Egypt unveils ‘Jirian': Ambitious new desert city with artificial Nile channel promises three million homes, jobs boom
The new city, named Jirian meaning 'Flow' in Arabic, is part of Egypt's Nile Delta scheme, a massive agricultural initiative aiming to reclaim about 2.5 million acres west of the original Nile Delta.
The ambitious agricultural project, which started in 2021, seeks to boost production of strategic crops such as wheat and corn while reducing the North African country's food import bill.
The project is the latest in a string of megaprojects launched by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in recent years, including a new administrative capital east of Cairo.
While officials say these projects are key to Egypt's long-term growth, they have also contributed to the country's soaring foreign debt, which quadrupled since 2015 to reach US$155.2 billion (RM660 billion) by late 2024.
The country has also received billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to ensure its financial stability, with the EU pledging billions more last month.
At a launch event on Sunday, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli called the Jirian project 'an urban and development revolution'.
He added that it would create 250,000 jobs and serve as the cornerstone of a wider development zone equivalent in size to four to five governorates.
'We are talking about full-spectrum development,' he told reporters, describing a sprawling urban zone that will include industry, logistics hubs and homes for 'between 2.5 and 3 million families'.
The government did not disclose the total cost of the project which is being developed in partnership with three major Egyptian real estate firms.
The new Nile Delta project comes at a time when Egypt is already under pressure to secure its water future.
With 97 per cent of its fresh water sourced from the Nile, the country has been locked in a years-long dispute with Addis Ababa over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo fears could reduce downstream water flows.
Developers said that a canal connected to the Nile will run through the heart of the 1,680-acre Jirian city, occupying a fifth of its total area and serving both as a scenic centrepiece and an irrigation source for surrounding farmland.
The project will feature luxury residences, 80-storey skyscrapers, international universities and hospitals, an eco-friendly hotel, commercial zones as well as a cultural and media district, they added.
It will also lie just minutes away from the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is due to fully open in July, the Giza Pyramids and nearby Sphinx international airport.
Construction began five months ago and is expected to be completed within five years, according to the project's developers. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
IMF praises Sri Lanka's economic rebound, urges continued reforms
COLOMBO, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The Sri Lankan authorities' economic reform program is yielding commendable outcomes with real GDP growing by 4.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, outperforming expectations, Evan Papageorgiou, mission chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Sri Lanka, said on Friday. He said headline inflation was at -1.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2025 and is gradually returning to target. Gross international reserves stood at 6 billion U.S. dollars at the end of June, while tax revenue collection continued improving, supported by strong performance in VAT and taxes on imported motor vehicles. He said that while the economic outlook is positive, downside risks have increased on the back of potentially high tariffs on Sri Lanka's exports, persistent trade policy uncertainty, and heightened geopolitical tensions. He said that maintaining macroeconomic stability requires sustained efforts to raise fiscal revenues. To continue meeting the medium-term primary balance objective of 2.3 percent of GDP, the 2026 budget should be underpinned by strong revenue measures and appropriate spending allocations, consistent with program parameters.
New Straits Times
15 hours ago
- New Straits Times
IMF reaches deal with Argentina to unlock US$2 billion tranche
WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday announced a deal with the Argentine government as part of the first review of a US$20 billion loan programme, paving the way for a US$2 billion disbursement. This second loan tranche is still subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, which is due to meet by the end of the month. It would bring the total amount available to Argentina under the programme announced in April to around US$14 billion. "The programme has had a strong start, underpinned by the continued implementation of tight macroeconomic policies, including a strong fiscal anchor and a tight monetary stance," the IMF said in a statement. It highlighted an exchange rate managed at expected levels and an easing of inflation, which reached 39.40 per cent year-on-year at the end of June, compared with 117.80 per cent at the end of 2024. The IMF noted continuing economic growth and a decline in poverty rates, which had topped 50 per cent at one point before falling back to 38.10 per cent at the end of 2024, around the level before budget-slashing libertarian Javier Milei became president. The Washington-based fund also cited Argentina's return to international financial markets after Moody's upgraded its rating earlier this month, from Caa3 to Caa1, although it remains in the speculative category. The IMF loan was part of a US$42 billion bailout that also included funding from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Milei was elected in December 2023 on the promise of reviving the South American country's crisis-hit economy, which achieved its first budget surplus in 14 years in 2024 thanks to austerity measures and sweeping public sector cuts. Argentina, which has a track record of economic crises and hyperinflation, is the IMF's biggest debtor, ahead even of war-torn Ukraine. It owes the IMF US$44 billion under a 2018 loan agreement — the lender's biggest ever — on which it has since renegotiated the repayment terms.
The Star
19 hours ago
- The Star
IMF reaches staff-level agreement for $2 billion disbursement to Argentina
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 24, 2024. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it has reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of its extended fund facility with Argentina, potentially unlocking about $2 billion for the economically embattled Latin American nation. The executive board meeting for the review, part of Argentina's $20 billion loan program with the lender, is expected to take place later this month, the IMF said in a statement. The IMF said the program had started off strongly "despite a more challenging external backdrop," with Argentina's inflation and poverty coming down while growth has ticked up. "Notably, Argentina has re-accessed international capital markets earlier than anticipated," the IMF added. The lender said that agreements had been reached with Argentina on safeguarding its fiscal anchor, building up reserves and making the drop in inflation last. (Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal and Kylie Madry; Editing by Leslie Adler and Nia Williams)
