The African Development Bank (AfDB) on 19 July approved a $271mn loan to finance cash-strapped Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program, it said in a statement. The loan will support Cairo’s “efforts to mitigate the impact of the global shocks on the domestic economy from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and to preserve resilience,” the AfDB says.

A major wheat importer, Egypt has been hit hard by shortages linked to the conflict and in June tapped the World Bank for a $500mn loan to help deal with its soaring food import bill (MEES, 1 July). (CONTINUED - 129 WORDS)