Egypt's stalled $35 bln housing scheme, big dreams to harsh reality

When Abu Dhabi-run contractor Arabtec signed a deal with the Egyptian government for a high-profile housing project it was seen as a sign of the Gulf Arab state's support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

But the project announced in March 2014 and a pillar of Sisi's election campaign, has stalled, possibly risking his reputation and highlighting Egypt's habit of promising grandiose ventures and then struggling to deliver.

Egyptians were promised one million homes by 2020 at a cost of about 280 billion Egyptian pounds ($35.76 billion) and a raft of other projects to help the economy get back on its feet after the political upheaval that followed the 2011 uprising.

Sisi was counting on billions of dollars in pledges of help from Gulf Arab oil-producing allies, backers of the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following popular protests against his rule. Some of which this money has failed to materialise, and local banks are unable to finance the Arabtec project.