Angelina Jolie in Egypt 🎬

Welcome back to 2026’s first edition of the Egypt Weekly Roundup.

We hope the first few days of the new year have been light and pleasant on you.

The roundup this week is quite light and pleasant as well, but still full of significant news across all our sections.

Reminder: Some of us are back to work, others are still in vacation mode — but all of Egypt will be off this Thursday for Coptic Christmas. The feast falls on Wednesday 7 January, with the public holiday moved to Thursday 8 January to give everyone a long weekend.

Now, let’s dive into this week’s top stories.

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• Qatar's $3.5 billion coastal investment arrives 🏝️

• Angelina Jolie in Rafah 🎬

• British tourist in love with Egypt's hospital 🏥

NORTH COAST | QATAR | INVESTMENT
EGYPT CONFIRMS $3.5 BILLION RECEIVED FOR QATARI NORTH COAST PROJECT

Egypt’s government formally received USD 3.5 billion as the first tranche of an investment deal to develop the Samla and Alam Al-Roum areas on the Northwest Coast in the Matrouh governorate, in partnership with urban developer Qatari Diar and Egypt’s Housing Ministry.

Officials are casting the project as both a foreign currency boost and a flagship for deepening Egyptian-Qatari economic ties.​

How the deal is structured: The USD 3.5 billion represents the cash price under phase one of the agreement, paid on 30 December 2025. A second phase will see Egypt receive an in-kind return in the form of residential built-up areas whose sale is projected to generate about 1.8 billion dollars.​

State’s long-term take: Under the agreement, the New Urban Communities Authority is entitled to a 15 percent share of the project’s net profits, including from subsidiaries, after all recoupable investment costs are recovered. That gives the state an ongoing revenue stream beyond the upfront cash and unit sales.​

Politics behind the cash: The government links the deal to directives by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to deepen economic partnership. Cairo frames the project as part of a broader push to attract Gulf capital, strengthen bilateral cooperation, and anchor longer-term, sustainable development on the Northwest Coast.​

WHAT’S EGYPT DOING WITH ALL THAT SUN? HOW ABOUT POWERING COMMUNITIES?

On most days in Egypt, the sun is impossible to ignore. It heats our streets, bakes our balconies, and even in winter can make cars feel like saunas. We shut the curtains, crank the AC, listen to generators rumble, and tell our kids to play indoors until the heat dies down. All that light, all that energy, and for many of us it still feels more like a burden than a blessing.

So here is a simple question: if we are already living under this sun, why aren’t we letting it work for us? The Egyptian government had that very same question, and now solar power is starting to take shape. The country has already installed several gigawatts of renewable capacity, and solar alone now provides a meaningful slice of the country’s electricity mix, with targets to push renewables above 40 percent in the coming years. The solar market is projected to keep growing steadily this decade as panels get cheaper and policies favor clean power. In plain terms: the country is finally starting to match its skies.​

The question now is how close that shift comes to everyday life: Imagine a neighborhood where the brightest hours of the day are actually the most beneficial ones. Walkways shaded but well lit at night. Buildings and facilities powered by the rays falling directly above them.

Steigenberger Resort Ayalora, Al Sokhna, developed by Alarinova. On the surface, it has everything you would expect from a modern coastal resort — the Red Sea’s pristine sea, greenery, low‑rise architecture, walkable promenades, and much more. But under the surface, another story is being written: what if a seaside community could run a decent part of its daily rhythm on sunlight?

Steigenberger Resort Ayalora, Al Sokhna is being designed as a sun‑forward, low‑impact resort community. Instead of treating solar as a decorative afterthought, Alarinova is planning for it from the master‑plan stage. No loud promises about “zero everything.” But a clear, concrete shift: more of what you experience every day — light, comfort, safety — coming directly from the sun-basked place you chose to escape to.

The future is already here: Some might hear that and think it sounds a bit visionary, maybe even risky. Why build a resort around the sun when you can just plug into the grid and call it a day? But Solar electricity in Egypt has become significantly cheaper over the past decade, making it one of the most cost‑effective new sources of power in the country. 

The government is backing new projects that will lift renewable capacity toward 12,000 megawatts by the middle of this decade, and the solar sector alone is expected to grow from a few billion dollars today to several billion more by the early 2030s. At the same time, large‑scale solar projects in Upper Egypt and elsewhere are proving that sun power can support everything from towns to tourist hubs.​

Steigenberger Resort Ayalora, Al Sokhna is simply bringing that momentum down to the neighborhood level. Instead of relying entirely on distant solar fields, it lets its community see, and feel, what it means when your own environment helps create the power you use.

Will every resort in Egypt be sun‑powered in a few years? Probably not. But every shift starts with places willing to move first. As one of the country’s first coastal communities to publicly commit to powering a large portion of its shared life through on‑site solar, Steigenberger Resort Ayalora, Al Sokhna is a flag‑planting project .

For future residents, the labels matter less than the feeling. Quieter nights, cleaner air, kids playing on car‑light streets, and a constant, almost invisible assurance that the place they love on weekends is also trying to love them, and their future, back.

If this is the kind of Egypt you want to spend time in, it might be worth keeping an eye on what Alarinova is building in Ain Sokhna. To learn more about Steigenberger Resort Ayalora, Al Sokhna and its solar‑powered vision, you can follow the project’s updates and explore how this coastal community is planning to live not just under the sun, but on it.

Find out more about the project by clicking here.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE | ANGELINA JOLIE
ANGELINA JOLIE’S VISIT TO THE RAFAH BORDER CROSSING BRINGS MUCH-NEEDED ATTENTION

Angelina Jolie visited the Egypt-side of the Rafah border crossing to spotlight the humanitarian emergency in Gaza, urging faster and larger aid flows as tens of thousands remain killed, injured, or displaced by the ongoing war. Her presence, alongside a US State Department delegation and Egyptian officials, adds celebrity and diplomatic weight to mounting international concern over conditions on the ground.​

Egypt’s message to the public: Jolie’s publicized visit highlighted that, while Egypt says its side of Rafah is open and ready to receive wounded Palestinians, Israeli restrictions on the other side remain a key choke point. North Sinai’s governor stressed Egypt’s willingness to keep receiving patients and aid, subtly shifting attention to obstacles beyond Cairo’s control.​

A united front for Palestine: The trip coincided with a joint statement by foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar warning that winter storms are compounding an already dire situation. With roughly 2 million people displaced, aid advocates in and out of Egypt stress that every extra truck and corridor counts.

HEALTHCARE | TOURISM
RECOVERING BRITISH TOURIST IN LUXOR ASKS, IS THIS A HOSPITAL OR A HOTEL SUITE?

A British tourist recovering at Karnak International Hospital in Luxor has become an unlikely poster boy for Egypt’s healthcare push, telling Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly that the care he is receiving is “very good” – and, in his view, better than in England. The tourist praised the hospital’s hotel-style room and treatment, subtly reinforcing the government’s bid to market Luxor as a medical tourism hub as much as a temple city.

A soft ad for medical tourism: Madbouly dropped into the tourist’s room during an inspection tour, asking about the quality of care and facilities, and getting glowing reviews in return. The traveller later doubled down in a TV interview, describing Egyptian healthcare as high quality in a setting that feels more like a boutique stay than a hospital ward.

A big initiative behind the cute story: The feel‑good hospital encounter doubled as a backdrop for Madbouly’s tour of Haya Karima (Decent Life) initiative in Luxor — including sewage stations, citizen service centers, and schools meant to lift living standards in Upper Egypt. In Luxor alone, officials say hundreds of rural development projects have been completed under the initiative’s first phase, from irrigation canals and roads to youth centers and drinking water networks, with more still being wrapped up.