Banque du Caire arranges $668mln financing for Canal Sugar’s mega projects

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Egypt - Banque du Caire (BDC) (BQDC) has announced its successful participation in a joint financing of EGP 12.5 billion as a senior lead arranger and debt servicing bank for Canal Sugar Company, according to an emailed press release on June 9th.

The secured financing will be used to fund the reclamation and development of 181,000 feddans in West Minya, as a part of the Presidential Program for the reclamation of 1.5 million feddans.

The financing will also fund the establishment and operation of a sugar plant with a production capacity of around 900,000 tons of sugar annually.

The joint-financing was a culminated result of a collaboration of Qatar National Bank Alahli (QNB Al Ahli) (QNBA) as the guarantor of the financing, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Suez Canal Bank (CANA), the United Bank, Arab Investment Bank (AIB), Agriculture Bank of Egypt (ABE), Housing and Development Bank (HD Bank) (HDBK), and Industrial Development Bank (IDB).

The financing is a successful model of investment and economic partnership between Egypt and UAE, Executive Vice Chairman Bahaa El Shafie said, adding that Banque Du Caire was keen on participating as the lead arranger with a share valued at EGP 1.5 billion in the financing package.

BDC, the 99.9%-owned by Egypt's second-largest state-owned bank Banque Misr, is the sixth-largest bank in Egypt in terms of total assets, acquiring a 3% market share in system-wide loans and deposits.

The bank also has the third-biggest customer base, with over 3 million customers.