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In Egypt, a giant “new administrative capital” is being built, approximately 45 km (28 miles) east of Cairo, in a Singapore-sized desert.
If you walk or drive through Cairo, you will be tempted to think that the Egyptian government has embarked on this billion-dollar project to meet the urgent need.
In fact, the current capital hardly works. Ministries and embassies surrounding Cairo’s central Tahrir Square cover the city’s arteries. As many streets are blocked to ensure the safety of these buildings and their inhabitants, it is sometimes impossible to get from the city to the AB. In addition, the already crowded 22 million inhabitants of the capital are expected to double by 2050.
So it is easy to say that the New Administrative Capital, embassies, government agencies, parliament, 30 ministries, the presidential component and the finished one need to have about 6.5 million people. It seems that in addition to moving administrative buildings out of Cairo, it will create the necessary housing. In addition, the government undertook to distribute 15 square meters of green space per inhabitant in the new development. The new capital will have a central “green river,” a combination of open water and double-planted greens in New York City’s Central Park. So they are also selling the project as an effort to tackle pollution and make Egypt “greener”.
But if you look under the skin and especially follow the money, you will see clearly that this project is much more than an altruistic effort by the government to decongest Cairo and improve the living conditions of the city’s population.
The army pays, the army benefits
The new administrative capital is expected to cost about $ 40 billion. 51 per cent of the Urban Development Capital Administration (ACUD) leading the project is owned by the Egyptian army and the remaining 49 per cent is owned by the Ministry of Housing.
The enormous role of the military in funding the project is further evidence of the interference of civilians and military in a country ruled by a former army general – the current president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power as a result of a “coup d’état”. Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president of Egypt.
And the military isn’t just “paying for” the project. This ambitious effort will also reap tremendous economic benefits. The ACUD, with a majority stake in the military, is responsible for selling housing units in the new capital. In addition, the company is responsible for selling or operating the Cairo buildings that will be left after the agencies, ministries and embassies are relocated to their new locations. Some of these buildings are located in the heart of Cairo, overlooking Tahrir Square, and are of outstanding value.
This means that the military will have tremendous economic returns when the new capital is completed. Moreover, these gains will not be overseen by a civilian authority as the government has little oversight of the army’s finances.
The construction effort itself is a tremendous economic opportunity. You need not only funds to build a new city, but also cement, bricks, appliances, carpentry, security equipment and, most importantly, labor. Thus, this project is an opportunity to create much-needed jobs and renovate major Egyptian industries, such as construction.
It is feared that the project will help put the country’s backbone industries and struggling businesses on their feet, as well as allow the military to spread more tentacles throughout the Egyptian economy. The military, for example, has the ability to provide many of the steel and cement needed to complete the construction of the new city. He also has access to cheap labor, just like low-wage soldiers. Therefore, it will probably be the military that gains the most from this unprecedented construction boost.
Privilege a new city for the few
It is also unclear who will form it after it is completed in the new capital. The homes there are being sold at a very high price. A two-bedroom apartment in the new capital costs about $ 50,000 – a huge amount of gross domestic product (GDP) that is not available to many at around $ 3,000 per capita.
So it looks like the New Administration Capital will have another community portal for the wealthy and will do little to meet the housing needs of Cairo’s poor and needy residents.
If the government does not take urgent measures to keep the doors of this new city open to even the poorest citizens, this new project will achieve nothing to help the privileged Egyptians. That’s why the new administrative capital is already being seen as a huge waste of resources for many. Critics say the money spent on building new capital should soon be used to improve living conditions in impoverished places that would soon be called “Old Cairo”. In response to these criticisms, the government said the city will eventually include social housing as well, but did not provide details on when these units will be built and made available to those in need.
All of this is reminiscent of Hosni Mubarak’s regime and its downfall. The last decade of Mubarak’s tenure was fueled by the rise of wealthy capitalist cliques that were helping the economy grow, but at the same time blocking the benefits of that growth from reaching the poorest sectors of society. And one of the prominent slogans of the January 2011 protests that overthrew the Mubarak regime was “social justice”. With this project – likely to enrich the country’s wealth, strengthen the military and help distribute resources more and more – it seems to be repeating the mistakes that caused el-Sisi Mubarak to fall.
But if the project will not help the people and increase support for the government, why is el-Sisi moving forward with this tremendous effort?
Stability, legitimacy and heritage
The New Egyptian Capital of Administration will not help much to help ordinary Egyptians, but it will provide some key advantages to President el-Sisi.
First, this new project will help bring powerful Egyptian business to the side of el-Sisi. The private sector had a major economic and political influence in Egypt during Mubarak’s tenure. But after el-Sisi rose to power, he was sidelined mainly by the military and became a secondary actor.
In neoliberal economies like Egypt, authoritarian governments need the support of the private sector to maintain stability. And el-Sisi knows that a huge construction effort — like building a new capital — is the best way to win business.
While the military will likely be the ones to benefit the most from the construction of the New Administrative Capital, the project is so large and so profitable that it will also create opportunities for the private sector.
For example, one of Egypt’s largest construction companies, the Talaat Mustafa Group, has laid the groundwork for “Noor City,” a “smart city project” in the New Administrative City. Such projects provide a boost to the private sector to support the government, and also provide significant tax revenue. Noor City, for example, is expected to generate $ 7 billion in tax revenue.
The new capital will also give the necessary legitimacy to el-Sisi.
Identity cults have long been important aspects of Egyptian politics. Over the years, the Egyptian authorities have repeatedly tried to show the legitimacy of their rule by naming cities, buildings, roads and bridges their own. There is a city named after former Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat, and dozens of bridges and roads bearing the name of former president Hosni Mubarak.
Although the new administrative capital does not take the name of el-Sisi, it is its main project and heritage. His regular visits to the city are obsessively picked up by the state-controlled media. It is impossible to think of a new city without thinking of el-Sisi. The main mosque in the new administrative capital is called ‘Al-Fatah al-Aleem’ [the opener, knowledgeable], Two names for God, but some consider them a connotative reference to the president, the first name Abdel-Fatah has.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the new project will help el-Sisi control future rebellion against his regime and consolidate his power.
In 2011, it was clear to all of us in Egypt that Mubarak had lost power at the time he lost control of the strategic Tahrir Square.
Demonstrators took the square on January 28, 2011, creating what they called the “Tahrir Republic”. They appointed ministers to the symbolic cabinet, set up their own security apparatus, and burned the seat of the ruling National Democratic Party in the square. Suddenly, the Mubarak regime had no legitimacy.
And in June 2012, election day, Morsi went to Tahrir Square, greeted the crowd and unbuttoned his jacket – showing people that he was not wearing a bulletproof vest and, as their representative, was not afraid. He controlled Tahrir Square, and therefore Egypt.
A few months later, Morsi’s opponents filled the same square to first remove him from power and then celebrate.
Through all this, el-Sisi was certainly taking notes and realized that Tahrir Square was the key to gaining and maintaining power in Egypt.
Therefore, after taking power, he immediately began to remove the status of the square as a framework for deciding the legitimacy of the Egyptian regimes.
It is now impossible for people to seize Tahrir Square and challenge the legitimacy of the el-Sisi regime. His government sprayed the space with pharaonic monuments and private security guards to prevent it from being filled with anti-government protesters.
Now, to further reduce the importance of the plaza, it leads the country’s center of gravity, its main institutions and power seats, to an artificial, fortified oasis in the desert, 45 km (28 miles) away.
On February 11, 2011, the Egyptian people marched from Tahrir Square to the presidential palace in Mubarak to force him to resign. Once the President moves to the New Capital of Administration, however, this display of public will will no longer be possible. The state has already confirmed that the new capital will be well secured with the latest electronic monitoring systems. And more importantly, it will be a few miles from Tahrir Square and any other public space so that Egyptians can meet with those who have to promise their grievances.
In short, the New Capital of Administration will help the military and the government consolidate their power. It will help the private sector make money and strengthen relations and loyalty to the government. El-Sisi will allow his regime to legitimize and build its heritage. But the government’s responses to these demands are also true: this project will make a marked difference in the lives of ordinary Egyptians living in the country’s crowded capital, and great construction efforts will drive the national economy forward. So what to do with the new administrative capital? As the project will take years, the jury is still out.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the attitude of Al Jazeera’s editorial.
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