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Policy Reports

Pounds, Petrodollars, and Planned Paradises

by Nicolas Reeves

The evolving role of Gulf capital in Egyptian megaprojects

Amidst a new escalation of Egypt’s dual debt-and-currency crisis, news broke in February 2023 that the Gulf states would once again come to Cairo’s aid, but with a twist. Instead of depositing dollars at the central bank or shipping discounted oil to Cairo, the UAE acquired the right to develop the Ras El Hikma peninsula on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast for $35 billion. This policy report places this deal within the context of post-2013 relations between Egypt and its largest external benefactors, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It argues that in contrast to previous dollar injections from the Gulf, Ras El Hikma opens opportunities for Gulf investment while preserving the domestic economic arrangement undergirding the political status quo in Cairo.

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Philipp Dienstbier

Philipp Dienstbier

Director of the Regional Programme Gulf States

philipp.dienstbier@kas.de +962 6 59 24 150
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Nicolas Reeves

Nicolas Reeves

Project Manager

nicolas.reeves@kas.de +962 6 59 24 150