Egypt unveils plan for new desert city in latest megaproject

TDT | Cairo

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Egypt yesterday unveiled plans for a vast new urban development west of Cairo where a manmade channel of the River Nile will eventually wind through what was once arid desert.

The new city, named Jirian meaning “Flow” in Arabic, is part of Egypt’s Nile Delta scheme, a massive agricultural initiative aiming to reclaim about 2.5 million acres west of the original Nile Delta.

The ambitious agricultural project, which started in 2021, seeks to boost production of strategic crops such as wheat and corn while reducing the North African country’s food import bill.

The project is the latest in a string of megaprojects launched by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in recent years, including a new administrative capital east of Cairo.