AfDB allocates $1.5bn to build Egypt’s administrative capital

President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina has on Saturday announced that his bank will fund Egypt’s new administrative capital project with $1.5 billion (1$=7.79 EGP).The comment came during the inauguration of Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the world forum at Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Sharm al Sheikh Saturday.

The project was first announced at the Egypt Economic Development conference in March 2015, at an estimated cost of $45 billion. It was originally to be led by the Housing Ministry, in partnership with Capital City Partners, a UAE-based fund.

President Abdel Fatah al Sisi, in October, 2015, set a two-year deadline for the completion of the first phase of the mega project which, according to Presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef, covers 10,500 feddans of land, and is to include the construction of ministries and other government buildings, a commercial center, 15,000 housing units, schools, a university complex and a medical city.