Egypt’s state-owned National Company for Sinai Investments is planning an initial public offering (IPO) in the first half of next year.

According to local banking sources, the company will list about 6 million shares at £E100 ($11.3) each.

The company also recently announced it is looking to attract up to $11bn-worth of investment for the development of the Sinai region.

Earlier this year, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation to establish an economic free zone in the Sinai area.

The two nations also signed agreements to develop a $2.2bn electricity plant with a generation capacity of 2,250MW, set up agriculture complexes in Sinai, and develop a canal to transfer water.

In 2015, Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree aimed at accelerating what the government has called the full development of Sinai. Al-Sisi amended 10 legal articles in a bid to ensure national security is not compromised as the area is developed. Amendments include a requirement that land owners in Sinai must carry Egyptian citizenship with Egyptian parents. Despite this, the laws allow dual-nationals to own real estate, although land ownership is still prohibited.

Sinai has been neglected by Cairo over the past three decades, since its reclamation from Israel in 1982. Egypt’s Nile Delta-centric policies of development and infrastructure continue to hinder efforts to alleviate any local disenfranchisement that often leads to extremism in the area. Since the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013, Cairo has witnessed a surge in militant activity in the area.