Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has endorsed a loan agreement signed months earlier between Cairo and Moscow to build Egypt’s first nuclear power plant. Russia will lend Egypt USD25bn to finance building and operating a nuclear power plant in Egypt. On 19 November 2015, Cairo and Moscow signed an agreement for Russia to build Egypt's first nuclear power plant and to extend Egypt a loan to cover the cost of construction. The loan will be paid off over 35 years, with an annual interest rate of 3%, according to the country's official gazette. Installment payments will begin on 15 October 2029. The loan will be used by Egypt for a period of 13 years from 2016 to 2028, then Egypt will start repayment over 22 years over 43 installments, according to the gazette. The credit facility will cover 85% of the project’s cost; Egypt will finance the remaining 15%. The plant will be built in Dabaa, a site in the north of the country that Egypt has been considering for a nuclear power plant on and off since the 1980s. It is due to be completed in 2022, and the first of its four reactors is expected to begin producing power in 2024. (Amwal Al Ghad)