Replacement for Cairo Egypt's new capital - a success like Dubai or a flop?

Christian Thumshirn

2.2.2025

President as-Sisi has already ordered the government to move. Now the Egyptian elite is to follow suit. Those who cannot afford the new capital will remain in Cairo and face an uncertain future.

No time? blue News summarizes for you

  • Since 2014, Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi has been building a new capital in the desert 50 kilometers east of Cairo.
  • The capital does not yet have an official name, it is simply referred to as The New Administrative Capital (NAC).
  • It is to be twice the size of Cairo and its construction is estimated to cost up to 60 billion Swiss francs.
  • The capital city project is controversial for a variety of reasons.
  • One of the main criticisms is that only the Egyptian elite will be able to afford to live in the new city.
  • In the video, blue News explains what the new metropolis looks like and why it has so many critics.

50 kilometers east of the Egyptian capital Cairo, a new city is being built. Not just any city, but the new capital of the Nile state, which is set to replace the old capital Cairo. It is a metropolis of superlatives:

Artificial Nile in a mega park

The tallest tower in Africa and the largest cathedral in the Middle East have already been completed, and most of Egypt's government has moved into its new state buildings. In the heart of the mega-city, an artificial Nile flows through a park area that is seven times larger than New York's Central Park.

Construction of the New Administrative Capital began in 2016 and is being carried out in several phases. According to Khaled Abbas, Chairman of the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD), the company managing the project, the first construction phase will be completed in 2024.

Only 10,000 of 8 million inhabitants

Now the city is slowly coming to life. By the end of 2024, 10,000 people should already be living in the new capital.

If President Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi has his way, eight million people will one day move from Cairo to the new capital: to chic residential areas. The problem is that real estate prices are unaffordable for the majority of Egyptians. Only the elite can afford the pompous capital. Rumor has it that they see the new Cairo as a kind of exclusive "gated community".

Just one of many reasons why critics are skeptical about the mega project. In this video, blue News shows you why Egypt's multi-billion euro project could still fail, what Cairo will become and what Cairo residents think of the new capital.


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