The Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is considering several loans for Egyptian companies, the lender’s manager of banking operations said at a press conference in Cairo on 23 February.

Heba Abu el-Ezz told reporters the bank is considering a $1.2bn facility for local investors and a $500m facility for banks and financial institutions, with the aim of supporting Egypt’s export industries.

El-Ezz also said Afreximbank is looking to increase its capital by $400m in 2016.

The lender’s credit facilities in Egypt reached $4.2bn in 2016, said El-Ezz. This included a $521m joint loan for Egypt’s emergency electricity programme, $1.9bn for the petrochemicals sector and about $210m for the power sector.

In December last year, the African Development Bank (AfDB) also approved the payment of $500m to Egypt as part of the second of three tranches of a $1.5bn loan agreed in 2016.