Egypt’s Tahya Misr Fund has contributed EGP 1 bn to the development of the social housing project on Mokattam Hills, or “Al Asmarat,” which comes to provide decent homes for more than 80,000 slum dwellers, Invest-Gate reports.

The project features 429 buildings, comprising 18,000 residential units, paired with 281 commercial properties, complemented by diverse services and entertainment facilities, Executive Director of Tahya Misr Fund Tamer Abdel Fattah confirmed in a recent official statement.

On top of the foregoing, the public fund has also given a boost to repairing and renovating 10,000 damaged houses, located in 332 villages across 18 governorates, at a combined cost of EGP 300 mn, Abdel Fattah further stated.

On July 12, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated phase III of Al Asmarat, which comes on the back of the state’s efforts to combat informal settlements and build new homes for slum residents.

Since June 2014, merely 296 out of the country’s total 357 unsafe slums, comprising 175,897 units, were rehabilitated, while work is ongoing on 54 others across 14 provinces, with almost 65,500 houses, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Assem El Gazzar confirmed in a previous statement.