Egypt moves to reinvent central Cairo as startup hub

  • Date: 05-Oct-2021
  • Source: Arab News
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Egypt
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Egypt moves to reinvent central Cairo as startup hub

CAIRO: Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund is planning to reinvent central Cairo as a startup hub, while developing a new asset class around repurposing old buildings, as the government moves to a new capital in the desert, its chief executive said. The cornerstone of the project will be the colossal Mogamma building on Tahrir Square, formerly the headquarters of Egypt’s sprawling bureaucracy and now emptied and awaiting redesign as a multi-use site likely to include serviced apartments, office space and food outlets. Several consortia are competing to convert the building, which is currently owned by the fund, and the winner will be selected within days, CEO Ayman Soliman said in an interview. “We’re advocating a master plan reimagining the entire downtown area — what we called the Khedival Cairo,” he said, a reference to the Egyptian ruler Khedive Ismail, under whom downtown Cairo was built in the 1860s and 1870s. “Khedival Cairo is rich in buildings that are government owned.” Soliman said key assets owned by the fund, including former Interior Ministry buildings a few blocks from Tahrir Square, could help create an ecosystem of startups, venture capital, and incubators. The sovereign fund is also looking to develop the Nile-side site