Egypt signed contracts worth about EGP 4.6 billion to operate and maintain 11 seawater desalination plants.
- The plants, spread across North and South Sinai, Matrouh and the Red Sea governorates, have a combined design capacity of 485,000 cubic metres per day.
- Deputy Minister Ahmed Omran and Holding Company chair Mostafa El‑Shemy attended the signing, which aims to boost private‑sector technical expertise and reduce downtime.
- Housing Minister Randa El‑Menshawy said the deals fit a broader strategy to raise desalination capacity to nearly 10 million cubic metres per day by 2050.
- Egypt now operates roughly 129 desalination plants (1.4 million m³/day) and has 19 more under construction (687,000 m³/day).
The contracts are intended to improve preventive maintenance, energy efficiency and water quality while keeping state‑owned assets under oversight.