Arab fund to finance connection of Egypt-Maghreb grids

The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) will finance the connection of the power grids of Egypt and the Maghreb, Syrian power minister, Mounib Salem Al-Dahr, announced.

AFEESD director, Abdellatif Hamad, promised that the fund will finance the connection of the Egyptian grid to that of the Maghreb countries, the Syrian minister said at a ceremony, marking the connection of the Syrian power network with those of Egypt and Jordan.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and Egyptian peer, Husni Mubarak, and King Abdallah II of Jordan dedicated the connection at the junction station of Deir Ali, 35 km south of Damascus.

"The Mediterranean will be surrounded by the largest connected grid in the world, linking European countries to Arab countries and Turkey," the Syrian minister said, recalling that the Moroccan grid was already linked to Europe's.