Libya will bankroll most of a 116 billion Egyptian pounds (US$20 billion) real estate project launched jointly with Egypt's housing ministry to offer homes for millions of young Egyptians, an official said on Wednesday. Libya would provide 78 percent of the capital for the 5,600 acre al-Fatih city on the outskirts of Cairo to be built over the next twenty years, while Egypt will pay the rest, said Abdel-Hamid Shaer, media adviser at the Housing Ministry. "Our Libyan brothers have proposed to build this project over six phases over the course of the next twenty years to house our young," Shaer said. "The project will also help the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) in developing land." The Libyan Company for Investments showed NUCA, a housing ministry body, a proposal for the city, which will include residential and commercial units as well as a planned tropical garden and theme park. A 2004-2008 property boom that provided homes for the wealthy elite helped Egypt weather a global downturn. Analysts say developers need to switch to middle class property to keep revenue flowing. The government is under pressure to provide housing for young people in Egypt, where lacking a home is seen as a major obstacle to marriage. (US$1=5.795 Egyptian pounds)
