The Ambassador of Switzerland Markus Leitner has signed an agreement with Egypt’s Minister of Environment Khaled Fahmy for a 5-year “National Solid Waste Management Programme” that will serve the urban populations of Qena, Assiut, Kafr El-Sheikh and Gharbeya Governorates, with a total of approximately 3.5 million residents.
It aims to support the establishment and implementation of effective policy, legislation and institutional arrangements for municipal solid waste management at the national, governorate and local levels in Egypt, coupled with the implementation of related infrastructure in these four governorates. The project will start in 2016 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
NSWMP is jointly financed by the German Government via KfW development bank (as the lead financing institution) and GIZ, the European Union, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Government of Egypt. The total cost of the programme is estimated at EUR 66.5 million. The Swiss contribution will be a grant amounting to EUR 10.5 million dedicated to investment, technical assistance and capacity building.