Egypt’s Building Boom Highlighted By A New Capital City

Skyscrapers under construction in Egypt’s new capital city. (Wikimedia)

The Egyptian government is building 37 new “smart cities,” one of which is to serve as the new capital, just 45 kilometers outside of Cairo. The project is funded by Chinese and German investment.

Since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi took power in 2014, he has initiated high-profile infrastructure and building projects. Included in this building spree is a high-speed rail line that will connect the Red and Mediterranean Seas and work to restore Cairo's historic areas.  

Even so, the New Administrative Capital is the most ambitious of these projects. It launched in 2015, with the goal of constructing dozens of skyscrapers, solar farms, and an airport. The city will also house all Egyptian government buildings as well as foreign embassies. Al-Sisi declared that the capital's opening would “mark the birth of a new state."        

The funding for these projects has come almost entirely from abroad. The China State Construction Engineering Corp built significant portions of the New Administrative Capital. Siemens is responsible for the 400 miles of the new high-speed rail line.

While these projects have created jobs, they have not been going to the general populace. Michele Dunne, a senior fellow at the Middle East Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stated, "Military figures have been allowed to make money in sectors as diverse as cement and the media while the private sector has been crowded out."  

Companies that are majority-owned by the military have been responsible for providing the labor and building materials and for selling the real estate built in the New Administrative Capital. The military will also be responsible for administering the prime Cairo real estate left behind once the ministries and embassies transfer to the New Administrative Capital.        

The projects are also drawing environmental scrutiny. Only 3 percent of land in Egypt is arable, and climate change is already impacting water supplies. Dunne sees it as "extremely problematic" to build massive desert cities which will consume large amounts of water without a sustainable resupply plan.  

The increasing poverty rate and growing discontent in the country among laborers reflects the lack of civilian involvement in these mega-projects. Citizens feel that the 2011 protests that deposed strongman Hosni Mubarak's regime have not led to any changes to the corruption that drained Egypt of its resources. As Mohamed Awad, a teacher who took part in those protests, put it, "Hundreds have died and thousands went to prison. For what? The poor are getting poorer and the rich continue to become richer."