Egypt’s national Tahya Misr Fund (TMF) celebrated on June 16 the signing of two protocols, valued at EGP 150 mn, with a couple of Egyptian charities to renovate 2,885 homes in 100 impoverished villages across the country, while building integrated development projects in three Sohag-based villages, Invest-Gate reports.

The deals were inked between Minister of Investment and International Cooperation and TMF’s Chairman Sahar Nasr, Chairman of Misr El Kheir Foundation’s Board of Trustees Ali Gomaa, General Manager of Dar Al Orman Charity Assocation Mamdouh Shabaan, in a signing ceremony held in the presence of a number of celebrities and public figures, according to a cabinet statement on June 17.

The step comes in line with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s initiative to improve the country’s outlying suburbs and neediest villages through the implementation of several urban development programs and the provision of all social requirements for urbanization, alongside civil society institutions and concerned ministries, the statement noted.

On the sidelines of the celebration, Nasr highlighted, “Since El-Sisi founded the fund back in 2015, the government set an integrated urban development plan that includes programs to overcome suburbs’ struggles, enhance impoverished villages, and promise a better life for.”

This deal marks the third collaboration between TMF and Dar Al Orman Association, with the first cooperation agreement signed back in 2015, stipulating the joint reconstruction of 4,264 houses in 132 villages, at a total cost of EGP 200 mn.

In April 2018, both entities have announced completing the second phase of developing and reconstructing the poorest villages in 15 governorates, namely Fayoum, Beni Suef, Sohag, Minya, Sharqia, Qena, Beheira, Kafr El Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor, Aswan, North Sinai, Daqahleya, and Gharbia.