Egypt opens investment land to first-come, first-served allocation for dollar buyers
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Egypt's Ministry of Housing has introduced a first-come, first-served mechanism for investment land that lets companies secure a provisional reservation on eligible plots by paying the full value in US dollars transferred from abroad.
Egypt's Ministry of Housing has introduced a new mechanism allowing investors to secure land in new cities on a first-come, first-served basis, bypassing the price-based bidding used for plots sold on instalments.
Housing Minister Randa El-Menshawy said the mechanism will take effect with the November offering through the New Urban Communities Authority's electronic foreign investment portal, as part of efforts to simplify allocation procedures, diversify offering mechanisms and attract more investment to new cities.
Companies must register on the portal and transfer funds from abroad through the SWIFT system, with a minimum transfer of $100,000. They must also pay $5,500, comprising $5,000 credited to the company's electronic wallet and a non-refundable $500 application review fee.
Waleed Abbas, deputy housing minister for new urban communities, said an opportunity is provisionally reserved online once an eligible company applies and completes the required transfer from abroad, after which the authority suspends receipt of other reservation requests for the same plot under the mechanism. The company must transfer the full land value in dollars within one month of notification; failure to pay forfeits $100,000 of the amount already transferred and cancels the reservation.
Ahmed Emara, supervisor of NUCA's real estate and commercial affairs sector, said the existing instalment system — in which applicants pay a reservation deposit through their electronic wallets and the highest bid wins — will continue. The new mechanism lets companies opt for first-come, first-served allocation of any plot offered on instalments during the offering period, even where other companies have already submitted requests, with priority to the first applicant that meets the requirements and commits to paying in full in foreign currency.
Ahmed Ismail, acting deputy head of NUCA for planning and projects, said the land offering will run on two tracks: instalment land open to price competition and the new mechanism, and a selected group of premium plots offered exclusively against payment of 100% of their value in dollars transferred from abroad. The ministry said diversifying allocation is meant to improve the use of investment land in new cities, accelerate urban development and raise NUCA's foreign-currency revenues.