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The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has
approved a $100 million support to the Alexandria
Development Project. The project aims to support
local development in Alexandria by removing key
infrastructural constraints, reducing barriers to
investment, and ensuring the socioeconomic
integration of the poor.
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Developed in part through a Cities Alliance
grant funding with various programmes
currently being financed by donor agencies
like IFC, GTZ, CIDA, UNICEF, USAID, Swiss
Fund and the World Bank in partnership with
the Government of Egypt, the project
involves specific activities that stem from
the long-term strategic development plan of
Alexandria. These include: a) increasing
private sector investment in the project
area adjacent to Lake Marriout, through
servicing lands and improving ambient
conditions; b) improving accessibility and
reducing travel time to the main centres of
economic activity (industrial estates,
enterprise parks, and Alexandria
ports), through rehabilitation/ |
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Fishermen shacks on Lake Marriout |
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reconstruction of selected arterial roads; c)
improving living conditions of the population living
in selected squatter settlements through improving
access to basic infrastructure and services; and
finally d), enhancing the local business
environment, through streamlining key business
start-up procedures and regularizing land ownership.
“The city of Alexandria with its competitive
advantages is well poised to serve as one of Egypt’s
main engines of economic growth. The Alexandria
Development Project is in line with objectives of
the World Bank Country Assistance Strategy for
Egypt- namely, facilitating private sector
development, enhancing the provision of public
services and promoting equity,” said
Emmanuel Mbi, World Bank
Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti.
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Squatters by the canal |
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Alexandria Governorate has a population of
3.9 million inhabitants, 95 percent of whom
live in its capital city. Alexandria is
currently facing three priority challenges
as identified in its strategic plan: the
first is to create a minimum of 40,000
jobs/year, the second is to upgrade 30
squatter settlements where one-third of the
population lives with limited access to
infrastructure and municipal service and a
high rate of unemployment (15-20%), and the
third is to address pollution in Lake
Marriout due to the discharge of untreated
and primary treated sewage and industrial
waste. |
“Urban upgrading in Egypt is experiencing a shift
toward more responsive approaches to community
priorities. Involving communities and investing in
people is one way of building a more transparent
platform for leveraging resources, promoting
accountability and including marginalized
communities,” said Hedi
Larbi, Sector Manager, Urban and Transport Unit in
the Middle East and North Africa Region.
The project is in line with the Government’s urban
sector strategy which focuses on improving
mechanisms for delivery of affordable housing,
extending infrastructure services and promoting
private sector investments. In addition, the
government has prioritised plans to upgrade squatter
settlements and already started projects to improve
the environment condition in Lake Marriout. An
important element of the strategy is the
decentralisation process where the proactive roles
of local governments, private sector and communities
are expanding under public-private partnership
arrangements.
“Alexandria Governorate opted for an overall
development strategy that would leverage key public,
private and civil society resources. The project is
characterised by strong local ownership, political
support and broad based participation. The project’s
integrated development nature, cost recovery feature
and innovative framework design in the context of
local development in Egypt are pioneering features,”
said Ahmed Eiweida, Senior
Urban Specialist and the project’s Task Team Leader.
For more information on the project, please visit:
http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=64283627&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK=228424&Projectid=P094229
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