London, June 12, 2011 (SPS) - The African Development Bank will lend around $1.1 billion to Tunisia this year, and a similar amount to Egypt, the bank's president said on Friday.
"I expect between now and the end of the year, we will have committed to Tunisia up to $1.1 billion," Donald Kaberuka said in an interview with Reuters following the bank's annual meeting in Lisbon.
"I suspect it will be roughly the same amount for Egypt."
The Tunisian delegation at the 77-member development bank's meeting signed a $500 million loan to support Tunisia's interim government following its revolution this year.
The loan is part of $1.4 billion in emergency funding for Tunisia provided by the World Bank, the European Union and the French development agency.
"We were the first organisation to put money on the table for Tunisia," Kaberuka said.
"We are now working on a number of (further) projects which total around $600 million."
The AfDB has not yet committed any funds to Egypt since its revolution, but officials from the bank are travelling to Cairo.