The creation of these corridors is part of Egypt's plan to take full advantage of its geographical position and become an essential hub for trade via the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

Egypt is working on establishing seven integrated logistics corridors that combine a set of road and rail infrastructure to connect the ports of the Red Sea to those of the Mediterranean, revealed Egyptian Minister of Transport Kamel el Wazir.

The initiative is one of the structuring projects planned in the State's Sustainable Development Plan for 2030, one of the objectives of which is to make the country a regional hub for transport and logistics.

The corridors will connect several strategic regions and will cover the cities of Sokhna, Alexandria, Arish, Taba, Cairo, Tanta, Mansoura, Dameitta, Gargoub, Salloum, Aswan, Abu Simbel, Safaga, Qena and Tartour. They will concretely interconnect the "production hubs of the industrial, agricultural, mining and service sectors to seaports through fast and secure transport, including dry ports and integrated logistics zones."

Counting on its geographical position which makes its continental space a natural bridge between the countries bordering the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, Egypt is indeed seeking to capitalize on this asset.

Since 2014, the country has increased investments in the development of ports, but also in supporting logistics infrastructures, in particular railways, dry ports, various industrial complexes, to support the expected growth in port traffic.

The Suez Canal, which drains around 20% of the world's container volumes, is the backbone of this vision of the State. It should be noted, however, that since November 2023, activities there have seen a notable decline with the resurgence of terrorist attacks by the Houthis in the context of the Israel-Palestine conflict. At the end of January, official figures estimated that nearly 42% of traffic had been lost since the start of the attacks.

Ecofin Agency