Egypt to rename New Administrative Capital through competition

CAIRO - 18 July 2019: The Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company announced on Thursday launching a public competition to set a new name and logo for Egypt's New Administrative Capital (NAC). The competition will last until August 17.

The awards allocated for the competition are reportedly worth a total of LE 250,000 ($15,023). The competition will be conducted through the official website of the NAC (www.acud.eg).

The name and logo have to meet some conditions; they have to express the Egyptian identity and have to be unique, original and simple, Khaled al-Husseini, spokesman of the company said.

Concerning the name, it must not exceed two words and must be easily pronounced. It must not be ambiguous and cannot express a political party or religious orientation. The company mentioned many other conditions on its website including being in Arabic and sounding nontraditional.
The value of the prize for the first winner will be LE 75,000, according to the website, while the second and third prizes are worth LE 50,000 and LE 25,000, respectively. A number of ten incentives each worth LE 10,000 were also allocated.

A panel of experts will be formed to assess the suggestions submitted and choose the best name among them, Husseini said.

The Capital for Urban Development Company is 51 percent owned by the Armed Forces, while 49 percent is owned by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). The paid-up capital of the company amounts to LE 20 billion, including contributions from the Armed Forces and NUCA. The authorized capital is around LE 203 billion.

Egypt's President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi laid the first stone of the New Administrative Capital in East Cairo in July 2018.

With an area of 170,000 feddans, the new capital is set to include 20 residential areas expected to accommodate 6.5 million people and a road network of 650 km in length. The capital includes an international airport and is set to have an electric train to link it with the 10th of Ramadan and El-Salam cities.

It will feature 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities, and a park that is projected to be the world’s largest.

The NAC is located in the area between the Cairo-Suez and Cairo-Ain Sokhna roads, east of the regional ring road. This is roughly 60 kilometers (37.3 miles) from the cities of Suez and Ain Sokhna.