A decade in and the government is seeking to attract new investors to the Toshka project, reports Niveen Wahish Ever heard of Toshka? If not you must have been living on another planet. It seems only yesterday that the project was dominating headlines. With a price tag of LE5 billion the Toshka project, 200km south of Aswan, was going to act as the trigger for the development of a new community. Courtesy of a four-branched, 50km canal starting on the northern shores of Lake Nasser 540,000 feddans of desert were to be brought under cultivation. And on the heels of this agricultural development would come other industries -- food processing, tourism -- as the desert well and truly bloomed. Now Toshka is rarely spoken of, leaving many with the impression that the whole project was nothing but a white elephant, though one with a very hefty price tag round its neck. This is precisely the impression the government is now keen to alter. The Ministry of Investment this week invited the Egyptian-European Council (EEC) to visit the project site with a delegation including the ambassadors of European Union member states, the ambassador of the European Commission, Klaus Ebermann, and the head of the EEC, businessman Ibrahim Kamel. Two of the canal's four branches are now in operation, the third is near completion while work has yet to begin on the fourth. Two investors are currently active in the area. The first, Al-Walid Bin Talal, acquired 100,000 feddans at the start of the project. Yet despite the fact that the first branch canal exclusively serves the Saudi investor's land only 600 feddans are currently being cultivated, and then only experimentally. The Trade Holding Company's (THC) operation, conducted through its subsidiary the South Valley Company, is more extensive. Abdel-Hadi Fahmi, chairman of THC, explained that so far 7,000 feddans have been successfully cultivated with crops ranging from wheat and cabbages to hibiscus, mangoes and grapes. A further 23,000 feddans are now ready for cultivation and await only the arrival of electricity to the area. While 7,000 feddans may not seem much, and the colours of the desert still dominate the horizon, Ibrahim Kamel was still impressed. "When I came here eight years ago there was nothing but sand," he said. "Now, after all the effort and money spent on the project, investing here is worth considering." Kamel estimates that it would cost around LE20,000 to prepare each feddan for cultivation. This is considerably cheaper than buying land in the New Valley, where prices range from LE60,000 to LE100,000 per feddan. Moreover, he said, "this is virgin, clean land, much better than that of the valley." That simple fact -- that it has never before been cultivated -- makes the land ideal for premium, organic crops, a fast growing sector of the European market. Kamel divulged that he was considering the possibility of setting up an operation to extract organic essences and flavours, for which there is growing demand, and building an onsite distillation unit to extract the finished product. Such onsite processing is also being considered by the THC which Fahmi said is building an LE25 million cooling and packaging complex for fruit and vegetable produce. They are also exploring the possibilities of offering a comprehensive service to investors seeking to outsource hands-on cultivation of their land, and might also consider leasing land the company has already prepared for cultivation. "This is a viable and interesting project. By a stroke of luck it has found a niche in the area of organic agriculture," said Klaus Ebermann, EC ambassador to Egypt. "If the gaps that exist -- such as packaging and cooling facilities -- can now be filled, and producers move upstream in the value chain of processed food stuff, then I think there is every chance of success in the European market." While Ebermann would encourage potential investors to take a look for themselves, there are a number of costs they will have to take into account before reaching a decision. Pumping stations to raise the water to their land will have to be built, along with irrigation systems, housing and services for employees. Accessibility to the area and the availability of communications will also impact on any final decision and both, says Kamel, are in need of improvement.
