By John Ikani
Egyptian President, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday ordered his administration to start moving its offices next month to a sprawling new administrative capital in the desert outside Cairo.
A spokesman for Mr Sisi said the move would be part of a six-month trial period.
The so-called New Administrative Capital is being built some 45km (28 miles) east of Cairo.
The multi-billion dollar project is intended – according to officials – to ease the congestion in Cairo, providing a home for more than six million people – as well as a new centre for the Government, Embassies and the Presidency.
The new capital is designed as a high-tech “smart city” to accommodate 6.5 million residents and ease congestion in Cairo. The city will include a Government District, a Business District, vast parks and a Diplomatic District.
Critics have called the new capital a vanity project, arguing its cost could have been better put to rebuilding the wrecked economy and refurbishing Cairo.
But the Government has argued that the new capital is needed to absorb the booming population of Cairo, which will double to 40 million by 2050. The President also said that the new capital, and other projects ranging from new roads and housing complexes to a Suez Canal expansion, attract investors and create jobs for the country’s more than 100 million people.
