Egypt’s Safwat Kaliouby Group (SKG) holding company and Emirati KSH Investment Company have signed a EGP24bn($500m) deal for a real estate project.

The project will come along the Nile in Cairo, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

Egypt’s real estate surge

The agreement includes three residential and commercial towers and a five-star hotel in an area overlooking the Nile’s Warraq Island, north of the centre of the capital. The deal encapsulates an area of 20,000 square metres (215,278 square feet), MENA reported.

As per MENA, KSH Investment Company is affiliated with the Private Department of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Khalid Al Nahyan’s office, a real estate company owned by members of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.

UAE’s ADQ deal with Egypt

The UAE is among the main investors in Egypt.

Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ signed a landmark deal worth $35bn in February to develop the Ras Al Hekma peninsula on Egypt’s north coast along with other projects. It is the largest such deal in Egypt’s history.

The investment is expected to attract “a minimum of $150bn” during the implementation phases, according to state media.

The consequent development will be built on an unprecedented area of over 40,600 feddans, the prime minister said.

It will encompass residential districts, prestigious international hotels, tourist resorts, expansive entertainment venues, and service facilities such as hospitals, schools and universities.

It will also feature administrative and service buildings, a free economic zone for information technology industries and logistics hubs, and a central business district that would attract global companies.

The investment eased a critical foreign currency shortage from an economic crisis that also caused sharp devaluations of Egypt’s currency and soaring inflation.