Saudi company gets $140m loan for the construction of a mall in Egypt

Two loans each worth $60 million will be given to a Saudi company to contribute to the construction process of the Mall of Arabia in October 6 City in Cairo, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development announced.

The International Commercial Bank (ICB) will offer the company another $20 million for the same project, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The Saudi-owned company, the Egyptian Centers For Real Estate Development (ECRD) will receive the total of $140 million to complete the project.

The Mall of Arabia, one of the major shopping centres in October 6 City in Greater Cairo, is owned by ECRD, itself jointly owned by three brothers from the Saudi Hukair family.

The project, if completed, is expected to provide 6,300 permanent jobs, as well as 1,200 temporary jobs during the time of construction.

The International Finance Corporation says it has invested $1 billion in 15 projects in Egypt since 2011.