Egypt’s New Capital City and Ain Sokhna refinery projects led contract award activity in the Middle East in October, which was a slow month for the GCC markets.

A $3bn contract to construct a central business district in the new administrative capital in Cairo helped Egypt record a total of $6.2bn of deals inked in the month. Administrative Capital City for Urban Development awarded the contract to China State Construction & Engineering Corporation; it involves the contractor building Africa’s tallest tower as part of the scope of works.

The next-biggest deal in Egypt was the $2bn contract to build the Ain Sokhna refinery, awarded by Sokhna Refinery & Petrochemicals Company to China’s Sinohydro. Egypt’s renewable energy programme also saw major activity in October, with six deals worth a total of $793m inked to develop solar plants and wind farms.

Also outside the GCC, Iraq awarded four deals worth a total of $140m.

The UAE was the only GCC country to cross the $1bn mark, with $2.2bn of deals let. This was a decline from the previous month, when the country signed off $5.8bn of contracts. Project activity remained subdued in Saudi Arabia, with just $581m of deals inked. Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar failed to cross the $100m mark, while Oman remained flat.

Looking forward, projects activity is expected to pick up in Saudi Arabia, with the Public Investment Fund and Saudi Aramco setting up a super contractor with local and international construction companies for the delivery of major infrastructure projects.