Dubai’s Emaar pledges Egypt development worth $1 billion

Emaar Misr

• Emaar to invest $1bn in 12 months
• Builds on $20bn over two decades
• Coastline attracting Gulf investment

Property developer Emaar plans to invest $1 billion in Egypt in the next 12 months, according to a senior executive.

Mohamed Alabbar, the Dubai-based company’s founder, shared the news in an interview with an Arabic-language news outlet, saying the new injection of funds by Egyptian affiliate Emaar Misr Development would build on about $20 billion in previous investment in the North African nation over approximately two decades.

Creative Commons/Webmasteremaar

“I am interested in any future investment opportunities that Egypt offers on its coast overlooking the Red Sea,” Alabbar told Asharq Business while at an Emaar Misr resort in Marassi, on the Mediterranean coast not far from Alexandria, for a celebration of Saudi National Day.

Emaar did not respond to a request for comment.

Under pressure from currency volatility and the economic impact of the Red Sea shipping crisis, the Egyptian government has vowed to treble foreign direct investment inflows this fiscal year to $30 billion. Egypt’s underdeveloped coastline has recently become a magnet for potential investment from the Gulf in particular. 

Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ announced that it would put $24 billion toward developing a tourist destination in Ras El-Hekma as part of a larger investment package. Ras El-Hekma also overlooks the Mediterranean sea.

• Prices stabilise in Dubai’s off-plan market as supply grows
• Egypt explores new mega deals like Ras El-Hekma
• Egypt offers Red Sea peninsula for development

The recently announced plan appears to have already sparked a flurry of real estate transactions in the area.

Egyptian authorities are also looking for developers to take on multiple large pieces of land along the Red Sea, including the Ras Banas peninsula and Ras Gamila, toward the tip of South Sinai.

Speculation is rife that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which just announced it will pour $5 billion into Egypt, is looking at some of these development opportunities as part of its strategy.