Egyptian billionaires Nassef Sawiris, Hassan Allam to set up four supply commodities warehouses
The Egyptian government has chosen billionaire businessman Nassef Sawiris’ Orascom Construction Plc and Hassan Allam’s construction company as part of a three-company collaboration to create, design, supply and finance four strategic warehouses for supply commodities.
According to Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, the project will be developed at a cost of EGP3.2 billion ($203.7 million) by a team of professionals from Orascom Construction, Hassan Allam Holding and Samcrete Holding, a fully integrated engineering, construction and development institute.
According to a report by Al-Ahram, the warehouses will be built under a public-private-partnership (PPP) model and will span 10 acres, with a storage capacity of 75,000 units for each facility.
Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait revealed that the assignment’s contracts have been presented to the Internal Trade Development Authority, as well as investors, for assessment before being sent to the Council of State for legal review and approval.
He said the recent move is in line with the current administration’s directions to develop partnerships with the private sector and increase its contribution to the country’s GDP, and that a number of contracts would be signed under the PPP system in the coming weeks.
“These efforts aim to boost the sustainable and inclusive development in Egypt, improve the standard of living, uplift the quality of services extended to the citizens, increase economic growth rates, and create more jobs,” he said. Other projects will be executed under the PPP system in the field of waste management to utilize waste in generating electricity, Maait added.
The move comes nearly a week after Orascom Construction, a Nassef Sawiris-linked construction firm, stated that it is in negotiations with the UAE’s Metito Holdings Limited and Norway’s Scatec ASA to develop a $1.5-billion renewables-powered desalination facility.
The strategic effort comes in the aftermath of a water crisis that has left Egypt and other Middle Eastern and North African countries grappling to handle environmental challenges related to water supply and agricultural production.
In recent times, Intech, an operational subsidiary of Allam’s construction company, has signed a multimillion-dollar contract to build a wastewater treatment facility in Mallawi, a city in Egypt’s Minya governorate.
The new facilities will be developed as part of the Egyptian government’s “Hayah Karima” effort for a “decent living,” with the main objective of boosting access to essential services such as health, education, water and sanitation in some of the poorest areas.