Ora Developers plans to pump around $1 billion investments in Africa over the coming five years, Naguib Sawiris told the National.
The real estate developer is planning to expand its footprint in Africa to tap into the growth potential of the continent.
The company’s investment will be phased and expansion plans include building a seven-star hotel and developing resorts in several African markets.
The company is waiting for the current political unrest in Sudan to settle down before it proceeds to invest in the market. Congo, Ghana and Zaire are among other African markets in which Ora is interested in investing.
Based in Cairo, the developer builds mixed-use residential luxury projects with commercial, retail, entertainment and hospitality elements integrated in its master plans. It is already building projects in Grenada, Egypt, Pakistan and Cyprus.
Ora is also considering plans to expand its presence in Pakistan, where it is developing a large residential project in the capital, Islamabad, that includes commercial facilities and a golf course.
The company is also building three big mixed-used projects, or “urban destinations”, in Egypt. Haitham Mohamed, CEO of Ora Developers, said that the combined value of the developments is $10 billion to $11 billion.
Silversand, on the north coast of Egypt, has a project value of about $3 billion, Zed West is valued at $3 billion and Ora’s third project, called Zed East, has an inventory value of about $4 billion.
Additionally, the company plans to fund the projects through a combination of equity, about $1 billion in bank financing and a revenue share model with the government of Egypt, where the developer will receive the land and the government will receive 27% of revenue collected.
However, Sawiris revealed intentions to invest in battery metals and reduce his exposure to gold.
Sawiris’ La Mancha gold fund will offload its controlling stake in Canadian miner Golden Star Resources and reinvest the proceeds into metals used to make batteries, raw materials that investors expect to experience a boom in the coming years as the global auto industry transitions away from fossil fuels to electric vehicles.
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