(Photo courtesy of AlDahra)
UAE-based company AlDahra will invest $300m in Egypt over five years, creating 1,000 job opportunities, the company’s General Manager in Egypt Roger Pyle said.
In light of Egypt’s Economic Summit, Pyle told Daily News Egypt on Saturday that AlDahra is aiming to have 5,000 operational feddans by the end of 2015, and 25,000 feddans by 2020.
The company has already invested $100m in the Toshka project since 2014. AlDahra is in the final stages of starting phase one, hoping to reach phase 3 by 2020.
Commenting on the Summit’s organisation, Pyle said that he would have liked to see different rooms for every industry, saying it would have been a chance to meet with like-minded people.
“You do not get the chance with 1,800 people moving around,” the general manager said. “The Economic Summit was overall fantastic and very positive. It is a huge step forward for Egypt.”
There is a lot of positive energy, but a lot of help is still needed, especially from the Ministry of Agriculture, Pyle stated. He said that one of the obstacles facing AlDahra is that there is no clarity on land rental. He also criticised the road network from Toshka to East Owainat.
In 2007, AlDahra Group acquired Navigator Investments, in collaboration with Egypt’s and the UAE’s governments. The company is currently acquiring desert areas and transforming them into agricultural farms.
Aside from Toshka, the company has 23,500 acres of land in East Owainat, mainly producing Alfalfa, wheat, corn, and potatoes. It has an additional 3,000 acres in Al-Salihiya and 202 acres in Nubariya.
