The Egyptian government has approved the creation of “The Spine,” a special private investment zone in the Madinaty district of New Cairo. The project, valued at approximately $27.4 billion, involves the construction of 165 residential, office, and hotel towers and is positioned by the developer as the first large-scale “cognitive city” in Egypt and the Middle East, where artificial intelligence will be widely used to manage its infrastructure.
Approximately 2.1 million square meters of land within the existing Madinaty project will be allocated for development. In addition to residential, office, and hotel buildings, the project will include retail, entertainment, tourism, medical, and other infrastructure.
Orion Urban Development, a subsidiary of one of Egypt’s largest developers, Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMG), has been granted the right to establish and develop the investment zone. Back in April, Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) approved the creation of the country’s first private investment zone of this type for the project.
Investments in The Spine are estimated at over $27.4 billion, and the project’s paid-in capital amounts to approximately $1.35 billion. TMG’s partner is the National Bank of Egypt. The developer expects that the project will create 55,000 direct jobs and about 100,000 indirect jobs.
TMG Chairman Hisham Talaat Mustafa estimates The Spine’s potential contribution at approximately 1% of Egypt’s GDP, with total tax revenues from the project over its entire operational period amounting to approximately $16 billion. The company also expects to attract international corporations, tourists, and business visitors to the area. These figures are projections provided by the developer itself.
One of the distinctive features of The Spine is expected to be the extensive digitization of urban infrastructure. TMG states that it will use artificial intelligence systems and self-learning technologies to manage urban services. The project also includes an underground logistics and road network, which should free up a significant portion of the surface area from vehicular traffic.
Approximately 70% of the surface area—or more than 1.5 million square meters—is planned to be allocated to green spaces and open areas. Medical infrastructure will also be integrated into the project, including a partnership with the American hospital Houston Methodist Hospital.
The special status of the investment zone is intended to simplify registration, licensing, import, and export procedures for companies operating there. The project will feature its own customs infrastructure and a special support program for investors, which is a key part of the effort to transform The Spine not only into a residential area but also into an international business cluster.
TMG officially unveiled The Spine on April 18–19, 2026, in the presence of Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, following approximately five years of preparation and research involving international consultants.
The project is in the early stages of implementation, though some elements of Madinaty’s infrastructure are already under construction: a medical complex in partnership with Houston Methodist is scheduled to open in April 2027. The overall timeline for completing construction of all 165 towers of The Spine has not yet been publicly announced.
