The Madbouly government is getting ready to offer up several large-scale hotel and residential projects along the Nile that could significantly change the face of the city, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. But driving the project isn’t just a desire to develop the capital’s main artery, but also to address the shortage of high-end hotel rooms ahead of ambitious tourism targets and a state divestment project that often finds itself stalling.

A recently approved plan will see significant changes along 11 km of the Nile and bordering areas in Maadi and Dar El Salam, including a substantial residential development in the area that now houses Tora Prison that will be done with the private sector. The plot next to the Supreme Constitutional Court, which has long been in limbo after demolitions of informal structures on the plot tragically led to the death of a child in 2014, will be developed by the Maadi Company for Development and Construction into a residential project.

The wider plan also includes a Nile-side financial and business district targeting global companies, which will be situated just south of the Maadi Yacht Club in the area formerly occupied by the military’s Maadi Factory 54, which used to churn out locally made AK47s. Chosen developers will be able to build up to 90 m high, our source tells us.

But addressing the country’s lack of hotel rooms is also a clear priority in the plan, with five plots shortlisted — mostly in Maadi — by the government to host hotel projects. These hotels are also set to significantly change the skyline of the city, with height limits reaching 140 meters — putting the planned towers among only a select group of buildings in the capital as tall. Other areas will also be earmarked for serviced apartments and entertainment areas with heights of up to 90 meters.

Why it matters: To hit the 30 mn tourist target by 2030, the country needs to add roughly 250k new hotel keys — effectively doubling its current capacity. These five new hotel plots and the decision to allow building up to 140 m will be just one way that the city will change as we push to have tourism play a larger role in the economy.

The plan also includes developing the former National Democratic Party headquarters next to the Egyptian Museum, with the winning consortium expected to be announced before the start of July, once the Sovereign Fund of Egypt wraps up its technical and financial reviews of submitted bids, we are told. Eleven consortia have thrown their hat in the ring, with a bid from a Qatari-Egyptian consortium and another from a Saudi-Emirati-Egyptian alliance being the two leading contenders, our source added.

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