When the Egyptian government announced plans last year to build a new capital in the desert 28 miles east of Cairo, analysts were skeptical. Not only were the components of the city extravagant—a green space twice the size of Central Park, an airport larger than Heathrow—but the basic idea seemed ludicrous. The Cairo-based urban planner David Sims told the site Africa-Middle East, “Egypt needs a new capital like a hole in the head.” [...]
Sisi is not only aiming to boost Egypt’s flagging economy through the new capital—the government has said, for instance, that the city will generate almost two million jobs—but also to enhance his own legitimacy.
At first, the plan didn’t seem likely to come to fruition, particularly with funding in doubt, despite some pledges from Arab Gulf investors. But now large-scale construction is looking more probable due to a different funding source: China. [...]
China’s financing bolsters its “One Belt, One Road” initiative, which seeks to increase investment and infrastructure along both the land and maritime routes of the old Silk Road, on whose western end Cairo sat. Today, China has become Egypt’s largest trade partner. In addition to the new capital, China is investing in such projects as Egypt’s Suez Canal industrial zone as a way to encourage more Chinese business in the region. Such investment thus serves China’s interests by giving it a stronger foothold in an area in which it aims to expand economically.
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