The company building Egypt’s New Administrative Capital has agreed with 20 Arab and foreign embassies to relocate there, an informed source told Al Manassa.
Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) reached agreements with ambassadors from Arab and foreign countries to move their embassy headquarters and ambassadors’ residences to the city. Countries include Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Switzerland, and Cameroon, the source said.
“The goal is to generate a big boost for the city in the coming period,” the source said, adding that the company is also in talks with 11 other ambassadors.
In June, the company received requests from 12 Arab and foreign countries to buy land to build embassy premises, company Chairperson Khaled Abbas told Al Manassa in earlier remarks. The city’s master plan allocates 1,500 feddans (6.3 million square meters) for a diplomatic district, to be sold in different plot sizes depending on each country’s needs.
The source, who asked not to be named, said the company agreed to allocate plots ranging from 2,500 to 5,000 square meters per embassy, including offices, housing for the ambassador, and accommodation for diplomats and mission staff.
The source said 70 ambassadors have visited to review security measures and advanced surveillance systems in the embassy district, and to assess its proximity to the government district and the presidential building to facilitate security and diplomatic coordination.
The district’s proximity to the New Administrative Capital International Airport and the city’s infrastructure, which enables the use of the latest communications and internet technologies, are among the incentives for relocating, the source said.
Land prices and a marketing push
In June, another source familiar with land sales at the company told Al Manassa that the land price per square meter in the diplomatic district rose to $800, up from $640 in 2023.
To counter a sales slowdown, the Housing Ministry in February launched a marketing campaign across various media outlets to promote a project in the central business district that includes luxury residential, administrative, and commercial units, and 20 residential towers built with Chinese financing that exceeded $3 billion.
The ownership structure of ACUD is 29% for the miltary’s National Service Projects Organization, a 22% in-kind stake for the Armed Forces Land Projects Agency and 49% for the New Urban Communities Authority.
The new capital includes the presidential palace, parliament, government headquarters, a diplomatic district, and an international airport. It also includes urban development zones estimated at about 460 square kilometers, with 25 residential districts, around 1.1 million housing units and 40,000 hotel rooms.
