Latest news with #MustafaMadbouli
Al-Ahram Weekly
3 days ago
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
No stone left unturned in the search for gas - Economy - Al-Ahram Weekly
Second only to developments in the Iran-Israel conflict, reports on government efforts to secure gas supplies and prevent load shedding now dominate both airtime and print space in the Egyptian media. The government is moving on parallel paths, starting with signing gas import agreements, accelerating the connection of new regasification units to the national grid, depending more on fuel oil to operate power plants, and offering new areas for exploration. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources awarded seven new exploration and production blocks to investors earlier this week. A statement by the ministry noted that out of these blocks, at least 17 new oil and gas wells should show yields soon. Meanwhile, the new Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRU), huge vessels that dock in ports receiving liquified natural gas (LNG) shipments and convert them into the gaseous state that can be easily pumped into pipelines connected to the national grid, were largely in the limelight. Both the prime minister and the minister of petroleum visited the Ain Sokhna Port to observe the readiness of the infrastructure for the connection of the second and third FSRU. Currently, Egypt has one operational FSRU, Hoegh Galleon, at the Red Sea port of Ain Sokhna, with two more expected to start working in July and a fourth to reach the country in August. 'Bringing the second and third regasification vessels into operation by the first week of July will secure our needs if gas supplies from the networks of neighbouring countries are cut off,' said Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli at the cabinet's weekly press conference. The two new units are Energos Eskimo, obtained from Jordan earlier this month, and the German-built Energos Power. Egypt had contracted for eight LNG shipments to be offloaded, regasified, and pumped into the national grid in June, provided that a second regasification unit was up and working. However, there was a delay in connecting the new FSRU unit, and because the shipments had already maxed out the capacity of the Hoegh Galleon, the only currently working FSRU, tankers are queuing in Ain Sokhna waiting to offload their cargoes, according to the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). The problem of delays would have been circumvented had the Energos Eskimo been in its original place in Aqaba. In December 2024, the American company that owns the Energos Eskimo agreed with the Egyptian authorities that the unit would be transferred to Egyptian waters, on the condition that Egypt provided Jordan with the needed gas through the Arab Pipeline. Under the deal, Jordan, which has a gas supply gap and is also dependent on Israeli gas exports, had the right to share the use of the Energos Eskimo until 2026, with around 350 million cubic feet of gas per day exported to Jordan and representing a significant share of the vessel's regasification capacity. The MEES explained that Egypt last year imported four gas cargoes between April and June through the Energos Eskimo while it was at Aqaba, but 'it is now marooned and waiting to be installed to Egypt's grid.' The ship was transferred from Aqaba to Ain Sokhna at the start of this month. Due to disruptions in Israeli gas supplies, Egypt is supplying Jordan with only 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to help it operate its power plants. It is doubling its electricity exports to Jordan. The two countries have a long-standing electricity exchange agreement, which was renewed for 2025. Another track that the government has been following is increasing its purchases of fuel oil that can be used instead of gas in operating the facilities of some industries. According to Reuters, Egypt is seeking approximately 900,000 tons of fuel oil for supply in August through its latest supply tender. The country consumes approximately 40,000 tons of fuel oil per day for power generation, according to the news agency. The current situation is a far cry from how things were between 2019 and 2022, when Egypt was a net gas exporter thanks to the production of the giant gas field Zohr. However, a slowdown in production in the Field due to technical issues, as well as foreign explorers' reluctance to increase production with their dues accumulating, cast its shadow on the country's production, and it started to import gas from Israel. Egypt's gas production came below the four billion cubic feet per day threshold in recent months, its lowest in almost a decade. Gas represents 80 per cent of the fuel mix used to generate power in Egypt. Imports from Israel were stable until the recent escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran. Egypt's gas imports from Israel stopped on 13 June, with the Leviathan and Karish fields suspending production as soon as the first Iranian blows struck Israeli targets. Egypt used to receive around one billion cubic feet per day of gas from Israel, accounting for up to 60 per cent of its total gas imports and around a fifth of its total consumption, according to the Joint Organisation for Data Initiative (JODI), an international initiative to make oil and gas data available. While Israel resumed pumping gas, in small quantities, to both Jordan and Egypt at the beginning of the week, it is rumoured to have stopped a couple of days later, with Iran's attacks hitting energy facilities. Accordingly, the government told local petrochemical plants that the resumption of gas supplies would be delayed until the end of June, and the return to pre-war volumes would take place by mid-July, according to a statement by an anonymous official source to Al-Arabiya Business. * A version of this article appears in print in the 26 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
7 days ago
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Delays to the GEM
The long-anticipated official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum has been postponed to later this year Despite its near completion and its having already hosted several high-profile events after its soft opening to the public in 2023, the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), originally scheduled for 3 July, has been postponed in the wake of current regional developments until late in 2025. Across more than two decades and since its foundation stone was laid in 2002, the GEM's completion and official opening have been hindered by an epidemic, financial crises, political upheavals, and, lately, regional instability. Plans for the GEM were first unveiled in 1992, when a site was allocated just 2 km from the iconic Giza Pyramids for what would become one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Egypt's modern history. In 2002, the foundation stone for the GEM project was laid on a prime site overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. That same year, the Egyptian state working with the UN cultural agency UNESCO and the International Union of Architects announced an international architectural competition for the best museum design for the GEM. The winning proposal came from the Irish architectural firm Heneghan Peng Architects. Between 2005 and 2010, the site was prepared, and a high-tech conservation centre was built, funded by the Egyptian government. However, following the 2011 Revolution work on the project came to a halt. Construction officially began again in 2012 after a joint venture between Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries and the Belgium BESIX Group was awarded the contract for completion of the GEM's third phase, which included the construction of the museum's main building and landscaping. In 2014, the project was resumed with the help of a $300 million soft loan provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In 2015, the concrete shell of the main building was completed. At the time, the target opening date was 2018, but a series of political and economic challenges caused repeated delays, pushing back the long-awaited inauguration and the construction slowed down. By 2016, only 20 per cent of the museum had been completed. Another $460 soft loan agreement was then signed between the JICA and the ministries of antiquities and international cooperation to complete the GEM construction work within the scheduled time. Progress surged, bringing the museum to approximately 95 per cent completion, but the official opening, scheduled in 2020, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Work continued and the museum saw a soft opening in 2023. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said that the present circumstances in the region called for reconsidering the inauguration's timing to preserve the efforts required to deliver the event at the most opportune moment. He stressed that the upcoming opening would be a historic and pivotal event for Egypt and the world and therefore must take place under ideal conditions. In an official statement, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities emphasised that the postponement aligns with Egypt's national responsibility to present an event of global stature and one that reflects the grandeur of ancient Egyptian civilisation and showcases the country's heritage to the world in a manner befitting its international standing. Despite the delay, the GEM will remain open to visitors as part of its ongoing soft opening phase. The museum has already begun welcoming guests to selected exhibitions, offering a preview of what will become the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation. Built on 500,000 square metres, the GEM, with its trapezoidal architectural design and distinguished external walls, offers an enormous panoramic view of the Giza Plateau. It houses objects from ancient Egypt, beginning with prehistory and going up to the early Roman period. Among the objects on display will be the unique treasures of the boy king Tutankhamun, some of which will see the light of day for the first time. The museum's main galleries offer visitors an unprecedented journey through ancient Egyptian civilisation. With 12 galleries organised into four broad time periods and three thematic pillars of Society, Kingship, and Beliefs, visitors are invited to explore Egyptian history in multiple ways. The star of the museum will be the Tutankhamun galleries, which will put on show the whole funerary collection of the golden boy-king that consists of 5,537 artefacts. The Khufu Boats Museum is another attraction of the GEM. Recognised as one of the world's foremost specialised museums, it houses two rare and invaluable artefacts: the first and second boats of King Khufu. For the first time in history, both royal boats will be showcased side by side within a single exhibition space. The first boat has already been carefully transported from its original location near the Great Pyramid of Giza to the museum, where it has undergone meticulous conservation and preparation in accordance with the highest international museological standards. The second boat, discovered adjacent to the Great Pyramid, has had all its wooden planks and components successfully extracted. Following an initial phase of restoration, the pieces were transferred to the GEM, where conservation work continues in close collaboration with Japanese experts. Visitors will be able to witness the reassembly process in real time, as the boat's components are gradually restored and reassembled before their eyes in a distinctive interactive exhibition that brings ancient craftsmanship to life. Both the Tutankhamun galleries and the Khufu Boats Museum were to be opened following the official inauguration and are not currently accessible. * A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
21-06-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Securing power - Economy - Al-Ahram Weekly
Oil and gas prices remain highly sensitive to geopolitical tensions, a pattern observed repeatedly over the decades from the October 1973 War to more recent events such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The military escalation between Israel and Iran on Friday serves as a stark reminder of this volatility, with crude oil prices surging by seven per cent to $78 per barrel before easing to approximately $73 by Monday evening. The percentage increase is not scary, as the current levels are almost $10 lower than prices at the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. Nevertheless, the difficulty in predicting possible future scenarios has sent ripples through the energy markets, resulting in observers putting their estimates for the price of oil during the next period anywhere between $75 and $120. On Sunday, the first working day in the local bourse and banking sector since Israel's attacks on Iran, fears of pessimistic scenarios weighed on transactions in the local currency as well as on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). The EGX lost LE94 billion of its market capitalisation, with all the indices ending in the red. The exchange price of the Egyptian pound dipped from under LE50 per dollar to cross the LE51 per dollar threshold before settling back at around LE50.2 on Monday. Foreign investors abandoning Egyptian equities and the currency for safer havens is the reason behind the drop. 'If the conflict continues, the world will witness violent price fluctuations. In a worst-case scenario, which is Iran blocking the vital Hormuz Straits, global markets will suffer a daily loss of some 18 to 20 million barrels of oil per day. Prices could go up to $120 per barrel or more. Some analysts talk about $150 per barrel for benchmark Brent crude,' said Nehad Ismail, an oil expert living in London. Being a net importer of gas due to a decline in national production from the Zohr Gas Field and an increase in the demand for power during the hot summer months, the possibility of such a jump in prices is not easy to live with. Egypt's gas deficit (the difference between production and consumption) amounts to 3.5 billion cubic metres per day, with Israel contributing one billion cubic metres of this. Cairo fills the remaining deficit of approximately 2.5 billion cubic metres through imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments that are converted to a gaseous status and then pumped into the national grid. To cover the demand-supply gap and avoid load-shedding plans with power cuts that last for hours, Egypt has become dependent on Israeli gas being exported through pipelines. However, the two gas fields that cover Egypt's demand, the Chevron-operated Leviathan and the Greek firm Energean's Karish, suspended production a few hours after the beginning of the reciprocal attacks. Soon after the closure, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli announced that Egypt has activated emergency plans to prevent electricity cuts. Power stations have ramped up their use of fuel oil to maximum available levels, a Ministry of Petroleum statement said, and some plants are being switched to diesel to help protect the stability of the gas network and avoid load reductions. Moreover, fuel reserves have been doubled compared to last year, said the prime minister, adding that additional supplies are being arranged to support continued electricity production through the summer. Since last year, the government has promised several times that this summer will witness no power cuts, an aim which it has worked hard to reach. Egypt's power needs represent two-thirds of overall gas consumption. Egypt has already taken steps to avoid acute shortages of gas. It has agreed to buy LNG from suppliers including Saudi Aramco, the Trafigura Group, and the Vitol Group over two and a half years. The deals will bring in as many as 290 cargoes of LNG starting next month, all aimed at cutting Egypt's reliance on volatile spot markets. They are priced at a premium to the European gas benchmark, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday. Egypt has also finalised contracts to lease Floating, Storage, and Regasification units (FSRUs). Madbouli said Egypt has secured three floating gas regasification vessels. According to the State Information Service website, one of these units is being prepared in Ain Sokhna to begin operation by the end of June and another will follow in July. The government is acquiring the plants to handle the hundreds of LNG shipments from a variety of sources and intermediaries that will help alleviate shortages during the difficult months of summer. $3 billion worth of contracts have been signed to import sufficient LNG to see the country through the summer. Paying more for imports means that the country's trade balance will show a deficit, and the budget's deficit will not be at a conservative seven per cent, as the value of energy subsidies, halved in the 2025-26 budget, will increase again. Egypt is committed to ending fuel subsidies by the end of this year under its agreement with the International Monetary Fund. * A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
07-06-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Keeping the summer lights on - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
Measures are being taken to avert possible power outages during summer this year. Government ministries have been collaborating to secure full electricity provision throughout the summer this year and to ward off the threat of any power outages. 'The electrical grid is secure and stable, and the electricity supply is continuous and sustainable throughout this summer,' said Mansour Abdel-Ghani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Electricity, on television at the end of May. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli had asked for steps to be taken to prevent power cuts during the summer months in July 2024, Abdel-Ghani added, which had 'necessitated the collaboration of the ministries of electricity, petroleum, and finance, to end load shedding' as a way of reducing pressure on the grid. His statement came days after Reuters and Bloomberg's Asharq Business reported that companies exporting Israeli gas to Egypt had announced plans to reduce exports by one billion cubic feet per day, bringing the volume down to 800 million cubic feet per day during the upcoming summer months. The reports noted that Israel had informed Egypt it would carry out periodic maintenance in May for 15 days, which would lower the volume of exported gas below the agreed-upon amount and below the target for the summer months. Some 60 per cent of Egypt's consumption of natural gas is used to generate electricity. Egypt began importing gas from Israel in 2020 under a $15 billion agreement between Noble Energy (acquired by Chevron in 2020) and Delek Drilling. The reduction in imported gas from Israel coincides with the natural decline in production from Egyptian gas fields, which has decreased to 4.1 billion cubic feet per day, while daily demand stands at around six billion cubic feet and rises during the summer. Egypt's electricity consumption increases by more than 25 per cent during the summer, reaching between 38 and 40 Gigawatt hours per day, up from 32 Gigawatt hours in winter, driving up the consumption of gas and diesel, said Egypt's former petroleum minister Osama Kamal. He estimates the gap between domestic gas production and consumption at 25 per cent, prompting the government to resort to gas imports to cover the shortfall. Domestic consumption exceeds 6.2 billion cubic feet per day, while local production stands at around four billion cubic feet. Another reason for the gap between consumption and the local production of gas needed to cover the demands of power plants is the delay in integrating new renewable and nuclear energy facilities, Kamal said. The government had previously announced long-term precautionary measures to address power outages, especially in the light of geopolitical crises that disrupt global supply chains and key maritime trade routes. Sources told Reuters in early May that Egypt was in talks with international energy and trading firms to procure between 40 and 60 shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet emergency needs ahead of peak summer demand. This is in line with statements by the presidential spokesperson, who said that President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi had directed the government last week to 'take all necessary measures in advance' to prevent recurring power outages. Madbouli said there was no possibility of renewed power cuts during the summer, despite the financial burdens shouldered by the government. According to the Reuters report, Egypt will have to spend up to $3 billion, based on current gas prices, to purchase the necessary LNG shipments. This would add further pressure on the state treasury, which is already under financial stress, to avoid power outages amid declining domestic gas production. The arrival and commencement of operations of a fourth gasification vessel will enable Egypt to maintain a stable gas supply to the electricity grid, said Medhat Youssef, former deputy chairman of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. However, he added that temporary supply imbalances may still occur, which the government will likely cover using diesel until regular gas flows to power plants are restored. This may necessitate reducing gas supplies to certain industries due to the high cost of imported gas compared to the economic returns generated by these sectors, despite their export potential, Youssef said. He pointed out that gas-intensive industries yield lower returns than the cost of importing gas since the import price ranges between $14 and $16 per million British thermal units, while the supply price to factories stands at $4.5. He added that these industries are directed to carry out periodic maintenance for production lines during peak summer consumption periods, rather than during the lower-demand winter months. Given that Egypt will rely on gas imports as a long-term strategy, Youssef believes the best solution lies in accelerating the development of nuclear power plants, which are highly efficient and reliable sources of electricity despite their substantial investment costs. Nuclear plants reduce the fiscal burden on the state in the long term, especially as global gas import prices grow higher. At present, Egypt imports LNG and is purchasing a portion of the foreign partner's production share and utilising domestic output in order to meet rising demand driven by population growth. The cost of importing gas over two years is equivalent to the cost of establishing a nuclear power plant, he stated. According to Ministry of Petroleum figures, the average daily domestic consumption of natural gas in 2022-23 reached 5.9 billion cubic feet per day. Of this, 57 per cent was allocated to the electricity sector, 25 per cent to industry, 10 per cent to the petroleum and gas derivatives sector, six per cent to households, and two per cent to vehicles. According to the Egypt Vision 2030 Strategy, the government is working to increase the share of new and renewable energy in electricity generation to 35 per cent by 2030 and 42 per cent by 2035, up from the current level of 4.5 per cent. Gas and petroleum are the main sources of electricity generation, accounting for 90 per cent of total output. By 2030, Egypt's planned energy mix is expected to comprise 27 per cent oil and gas, five per cent hydroelectric power, 16 per cent solar energy, 14 per cent wind energy, 29 per cent coal, and nine per cent nuclear energy. Gamal Al-Qalioubi, a professor of energy engineering, said that accelerating the development of new and renewable energy plants is the optimal path towards reducing gas imports and reallocating available gas to export-lucrative industries such as fertilisers, cement, and petrochemicals. This objective has been announced by the government, which aims to add 39,000 Megawatts of new and renewable energy capacity by 2030, of which seven Megawatts have been implemented to date. As a result, wind and solar power plants should be brought online over the next four years at a rate of 10 Megawatts per year. Al-Qalioubi added that several wind and solar plants are under construction. Had these projects been expedited and connected to the national grid before May 2025, the financial burden on the state to import natural gas would have decreased. He referred to the 'Wafi' programme implemented by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation in collaboration with the European Union, which seeks to replace diesel power plants with clean energy facilities. Every time a clean energy plant enters operation, a conventional and polluting plant is decommissioned. The programme supports the government's strategy to conserve natural gas used in electricity generation and redirect it to high value-added industrial sectors. * A version of this article appears in print in the 5 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
09-05-2025
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt: Properties to be given IDs - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
Properties nationwide will soon have their own unique IDs under a new system to be rolled out this year In late April, the House of Representatives passed a law to introduce national IDs for real estate. The law calls for the creation of a unified national database of all real-estate properties, each of which will be assigned an individual number. These numbers will be printed on plaques that will be affixed to all properties. As a result, every real-estate unit — freestanding house, apartment, factory, office, or vacant plot — will have its own unique 'digital fingerprint'. The database will contain all the technical, legal, and administrative information about the property, including its address, usage, ownership, licensing, violations, and transaction records. The new system will greatly simplify property transactions. For example, it will enable ownership verification without having to obtain certifications and authorisations from a court. It will also prevent real-estate fraud through the centralised compilation of accurate documentation of property-related details. The new ID for real estate aligns with Egypt's comprehensive Vision 2030 development plans, which call for digital transformation and support the sale of Egyptian real estate to Egyptians abroad and foreign purchasers. Under the 14-article law, real estate is defined as land, buildings, and structures of all kinds, regardless of purpose or use and whether utilised or not. The goal is to generate an authoritative digital map of the whole country. The Military Survey Authority will be in charge of producing and updating the map. Local municipal departments or their counterparts in the new satellite communities will be responsible for delivering or installing the national ID plaques, which will be deemed state property. Damaging, tampering with, or altering them in any way is strictly prohibited. Only authorised government personnel will be allowed to make changes based on official approval from the relevant authority. Violators will be subjected to penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment, depending on the nature and intention of the damage. The new system will also facilitate the detection of property encroachments, the calculation of property taxes, and the improvement of the real-estate investment environment in Egypt. It will help prospective buyers make informed and safe decisions by ensuring access to verified information on the properties they have set their hearts on. As Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli explained in a press conference last week, the deficiencies in current property registration records have long hampered property ownership verification. The new ID project for real estate will end any doubts and disputes surrounding property ownership. It will streamline owner verification processes, eliminating the need to go to court for the purpose, and it will greatly reduce the risk of fraud and protect citizens' property rights. 'Investors face considerable challenges when buying property in Egypt because much real estate is unregistered,' Madbouli said. He added that the Government itself faces problems in cases of expropriation when it discovers that some properties are not registered in the owners' names. Another aim of the law is to support Egypt's real-estate export initiative, especially dollar-based investments. The transparency afforded by the new system will attract real-estate investors — whether Egyptian expatriates or foreigners — in the market for trustworthy investment opportunities. According to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mahmoud Fawzi, the system will safeguard citizens' rights and benefit Egyptians living abroad. He stressed that the new law imposes no additional obligations or financial burdens on property owners. It will not affect private property rights or override any of the provisions of the law on resolving building violations. People already in the process of settling issues related to zoning or building code violations in accordance with this law will not face further complications. An advantage of the new system for Egyptian expatriates, Fawzi said, is that they will be able to complete all the necessary procedures electronically, without having to travel to or be physically present in Egypt. Shamseddin Youssef, a board member of the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors, described the new system as a much-needed modernisation of documentation systems that will bring Egypt up to date with the developed countries. 'If I'm in Aswan and want to buy a house in Cairo, I'll be able to access the property's data and construction history through its national ID. The difference will be like the before-and-after when personal ID cards were introduced,' he said. Compiling data linked to every property in the country offers the government a great opportunity to rectify problems and avoid arbitrary decision-making, MP Khaled Abdel-Aziz Fahmy told Al-Ahram Weekly. 'This is not just about residential property. It covers industrial and administrative spaces as well. It will help us understand the country's needs. The new law is very much in the citizen's interest. It will make dealing with Government agencies much easier,' he said. 'The law is expected to expand the real estate market and boost investment,' Youssef added. Mohamed Hisham, a senior urban planner at an international engineering consultancy firm, hailed the law as 'an extremely important step towards promoting sound governance and urban planning, and towards the development of smart cities in line with global trends.' 'It addresses one of the most pressing urban planning challenges, namely, the effective management of growth based on certified information and transparency. This is about more than urban management and enforcing regulations; it's about ensuring sustainable development.' Hisham stressed that in preventing building code and zoning violations, the law will significantly reduce encroachments on agricultural land, especially in rural areas of the Nile Delta. The new real-estate ID database will include precise geographic coordinates of all properties together with detailed surveys, making it harder to manipulate records. Another advantage of the new system, he said, is that it will standardise property addresses, thereby eliminating a common problem, especially in the new suburbs: the same property often has different addresses with the various utility water, gas, and electricity services. While one service lists properties by block and parcel number, another uses street names. The implementation of the new system will naturally encounter challenges, given the complexity of the task. Hisham underscored the need for a robust digital infrastructure to support it and suggested piloting the project in less densely populated areas, such as Suez, Ismailia, the Red Sea, and the New Valley. Glitches could then be ironed out before extending the work to complicated areas like Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria. According to Abdel-Aziz Fahmi, the law's executive regulations, which still have to be drafted, will specify the procedures for obtaining the assigned property ID. Regarding fees, Ministry of Housing Spokesperson Amr Khattab said that this question has not been discussed. The most recent parliamentary session on the subject focused on the project's importance because of the vital need to restructure Egypt's huge and largely unregulated real-estate sector. * A version of this article appears in print in the 8 May, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
