Only two of the four shortlisted consortia have bid for the Abu Rawash wastewater treatment plant public private partnership (PPP) project in Egypt.

The two consortia are the following:

• a consortium composed by: Orascom Construction Industries (OCIC), Veolia and Aqualia,
• the Kuwaiti Al Kharafi

The two other shortlisted teams were the consortium formed by UAE-headquartered Metito Overseas Limited, subsidiary of Gulf Capital, PWT (Turkey) and Germany's HOCHTIEF; and the French firm Degremont.

The project consists of the design, financing, raising capacity of existing primary treatment plant from 1.2 million m3/day to 1.6 million m3/day and construction of secondary treatment stage with advanced criteria for the Abu Rawash Wastewater Treatment Plant, and the operation and maintenance of the whole plant with a capacity of 1.6 million m3/day.

The total project investmnet is estimated at EGP5 billion (US$655.8 million). The project is expected to be financed through a bridge loan worth EGP1 billion and another 15-year loan worth EGP4 billion.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has recently announced that his government has plans to develop mechanisms to increase cooperation between the public and private sectors to deliver major infrastructure projects. Al-Sisi also mentioned that the government is working on reforming the laws that organise the public and private sectors, anti-corruptions laws and the pensions system.