Egypt: parliament approves property ownership by foreigners

The Egyptian parliament approved yesterday the sale of specific land plots to foreign companies. Purchases will have to be paid for in US dollars.

The government submitted a draft bill amending the Desert Lands Law No. 143 of 1981, which would allow the ownership of lands in Egypt to be vested in foreign investors without restrictions, to attract hard currency by selling property to foreigners and expats. The amendment will go into full effect once it gets the presidential seal and is published in the Official Gazette.

According to the amended text, in cases other than an individual investor’s acquisition of the lands necessary to carry out personal activity, Egyptian ownership must not be less than 51 per cent of the company’s capital, and individual ownership must not exceed 20 per cent of its capital, with the inadmissibility of transferring the lands of cooperative societies and companies upon their expiration to non-Egyptians.

In November, a group of foreign companies sent requests to the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) to buy the land in question in US dollars, Ahram online reported. The request did not specify which foreign companies are buying the land, or for how much.

The land plots sold are located in the cities of New Borg El-Arab, New Cairo, October Gardens, New Damietta, Badr, New Sphinx, New October, 10th of Ramadan, New Sohag, 6th of October, Sheikh Zayed, Obour, Sadat, New Aswan and Shorouk. The sites will be used for a variety of projects including the development of commercial, administrative and residential real estate projects. There will also be the construction of industrial projects, social and sports clubs, a hotel and an auto repair shop.

Egypt has been suffering from a severe shortage of foreign exchange since the outbreak of the Russian war on Ukraine, and the removal of about 22 billion US dollars from the country.

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