Egypt, UAE choose army-linked company to build wheat silos

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that they had contracted a state-run company headed by a retired Egyptian army officer to build wheat silos that are a key part of the UAE’s $4.9bn aid package to Cairo.

The UAE is taking a hands-on role in supporting Egypt and is funding a range of development projects including the wheat silo-building effort that could help the world’s biggest importer of the commodity lower its huge food import bill.

Reuters reported in March that the UAE was working directly with the Egyptian army to ensure the silo-building was conducted efficiently.

The UAE pledged last October to build a total of 25 wheat silos with a storage capacity of 1.5m tons to help prevent the loss of billions of dollars worth of wheat per year.