The US$ 685million worth Mall of Egypt already under construction is set for opening in 2016, Dubai’s Majid Al-Futtaim has announced. The ‘Mall of Egypt’ will be located in 6th October city on Al-Wahat Road.
The super-regional mall will be constructed on an area of 165,000square metres and will dominate the western half of the greater Cairo metropolis. Al-Futtaim has invested another $35 million in road construction works in order to provide traffic solutions for roads surrounding the mall, to ease traffic flow in the area and allow visitors have direct and safe access from the Al-Wahat Road. Part of construction works includes setting a direct bridge access off the Al-Wahat highway into 6,500 parking spaces.
Mall of Egypt, a first of its kind in Egypt, will be a sister brand to the world renowned Mall of Emirates and will combine a powerful range of retailers with the most comprehensive leisure offering in North Africa. It will also feature a range of international fashion and lifestyle retail brands, a ski park, 17-screen cinema, family entertainment center and over 50 food and beverage outlets.
Al-Futtaim has already subcontracted 9,000 engineers and workers from both international and Egyptian companies to casrry on with construction.
“Majid Al-Futtaim has been operating in Egypt for more than 12 years, providing Egyptians with dynamic retail experiences from Cairo to Alexandria as well as other governorates,” said Alain Bejjani, Chief Corporate Development and Brand officer at Majid Al-Futtaim Holding.
He added that Egypt is one of the most promising markets in the region, and their commitment to invest in Egypt has been, and will continue to be a strategic one that Al-Futtaim seeks to develop through pumping new investments as the country moves to a new promising new phase.
A $60million loan to complete the Mall of Arabia was approved in August by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World BaNk Group, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The international institutions’ loans were also be accompanied by a $20m loan by the Commercial International Bank (CIB).
