Friday March 29th, 2024
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Egypt's Sugar Daddy to Supply 600 Buses

The UAE has gotten creative with their aid to Egypt, this time forgoing financials for public transport.

Staff Writer

It’s no secret that the UAE has been Egypt’s sugar daddy since the removal of Morsi. With every passing month comes some form of financial assistance that often falls short of making a noticeable difference. Looking to change that the UAE has decided to get more creative with its aid for Egypt, and instead of promising more money have announced that they will be supplying Egypt with 600 buses.

Almost everything in Egypt needs maintenance or an upgrade including its badly battered public transportation. In an interview with Daily News Egypt, the President of the Public Transport Authority, Hesham Atteya, sheds some light on the deal expecting that the 600 buses promised should arrive no later than next February, with the first batch to be delivered later this month.

According to their GB Auto official website, 300 buses of the 600 will be manufactured in Cairo by GB Auto, one of Egypt’s leading automotive producer and distributor in the MENA region. Atteya explains that the 600 buses provided by the UAE will only cover 44.5% of the requirement needed by the Public Transport Authority in Cairo.

Laying out the strategy to fulfill the remaining requirements, Atteya explains that the rest of the busses will be supported by the state budget, and will unfold in three phases; the first phase will supply 200 buses, the second phase will make 150 buses, while the third phase will supply 400, which makes for a total of 750 buses.

Coupled with the 600 provided by the UAE, Cairo can expect to see over a thousand new buses on the road within the year. The commitment made by the UAE is a very encouraging sign that they are following through with their November announcement of investing of $10 billion in development projects in Egypt, which Egypt desperately needs. However, with corruption marring Egypt it seems like creative aid maybe the only way to ensure that Egypt fixes its problem without losing financial aid to corruption.