with IKEA to finance its new store at Mall of Arabia.
The new IKEA store is intended to be built on an area of 20,000 sqm. This project is the second of the Swedish company IKEA in Egypt, reflecting foreign investors’ confidence in the stability of the Egyptian market.
In this context, Al Hokair Group has an investment plan in Egypt of over EGP 17bn, including several projects inside and outside Cairo.
Amr Azab, head of corporate banking at Emirates NBD-Egypt, said the agreement as part of the bank’s desire to expand financing major projects in the Egyptian market.
“The move is in light of the Bank’s efforts to support the Egyptian economy, and reflects the expansion policy of the Emirates NBD Group in Egypt, following its acquisition of BNP Paribas Egypt in 2013, where the bank succeeded in doubling the size of the corporate loan portfolio by an average cumulative annual growth rate of 44% by focusing on financing infrastructure and urban development,” he said.
