Led by Egyptian magnate Abdallah Sallam, MNHD expects to award contracts worth $154 million this year

Omokolade Ajayi -

Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD), a leading real estate development firm led by Egyptian businessman Abdallah Sallam, has announced plans to award contracts worth EGP3 billion ($154 million) by the end of the current fiscal year in 2022.

The news comes just a few days after MNHD signed an agreement with Al-Hazek Construction, a subsidiary of Al-Hazek Group, to implement construction work worth EGP1.50 billion ($77.2 million).

The move, which will see the real estate developer collaborate with a number of contractors for construction work on the Taj City project, aligns with its plans to expand its operations and meet the demand for real estate properties in Egypt despite disruptions in its operating environment.

One of the region’s leading property developers, MNHD was founded in 1959 as a public real estate company with the goal of developing 40 million square meters of land in Nasr City, a 3-million-person city.

Sallam, a well-known Egyptian businessman and the founder of MINKA Development, MNHD’s newest wholly owned acquired subsidiary, owns a total of 5 percent of the company.

As of press time, MNHD shares were trading at EGP2.72 per share, giving the real estate firm a valuation of EGP5.71 billion ($293 million), while Sallam’s five-percent stake is presently valued at EGP285.5 million ($14.65 million).

MNHD’s portfolio includes Taj City, a mixed-use development project on 3.7 million square meters of land in Cairo’s Eastern Suburbs, and Sarai, a 5.5-million-square-meter project near the New Administrative Capital.

As part of the move to increase value, the real estate developer announced that it will dedicate 20 percent of the remaining unplanned area, or 5 million square meters, to non-residential activities such as shopping malls, international schools, and hospitals, among others.

Its decision to award contracts worth EGP3 billion ($154 million) to contractors fits perfectly with the group’s recent strategy to maximize its assets, as it continues to assess optimal sales volume as well as the land areas required to generate it.