Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly outlined Egypt’s infrastructure, urban development and industrial achievements over the past 12 years during the closing session of Egypt Forum 2026, highlighting the expansion of the country’s urban footprint, road and transport networks, ports, utilities and industrial zones.
Addressing the forum, attended by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in the New Capital, Madbouly said the development programme was designed to address long-standing structural challenges, including population concentration, deteriorating infrastructure, limited connectivity and the uneven distribution of investment.
The forum, held from October 19 to 24, was intended to assess Egypt’s position before and after the development programme and identify priorities for the next three years.
Madbouly said the government would publish the agreed priorities and their implementation measures on the forum’s platform once they had been finalised.
Urban expansion and housing
Madbouly said Egypt had doubled its urbanised area from around 7% to 14% of the country’s total area, creating additional space for population growth and economic activity.
He noted that Egypt had built 22 new cities over the five decades following the late 1970s, while 31 new cities had been established in recent years. In total, 39 new cities have been completed or are under construction, according to the prime minister.
The government has also addressed unsafe housing areas and the shortage of residential units. Madbouly said 357 unsafe areas, previously home to around 1.5 million people, had been eliminated, with approximately 250,000 replacement housing units built for residents.
He cited projects including Asmarat, Maspero Triangle, Al-Mahrousa and Rawdat Al-Sayeda as examples of efforts to relocate residents from unsafe areas and redevelop urban neighbourhoods.
The government has also developed more than 16,000 feddans of unplanned areas out of a total of 152,000 feddans identified for development.
Under the Sakan Kol El-Masryeen programme, around two million housing units have been built to address housing needs across different income groups. Madbouly said the government had inherited a housing deficit of around three million units between 2011 and 2014.
Roads and transport networks
The expansion of Egypt’s transport infrastructure has been central to the government’s efforts to connect new urban communities with existing population centres and economic zones.
Madbouly said the country’s road network had grown from around 23,000 kilometres of deteriorating roads to approximately 31,000 kilometres. This includes 7,500 kilometres of new roads and 10,000 kilometres of roads that have been developed or substantially upgraded.
The government has also expanded the network of Nile crossings, with 19 of 35 planned road corridors completed. Madbouly said the distance between bridges in areas south of Cairo had fallen from around 100 kilometres to 25 kilometres.
Major projects include the development of the Ring Road, the Cairo-Suez Road, the Wadi El-Natrun–El-Alamein Road, the Middle Ring Road and the Port Said–Sharm El-Sheikh Road, alongside new Nile crossings serving Upper Egypt.
Sinai has also been connected more closely to the rest of the country. The government has added five tunnels beneath the Suez Canal to the existing Ahmed Hamdy Tunnel and built 17 floating bridges in several locations to facilitate the movement of people and goods.
Madbouly said work had resumed on the Ferdan–Bir El-Abd railway line, while the wider railway network planned for Sinai is expected to extend more than 450 kilometres, connecting areas from Bir El-Abd and Arish to Taba.
The government has also expanded mass transit infrastructure, including metro lines, the Bus Rapid Transit system, projects involving Alexandria’s metro and tram networks, the monorail, the Light Rail Transit system and the high-speed electric railway network, planned to extend 2,250 kilometres.
Ports and logistics infrastructure
Madbouly said the expansion of transport infrastructure had extended beyond domestic connectivity to Egypt’s links with international trade.
The country’s seaports have increased from 14 to 19, while total quay lengths have risen from 37 kilometres to around 100 kilometres. Maximum port depths have increased from 15 metres to 25 metres, helping raise cargo-handling volumes to around four times their previous levels.
The prime minister highlighted Ain Sokhna Port, which has undergone extensive development, and East Port Said Port, which he described as a leading regional container-handling hub. Other projects include the development of Alexandria and Damietta ports, West Port Said Port and the establishment of new facilities such as the Tahya Misr terminals.
Egypt has also increased the number of land ports from seven to nine and developed 33 dry ports and logistics zones, including facilities in Taba, Qustul, Salloum and Badr.
In aviation, the number of airports has increased from 19 to 23, while annual passenger capacity has risen from 53 million to 73 million. Madbouly said the programme included upgrades to existing airports as well as the development of new facilities, citing projects at Sharm El-Sheikh, Sphinx and Arish airports.
Utilities and infrastructure for production
Madbouly said investment in utilities had been necessary to support the expansion of urban areas and create the infrastructure required for industrial and economic activity.
Rural sanitation coverage has risen from 12% in 2014 to 60%, according to the prime minister. The government has built 237 treatment plants, bringing daily treatment capacity to around 19 million cubic metres. He said the completion of the remaining phases of the Hayah Karima initiative would help achieve full rural sanitation coverage.
Egypt’s daily drinking-water production capacity has increased from around 28 million cubic metres to 45 million cubic metres. Desalination capacity has risen from 84,000 cubic metres per day to 1.5 million cubic metres, with the government targeting two million cubic metres next year and 10 million cubic metres in the coming years.
Electricity generation capacity has increased from 29,000 megawatts in 2014 to around 64,000 megawatts after the addition of approximately 35,000 megawatts. Madbouly said the three major Siemens power plants account for around 27% of Egypt’s electricity needs.
The government is targeting a renewable-energy share of more than 45% of the energy mix by the end of 2028. Projects highlighted by Madbouly include the Gabal El-Zeit wind farms, the Benban solar complex and electricity interconnection projects with neighbouring countries. He also cited the ongoing construction of the El-Dabaa nuclear power plant as part of efforts to diversify energy sources.
Natural gas connections to residential units have increased from 6.2 million to 16.2 million, while around 1,700 kilometres of new gas transmission networks have been implemented.
Industrial expansion and investment
Madbouly said the government had expanded industrial land and developed industrial complexes to support small and medium-sized businesses and increase production.
The government has established 16 industrial complexes, with another two to three under construction. Together, these complexes provide around 4,800 small factories and have created approximately 50,000 jobs, according to the prime minister. He added that businesses operating in the complexes serve both the domestic market and export markets.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone has attracted more than $10 billion in investment and generated over 200,000 jobs, Madbouly said, citing the development of factories by Egyptian and international investors.
He highlighted investments by global manufacturers including Haier, Midea, Xinxing and Bosch, alongside projects in textiles, clothing, cement, nitrogen fertilisers and food production.
Madbouly said the government’s industrial policy was increasingly focused on deepening local manufacturing rather than relying solely on assembly. In the automotive sector, Egypt aims to raise local content to 60% and move towards producing more than 100,000 vehicles annually within two to three years, including the development of electric-vehicle manufacturing and assembly.
He also highlighted the role of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency in providing financing to young entrepreneurs and lower-income households.
Agriculture and food security
Agricultural expansion has been another component of the development programme. Madbouly said Egypt’s cultivated area had increased from 9.1 million feddans to 10.5 million feddans, with a target of reaching 12.5 million feddans within two years.
Agricultural exports have risen from 4.3 million tonnes to 9.5 million tonnes. Wheat self-sufficiency currently stands at around 52%, with the government aiming to exceed 60%. Meat self-sufficiency has increased from 44% to 60%, while Egypt has achieved self-sufficiency in milk, according to the prime minister.
The New Delta project includes the reclamation of 2.2 million feddans, with investments estimated at EGP 800 billion. Other land-reclamation projects include those in East Oweinat, West Mallawi and Toshka.
The government has also expanded water-reuse infrastructure, including the Bahr El-Baqar treatment plant, with a capacity of 5.6 million cubic metres per day, and the New Delta treatment plant, with a capacity of 7.5 million cubic metres per day. The projects are intended to support agricultural development and increase the productive use of available water resources.
Madbouly also highlighted the development of Egypt’s lakes and the expansion of grain-storage infrastructure. Silo capacity has increased from around 1.2 million tonnes to 4.4 million tonnes, while the government received approximately five million tonnes of locally produced wheat during the 2026 harvest season.
Digital infrastructure and tourism
The prime minister said fixed-internet speeds had risen from around 3 megabits per second to 98 megabits per second, placing Egypt first in Africa for fixed broadband speed. The number of mobile-phone towers has increased from 7,000 to 41,000.
Madbouly also highlighted the expansion of the outsourcing sector and the establishment of Knowledge City in the New Capital to support technology skills and employment. He said the government aimed to increase outsourcing exports, although the figures cited in his speech require clarification before they can be reported reliably.
In tourism, visitor numbers have increased from 9.5 million in 2014 to nearly 20 million, with a target of attracting 30 million tourists. Madbouly linked the sector’s growth prospects to continued investment in infrastructure, museums and archaeological sites, including projects in Saint Catherine, Luxor and Aswan.
Government sets out next phase
Madbouly said the government had prepared a National Economic Transformation Program that would be released within two months for public dialogue. The programme is expected to set out targets and measures for the next phase, while the forum’s agreed priorities and implementation steps will be published through its platform.
He said the development programme had been implemented amid security challenges, the fight against terrorism and successive external shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and regional and international conflicts.
The government’s next phase, he added, would focus on achieving higher growth, expanding production, creating jobs, increasing incomes and improving the quality of public services.
Madbouly acknowledged that challenges remained and said the government did not consider its work complete. He argued that the infrastructure and development projects undertaken over the past 12 years were intended not only to expand capacity, but also to address accumulated gaps and prepare the country for future population and economic needs.