Egypt is in the midst of a huge construction boom—the center of which is a New Administrative Capital intended to modernize the seat of government for the country of 103 million people in a new city 28 miles east of Cairo.

The Egyptian government announced in 2015 it would build a new capital on 270 sq miles of land located between the main roads leading to the port cities of Suez and Ain El Sokhna. When the NAC is complete in 2050, it will be home to up to 7 million people.

The NAC, designed by U.S.-based Skidmore Ownings and Merrill, consists of three phases. Development of phase 1 will cost about $58 billion when complete in 2030. Basic infrastructure of the phase is complete, and construction on several buildings, slated to be finished in 2022, has begun.

The city will host two towering skyscrapers. An 80-floor tower has been under construction for two years and has reached the 40th floor. When finished, it will be 385-m high, making it the tallest building in Egypt and Africa.

However, the planned Oblisco Capitale, which will look like a Pharaonic obelisk, is due to be inaugurated in 2030 at a height of 1,000 meters, making it the tallest structure in the world.

The Arab Contractors Co., also known as Osman Ahmed Osman Co., is putting the finishing touches on the new parliament building, which so far has required 16.5 million work hours from 6,400 workers and 300 engineers.

The project covers an area of 126,000 sq m. The building has 1,000 administrative offices, and a 50-m-dia dome. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in April that about 52,000 government employees would begin transferring to work at the NAC in August.

Crews have used about 45,000 cu m of concrete; 210,000 cu m of reinforced concrete and 25,000 cu m of reinforced steel in the project, said Ahmad El Aladalany, from the Support Division of Arab Contractors, in an emailed statement.

“We have had many challenges with this project,” Aladalany said, including COVID-19 and the removal of 500,000 cu m of rock and soil. 

Multiple Phases

Phase 1 will establish the core of the new city and concentrate on the essential needs to get the new capital up and running. It covers development of 40,000 acres, including a government district, a commercial district and a downtown district built along the Green River.

Phase 2 will expand the city by a further 47,000 acres with more residential and business areas, and phase 3 will follow the same direction by expanding a further 97,000 acres.

“You can imagine a city that stretches from the Nile River to the Red Sea,” Mohamed Abdalla, chairman of Coldwell Bank Middle East and vice chairman of Acumen Holding Investment Bank told ENR. “We are witnessing something significant in the history of Egypt.”

The government is using proceeds from land sales at the new capital to finance the project, said Abdall. He also is chairman of the real estate committee for AmCham Egypt, which promotes business between Egypt and the U.S. “We used to worry about investment, but that isn’t the case anymore… The government isn’t having to rely on foreign investors,” he said during an interview via Zoom.

The government also is collecting fees on construction that was previously done without licenses under earlier governments, he noted.

Virtually all of Egypt’s construction companies are involved in the NAC, as is the China State Construction Engineering Corp.

Redcon Construction, another Egypt builder, is working on district hotels, shopping malls, buildings in the Central Business District, the water-cooling plant for the Ministerial District, the Central Park, and the station for the light rail system, said the company’s chairman Tarek El Ghamal.

Redcon alone has 3,000 blue-and white-collar employees engaged in its projects. Hundreds more are employed by the subcontractors hired by Redcon, which is active in 30 different projects throughout Egypt.

“Egyptian companies account for 70% to 80% of finishing for the buildings” in the NAC, Ghamal said, “and for electrical-mechanical, about 40%.”

Ghamal said Redcon is building the NAC station for a high-speed rail link that will connect the Red and Mediterranean Seas via the NAC and Cairo. “Transportation will be the key to the NAC’s success,” Ghamal told ENR