CDB disburses $76.5 million loan to National Bank of Egypt to support African SMEs

(ECNS) -- China Development Bank (CDB) has distributed $76.5 million loan to the National Bank of Egypt to support African small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across sectors of manufacturing, transportation, and more.

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is the largest state-owned bank in the country. Since 2012, the CDB and NBE have carried out six credit-granting cooperation and signed eight loan contracts to jointly support SMEs and key projects in the fields of infrastructure and other areas in Egypt.

The Arab Valve Company is one of the enterprises supported by this loan. Founded in 1999, the company is an SME producing valves and fittings welcomed by Egyptian consumers. 

Tarek Mostafa, the company's general manager, said that in recent years, more and more Egyptian families used canned gas before but now gradually use piped natural gas, which has created increasing demand for natural options. 

The company would use the loan funds to increase the purchase of raw materials to further expand production capacity, Mostafa said.

Other enterprises that received loans this time also plan to use the funds for production and operation, equipment procurement, and other purposes to better serve the development of Egypt's real economy and social and livelihood-related fields.

The CDB has exclusively undertaken the special loan for the development of SMEs in Africa under the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation as early as 2009, and has supported the implementation of a number of "small but beautiful" projects for people's livelihoods over the years. So far, the special loan has been issued a total of $3.36 billion, covering 33 African countries, creating 270,000 local jobs.

(By Zhang Dongfang)