The Egyptian government on Thursday refused a conditional loan worth US$430 million from the World Bank to finance the electricity linkage project with Saudi Arabia at a cost of $1.6 billion, an official source told Egypt Independent.
The World Bank had conditioned to obtain the consent of both Jordan and Israel to pass a submarine cable across the Gulf of Aqaba, the source added.
He explained that Egypt noted that the approval of neighboring countries in such projects is not necessary.
Meanwhile, the government received the approval of Arab funds and the Islamic Development (IDB) Bank for financing the project instead of the World Bank.
IDB agreed on Wednesday to extend a $230.2m loan to Egypt to finance the second phase of Sharm El-Sheikh airport development, bringing its total contributions to $457 million, according to IDB's statement.
The World Bank portfolio in Egypt includes 26 projects for a total commitment of $5 billion.
The World Bank finances projects for faster delivery of benefits to the people of Egypt in key sectors including energy, transport, water and sanitation, agriculture and irrigation as well as health and education.
