IT’S OFFICIAL- We have a mega Qatari project coming our way. The Qatar Investment Authority-owned Qatari Diar inked an agreement with the Madbouly government on Thursday to set up a USD 29.7 bn integrated urban development along the Mediterranean in Alam El Roum, according to a cabinet statement. The project is described as a “world-class integrated urban development … transforming Alam El Roum into a coastal tourist and investment destination.”

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Project details: The 4.9k-feddan project will house tourism, residential, and commercial activities and create over 250k jobs. It will be carried out by a yet-to-be-established, wholly-owned subsidiary of Diar.

Breaking down the financials: Diar will pay USD 3.5 bn for the land and contribute USD 26.2 bn in in-kind investments to develop the project. The New Urban Communities Authority will also receive residential units — expected to generate USD 1.8 bn from unit sales — and 15% of revenues after the project reaches cost recovery.

The USD 3.5 bn in land cost will enter the state coffers before the end of the year and will come in the form of fresh FDI, not deposits, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told Reuters. The fresh funds will be used to lower debt and improve the country’s economic indicators, he added.

The timeline: Diar will kick off construction on phase one of the project next year, Head of Development and Projects in Asia and Africa at Qatari Diar Sheikh Hamad bin Talal Al Thani told Cairo Weekend’s Zeina Soufan (watch, runtime:14:19), explaining that the phase, which covers 15-20% of the acquired plot, will be completed in four to six years. The full project will be completed in 15 years.

The project will boost our hotel capacity, providing over 4.5k hotel rooms, feeding into state efforts to increase capacity to help meet the state’s 30 mn tourist target by 2030.

In a bid to make Alam El Roum a year-long destination, the project will also house luxury residential communities, hospitals, schools, universities, and government offices. It will also include entertainment facilities, artificial lakes, golf courses, and marinas.

The land will be delivered in two main phases and several subphases. Sources previously told us that the government will handle the settlement of land ownership issues in the area by compensating landowners or offering them alternative plots.

What’s next? The subsidiary carrying out the project will work on a master plan, which will then head to the New Urban Communities Authority for approval.

You heard it here first: EnterpriseAM had reported on the project over the past few months, having spoken to Qatari Ambassador to Egypt Tariq Ali Faraj Al Ansari in September, who confirmed that the agreement is in its final stages. And hours before the official announcement, sources let us in on the project details — investment ticket and financial breakdown.

A milestone for Egyptian-Qatari ties: The project marks the largest Qatari investment in Egypt since the two sides restored diplomatic ties in 2021.

REMEMBER- We are in line for more Qatari investments as part of a wider USD 7.5 bn direct investment package from the Gulf nation, which also includes a USD 3.5 bn direct investment into a Red Sea project between Diar and Marriott-owned hospitality chain St. Regis.

Two of a kind: The project marks the second mega gulf investment in our North Coast, after UAE’s USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma.

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