(UTV|COLOMBO) – On the Giza Plateau outside Cairo, thousands of Egyptians are labouring in the shadow of the pyramids to erect a monument worthy of the pharaohs.
The Grand Egyptian Museum has been under construction for well over a decade and is intended to showcase Egypt’s ancient treasures while drawing tourists to help fund its future development. But the project has been subject to repeated delays, with a “soft opening” planned for next year scrapped in favour of a more triumphant inauguration in 2020.
Costs have meanwhile soared from an initial USD 650 million to well over USD 1 billion, with most of the financing coming from Japan.
It’s the latest mega-project to be championed by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is wagering that massive investments in infrastructure will revive an economy weakened by decades of stagnation and battered by the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.
