Egypt has signed a contract with Qatar’s Al Mana Holding for a first-phase investment of $200 million to produce sustainable aviation fuel from used cooking oil in the Suez Canal Economic Zone at Ain Sokhna, the Egyptian cabinet said on Sunday.
The project will be developed in three phases across an area of 100,000 square metres in the Integrated Sokhna Zone on the Red Sea coast. The first phase is expected to have an annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes, according to the cabinet’s statement.
The agreement marks the first Qatari industrial investment in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Egyptian authorities said.
Egypt has been actively seeking foreign investment, particularly from wealthy Gulf states, as it works to address heavy external debt and a widening budget deficit.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the project “reflects the positive momentum in relations between Cairo and Doha, driven by the shared political will to advance bilateral cooperation through joint investments and increased trade”.
The announcement follows a separate deal last month in which the real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund said it would invest $29.7 billion to develop a luxury real estate and tourism project on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast. That agreement represented the largest Qatari investment in Egypt since diplomatic relations were restored after a 2017–2021 rift, when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar over allegations of supporting terrorism and maintaining close relations with Iran, accusations that Doha has denied.
