Plans are underway, according to the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, which was established to attract private investments to Egypt and promote and co-invest in state-owned assets to maximize their value and efficiency for the North African country’s economy, for a redesign of the Mogamma building on Tahrir Square, Downtown Cairo, Egypt.
Reportedly, the building which was formerly the headquarters of Egypt’s sprawling bureaucracy has already been emptied and is now waiting to be redesigned to a multi-use site likely to include serviced apartments, office space, and food outlets.
Ayman Soliman, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, said that several consortia are competing to convert the building and the winner will be selected within a few days.
A part of a larger project to reinvent central Cairo as a start-up hub
The project to redesign the Mogamma building is part of a larger project to reinvent central Cairo as a start-up hub while developing a new asset class around repurposing old buildings, as the government moves to the new administrative capital in the desert.
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The cornerstone of the said project will be the colossal Mogamma building.
“We’re advocating a master plan reimagining the entire downtown area, which is what we called the Khedival Cairo, a reference to the Egyptian ruler Khedive Ismail, under whom downtown Cairo was built back in the 1860s and 1870s,” said Mr. Soliman adding that “the key assets owned by the fund, including the former interior ministry buildings that are located a few blocks from Tahrir Square, could help create an ecosystem of start-ups, venture capital, and incubators.”
Developing the Nile-side site
Reportedly, the sovereign fund is also looking to develop the Nile-side site on which the headquarters of the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) stood, with a design that could include commercial, residential and hospitality uses.
“The fund is working closely with owners, operators, developers, and other investors, and it could acquire some vacated government assets itself, as it seeks to help transform downtown. Within the next five years we should have a very clear and vivid manifestation of the master plan,” concluded the Sovereign Fund of Egypt CEO.
