Egypt-Saudi Company To Invest $245m In Housing Units

A housing development company owned by Egypt and Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it was increasing its capital by $245 million, a four-fold rise, to build houses in Egypt, in a further sign of support for the country from its key Gulf ally.

Egyptian state news agency MENA said Saudi Arabia would inject $124 million dollars into the Saudi Egyptian Construction Company (SECON), with Egypt contributing 100 feddans (103.8 acres) of land in three cities worth about the same amount.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab neighbours Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have given more than $20 billion to help Egypt since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last July following mass protests, leading to the election of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as president last month.

Saudi King Abdullah stopped in Cairo briefly last week to meet with Sisi in a symbolic visit that demonstrated the king’s strong support for the former army chief. The Gulf monarchy sees Cairo as a crucial partner against the rise of radical Sunni Islamism in the region.

According to MENA, Egyptian Housing Minister Mustafa Madbouly told reporters the investment would be used “to establish a large number of housing units to encourage initiatives to build medium-income housing units”, without providing specifics.

Arabtec Holding, Dubai’s largest-listed construction firm, agreed with the Egyptian army in March to build one million houses for lower-income households in one of the region’s biggest projects valued at $40 billion.