Meed | The changing face of community

The changing face of community

11 December 2023

Swiss-Egyptian property group Orascom Development Holding has been on a transformative journey over the past three years in response to global pressures on its core markets and areas of activity.

Operating in seven countries – Egypt, Morocco, Oman, the UAE, Montenegro, Switzerland and the UK – the group develops mixed-use communities that combine residential units with social infrastructure and amenities – and, more recently, commercial office space.

It also owns 33 hotels with a total of 7,000 keys that it either self-manages or allows a third party to manage, and holds a landbank of 100 million square metres across the seven countries, of which two-thirds is yet to be developed.

Orascom Development’s model revolves around developing out-of-town locations that provide a sense of departure from urban life while remaining within reach of major cities.

Historically, much of this was keyed into second home ownership, but more recently, and particularly with the Covid-19 pandemic, shifting global attitudes to work and travel have driven the group to reorient itself to new realities.

Group CEO Omar El Hamamsy notes that at the height of the pandemic, the black swan event resulted in diverging effects on the group’s hotel and real estate businesses. While travel restrictions led to a downturn in its hotel business, the real estate business experienced an unexpected surge in demand.

Much of this surge was driven by people seeking an escape from urban environments, which boosted the appeal of the group’s lifestyle-oriented out-of-town developments. Consumer mindsets also shifted from viewing such properties as second homes to viewing them as prospective primary residences.

As El Hamamsy explains: “The purpose of those towns historically was for them to be second homes. Over time, that model has morphed into: ‘Well, hey, especially after the pandemic, should these places and towns be your primary home in the first place? Why wouldn’t you live in the Swiss Alps, an hour and a half away from Zurich, or an hour or two hours away from Milan, if you can do that?’”

This shift has created demand for commercial space within existing communities, such as at El Gouna (pictured below), the community established by the group on Egypt’s Red Sea coast near Hurghada in the ’90s.

This has led, notes El Hamamsy, into “the creation of co-working spaces – so in El Gouna, we have something called G Valley, which is our little Silicon Valley, to which we’ve attracted a whole bunch of startups. Now a bunch of digital nomads startups come in and they use those co-working spaces.”

Divesting peripherals

The group is also pivoting towards leaner operations and away from the development model it followed in the past, in which it ran everything from utilities and infrastructure to services and amenities such as schools, hospitals, marinas and leisure facilities, including even one ski resort.

El Hamamsy notes the group’s need to stay focused on its core competencies and profit centres and to disentangle itself from operational aspects.

“As part of our growth strategy, we recognise the need to transition from owning and operating everything,” he says. “This move is geared towards achieving profitable growth, enhancing customer experiences, and unlocking the stored value in our assets.

“The model over the past 30 years was incredibly capital intensive – putting a lot of money into cement and steel, into pipes underground, into schools and hospitals – so at some point, we needed to become more asset-light.

“The next step, and the one we’re doing now, is actually returning dividends to our shareholders through some de-assetisation – unlocking some of that stored value and returning it.”

In the past three years, the group’s strategic realignment has led it to post 2022 revenues that were 77 per cent higher than in 2020 and 52 per cent higher than the 2019 baseline.

Gross profit then nearly tripled from 2020 to 2022, while a 10-year net profit loss has become a two-year winning streak in 2021 and 2022, according to El Hamamsy.

There are positive projections for profitability in 2023, too.

Optimising integration

Moving forward, while all of the group’s communities are still being developed with a similar furnishing of facilities as before, a key difference is that operational partners are being brought on board from the beginning – convinced by the group’s now multinational, multi-decade track record of development.

One community under active development along these new lines is O West, a masterplan in Egypt’s 6th October City, about 40 minutes west of Cairo’s downtown.

Here, as El Hamamsy notes: “Now we’re at the maturity level where we can get out of owning and operating everything. We don’t need to generate our own electricity or do our own landscaping, necessarily. We don’t need to operate schools. In O West, we have brought in three operators for the schools, and that’s working great for us.

“And in the extension of our hospitals and wellbeing experiences, we’re bringing in third parties who specialise in certain types of wellbeing to actually build their own infrastructure and operate their own infrastructure.

“Our role, ultimately, is to curate, just like a museum curator – to say: this is the right experience for that community at this point in time.”

The group’s communities are also being designed to accommodate a broad demographic, including by incorporating affordable housing into their masterplans to ensure the entire working population can live there.

El Hamamsy emphasises the distinction between the group’s holistic approach and that of other residential developments, which – while integrating a range of different facilities and spaces – often lack functionality as fully-fledged communities.

Orascom Development’s level of community integration, on the other hand, even extends to its ownership of the El Gouna Football Club, which now sits in the Egyptian Premier League, based out of its El Gouna development.

It similarly owns an ice hockey team in connection with its community in Andermatt, Switzerland.

The group also undergirds sports and cultural events, such as the Ironman 70.3 Salalah, which centres on its Hawana Salalah community, and the El Gouna Film Festival.

And the communities keep coming. In 2022, Orascom Development welcomed residents into its first community in the UK – a lakeside village in Cornwall, while the first phase of O West in Cairo was delivered in 2023.

Despite the inflationary pressure in Egypt, the real estate market remains vibrant, according to El Hamamsy, who notes: “The opportunities in Egypt, given its low asset prices post-devaluation and favourable demographics, make it an appealing prospect for serious investors.”

Looking ahead, Orascom Development is also in the early stages of developing a major new community in Chbika in southwestern Morocco, and at Al-Sawda Island, off the southern coast of Oman – both just parts of the huge land bank that the group is yet to develop into its singular vision of urban planning.

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John Bambridge

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Houthi escalation targets Saudi airports
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Yemen’s Houthis have placed Saudi Arabia’s civil aviation infrastructure at the centre of their campaign against the kingdom. Two strikes on King Khalid International airport in Riyadh over the weekend killed 13 people and injured 320.

The deadlier attack hit a passenger terminal on the afternoon of 10 October. The General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) said it killed 12 people, including four Saudi citizens, and injured 309. Airport operations were suspended pending a damage assessment.

A second strike hit Terminal 4 on the afternoon of 11 October, sparking a fire that killed a Pakistani resident and injured 11 others, according to Gaca. The Saudi-led coalition reported intercepting a cruise missile near the airport that afternoon. Gaca also reported an attack on King Fahd International airport in Dammam that evening, following a coalition report of a projectile falling near the facility the previous night.

The weekend strikes followed attacks on Abha International airport on 6 October and on King Khalid International airport on 7 and 8 October, the last of which included a strike on a Saudia aircraft. Gaca figures put the toll from the week’s attacks on Saudi airports at 19 dead and more than 350 injured.

The Houthis said they would continue operations inside the kingdom and that all Saudi airports were potential targets, with the exception of those serving the holy cities. The group says it is acting in response to Riyadh’s support for Yemeni government forces and a Saudi air strike on Sanaa airport. It has also claimed attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which Saudi authorities have not confirmed.

Aviation exposure

The attacks strike a sector central to the kingdom’s diversification plans. King Khalid International airport’s existing terminals are to be absorbed into King Salman International airport (KSIA), a 57-square-kilometre development with six parallel runways targeting a capacity of 120 million passengers by 2030 and 185 million by 2050.

Procurement on KSIA has gathered pace this year. In July, a joint venture of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Dammam-based Mofarreh AlHarbi & Partners won an estimated SR800m ($213m) contract for enabling and substructure works on Terminal 6, which will add capacity for 40 million passengers. Turkish contractor IC Ictas and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting recently secured a SR800m ($213m) contract for the airport’s Private Aviation Terminal.

Government-owned Saudi Royal Aviation set 8 October as the bid deadline for an estimated SR3bn ($800m) contract to build an aviation complex within the KSIA masterplan, the same day the Houthis struck King Khalid International airport and a Saudia aircraft.

Airlines have already adjusted. Flydubai cancelled flights to Riyadh and Yanbu up to 10 October and to Abha up to 11 October, and Etihad Airways reported extended delays on its Abu Dhabi to Riyadh service after the airport closed on 8 October. The UK Foreign Office has advised against all travel to areas within 10km of the Yemeni border.

Market reaction

The Saudi stock market’s response has been muted so far. The Tadawul main index fell 15.54 points to close at 10,360.74 on 11 October, the first trading session after the Saturday attack, with turnover of SR2.6bn ($693m). The session closed before the second strike on King Khalid International airport and the attack on Dammam, and Monday’s trading will be the first to reflect the full weekend.

The weekend also brought a separate maritime incident. UK Maritime Trade Operations said an oil tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz on 11 October, with its crew reported safe.

Diplomatic response

The coalition described the 10 October attack as a war crime and said it would respond decisively. It said on 10 October that it had destroyed 136 military targets in Houthi-controlled areas and was working to dismantle the group’s ballistic missile network.

Egypt, Pakistan and Turkiye joined Saudi Arabia in an R4 group statement condemning the attacks and supporting measures taken by the kingdom in response. The Arab League also voiced its support for Saudi Arabia. On 11 October, Iran’s foreign minister spoke by telephone with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan, to discuss the escalation. The US and UK have also signalled the possibility of further support for the kingdom.

The escalation comes against the backdrop of the regional conflict, which has drawn Saudi Arabia into a renewed Yemen front after several years of relative calm following the 2022 ceasefire. The extent of the damage at King Khalid International airport, which Gaca is still assessing, and the speed at which international carriers resume full schedules will determine how far the attacks disrupt the kingdom’s aviation programme.

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Egypt and Saudi Arabia sign oil and gas deal
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Egypt and Saudi Arabia have signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation in the oil, natural gas and petrochemicals sectors, according to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Riyadh by Karim Badawi, Egypt’s minister of petroleum and mineral resources, and Abdulaziz Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy.

Under the agreement, both sides will enhance cooperation in trading, transporting, storing and distributing crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas.

They will also expand cooperation on developing the infrastructure and logistics services that support these activities.

In its statement, Egypt’s Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources said: “These efforts will contribute to improving energy market efficiency, enhancing the resilience and reliability of supply chains, and strengthening energy security.”

The MoU also provides for expanded cooperation in exchanging expertise and best practices in operating and developing fuel stations, as well as in transporting and tracking petroleum products and liquefied petroleum gas cylinders.

Additionally, the agreement seeks to explore investment opportunities in joint projects and promote exports.

The latest agreement comes as Egypt becomes an increasingly important export route for Saudi Arabia.

Due to disruptions and security risks affecting shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, Saudi Arabia has been redirecting crude exports via its East-West Pipeline to Yanbu on the Red Sea.

Meanwhile, the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, at the southern end of the Red Sea, has also become a security concern due to military activity in Yemen. Egypt offers an alternative route through the Sumed pipeline, which runs from Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea to Sidi Kerir on the Mediterranean.

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JGC yet to return evacuated workers to Basra refinery
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Japan’s JGC has yet to bring evacuated workers back to the Basra refinery project in Iraq, according to industry sources.

JGC evacuated its personnel from the site in the southern oil hub of Basra following the start of the regional conflict on 28 February, when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

The evacuation halted work on the project, which was in its final construction stage.

On 14 August 2026, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil announced that it had signed an agreement with JGC to resume work on the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) project at Basra refinery.

One source said: “Even though the agreement to bring the evacuated workers back was signed about two months ago, there is still no sign of the evacuated workers on the project site.

“It is possible that they will return soon, but it is hard to tell what will happen next in the current security environment.”

Earlier this month, Iraq’s Ministry of Oil said it met with Japanese officials to discuss plans to commission the FCC unit under the Basra refinery upgrade project.

The statement did not say when the evacuated JGC workers would return to the project site.

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Iraq’s state-owned South Refineries Company (SRC) sent JGC notice of the main contract award for the FCC package of the Basra refinery upgrade project in August 2020.

JGC was awarded the contract in consortium with South Korea’s Hyundai E&C.

The official contract signing ceremony was held in Baghdad on 1 October 2020.

The contract awarded to JGC, which uses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning model, was worth $3.78bn.

The FCC package is part of a broader project to upgrade the Basra refinery.

The project site is located about 12 kilometres east of Iraq’s southern city of Basra.

The wider upgrade project involves installing new facilities on land adjacent to the existing Basra refinery, including a vacuum distillation unit and a diesel desulphurisation unit.

In April 2021, France’s Axens won a contract in Iraq to provide four process technologies to SRC for the Basra refinery upgrade project.

The technologies that SRC selected are:
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- Oligomerisation unit (polynaphtha)
In addition, Axens is providing catalysts and adsorbents, proprietary equipment, training and technical services.

MEED’s latest report on Iraq includes:

> COMMENT: Iraq’s reform window narrows
> GOVERNMENT: Al-Zaidi takes Iraq’s premiership under US shadow
> BANKING: Financial challenge tests Iraq’s resolve
> ECONOMY: Iraq enters era of resilience, reform and rising risks
> OIL & GAS: Iraqi oil and gas sector in crisis
> POWER & WATER: Focus shifts to delivery of Iraq utilities expansion
> CONSTRUCTION: Momentum builds in Iraq’s post-war construction sector

To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
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Contractors are preparing to submit prequalification statements on 14 October for a contract to build Jordan’s Al-Hussein Bin Abdullah II International Stadium, located east of the capital, Amman.

The project is part of the first phase of the Amra City development masterplan and is being implemented by Jordan Cities & Facilities Development Company, a Jordan Investment Fund-owned company.

Main works are expected to begin early next year, with the stadium slated for completion in 2029.

The project will cover about 1 million square metres, and the stadium will seat 50,000 spectators.

The stadium is being built within the Amra City development, which is located about 40 kilometres (km) from downtown Amman and 35km from Zarqa and Queen Alia International airport.

MEED reported that preliminary excavation and site preparation began in June.

The project forms part of Jordan’s Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) 2023-25.

The EMV – Amman’s flagship reform programme – aims to increase real income per capita by an average of 3% annually, create 1 million jobs and more than double the country’s GDP over the next decade.

The strategy envisages a leading role for the private sector, which is expected to account for 73% of the estimated $58.8bn investment required.

READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

Industry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.

Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

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> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking

> POWER: AI is creating a grid capacity problem

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> OIL: Oil companies focus on North Africa amid Hormuz crisis

> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the ground

To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here

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Abu Dhabi plans Mussafah road upgrades

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Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) has announced plans to upgrade roads in Mussafah, improving links between the industrial area, Mohamed Bin Zayed City and Zayed City.

The scheme covers about 13 kilometres of roads on the E30 and 8th Street. It aims to reduce congestion, improve road safety and cut journey times.

The works include a new three-lane highway in each direction along 8th Street, with parallel three-lane service roads on both sides providing access to local businesses and facilities.

The upgraded corridor is expected to accommodate up to 4,000 vehicles an hour.

Other works include upgrades to four E30 interchanges, improved links to 8th Street and the E20, and modifications to nine junctions.

The DMT also plans to build two bridges connecting Mussafah and Mohamed Bin Zayed City, along with a pedestrian bridge.

Abu Dhabi is planning major investments to upgrade its road network across the emirate.

Last week, it disclosed plans for a major new transport corridor in the capital, comprising a 37km coastal route linking Al-Hudayriyat Island with the E11 at Al-Nouf.

It is planned to have three lanes in each direction and will include a tunnel, about 7km of marine bridges and about 4km of causeways.

The scheme will provide a direct connection between Al-Dhafra, Al-Hudayriyat Island and Abu Dhabi Island via Halat Al-Bahrani, Al-Futaisi and Al-Aryam islands.