Egypt’s Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Sherif El-Sherbiny is currently on a visit to the capital Malabo upon invitation from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea. He has met Clemente Ferreiro Villarino, Guinea Minister of State for Public Works and Urban Planning, to discuss joint cooperation and exchange of experience between Egypt and Guinea. Attending were Cairo’s Ambassador to Malabo, Haddad Abdel-Tawab El-Gohary, together with senior officials from both countries.
100,000 housing units
Mr Villarino welcomed the Egyptian Minister of Housing and his accompanying delegation, and conveyed to them the greetings of the President and the Vice President of Guinea. “Our goal is for cooperation between the two ministries to be one of the most important basic links between the two countries,” the Guinean Minister said. “The ministries of housing, roads and public works are always the main driver of development in our country, and we will start cooperation together to benefit our two countries.”
He explained that the official vision of his country is currently to build housing units for Guineans, “we have a national project to build “100,000 housing units”, and we aspire for the support of the Egyptian side starting from the very beginning: project, idea and design, then implementation, and until delivery,” Mr Villarino said.
The Guinean Minister explained that his country sought the expertise of Egypt as an authority in the field, divulging the Vice President’s directives to import Egyptian raw materials for construction. The Guinean Vice President had recently visited Egypt and was impressed by the housing units he saw. “We are prepared to start implementing 200 housing units as a model in one of the governorates, including 100 low-cost units, 50 for middle-income people, and 50 luxury units, Mr Villarino said.
Egyptian expertise
Mr Sherbiny thanked the Guinean side for their invitation to visit Malabo, and invited Mr Villarino to visit Egypt, stressing the importance of participation of delegations from the Ministry of Public Works in Equatorial Guinea in the events and exhibitions organised by the Egyptian Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, as well as learning about the Egyptian urban experience.
Mr Sherbiny introduced to the Guinean side the various sectors of the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, explaining the responsibilities and roles played by each. He stressed that the Ministry is willing to contribute to establishing an authority or office for urban planning and architectural design in Equatorial Guinea, and to send Egyptian experts to Malabo until the office is up and running. The Ministry of Housing, Mr Sherbiny said, is willing to offer staff training in Malabo or in Cairo.
The Egyptian Minister also talked about Egypt’s boom in the housing sector, at different levels, noting that millions of units have been built for different income sectors in the community. Egyptian companies have gained extensive experience in this sector in the past years, he said. He welcomed cooperation with Equatorial Guinea in implementing their housing project “100,000 housing units” in several stages in various Guinean cities. Mr Sherbiny was keen to learn about the details of this ambitious project. He suggested the construction of part of the project’s units through an Egyptian alliance under the supervision of the Egyptian Ministry of Housing. These units can work as a pilot and can be generalised.
Slum areas
The Minister of Housing explained the Egyptian experience in developing unsafe, slum areas, and how the Egyptian government was able to eliminate this problem; residents of such areas have now moved to well-planned, adequately-serviced housing projects.
The Minister talked about the great progress made by the New Urban Communities Authority; he mentioned the new towns constructed in Egypt, as well as the sustainable smart cities. He highlighted the role played by the utilities sector on that score.
Mr Sherbiny also spoke of the national and renewal projects carried out across Egypt by the Central Agency for Reconstruction. He lauded the role of the research bodies affiliated with the Ministry.
In view of the thorough presentation he had given, Mr Sherbiny stressed a willingness to cooperate with the Guinean side in various sectors, expressing the Ministry’s absolute readiness to share with Guinea the Egyptian experience.
Sealing mutual cooperation
Mr Villarino said that a memorandum of understanding would be signed between the two countries, to seal their cooperation. “We look forward to benefiting from your expertise, and we would like the Egyptian side to help us in the modern bodies that we will establish; most importantly, obtaining Egyptian expertise and training on job sites,” he said. Upon which
Mr Sherbiny confirmed his Ministry’s full readiness to meet the requests of the Guinean side, pointing out that the Ministry’s Central Agency for Reconstruction would supervise the implementation of what is agreed upon. He said that Egyptian contracting companies, including the Arab Contractors, are ready to start engaging in the work, and would prepare a plan and design for the project.
For their part, Egypt’s State-owned Arab Contractors construction secured a contract to undertake housing projects in Equatorial Guinea’s national plan to build 100,000 housing units. The agreement was reached during the meeting between Minister Sherbiny, and Mr Villarino.
Mr Sherbiny confirmed that the projects would be executed under direct supervision of the Egyptian Ministry of Housing. “Arab Contractors possesses significant capabilities and has carried out a number of distinguished projects in Equatorial Guinea,” he said.
Arab Contractors – Equatorial Guinea Limited was established in 2003 as an Egyptian-Guinean partnership, and has since implemented numerous projects in Guinea, to the tune of a total EUR1.5 billion in 2024. The excellence of its performance earned it three presidential medals from Equatorial Guinea in 2008, 2012, and 2015. The giant contractor is currently executing projects in 29 countries outside Egypt.
The Arab Contractors, is a Sate-owned Egyptian regional construction and contracting company. It was established in 1955 by Osman Ahmed Osman (1917 – 1981), an Egyptian entrepreneur and politician who served as Egypt’s Housing Minister in the 1970s.
Watani International
12 February 2025
