China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) will build Africa’s tallest tower as part of a $3bn contract to build the Central Business District (CBD) for Egypt's new administrative capital.

The proposed 345 metre-tall tower will be more than 100m taller than the 223m-tall Carlton Tower in Johannesburg, South Africa.

For China States’ $3bn Cairo deal, the contractor will build a CBD covering a total area of about 500,000 square metres.

As well as the tall tower it will also include 12 business complexes, five residential buildings and two hotels.

The contract duration is 43 months.

More Chinese investment in Egyptian projects are expected. Beijing has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Cairo to finance the rail project, which is estimated to be worth around $739m. The railway link, which is set to have eleven stops will service the currently unnamed capital being built some 45km north of Cairo. Egypt will be expected to repay the loan over a period of 15 years, with a grace period of five years.

In the first half of 2017, trade between Cairo and Beijing stood at nearly $5bn, with China looking to increase capital projects as part of its Silk Road economic initiative.

There has been a series of agreements signed for projects across the Middle East region with Chinese companies in recent months.

In Iran, China’s Citic Group Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for lines of credit worth $10bn with Iranian banks. The funding will be used for projects across a variety of sectors including energy, natural environment, transportation and the management of water resources.

And in the UAE, local developer Union Properties has signed a MoU with Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation for the construction of a $2.2bnmasterplanned development with 44 towers at Motorcity in Dubai.

Also in Dubai, Ningxia Forward Fund Management Company signed a $408m agreement for the development of industrial space at Dubai Food Park.

The agreements are the latest sign that China and Chinese companies will play an increasingly active role in the development of the region. Over the past few years Beijing has been promoting its One Belt One Road initiative that aims to extend China’s reach across the road. While the initial investments were targeted at countries that border China such as Pakistan, these most recent agreements indicate that the Middle East is set to benefit from Beijing’s growing interest in international markets.