UK Export Finance Backs $2.3bn Monorail Projects in Egypt

A consortium led by Bombardier Transportation has confirmed a deal with the Egyptian Government to build two new monorails thanks to a £1.7bn (about $2.3bn) backing from UK Export Finance (UKEF), the largest amount of financing it has ever provided for an overseas infrastructure project.

UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss on Wednesday announced the government guarantee, which will support highly skilled jobs in Derbyshire as the UK builds back better in the aftermath of coronavirus.

Bombardier’s consortium was named preferred bidder for the project at the 2020 UK-Africa Investment Summit and, with UKEF’s guarantee, secured the financing needed to fulfil the contract and start production. Bombardier can now invest in its manufacturing centre in Derby where the trains for the Egyptian monorails will be designed and built.

This will be the UK’s only monorail car production line and will directly support 100 UK jobs at the company and many more in its UK supply chain.

This news comes as the UK hosts the Africa Investment Conference on Wednesday, its first major international investment conference as an independent trading nation.

 The UK-Africa trade relationship was valued at £35 billion in 2019, with around £54 billion of bilateral investment stock on top of that.

The UK is by far the biggest foreign direct investor in Egypt and continues to aspire to be its trade and investment partner of choice, and UKEF will play a key role in this shared vision for growth.

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