Egypt is preparing four more strategic warehouses for private-sector PPPs as its first three near full operation

Egypt is lining up four more strategic warehouses for private investors. The government is preparing a second phase of four warehouses to offer under public-private partnerships, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. Meanwhile, the first three, in Fayoum, Suez, and Luxor, are moving toward full operation. The state wants the extra space to stock wheat and other staples for longer and to cushion the import bill when global prices jump. It would also let the market absorb more local produce at harvest, the official says.

The first three are close, but behind schedule. Fayoum finished construction in April 2026 and is in trial operations, according to the official. Suez and Luxor are 85% complete, according to the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), which had expected them to be done in September and October. The plan is to finish testing and fit-out before year-end, then move all three to full commercial operation, the official says. When the Supply Ministry signed the first contracts in 2022, it expected construction to take 20-30 months.

Private builders will run the warehouses for 35 years

Each site was built and will be operated by a major Egyptian contractor. Most of the space is for dry goods (95%), with 4.5% chilled and 0.5% frozen. The sites range from about 9.1 feddans in Fayoum to 13.3 feddans in Suez. Each warehouse holds 75k pallets, 225k across the three, and serves a cluster of governorates, according to ITDA:

• Fayoum (Orascom Construction): Fayoum, Beni Suef, and Minya.
• Suez (Samcrete): Port Said, Suez, Ismailia, Sharqia, North Sinai, and South Sinai.
• Luxor (Hassan Allam): Luxor, Aswan, and the Red Sea.

The model has shifted toward long-term private operation. In 2022, then-ITDA chairman Ibrahim Ashmawy told us the private partners would build, operate, manage, and maintain the warehouses, “which the government will simply buy.” ITDA now lists a 35-year operating term for each project, and it isn’t clear whether a state buyout is still in the contracts. The approach fits Egypt’s State Ownership Policy, which opens more of the economy to private investors while keeping the state able to step into strategic food markets, the official says.

The first batch cost more than double the original budget

Each warehouse now costs more than double the EGP 1 bn cap set when the first contracts were signed in 2022. The three cost a combined EGP 6.64 bn (c. USD 124 mn), according to ITDA: EGP 2.24 bn for Fayoum, EGP 2.3 bn for Luxor, and EGP 2.1 bn for Suez. Fayoum is up about 70% from the EGP 1.3 bn on its 2023 license, and Luxor is up about 50% from EGP 1.5 bn in 2024, by our math. Suez, licensed at EGP 1.98 bn in January 2025, has barely changed.

REMEMBER- The plan dates back to 2022: The ministry planned seven strategic warehouses nationwide and said the first batch would stretch reserves of basic goods to nine months from six. National storage capacity then stood at 5.4 mn tons across 44 silos and other units. The original contracts also covered a Sharqia warehouse, which isn’t part of the current phase. Sharqia is now served by Suez.