China to finance most of construction of new business district in Cairo

Beijing. March 20. Silkroadnews - Chinese banks will provide 85 percent of the funding needed for the $3 billion skyscraper-studded portion of Egypt’s new capital, Bloomberg reports.
The construction in case will be carried out by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation.
According to Zhao Qiang, deputy director general of CSCEC Egypt, Egypt’s housing ministry will finance the remaining 15% of costs not covered by Chinese banks.
He also said, the corporation is negotiating with several local contractors, through did not give any details. Reportedly, the business area will include 20 skyscrapers and a 385-meter tower, which is expected to become the tallest in Africa.
Egypt will be granted a grace period of 36 months to 42 months until the construction is completed, before the repayment of the 10-year loan begins. Loan terms are still being discussed, and the interest rate is expected to be between 2% to 3%.
The new administrative capital is one of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s flagship mega-projects -- a venture aimed at creating from ground-up a state-of-art city to which government ministries and other services would be relocated, the publication reads.
The project was developed due to a series of significant changes Egypt has undertaken to revive the economy after the events of 2011 and the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Egypt’s military holds a 51 percent stake in the project, with the Housing Ministry carrying the remaining stake, the report says.