Qatari Diar, the real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is set to partner on a $29.7 billion urban development on Egypt’s North Coast. The deal is set to be under a land sale scheme, an informed source told Al Manassa.
On October 23, a source familiar with Arab investments at Egypt’s Cabinet told Al Manassa that the government is preparing to announce Qatari Diar’s tourism-focused investments in the Alam Al-Roum area later this month.
According to Reuters, the agreement is penned with Egypt’s New Urban Communities Authority, and includes a $3.5 billion payment for the project’s land, alongside $26.2 billion in-kind investments to develop the site, which spans an estimated 4,900 feddans.
In April, Egypt and Qatar issued a joint statement during President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s visit to Doha, pledging up to $7.5 billion in direct Qatari investments to be implemented in the next phase of the partnership.
Recent talks between Egyptian and Qatari officials focused on raising investment volume and amending the land acquisition clause from a usufruct agreement to an outright sale, the informed source revealed to Al Manassa on Wednesday.
Doha will remit $1.5 billion of the total funds before year-end, with the remaining balance due at the start of next year, he added. Diar will inject the estimated in-kind investments for project construction over a timeline of three to five years, or potentially longer. A dedicated Egyptian-Qatari entity will also be formed to manage the development, the source explained to Al Manassa.(*)
The Qatari deal follows a series of large-scale Gulf-backed real estate projects in Egypt. In February 2024, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced a $35 billion agreement with a UAE company to develop Ras al-Hikma, a deal described as the largest foreign direct investment in Egypt’s history.
Another notable development is a project by Emaar Misr and Saudi Arabia's Golden Coast in the Red Sea resort area of Somabay, with an investment value of 900 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $18.5 billion).
