Egypt's Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) has said that it intends to offer about 5,000 feddan in the first phase of New Administrative Capital (NAC) by September after it halted land offering until the government moved to the New Capital, according to Chairperson and Managing Director Khaled Abbas. Abbas said that the decision came to meet the great demand from investors after the government moved to the NAC, pointing out that most investors asked for mixed-use land plots to establish universities, schools, and commercial and administrative facilities. He added that 90% of these plots are allocated for service facilities. The NAC has now seven universities, six of which are operational, in addition to 30 schools, of which 12 are ready. Facilities were provided to investors in light of challenges currently facing the market, as projects construction period was extended, and there are arrears in payment for some companies, consequently installment period was completed and the arrears were rescheduled, he noted. These measures are taken after a strong study of the local market and continuous communication with developers. Abbas disclosed that there were 500 projects developed by about 80 companies in the NAC, and some companies acquired more than one plot of land. ACUD conducts periodic follow-up on projects and flexible mechanisms are provided to help developers overcome market challenges. "Additionally, 50 medium-sized embassies have been built, and a school is nearing completion, as a largest English school has been contracted to operate the school within the embassy's district in the 2024 academic year. Besides, there are embassies that have bought plots of land and will construct their headquarters," Abbas said. "Construction works are underway on a building for international organizations such as the United Nations and UNESCO." He pointed out that 114 entities opened their doors in the NAC, including about 30 ministries and about 63 affiliated entities, and the rest are independent entities. The rest of ministries (one or two) have not moved yet as they have special requirements. Abbas announced that the company that will design the second phase of the New Capital will be announced by mid-September. "It is expected that we will start developing infrastructure for the second phase in the first or second quarter of next year. We aim to build multi-storey garages and housing projects." He revealed that the company is currently planning for an industrial area in the second phase of the city, 50 km away from Sokhna Port. He pointed out that the company is studying offering part of its shares on the Egyptian Exchange. It will take the decision within four months. There is currently a plan to hold celebrations, events, and cultural and entertainment activities in the NAC so that people can see the size of achievements in the city. Last week, ACUD announced achieving EGP 19.8bn in profit before tax, with EGP 16.1bn worth of net profits. The company paid EGP 3.7bn in taxes in 2022, compared to EGP 657m in 2021, an increase of EGP 3bn, excluding the value-added tax, which amounted to EGP 1.4bn and dividends reached EGP 340m, bringing the total amount to EGP 5.5bn.
