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- EBRD supports launch of inter-city electric bus fleet in cooperation with EU
- €10.6 million loan will fund purchase of up to 30 new buses, six electric micro-buses and three other electric vehicles.
- Technical cooperation package and first-loss risk cover from EU via EFSD+
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the launch of an inter-city electric bus fleet in Egypt through a €10.6 million loan to Go Bus for Transport, the country’s first privately owned inter-city bus company.
The loan will benefit from 10 per cent first-loss risk cover provided by the European Union (EU) through its European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+) initiative under the Municipal Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience guarantee programme.
Through this loan, Go Bus will expand its operations and renew its fleet by acquiring up to 30 new buses for its inter-city services, as well as six electric micro-buses for shorter routes and three other electric vehicles for intra-city journeys.
Introducing electric vehicles will provide a cleaner, more sustainable alternative, easing congestion and reducing emissions, with strong potential for replication across Egypt’s governorates.
The loan will be accompanied by a comprehensive technical cooperation package financed through the EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Multi-Donor Account covering legal aspects of the project.
In addition to that technical cooperation, a grant will be provided under the EU’s EFSD+ Municipal, Infrastructure and Industrial Resilience programme to support corporate governance.
The project will include training opportunities for new fleet drivers, equipping them to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harassment. This will help to address safety risks in Egypt’s transport system, with a UN study having found that more than 86 per cent of women reported feeling unsafe while using the country’s public transport.
The loan agreement was signed by the EBRD’s Head of Sustainable Infrastructure for the Middle East and Africa, Aida Sitdikova, and the Chairman of Go Bus, Fady Nassif. The transaction was initiated and completed under the leadership of Sameh Atalla, the CEO of the Go Bus Group, in line with the company’s sustainability agenda, to advance green mobility and electric vehicles.
Go Bus was established in 1998 as Egypt’s first privately owned inter-city bus company, fully owned by the Nassif family. The company currently operates 29 routes throughout Egypt, including 16 originating from Cairo, taking people to popular destinations such as Alexandria, the north coast, Marsa Allam, Luxor and Dahab, serving approximately 1.9 million passengers annually.
EFSD+ was established in June 2021 and offers EU partner countries assistance with key investments through grants or financial guarantees. In this way, the EU mobilises additional financial resources for sustainable development from the public and private sectors. EFSD+ has a total global guarantee capacity of €39.8 billion for the period from 2021 to 2027, of which €22.5 billion will be used in the EU’s enlargement and neighbourhood regions.
Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of the Bank’s operations in the country in 2012, the EBRD has invested over €13.5 billion across 206 projects in the country.
* The EBRD’s Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Multi-Donor Account is supported by Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the TaiwanBusiness-EBRD Technical Cooperation Fund and the United Kingdom.