The Egyptian military as well as foreign and local contractors are benefiting from a major government-backed programme to build new cities and infrastructure. Situated nearly 45km east of Cairo, Egypt’s New Administrative Capital has already taken shape and played host to several glitzy events.
The aptly named city, which Egyptian officials liken to South Africa’s Pretoria, is where the new government headquarters are situated. Relocation of some 50,000 state employees is planned to begin within a few months.
The first phase of construction work has been underway for the past five years, with $20bn of investments pumped into an area spanning 40,000 feddans (16,800ha).
When all three phases are complete, the fully-developed new capital should be able to accommodate up to 6.5 million people on 70,000ha – almost the size of Singapore. Hundreds of kilometres to the west – on the Mediterranean – New Alamein,
Egypt’s second most eminent mega-development, has been growing since 2018 on a 20,160-hectare parcel of land and is designed to house two million people.
Like the new capital, New Alamein bristles with towers and skyscrapers (which are rare in Egypt) as well as government offices. Both projects are part of 37 smart cities that are either at the planning stage or are already being built under the auspices of the government and the military, which is heavily entrenched in the contracting business.
