16533
Tax № 720 875 285
Mixed-Use Destination
at West of Cairo.
Residential
Branded Homes
Commercial
Advertorial
As a leading provider of smart logistics solutions, we at Dubai Ports
World help trade flow globally, creating a better future for all. That
includes implementing various actions geared toward addressing
climate action and reducing our carbon footprint.
The “Our World, Our Future” sustainability strategy guides us in every
step we take. It helps us work responsibly by prioritizing sustainable
and inclusive economic growth to create positive impacts for the
people, communities, and environment in which we operate.
Utilizing
green
energy
in
our
operations to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions is our key business priority.
Other actions, such as implementing
solar power solutions in our facilities,
bringing electric vehicles to COP27,
and
providing
ongoing
employee
awareness programs for best practices,
all keep us focused on the goal of
addressing climate change and leaving
a better world for future generations.
“Our World, Our Future”
Among
the
activities that have
the most impact on
carbon
emissions
is
t h e
construction and building
m a t e r i a l s
industry, which contributes to up to
39% of the total global carbon emissions. Yet, it lags in
reducing carbon emissions and green transformation.
For that reason, green real estate moves up the
corporate and developers’ priority list worldwide.
A real estate report found that 63% of investors
strongly agree that green strategies can drive higher
occupancy, higher rents, higher tenant retention, and
overall higher value.
We need to start this transformation today, as 70%
of the buildings in many global cities will be green in
2050. It will be critical for real estate to play its role in
a more sustainable, just, and equitable future – a net-
zero future in the next decade.
Where is Egypt in terms of green buildings?
The sustainable development strategy is part of
Egypt’s Vision 2030, evident in Egypt’s continuous
progress on the global sustainable development
index issued by the United Nations.
Accordingly, green buildings endorsement by the
real estate and building materials sectors is vital to
Egypt’s sustainable development. It would drive
Egypt’s economic growth with low-carbon (greener)
products,
relatively
new
to
the
market.
Egypt’s real estate market has expanded rapidly,
more than anywhere else in the region; despite
that, building sustainable real estate is still taking its
first steps. The local buildings certified with green
certificates are at most 50 facilities in Egypt.
The government should lead the way, starting
with developing green building codes and raising
awareness and knowledge about green building
principles.
REDCON
was
a
pioneer
in
endorsing
the
sustainability platform and the “Green Building”
concept, building one of the first, if not the first green
building in Egypt - Bank Audi (recently acquired by
First Abu Dhabi Bank) Headquarters, which is a LEED
certified building.
How is Golden Gate project sustainable?
REDCON for Offices and Commercial Centers is a
member of the UN Global Compact - Egypt Network
and a founding member of the Egyptian Green
Building Council. Golden Gate follows the green
buildings concept, achieving at least 9 of the UN
SDGs. Golden Gate is working to obtain the EDGE
Certification, which would qualify the project for
savings in energy of more than 40%, savings in water
of more than 20%, and embedded energy savings in
the material by more than 20%.
Building for the
environment
Advertorial
Golden Gate was designed in harmony with the
site’s natural surroundings, making it a sustainable
project that significantly reduces operational costs,
improves occupants’ productivity, optimizes life-cycle
economic performance, and thus enhances asset
value and profits.
All buildings will minimize energy consumption
and utility bills. Golden Gate uses high-performance
glass panels (Low E Glass) in its facades which reduces
the heat transmissions from outside, requiring the
AC systems to work less, thus reducing electricity
consumption. The project uses a district cooling plant
to cover all the air-conditioning requirements for the
entire project powered by natural gas, a sustainable
cooling solution. The offices’ spaces have been
designed to bring in as much natural light as possible
to increase productivity and improve the mental and
physical health of the employees. The retail spaces’
designs have heights from 6-9 meters, allowing
retailers to display their products and offering an
exceptional shopping experience. Because Golden
Gate is a Super Regional Mall, we have an immense
outdoor activities area, especially with the increasing
demand to enjoy the Egyptian sun and avoid closed
areas.
A
construction
waste
management
plan
is
implemented to recycle and reuse more than 70% of
the non-hazardous waste material extracted. During
construction, green construction material or material
produced with low carbon emissions will be used to
reduce overall construction costs and result in energy
savings. Additionally, we have 10,000 square meters
of solar panels atop Golden Gate’s buildings, reducing
our carbon emissions.
The location of the project takes into consideration
environmental factors. For one, the electric monorail
stops very close to the project, where we offer an
electric bus to move visitors from the station to
Golden Gate. There will also be super-fast EV charging
stations in the parking.
What are the unique selling points of Golden
Gate?
The location of the Golden Gate in New Cairo is unique
between Road 90 North and Road 90 South, just in
front of the American University in Cairo. It is minutes
away from the New Capital, Shorouk, Obour, Nasr
City, and the Ring Road, which connects all of Cairo’s
neighborhoods all the way to the 6 of October City.
There is at least one access point from each road in
the project. The project is amid 20 affluent residential
communities. One of the most crucial points is the
walkability of the project. The project has a 1.2km
route facing 90 Street. Internally, you have a main live
pedestrian 900m walkway, taking you smoothly from
one zone to the next, yet you can still walk for around
5km through different routes in the project.
We have a dedicated cargo area where the shops
and restaurants renting spaces can receive their
products quickly without disrupting the flow of
passenger cars. We also have an intelligent parking
system to direct visitors to their destination’s most
convenient parking space.
The underground garage is key for this project; it
was designed to accommodate 8,000 vehicles indoors
in an area of 250,000 sqm, making it the biggest
indoor parking area in the country. The parking has
20 entrances/exits to reduce traffic jams. The ratio of
vehicles to visitors in Golden Gate is 1.25, higher than
industry standards.
Who are you partnering with in Golden Gate?
REDCON for Offices and Commercial Centers
partnered with the leaders in sustainability
consultancy,
‘DCARBON,’
‘SALuS,’
‘RECAP,’
and
‘ECO STRATEGIES’ to support our sustainability
mission. DCARBON is implementing an Economic,
Environment,
Social
and
Governance
(EESG)
management system and framework, SALuS is
providing a sustainable business community strategy,
and RECAP is conducting a sustainable commercial
business strategy. At the same time, ECO STRATEGIES
is our technical green buildings consultant.
We have has partnered with specialized consulting
entities, most notably ‘WATG’ for the masterplan
concept, ‘SWA’ for the landscape and way-finding
design, ‘Dr. Usama Okeil’ for traffic consultancy and
‘Walker’ for the indoor car parking design, which
would provide greater parking efficiency and a car
parking management system to reduce travel time in
the parking area and, accordingly, carbon emissions.
We also partnered with ‘Savills,’ a global real
estate consultancy, ‘JLL’ for real estate services
and investments management, ‘REDCON’ Project
Management, and ‘Hill International for facility
management.
We also worked with ‘Archvision Consultancy Co.’
for engineering consultancy, Amr Abdel Rahman
Design and Engineering Consulting Office AACE’
and Engineer Hani Ali’s “EMG” office.
Please give me a brief overview of Golden Gate’s
offerings.
We offer standalone office buildings and single key
tenants on a purchase or rental basis. The latter’s size
starts from 2,500 sqm, while the standalone office
buildings can reach up to 8,000 sqm. One can also
rent or buy a floor ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 sqm.
We also have serviced offices for smaller companies
starting from 70 sqm. Those offices have shared
spaces, such as meeting rooms of varying sizes,
business centers, and multi-purpose rooftops. All
services offered in those facilities are modern and
sustainable.
We also offer office leasing options, which adopt the
‘built-to-suit concept.’ Those can be delivered as core
and shell or fully fitted per the tenant’s specifications.
The flexibility stretches to tailoring parking spaces. A
full spectrum of retail leasing is also available.
As the Egyptian government is working towards decarbonizing the energy sector in Egypt, Infinity sees a wealth
of opportunities in Egypt and Africa to develop clean and sustainable energy projects. The company today is
the only dedicated renewable energy solutions provider in Egypt that develops solutions across various sectors
and scales.
Part of Infinity’s business strategies is to collaborate with international partners to ensure their projects have
the latest technologies, adhere to international standards, and are scalable. This is reflected in the company’s
latest bid to acquire Lekela Power. Mohamed Ismail Mansour, Co-Founder and CEO, Infinity, noted that “The
bid for acquisition is a key milestone for Infinity. It will be the largest such transaction in Africa. It also portrays
Infinity’s continuous growth and its dedication to continue to create a sustainable supply of clean energy.”
Infinity’s vision is to enable a cleaner and more sustainable future for Egypt and Africa and its mission is to
provide sustainable energy solutions that respect the environment and enable communities to realize their
full potential.
Powering
with nature
Mohamed Ismail Mansour
Co-Founder and CEO, Infinity
Can you give me an overview of Infinity?
We started operations in 2014 as the only dedicated
renewable energy solutions provider in Egypt that
develops clean energy solutions across several
sectors and scales. We harness the power of clean
energy to provide innovative and sustainable energy
solutions that power our societies and better sustain
the environment. We believe in the right to electricity
for everyone, and aim to contribute towards the
transition to a clean energy model and power our
societies in ways that protect our planet.
For nearly a decade, Infinity has been leading the
shift to a sustainable future for Egypt and Africa
through
meticulously
developed,
commercially
viable energy solutions that provide everyone with
efficient and sustainable access to energy resources.
We harness different resources for power generation
– solar, wind, and waste-to-energy. We also provide
power
distribution
services
delivering
energy
generated from gas, hydro, solar, and wind across
the country, as well as connecting electricity from
plants to cities on an infrastructural scale and to
homes and compounds on a commercial scale.
At the cities and infrastructure scale, Infinity builds
solar, wind and waste-to-energy plants and has
developed Egypt’s largest electric vehicle charging
network. On commercial and industrial levels, Infinity
provides innovative services for a broad range of
industries, such as real estate and agriculture.
Since 2018, the company has established the largest
EV charging network, achieving the milestone target
of installing more than 440 charging points covering
11 governorates across Egypt. We are also the most
significant Egyptian contributor to the Benban Solar
Park, Africa’s largest photovoltaic power station
with an estimated contribution of 14% of the total
capacity.
Infinity is playing an integral part in contributing
renewable energy solutions to power COP27 this year.
As part of our efforts, we have developed a 6 MWp
Advertorial
solar energy plant in Sharm el Sheikh, which we will
be managing and operating to power the event and
afterwards. The plant will generate up to 11,723 MWh
total energy per year. We have also developed
18 electric vehicle charging stations across Sharm
El Sheikh, enabling the use of EVs during the
summit and years to come. The 18 stations feature
58 chargers across the city, 49 of which are AC and
9 of which are fast DC chargers.
It was recently announced that you are in the
process of acquiring Lekela Power. Please
give us an overview of the project.
In July, Infinity Power Holding (IPH), a joint venture
between Infinity and Masdar, bid to purchase
Lekela Power, Africa’s largest renewables-focused
independent power producer, from private equity
company Actis. Once finalized, the bid will expand
IPH’s footprint across the continent, making it the
largest African renewable energy company.
The acquisition will include Lekela Power’s portfolio
of operational wind power projects, which have
a combined installed capacity of over 1 gigawatt
(GW), mainly located in South Africa, Egypt, and
Senegal. It will also include Lekela’s 1.8 GW pipeline
of greenfield projects, the majority of which are
anticipated to reach a financial close soon.
This acquisition of Africa’s largest independent
power producer in the renewables sector (Lekela)
will be a significant milestone in our strategy for
growth across the African continent. We are proud
to be playing a pivotal role in contributing towards a
brighter more sustainable future for Egypt and the
African continent.
How does Infinity group plan to become
Africa’s leading sustainable energy provider?
With an aim to contribute towards the transition to a
clean energy model and power our societies in ways
that protect our planet, we engage with qualified
world-class partners with a global outlook and local
expertise.
The Infinity group works closely with the strongest
renewable
players
in
the
region
and
world,
including Masdar, the Africa Finance Corporation
(AFC), and European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD). The international experience,
footprint, and trustworthiness of these partners and
others we worked with over the years enable Infinity
to realize our plans to develop an extensive portfolio
of clean and sustainable energy projects across the
African continent.
Our continued efforts to energize Africa and the
places most in need of power is unwavering.
We are taking progressive steps, along with our
partners, to exponentially accelerate the adoption of
renewable energy across Africa in the coming years.
Advertorial
Beyti is a joint venture of Almarai and Pepsico. We
are one of the largest producers of milk, juice, and
yogurt in Egypt with our famous brands of Almarai
milk, Almarai yogurt, Almarai Treats, Almarai Yogo,
Almarai Juice, Almarai creams, labneh, and butter.
Beyti was established in 1998 and acquired by
Almarai and Pepsico in 2009.
It operates a fully automated facility on the
Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road in Nubariya- Beheira
Governorate. Our head office is in New Cairo, and
sales are from over 30 distribution centers across
Egypt.
We export from Egypt to more than 40 countries
worldwide, guided by our passionate associates
who are united by our core values -Family, Courage,
Respect, Ownership, Collaboration, and Innovation.
Beyti’s
Below is a conversation with
Mark Wyllie -Beyti CEO