New Italy-Egypt Partnerships: Mermec Leads Infrastructure and Mobility Initiatives Under ‘Mattei Plan for Africa

Monday, July 1, 2024

At the EU-Egypt Investment Conference in Cairo, opened by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Italy unveiled significant initiatives in infrastructure and sustainable mobility under the ‘Mattei Plan for Africa’. The signing ceremonies were attended by Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir and Italian Ambassador to Cairo Michele Quaroni.

Arsenale SpA and the Egyptian National Railways (ENR) agreed to create Egypt’s first Made-in-Italy luxury tourist train, the ‘Guardian of the Nile’. Additionally, MERMEC SpA and ENR signed a 130 million euro contract to develop the ECTS Level 1 railway signalling system on the Al-Fardan – Bir al-Abd and Balouza – East Port Said lines, enhancing connectivity, safety, and reducing CO2 emissions in alignment with ‘Egypt Vision 2030’ and the European Green Deal. MERMEC, with Italian institutional support, plans to establish a signalling and infrastructure design centre of excellence in Egypt, strengthening its local presence.

Furthermore, SACE, the Italian Export Credit Agency, finalized two key Memoranda of Understanding with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport and the Commercial International Bank (CIB), totaling 920 million euros. These agreements aim to support low-impact transportation projects and boost Italian exports through export credit insurance and guarantee programs. Moreover, the Italian company Movyon and the Egyptian company Elsewedy signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop smart and sustainable mobility solutions. This collaboration involves creating a new company to manage intelligent transport systems on Egyptian highways for 10 years, with a 200 million euro investment.

“These four projects confirm Italy’s commitment to supporting the growth and modernisation of Egyptian infrastructure, while also promoting environmental sustainability and technological innovation. This is a concrete way to invest in Egypt responsibly and to the benefit of both markets, Italian and Egyptian, in line with the ‘Mattei Plan’ launched by Prime Minister Meloni,” said the Italian Ambassador to Cairo, Michele Quaroni.