Egyptian billionaire Yasseen Mansour and multimillionaire industrialist Ahmed El-Sewedy have donated €6 million ($5.9 million) to build monorail stations in Egypt as part of an effort to improve the country’s transportation infrastructure and accelerate industrialization in Cairo, Egypt’s capital city.
The donation was confirmed by Egypt’s Transport Minister Kamel El-Wazi, amid speculation that the Transport Ministry will name some of the city’s monorail stations after prominent businessmen in exchange for funding to cover construction costs.
El-Wazir added that Mansour, a co-owner of Mansour Group and the chairman of Palm Hills Developments, donated funds to build two stations in 6 October city.
El-Sewedy, president and CEO of El-Sewedy Electric Company, also donated funds to build two stations. One will be named after his company and the other after a university that he owns.
The news comes as Egypt seeks to secure financing for the high-speed electric train.
El-Wazir pointed out that the monorail and light rail transit systems are expensive, and the government cannot rely on ticket sales to meet the expenditures.
Egypt’s first monorail, worth $4.5 billion, will be finished by 2023, with two lines reaching 100 kilometers and transporting 45,000 passengers per hour between West and East Cairo.
The investment comes as the North African country grapples with rising food and energy prices, as well as the depreciation of the Egyptian pound. These disruptions have been compounded by the war in Ukraine, which has damaged the global food and oil supply.
