A Second Loan Agreement was signed today in Khartoum between the Republic of Sudan and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, whereby the Fund will provide a Second Loan of 15,000,000 Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about 52.5 million U.S. Dollars) to assist in the financing of the Marwai Dam Project.

 The Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of the Republic of Sudan by His Excellency Dr. Awad Ahmed Al Jazz, Minister of Finance and National Economy, and on behalf of the Fund by Mr. Abdulwahab Ahmed Al-Bader, Director-General.
  
The Marwi Dam Project aims to meet the demand on power and reduce the cost of its production through the construction of a dam and a hydropower station on the Nile River. 

It is worth mentioning here that the Fund has in 2002 provided a Loan of KD 31 million (equivalent to about US$ 108.5 million) for financing the Project.  The Fund has also provided in 2008 a Supplementary Loan of KD. 16 million (equivalent to 56 million US$) for financing the same project.  Both loans have been consolidated in one loan (the First Loan) for repayment purposes.
 
The total cost of the project is estimated at about 505 billion Sudanese Dinars (equivalent to about 781 million Kuwaiti Dinars) of which 289 billion Sudanese Dinars (equivalent to 389 million Kuwait Dinars) is in foreign currency which represents about 58% of the total cost of the project.  The Fund’s consolidated Loan including the First and the Second loans cover about 7.95% of the total cost of the project. 

The consolidated Loan shall be for a period of 21 years including a grace period of 6 years for the First Loan and two years for the Second Loan. The Loan will be amortized over 43 semi-annual installments, the first of which shall be due on 01/02/2010 and the last on 01/02/2031.  The Loan bears interest at 2% per annum, in addition to 0.5% per annum to cover administrative and other expenses to be incurred in the administration of the Loan Agreement.

By concluding this Second Loan Agreement, the Fund would have provided to the Republic of Sudan 20 loans for funding projects in different sectors, totaling about 137 million Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about 480 million U.S. Dollars), in addition to three technical assistance grants totaling about three hundred thirty three thousand Kuwaiti Dinars (equivalent to about 1.2 million U.S. Dollars) for financing feasibility studies for projects in the industrial and transport sectors.