The IFC’s promise to fund up to 11 projects totalling 500MW follows a $500mn EBRD pledge which kick-started Egypt’s stuttering solar program.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) unit of the World Bank has approved a plan to invest $635mn to help build, operate and maintain up to 11 solar photovoltaic (PV) plants in Egypt with a combined capacity of 500MW.

The plants will be built in a solar park near the village of Benban in the desert, 650km south of Cairo and 40km...