Egypt Moves Its Capital Away from the Chaos of Cairo

On Wednesday (3/11), according to a spokesman, the president of Egypt ordered his administration to start moving its offices next month to a sprawling new administrative capital in the desert outside Cairo. The spokesman also confirmed that the process of moving the capital would be accompanied by a probationary period of six months starting December 1.

The new administrative capital is located on a swath of desert equal to the size of Singapore, 45 km (28 miles) to the east of Cairo. It is designed to operate via smart technology on a virgin land, away from the clutter and chaos of Cairo.

The $45 billion city is the biggest mega project that President el-Sissi has launched since taking over the office in 2014. It is built on a 170,000-acres land which is nearly twice the size of Cairo. It is planned to house 6.5 million people.

According to Africa News, the new city will house the presidency, cabinet, parliament and ministries. The city is expected to have a 21-mile-long public park, an airport, an opera house, a sport complex and 20 skyscrapers, including Africa’s highest tower (345 meters).

The government argues that a new capital city is needed to absorb Cairo’s rapidly growing population, which will double to 40 million residents by 2050. The president of Egypt has also claimed that the new capital and other projects ranging from new roads and housing complexes to the expansion of the Suez Canal attract investors and create jobs for more than 100 million people in the country.