Egypt’s Housing Minister Assem al-Gazzar announced that work has begun on installing the reinforced concrete for the foundations of administrative tower C02, or the ‘Iconic Tower’, in the New Administrative Capital’s Central Business District, set to be the tallest tower in Africa.
The concrete foundations of the skyscraper are currently at 50 meters high, Gazzar said in a press statement on Friday. Construction of the rest of the tower’s foundation, over 340 meters tall, is expected to continue for around 3 days.
He added that construction companies operating in the New Administrative Capital will work day and night to complete this immense national project.
The Iconic Tower is the first tower to be started in the Central Business District, Gazzar said, explaining that the Central Business District includes 20 towers of various uses with at estimated investments of about $3 billion.
The Central Business District is being implemented in cooperation between the Ministry of Housing, represented by the New Urban Communities Authority and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), one of the largest construction companies in the world.
Egypt’s government is racing to complete construction of the New Administrative Capital in record time and wrap up ongoing projects. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced in July that 2020 would see the inauguration of the New Administrative Capital and other projects and cities.
The new capital will be located between Cairo and the Suez Canal region, boasting its own airport, and will include 490 square kilometers of available land for urban development.
The housing ministry has said that the city is set to be a 270-square-mile hub, with 21 residential districts to accommodate up to five million people.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
