Steel production capacity will soon be increased in Egypt. This will be thanks to a $25 million loan that the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has just granted to Kandil Steel, Egypt’s flagship steel company. The private sector financing arm of the World Bank Group is providing the funding to help “the company meet its growing working capital needs and procure the additional raw materials it needs to manufacture high-quality steel products”, notes the IFC.
The financial institution also promises to provide advice to help Kandil Steel develop a decarbonisation programme to reduce its carbon emissions and improve its overall environmental and social practices. Kandil is one of Egypt’s top 10 steel exporters. The company, headed by Amr Kandil, exports its refined steel to at least 40 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America, thanks to its 1,000 employees.
Decarbonising steel
“The IFC funding, provided in a very challenging local and global context, will help us maintain a growing presence in our export markets while continuing to meet the needs of our domestic market, in line with Egypt’s national directive to deepen and expand the added value of manufacturing in our economy,” says Kandil Steel’s Managing Director. The Cairo-based company plans to increase its steel production from 500 to 800,000 tonnes by the end of 2024.
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For Cheick-Oumar Sylla, IFC Regional Director for North Africa and the Horn of Africa, the financing granted to Kandil will help it “to meet the growing demand for steel products in Egypt and its many export markets, and will contribute to the decarbonisation of the manufacturing industry”.
The steel industry is rightly considered to be one of the most polluting sectors in the world. According to IF Steelman, the industry is responsible for 7% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. For some experts, achieving carbon neutrality in this sector by 2050 will require green hydrogen.
Jean Marie Takouleu