Getting around in Sahel

For decades, moving around in Sahel meant one thing: your own car and your own driver. Sahel was built for people who arrived with their setup intact, and it offered almost nothing to anyone who didn't.

That is beginning to change. As the coast repositions itself as an international destination — with Gulf visitors already arriving in numbers and foreign tourists in the marketing pipeline — a mobility layer is finally being built to serve people who don't know anyone, don't have a driver, and expect to book a ride from an app.

The clearest sign is that the global car rental brands are finally treating Sahel as a season, and a very busy one at that. Avis Budget — the local franchise held by Ezz El Arab Group — runs a fleet of more than 2,000 cars offering what company executives refer to as “drive or be driven” services. In addition to the standard rentals, they offer chauffeur services that include Cairo–Sahel transfers, and point-to-point trips within the Coast. All their services can be booked through their new app. They also have physical locations in all major airports including Al Alamein, Borg El Arab and Alexandria airports.

Avis Budget’s menu of cars starts from economy sedans and goes all the way up to the Lynk & Co, Mercedes SUVs, Aston Martins and everything in between. “The idea is to provide tailor-made mobility solutions,” Ahmed Ezz, Avis Budget head of strategy and growth tells EnterpriseAM. “This includes the very specific needs of seasonal tourists on the Coast, foreign and Egyptian.”

This year Avis Budget has gone straight to the source of demand in Sahel. They have resident promo-code partnerships with Sahel developers like SODIC and Hacienda White, Ezz tells us. Rentals run from roughly USD 17–20 a day for an economy Nissan up to USD 200–250 for a GLS priced dynamically by season, availability, and length of hire.

The chauffeur arm isn’t available on demand. It has to be booked three to four hours ahead, which according to Ezz guarantees quality. “We own all our cars, employ our drivers, track vehicles by GPS from a control room, and run quarterly driver refreshers [safety training].” That introduces a safety and quality layer that isn’t typically available with gray market providers and some rid-hailing services.

Sixt and London Cab, the two mobility businesses operated by Abu Ghali Motors, are also catering to Sahel demand but with a lighter physical footprint. Sixt’s nearest branch to Sahel is Alexandria Airport, but it works the coast through meet-and-greet points at Marina and Marassi and can deliver a car to your door for a fee, a service that Avis Budget also provides.

Sixt’s Sahel rental services can come with a driver at extra cost. Sixt's sister brand London Cab handles the point-to-point rides during the season which officially ends in September but may be extended if there is demand, a Sixt company representative tells us.

Beneath the rental and chauffeur driven tier represented by the international brands, on-demand is also available in Sahel with varying degrees of reliability and safety. Uber now operates through the summer but Sahel Uber cars serve Sahel only and won't run you back to Cairo.Vice versa is possible provided you are able to connect with a driver willing to make the 3-hour plus trip from Cairo.

Newest of all is JTNY, Egypt's first all-electric ride-hailing app. Licensed by the Ministry of Transport, the company launched in 2025 with a fleet of around 100 EVs, in-car cameras, and tiered Luxury, Business, and Eco options but it’s not cheap. Prices vary but they are at least double a comparable Uber ride.

The new mobility solutions in Sahel and Egypt in general may not yet match the seamlessness of renting a car in the US or Europe, but there’s been a big step forward. If you don’t want to drive yourself in Sahel, you will no longer be stranded or dependent on personal drivers. Some apps are still a bit glitchy and it may require calling a hotline and sending a few WhatsApp messages to get what you want but the direction is unmistakable: Sahel is acquiring the connective tissue of a real destination, one booking channel at a time.