Somalia’s President Hints At New Capital City To Emulate Egypt

Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh has said the war-torn horn of Africa country could build a new Capital City after two decades of fighting destroyed its current headquarter in Mogadishu. Sheikh said this at a meeting with Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the sidelines of an investors conference taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

He did not however give any details regarding the location and cost of building the new city.

Egypt plans to raise up to $40 billion from investors at the conference to build a new capital city in the East  to replace Cairo in the wake of the Arab sprig that brought its capital to a stand still for months.

“The new Somali capital-Mogadishu is very exciting and it is a indeed great move to both private and public sectors in Somalia,” a World Bank official was quoted by Geeska Africa saying.

A 24-year vicious war between government forces supported by African Union forces against Al Qaeda linked Al Shabab has brought Somalia’s economy to its death bed, destroying any form of civility both in its capital Mogadishu and other town around the country.

The country has however seen some semblance of peace in the last few years, giving hope that its economy could be revived. Several countries have renewed their relations with the horn of Africa nation including the US, which assigned it an ambassador last month after more than 20 years.

In Egypt, the new capital city is expected to be about the size of Singapore, with an airport larger than Heathrow. It will include 2,000 schools and colleges and more than 600 health care facilities.

The new metropolis, which might cost as much as $45 billion and take five to seven years to build, will also host the country’s parliament, government departments and ministries, as well as foreign embassies.

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