 Improving its overall infrastructure
In addition to these infrastructure mega-projects, Maher Abaza, the minister of electricity and energy, is overseeing the government’s upgrading of new power generation plants throughout Egypt under the BOOT- build, own, operate, transfer - arrangements. "The government will no longer build and operate plants," says Maher Abaza. In the first phase, the government awarded contracts to Bechtel consortium to build a 650 megawatt power station at Sidi Krier. Two more are under study - one in East Port Said on the Mediterranean, and the other in the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea.
| Typically a lease is offered for 20 years but can be renewed up to 99 years. Abaza says in addition the government is preparing to offer the government electric utility to investors through the privatization program. First the electrical generation facilities, transmission lines throughout the country will be divided into seven regional electric companies. Then, the government will begin privatization by offering 10 to 20 % of one of them the Greater Cairo Electricity Co., to investors through the stock exchange.
Transportation routes in Cairo are notoriously clogged with traffic, but one miracle of modern Cairo is the metro, which has 32 stops running along a single line all along the Nile. The metro stretches from Helwan, home to Egypt’s cement industry; to Al Marg. More stations are being built. Currently under construction is a link from central Cairo to the northern tip of Zamalek island, and into the neighborhood of Mohandseen. Improving Egypt’s road network is also underway. The new Pyramids road recently opened, cutting in half the time for the trip from central Cairo to the Gizah Pyramids. |
EGYPT
