Cairo to see rise of mega sugar facility

CAIRO, Egypt - PRIVATE sector sugar trading house, Al Nouran Multitrading (ANM), held a ceremony on 27 April 2014, to commemorate the signing of the Senior & Mezzanine Islamic Facility Agreement for a new mega facility located in Al Sharkia Governorate. Some EGP 2.5 billion ($357 million) will be invested in the construction of this facility which will produce and refine over 500,000 metric tonnes of sugar annually. More importantly, it will help reduce sugar imports by 25%, from the current 1 million tonnes annually, and increase exports of by-products as well. When operations start in 2016, the facility will generate 3,000 jobs and employ 55,000 workers in the production and delivery of sugar beet.

The initial mandated lead arrangers of the senior facility include Banque Misr, Bank Audi, and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, all of whom are participating with up to EGP 900 million ($129 million) and securing the remaining facility amount, taking the total to EGP 1.5 billion ($214 million), of which 16% is in US dollars. Overall participation commitments have exceeded 100% of the total facility amount required for the project, which the IMLAs have secured through 13 banks.

The ceremony witnessed the signature of the Al Nouran Sugar Project Islamic Senior Syndicated Facility Agreement, the Mezzanine Facility Agreement, and the Initial Working Capital Facility Agreement, with a consolidated value of EGP 1.9 billion ($271 million).