Egypt’s Sixth of October Development & Investment Company (Sodic) and local authorities in Cairo have signed an agreement with the Egypt Holding Company for Water and Wastewater and German Agency (GIZ) for the rehabilitation of 1,000 homes within inner city slums.

The project involves connecting homes to the fresh water and wastewater networks in Ezbet Khairallah, as well as installing a firefighting network for surrounding areas.

The project has been developed as a part of Sodic’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, and GIZ’s Water and Wastewater Management Programme (WWMP), with approval from Egypt’s Housing Ministry.

In June, MEED reported that Egypt is set to receive a grant from the UAE for a 10-year slum redevelopment project.

Local reports quoted the Urban Renewal & Informal Settlements Minister Laila Iskandar as saying the UAE will provide Egypt with a grant to help develop 10,000 housing units in impoverished areas in Upper Egypt and Cairo.

The project is expected to prioritise areas in Upper Egypt’s Minya governorate and Cairo’s Manshiyet Nasser district.

In 2014, the EU provided €1.5m ($2m) in grants to support the redevelopment of impoverished slum areas in Cairo and Giza.

Egypt continues to suffer from a worsening slum problem, where millions of people live in makeshift housing without adequate connections to electricity or sewage systems.