PROJECT PROFILE- The EGP 300 bn New Delta reclamation project: In a bid to tackle water scarcity, shore up food supply, and develop communities that are not in close proximity to the Nile, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi kick started development on the New Delta reclamation project in March 2021. The project is meant to reclaim over 1 mn feddans of desert land west of the Nile Delta, and could be increased in later phases of the project. “The New Delta project is the future of Egypt,” El Sisi said in a statement, emphasizing the importance of the megaproject. The New Delta Project, which — along with infrastructure works — will eventually be built on a total area of 2.2 mn feddans, aims to add 15% to the country’s cultivated lands, using a mix of treated agriculture drainage, groundwater, and surface water.

The financials: The project will cost EGP 300 bn, up from an initial cost of EGP 160 bn when the project was announced back in 2021, thanks in large part to the devaluation of the EGP, sources with knowledge of the matter Enterprise. Each feddan costs EGP 200k to reclaim, bringing total reclamation costs to EGP 200 bn, Agriculture Minister El Sayed El Quseir said in a televised interview (watch, runtime: 1:50). The remaining EGP 100 bn will likely go towards infrastructure for the project.

The project will consist of two parts: There’s the reclamation along the Rod Al Farag-Dabaa highway — dubbed Mostaqbal Misr — with the other part of the project located to the west, along the south Dabaa axis.

Mostaqbal Misr: Located a30-minute drive away from Sixth of October City, this part of the project is set to reclaim over 500k feddans, at cost of EGP 8 bn in its first phase, according to the State Information Service (SIS). The allocated area spans 120k sqm along the Rod El Farag-Dabaa highway — a location close to ports and markets, with access to labor from the villages covered in the project. The project aims to provide over 10k direct jobs and over 350k indirect jobs, according to an Ittihadiya statement. By 2024, an additional 200k feddans will be reclaimed in the second phase, which will up the total amount of land reclaimed under Mostaqbal Misr to 750k feddans, sources in the project told us.

A lot has already been done (and spent) on this stage of the project: Out of the allocated 500k feddans in the first phase, some 350k feddans were reclaimed as of early 2023 at a cost of about EGP 70 bn.

A whole lot of infrastructure is coming: The project consists of new roads, drilling wells, two power plants generating 350 MW of electricity, and 200k sqm of transmission lines, according to the SIS statement. It will also include building warehouses, agricultural facilities, storing and packaging stages, sieving stations, testing labs, and administrative and residential units.

The second part of the project will be built on 500k feddans, south of the Dabaa axis. The location has access to a main highway and port grids, and borders the governorates of Giza, Beheira, and Matrouh.

Mixture of treated Agri. drainage and groundwater: Given that Egypt’s groundwater reserves reach 2.45 bn cubic meters annually, the irrigation ministry decided to mix agriculture drainage treated at the Hammam station in the Matrouh governorate, with the Delta groundwater to sustain its reserves and protect them from depleting due to overuse. The Hammam treatment station is currently under construction, and is expected to treat 7.5 mn cubic meters of water daily to be transmitted to the southern Dabaa axis. The designated 500k feddans in the Mostaqbal Misr area will be irrigated through a 41k sqm surface water and treated agricultural drainage waterway, with 10 mn cubic meters daily capacity.

The Hammam treatment plant will cost the government EGP 60 bn and its development is around 46% completed as of January. Pumping stations are about 35% completed, and the artificial river’s waterways are about 25% completed, according to an Irrigation Ministry statement.

An artificial “river” will be constructed to feed the project: The New Delta project will also see the construction of 174k sqm of waterways along the Dabaa axis that includes 22k sqm of water transmission pipes running underground, 60k sqm of rehabilitated drainage, and the remaining 92k sqm to be an open waterway, delivering irrigation water to the Dabaa axis, Irrigation Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Ghanem told Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 1:03). It includes building 12 pumping stations along this so-called artificial river as well. The river will use agricultural drainage water in the west Delta region, which will then be transmitted to the Hammam treatment plant, Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam explained in statementsearlier this month.

What are we hoping to grow: Studies and soil tests proved that over 90% of the designated lands are suitable for strategic crops that we mostly import, such as wheat, corn, potatoes, soy beans, grains, vegetables, and various fruits, according to the country’s Project Maps profile. Also, the targeted 1 bn feddans surplus production will be geared towards exports to elevate the country’s FX crunch and lessen our imports bill.

Private sector involvement in building the project…: There are already over 35 private companies involved in the New Delta reclamation through lease agreements, partnerships, or usufructs, sources in the know told us. These companies execute over 90% of the associated infrastructure construction, pavement, drillings, pipe coating, and reclamation, sources said without revealing the names of the companies.

…And farming the reclaimed land: The government is planning to offer private players land in the reclamation project to operate, cultivating the land and selling produce, sources tell us. No timeframe was given on when these lands will be tendered.

Your top infrastructure stories for the week:

• Desalination tenders: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation will advise the Sovereign Fund of Egypt on how to implement PPPs for four proposed desalination plants.
• NUCA’s new bidding system launches: Four industrial developers have been awardedmore than 1.8k feddans of land in New October City through the New Urban Communities Authority’s (NUCA) new online bidding system.
• More green hydrogen agreements in the works? Eight industry players have expressed interest in setting up green hydrogen plants in Egypt, and MoUs are soon expected to be signed.