﻿Egypt Seeks Completion Of The 10,228km Trans-African Highway To Link Cairo To Cape Town
The Trans-African Highway network consists of transcontinental road projects in Africa
being built in collaboration with regional communities and the United Nations Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (ADB), and the African Union.
They seek to increase commerce and relieve poverty in Africa
by developing highway infrastructure and managing road-based trade corridors.
Some papers refer to highways as "Trans-African Corridors"
or "Road Corridors" rather than highways. Outside of planning and development circles,
the name Trans-African Highway and its variants are not widely used, and as of 2014, they are
not signposted or labeled on maps, except in Kenya and Uganda, where the Mombasa–Nairobi–Kampala–Fort
Portal of Trans-African Highway 8 is sometimes referred to as the "Trans-Africa Highway."
Egypt's building industry has expanded substantially in the previous ten years.
And, following a temporary halt due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the industry is expected to
increase by 9% on average between 2020 and 2024. This expansion will be fueled mostly by aggressive
public-private partnerships and the creation of green buildings to enhance energy efficiency
and high-end infrastructure. For most Egyptians, the real estate industry has long been seen
as a safe-haven investment, since its value has maintained and even risen. The Egyptian
government is a significant investment in the building industry. A high-profile example is the
Egyptian government's construction of a huge "New Administrative Capital" 30 miles east of Cairo.
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Egypt plans to work with nine other nations to complete the building of a
highway connecting the country's north to Cape Town, South Africa, by 2024,
in the hopes of increasing trade on the continent. This plan was first made public earlier this year,
when Transport Minister Kamel Elwazir informed the House of Representatives
that his ministry is working on a number of road projects to connect Egypt with its neighbors.
Egypt will finish the Cairo-Cape Town motorway, which will span nine African nations as part of
Egypt's attempts to link with neighboring countries, according to the ministry.
The Cairo Cape Town highway is a road between Cairo and Cape Town that was initially suggested
by the British Empire in the nineteenth century after an attempt to build the Cape to Cairo
railway failed. The Cairo Cape Town highway, also known as Trans African highway four in the
transcontinental road network being developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,
the African Development Bank, and the African Union, was revived with modifications in the 1980s
as part of the Trans African highway network. According to the Egyptian Minister,
the Pan African highway would begin in Egypt from the seaside city of Alexandria
and will pass through Cairo on its route to the Egyptian-Sudanese border.
The 10,288-kilometer Pan-African road would go from Egypt to Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa, eventually finishing in
Cape Town. Kamel Elwazir said that the 1155-kilometer stretch of road in Egypt
will reach Arqin in 2024 and link with Wadi Halfa in Sudan, as well as other nations.
The Trans-African highway is expected to cost $1.7 billion.
However, it is uncertain if the continuing dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the Addis
Ababa Nile River megadam project would impede attempts to complete the megaroad project. Kamel
Elwazir also disclosed that Egypt is presently constructing a 1102-kilometer road through Libya
to link with Chad at a cost of $1.4 billion. They are also working on a 585-kilometer coastal route
from Salloum in western Egypt to Benghazi in eastern Libya, which will cost $190.6 million.
Egypt's road projects with neighboring countries seek to achieve sustainable development,
promote commercial interchange with Egypt's neighbors, and improve Egyptian goods' access
to Arab and African markets. However, the African Development Bank is co-financing
the Cairo-Cape Town road with the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union.
Kamel Elwazir earlier claimed in an interview with NBC master channel that his government is in
discussions with the African Development Bank to seek $1.4 billion in finance for the trans-African
road project. In the interview, he also stated that the African Development Bank and the Egyptian
government will fund the Cairo-Cape Town route. In another development, Malinne Bloomberg,
the director of the African Development Bank's country office in Egypt, stated in August 2020
on the sidelines of the bank's annual meetings that "trans African roads help reduce the high
cost and time of transporting goods and boost economic integration among African countries."
The African Development Bank, according to Bloomberg, is eager to assist the Cairo-Cape
Town road since it would serve a huge number of people and improve the transportation of
products in Egypt and other regions of Africa. She also stated that the
African Development Bank aims to boost its support for Egypt's transportation sector,
in addition to other objectives identified by the Egyptian government.”
Magdi Salah, a professor of Highway and Transportation Engineering at Cairo University,
affirmed the project's significance in an interview with Al Monitor.
The Cairo Cape Town route, according to Magdi Salah, is a landmark project that would accomplish
land connection and enhanced economic interchange with African countries. He stated that "the Pan
African cross-border highway will shorten the time it takes for Egyptian goods, particularly
agricultural items, to reach African markets." The Pan-African road will assist the government in
achieving economic development and strengthening its position on the African continent.
According to Salah, the road project, which was resurrected by the Egyptian government in 2015,
has been delayed owing to a lack of funding. The Egyptian government looks to have acquired
the necessary funding for the project and is working hard to finish it by 2024.
President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi claimed during the second Belt and Route Forum in Beijing in
April 2019 that the Cairo Cape Town road will increase inter-African business and investment.
He added that Egypt applauds efforts to enhance the present connection as part of the Belt and
Road Initiative with China and other parties to contribute to the African continent's efforts
to achieve Sustainable Development Goals and improve African people's living conditions.
According to the Egyptian national statistics office CAPMAS,
Egypt's commercial trade with Libya totaled $899 million in 2019, with $608 million with Sudan,
$550 million with Kenya, $173 million with South Africa, and $144 million with Ethiopia.
The Cairo-Cape Town highway project would link all five nations. Egypt is a party to a number
of African multilateral trade treaties, including the Eastern and Southern African Common Market
and the African Continental Free Trade Area. Egypt's trade with the Eastern and Southern
African Common Market grew by 19.1 percent in 2019 to $3.9 billion, up from $3.2 billion in
2018. According to Minister of Industry and Trade Navine Gamae, Egyptian exports to the
Pan African bloc climbed to $2.8 billion in 2019, up from $2.3 billion the previous year.
According to Abdel Mottaleb Abdel Hamid, an economics professor at Cairo's Based Sadat
Academy, the Egyptian government is mobilizing resources to double Egypt's exports and trade
with African countries. Abdel told Al Monitor that Egypt wants to increase its exports to
Africa to $30 billion in three to five years, and that the Cairo-Cape Town road
will help the government achieve this goal. He also praised the Egyptian government for
implementing an ambitious plan to revamp the country's road and rail networks in order to
improve trade relations with Egypt's neighbors. Egypt has built a 7000-kilometer national road
network and is expanding the country's fast transit and railway networks as part of its
efforts to stimulate commerce and create an investment-friendly atmosphere. Earlier this year,
the North African country and Siemens reached a deal to build a high-speed electric railway
network connecting Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea coast to New Alamein on the Mediterranean Sea. According
to Abdel Hamid, these efforts contribute to the government's objective of attracting foreign
investment, promoting entrepreneurship, and achieving sustainable development
as part of Egypt's Vision 2030. In another move, Egypt and Sudan agreed
in October last year to build a cross-border railway network to carry both passengers and
products between the two nations as part of efforts to boost bilateral commercial exchange.
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