In the past, progress in Egypt’s logistics sector had been measured on paper by the length of roads built and the tons of concrete used, from the extension of the Suez Canal and its accompanying infrastructure to a national road project spanning the country. This state-heavy and expensive push was based on the notion that if you build it, they will come.

But now the state is starting to focus on stage two of the plan — utilization and monetization, according to the second edition of the National Narrative for Comprehensive Development (pdf), which lays out the state’s goals for 2030.

No piece of infrastructure is an island

Central to the state’s plan to develop the country’s agricultural and industrial sectors are seven logistics corridors spanning the country, serving to connect places of production with ports and dry ports by rail or road. Each of the corridors addresses existing problems, like the high-speed rail link connecting Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to the Mediterranean at Alamein and Matrouh, which bypasses traditional maritime bottlenecks and offers a rapid alternative for high-value freight.

By lowering time-to-market and entry costs, the push is about supporting sectors along the routes, not collecting transit tolls. There will also be a network of 33 dry ports and logistics zones in and around the routes to facilitate the movement of goods and even move some of the customs clearance requirements away from maritime entry points into the country.

Planes, trains, and automobiles — and ships too

To support these corridors, Egypt is aggressively scaling its port capacity. The plan sets a 2030 target of increasing seaport capacity to 400 mn tons. East Port Said Port stands out as a key part of maritime infrastructure, with a planned 5 mn TEU capacity by the end of the decade, alongside Sokhna Port at the other end of the canal, with a targeted 2.5 mn TEUs.

The private sector is ready to begin boarding

Looking ahead, the focus isn’t just on what infrastructure exists, but on who runs it. The narrative highlights a plan to let the private sector manage and operate the country’s airports, with its 11-airport pilot project taking off at Hurghada International Airport — excuse the pun.

Tapping the private sector to manage airports is intended to both create fresh revenue and improve service quality. For the logistics industry in particular, this could — and should — mean increased air freight efficiency and specialized cargo handling.

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