Egypt plans to launch a package of residential and hotel projects in the southern Red Sea Governorate in partnership with private investors, aiming to attract about $1 billion in the first phase, an informed source at the Ministry of Housing told Al Manassa.
The move comes as part of a government push to expand tourism and real estate investments in the Red Sea, and nearly seven months after the UAE-based Emaar and Saudi Arabia’s Golden Coast signed a contract to develop 10 million square meters of land for the Somabay project, with expected investments of nearly 900 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately $17 billion), in a location highly sensitive to regional tensions.
That the plan includes offering nine or 10 plots of land in the southern Red Sea to local and Arab investors starting in the second half of this year, the official said. The investment activity for each plot will be predetermined in the tender brochure.
The ministry may take equity stakes in selected first‑phase projects it views as high‑return opportunities, while deferring the second‑phase land offering until the initial developments are complete to benefit from expected gains in land value, the official said.
Activities in the second phase will be shaped by investor demand and the region’s requirements for tourism, healthcare, sports, and service facilities. At that stage, the ministry’s role will be limited to master planning, technical preparation, and providing infrastructure.
In February 2024, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the signing of a major real estate investment deal with the UAE’s ADQ sovereign fund to develop the Ras El Hekma project, valued at $35 billion, marking one of the largest foreign direct investment deals in the country’s history.
Madbouly later witnessed the signing of another investment agreement between the New Urban Communities Authority and Qatari Diar to develop an urban project in the Samla and Alam Al-Roum areas of the North Coast, with estimated investments of $29.7 billion, making it the second-largest foreign deal after Ras El Hekma.
