Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has laid the foundation stone of the New Capital’s Central Business District (CBD), Invest-Gate reports.

Chinese banks have agreed to provide 85% of the USD 3 bn Chinese loan granted to China State Construction Engineering Company (CSCEC) to develop the 1.7 mn square-meter CBD in the new capital.

The New Urban Communities Authority will provide the remaining 15% in advance, according to a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Housing.

“Egypt will be given a grace period of 36 months to 42 months, until construction is completed, before repayment begins on the 10-year loan,” according to Assistant Housing Minister Khaled Abbas.

Abbas added that loan’s terms are to be negotiated, but the expected interest rate is between 2% to 3%.

The laying of the foundation stone was also in the presence of Egypt’s Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly,CSCEC’s officials, Chairman of the New Administrative Capital Company Ahmed Zaki Abdeen, China’s and Oman’s Ambassadors in Cairo and other ministers, as well as the Omani delegation headed by Oman’s Minister of Housing Sheikh Saif bin Mohammed Al Shabibi, who is currently visiting Egypt.

Madbouly said that CBD, also known as the skyscrapers’ district, comprises 20 skyscrapers for residential, commercial, and administrative purposes. The district will also include the tallest tower in Africa, at a height of 385 meters.

He added that 22 international consultancies are working on the project, which is expected to be completed in three years.

During the inauguration, the preliminary designs of the towers were presented and CSCEC has been granted access to the project’s land in order to begin work, in cooperation with a number of local contractors, immediately.

CSCEC had signed the contracts for the CBD’s development last October after a long negotiation period.

“It is an honor for us to launch this project, the biggest joint project between Egypt and China,” Madbouly said.