Billionaire Sawiris says Egypt should reconsider mega-projects

The billionaire Naguib Sawiris said Egypt should reconsider its mega-projects to save money as they require large amounts of foreign currency, reported Reuters on February 26th.

“I will be polite and I would say we have an overambitious president who is doing mega projects that are requiring a lot of foreign currency and we should have a second look at these projects,” Sawiris told a conference in Abu Dhabi on February 26th.

Since Abdel Fattah al-Sisi became president back in 2014, Cairo has embarked on a military-lead infrastructure splurge, which the president maintains is necessary for economic development.and includes a $58 billion new capital city.

Part of this campaign is the building of a new $58 billion capital city. The new capital “is expected to house embassies, government agencies, the parliament, 30 ministries, a spiralling presidential compound and some 6.5 million people when completed,” according to Al Jazeera.

It is likely that it will not just move administrative buildings out of Cairo, but also create very necessary housing housing, in addition to the allocation of 15 square metres of green space per inhabitant in the new city.

1,500 Egyptian companies have moved their headquarters to Abu Dhabi since 2024, Sawiris stated. He also said that UAE stock exchanges should unite together to encourage companies to list in the region and increase liquidity.

The UAE currently has three stock exchanges, the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Dubai Financial Market and Nasdaq Dubai.

Reuters, Al Jazeera