Egypt’s PPP Central Unit has received two bids to design, construct, finance and manage two public hospitals and a blood bank in Alexandria.

The following groups submitted bids on 19 October:

• Orascom Construction Industries (Egypt); IT Ventures (UK); Hassan Allam (Egypt); and Gemmo Impianti (Italy)
• Arab Academy (Egypt); Bareeq Capital (Egypt); Detac (Egypt); and G4S (UK)

The winning bidder will be responsible for financing, designing, constructing, equipping, furnishing, maintenance and operating the new facilities for Alexandria University, which falls under the authority of the Higher Education Ministry.

Work is being tendered in two lots. Both bidding groups were eligible to submit bids for both lots and both groups opted to do so.

The first lot is for the Smouha Maternity University Hospital and a blood bank. The contract includes a 200-bed hospital and a blood bank in the same hospital building. It will be located at the Smouha Hospital Complex.

The second lot is for the Mowassat Specialised University Hospital, a 224-bed facility with a focus on highly specialised services in neurosurgery and urology/nephrology. The hospital will be located at a site adjacent to the old Mowassat Hospital.

The contract will be structured as a 20-year PPP contract between Alexandria University and the private companies. The chosen bidding group will be responsible for the initial procurement and maintenance of equipment for the facilities for a period of five years, after which it will become the responsibility of the university. This aspect was originally excluded from the tender, but later brought in as a compromise between ensuring that the equipment is fully operational and the inevitable risks attached to maintaining such equipment over the term of the contract.

According to the current schedule, the successful bidders for each lot will be announced on 13 December. The IFC is financial adviser on the project, while the UK’s Mott MacDonald is technical adviser and UK law firm Trowers & Hamlins is legal adviser.

The project was announced several years ago and bids were initially expected in September 2008. However, the project milestones were pushed back several times and it faced further delays as a result of the country’s civil unrest that unseated long-time president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.