Egypt signed a 70-million-euro loan agreement with the French Development Agency (AFD) to fund part of a natural gas home delivery project.

The loan, payable in 15 years, has a five-year grace period and will help carry out a national project that aims to deliver natural gas to 1.5 million residential units in 11 governorates.

The Petroleum Ministry is adopting a comprehensive program to speed up the process of linking natural gas to residential units, ministry undersecretary Sherif Sosa said after the signing.

The cost of the project is estimated at $600 million. The World Bank will loan Egypt $500 million, the AFD 70 million euros in addition to a grant worth 68 million euros offered by the European Union, said Chairman of the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) Khaled Abdel Badea.