Get to know Suez Canal Economic Zone’s new head, Yahia Zaki

Billed as a promising mega-project to make up around a third of Egypt’s economy, Engineer Yahia Zaki’s appointment as head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone was hailed by many.

Zaki is the managing director of consulting firm Dar al-Handasah that co-provided the mega project’s master plan to develop lands east of the Suez Canal as well as the regional integrator plan to develop better integration between the canal and Cairo.

The Suez Canal Economic Zone, a project initiated by Sisi in 2015, is set to be an international hub for global manufacturers along the canal. Egypt plans to build an international industrial and logistics hub near the canal to attract foreign investment, alongside a separate scheme in which the army is digging a second canal to facilitate two-way traffic of larger ships.

Multi-level Involvement in Egypt New Capital

Leading Dar al-Handasah, Zaki supervised the design, planning, and construction of other giant national projects in Egypt, including multi-level involvement in the anticipated new administrative capital.

Dar is responsible for the supervision of construction for various project components in the new capital such as the Central Business District and the New Governmental District, which consists of Cabinet and Parliament buildings along with 34 ministerial buildings. Most prominent among those is a 385 m high skyscraper, to be identified as the tallest tower in Africa.

Active Memberships

Zaki is also a board member in Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the National Postal Authority, the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA), and the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce.