The inking of a $29.7 billion agreement between the Ministry of Housing, represented by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), and Qatari Diar, the real estate arm of Doha’s sovereign wealth fund, marks another step in those efforts. The agreement, overseen by Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli, involves a direct cash investment of $3.5 billion scheduled to be paid before the end of the year. Completed residential units worth about $1.8 billion will be transferred to NUCA, and 15 per cent of the project’s profits will be allocated to Egypt.
The project, which will develop approximately 4,900 feddans in the Samla and Alam Al-Roum area of the North Coast, aims to transform the seven-km coastal area into a mixed-use destination integrating residential, tourism, commercial and service areas.
At a time when global investment flows are marked by competition, the ability to secure large-scale, long-term commitments from international partners is of great significance. It reflects not only what potential investors see in Egypt, but also the depth of bilateral relations and the investors’ confidence in Egypt’s policy environment.
Over the last two years Egypt has undertaken a series of structural reforms aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and improving competitiveness. These measures — fiscal consolidation, the introduction of a flexible exchange-rate regime, the reform of energy subsidies, and extensive infrastructure expansion — have laid the foundations for renewed investor confidence contributing directly to strengthening hard currency inflows and easing debt burdens.
On a parallel path, Egypt is strengthening the tourism sector, another major source of hard currency. Egypt’s tourism sector has received a major boost with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the Giza Plateau, a major strategic investment. The minister of planning publicly stated that the museum contributes to Egypt’s goal of attracting 30 million visitors by 2030, thereby strengthening tourism’s role as a major engine of employment and foreign currency earnings. Tourism brings in visitors, generates downstream demand for hotels, restaurants, transport and retail, and supports jobs across multiple levels of the economy.
On yet another path Egypt is pushing to bolster industrial capacity and transport infrastructure — critical elements for a productive economy and increased exports. This week’s launch of the sixth TransMEA 2025 exhibition— covering intelligent transport, infrastructure, logistics and industry — illustrates Egypt’s commitment in these sectors. At the exhibition, Prime Minister Madbouli described local manufacturing and transport infrastructure as “twin engines” of sustainable national development. The event stressed the localisation of component production, reduction of import reliance, and strengthening supply-chain integration for exports. The manufacturing sector in Egypt currently contributes approximately 16 per cent of the country’s GDP. It also generates over 85 per cent of the nation’s non-oil merchandise exports. The national industrial strategy (2024-2030) outlines priority industrial sectors such engineering industries, chemicals, textiles, food and furniture, and aims to help these sectors develop their value-added processing, compliance with global standards, and export competitiveness
By promoting industry, Egypt not only diversifies its economic base but also creates value chains, jobs and export capacity. Integrating industrial manufacturing with transport and logistics supports the broader objective of turning Egypt into a regional hub for trade and transit as well.
The government’s approach reflects a comprehensive approach to economic development, not only foregoing reliance on one sector alone, but also enabling the various sectors stimulate each other.
With such a broad agenda at work, policy consistency, regulatory transparency, greater private sector participation and efficient public administration are indispensable. These various endeavors must deliver not only economic returns but tangible social benefits — jobs, quality of life and infrastructure upgrades. Maintaining investor confidence in the long term demands predictable governance and an improved business environment.
Egypt is positioning itself for the next phase of growth. It can build on this momentum to create a diversified economy, higher employment and a more resilient balance of payments. In this way the country is fulfilling its promise: is laying the foundations for a stronger, more diversified economy that can deliver for its people over the long term.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 November, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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