Palm Hills Developments has hired Orascom Construction Industries to build a US$93 million (Dh341.56m) residential complex outside Cairo, its first project in a partnership with Abu Dhabi's Burooj Properties.
Village Gardens Katameya covers 285,600 square metres in east Cairo, near the American University.
Burooj, the property investment arm of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, has already purchased 425 units in the complex, with a total value of 286m Egyptian pounds (Dh175.4m).
There is strong demand in Egypt for modern and luxury homes, "particularly among Egyptians living in the UAE and other GCC countries", said Adel Ahmed Al Zarouni, the managing director of Burooj.
The company's projects in the UAE include Al Qurm Gardens, a collection of 80 villas near the Al Bateen Airport in Abu Dhabi, and Burooj Views, a 39-storey residential tower on Reem Island.
Burooj and Palm Hills announced a partnership in April last year, as Burooj moved to diversify its portfolio outside the slumping UAE market.
Despite the turmoil this year, Egypt is viewed as one of the largest growth countries in the region for developers.
Egypt "provides the greatest potential opportunity for the development industry with a current need for an additional 1.5 million affordable housing units across the country," the property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle concluded in a recent report.
But most of the property development has focused on luxury buyers and there has been "very limited involvement" of expatriates or foreign buyers, Jones Lang LaSalle reports.
More than 80 per cent of Egyptian households earn less than $340 a month, the consultancy reported. And mortgage financing is expensive and difficult to find for most potential buyers.
Burooj hopes to help Palm Hills, one of Egypt's largest developers, to expand its client base to reach Egyptian expatriates throughout the GCC projects, the company said in a statement last year. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank will offer mortgages.
Burooj projects typically target "middle income" buyers. A two-bedroom flat in Village Gardens Katameya is advertised for 696,000 Egyptian pounds. Palm Hills has faced accusations it illegally purchased land under the administration of Hosni Mubarak. But the Village Gardens Katameya project has not been affected.
Palm Hills reported a 17.7m pound net loss for the third quarter, compared to a 153.7m pound net profit in the same period last year.
kbrass@thenational.ae
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
