The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), signed a USD1 billion Framework agreement for cooperation with the Government of Arab Republic of Egypt. This agreement aims to finance the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the General Authority of Supply Commodities (GASC) an amount of USD 400 million annually for three years. The Agreement was signed by the Planning & International Cooperation Minister, Faiza Abu el-Naga on behalf of the Government of Egypt and ITFC’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Waleed Al-Wohaib. The signing ceremony was attended by Dr. Kamal Ganzouri, the Egyptian Prime Minister and the Ministers of Finance, Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Supply and Internal Trade, Heads of EGPC and GASC as well as Mr. Said Abdulla AbdulSamei, member of the Board of Directors of ITFC.
The allocated amount will be utilized to finance the import of petroleum and petroleum products, in addition to the import of strategic commodities namely wheat and foodstuff. This agreement has signed off a total amount of USD1.6 billion provided to the country since inception of ITFC.
This financing is part of a previously announced agreement to provide Egypt’s energy and food sectors with USD2.5 billion, through innovative Shariah-compliant trade financing solutions. From his end, Dr. Waleed Al-Wohaib said “ITFC is continuously trying to align its support with the Trade Development Programs prepared for our member countries, which are implemented to ensure the achievement of maximum developmental impact. This is reflected in most of ITFC’s trade financing operations supporting these two strategic commodities (food and energy) which are considered as priority sectors for the Egyptian Government.”
Since inception in 2008, the ITFC had already approved more than USD1.2 billion in favor of the Egyptian governmental bodies and private companies operating in strategic sectors. Recently ,ITFC also approved trade finance operations in favor of the private companies engaged in importing wheat, corn and soy; in which part of that funding is used to support the animal feed industry. In addition, ITFC collaborated with the Egyptian Social Fund for Development to finance the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt.