DISPUTE WATCH- Egypt and UAE’s Emaar have finally settled their beef over Uptown Cairo: Property developer Emaar Misr has signed a final settlement with the Egyptian government to resolve a two-year dispute with state-owned El Nasr Housing over the Emirati company’s alleged failure to develop 3 mn sqm of land allotted to it in 2005, according to a cabinet statement. The settlement will see both sides drop all arbitration cases against each other and Emaar pay a EGP 100 mn cash settlement in exchange for being granted time to complete the Uptown Cairo project. Under the agreement, Emaar will be required to complete Uptown before mid-2028.

Fresh Emaar investments in the pipeline? Emaar Properties boss Mohamed Alabbar was full of praise for the government for clearing the dispute, saying that the government’s drive to resolve investor disputes is conducive to improving Egypt’s investment climate. Alabbar also said Emaar is looking at new potential investments in several of Egypt’s new cities, which he said are “appealing” investments. The government in July said the two sides had reached a settlement agreement, but reports emerged last month that the two sides went back to the drawing board. Emaar said in an EGX disclosure the day before signing Thursday’s settlement agreement that legal procedures had been stalled for four weeks.