UAE to fund new luxury hotel near Egypt’s Giza pyramids

Wam

The UAE will back the development of a five-star hotel near the pyramids in Giza outside the capital Cairo to support Egypt’s tourism, state-run Wam news agency reported.

State-backed Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), which specialises in development financing at below market rates, will provide AED440 million ($120 million) to build a 302-key Sofitel Legend Pyramids Giza, the agency said.

ADFD will contribute 84 percent of the project’s capital through the Abu Dhabi Tourism Investment Company, Wam said.

Other investors include Abu Dhabi National Hotels, Overseas Tourism Investment Company, Misr Hotels Company, and the Egyptian General Company for Tourism & Hotels.

French hospitality company Accor Group will manage the hotel, the news agency said. The completion date was not given.

Last month the Egyptian government said tourism revenues more than doubled to $15 billion in 2024 compared to $7 billion in 2014 amid a major overhaul of the industry.

• Egypt bets on $1bn Grand Museum to boost tourism
• Marriott to convert Cairo’s Mogamma building into hotel
• Infrastructure needed to support Egypt’s tourism ambitions

In February last year, ADQ, a UAE sovereign wealth fund, unveiled plans to invest $35 billion to build the “largest new city” on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, providing badly-needed foreign exchange to an economy which has been hit by higher import cost due to the Ukraine war and lower Suez Canal revenues.

Emaar Properties, Dubai’s largest listed developer by market capitalisation, has announced plans to increase its investment in Egypt to $25 billion over the next three years, up from the existing $18 billion.

Economic growth in Egypt, the third-largest Arab economy, is expected to accelerate to 4 percent in the 2024-2025 fiscal year to June 30, from 2 percent a year before, and 5 percent in 2025-2026, the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said last month.