Iraq grants Egypt’s TMG approval to build smart city

Iraq has granted a licence to Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) to build a smart green city near its capital Baghdad.

Iraq’s national investment commission (NIC) issued the licence to TMG subsidiary Talaat Moustafa company in Baghdad for a project related to a plot of land spanning 12.8 million square metres.

It is set to comprise about 43,000 housing units, TMG said in a disclosure statement on Egypt’s bourse.

The masterplan includes about 2.3 million square metres of non-residential built-up area, encompassing retail and commercial assets, including a regional mall, office and administrative space, hospitality facilities, and educational and healthcare institutions. The plan also features religious and civic services, a large-scale sports and social club, entertainment venues, parks and open green spaces, TMG said.

The project is expected to take 16 years to complete, the statement said.

The Iraq project is part of TMG’s regional expansion strategy, which boosted the group’s total land bank from 115 million sq m to about 128 million sq m, and added an estimated $3.6 billion in incremental land bank value.

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TMG is the second Egyptian company involved in a major residential development in Iraq. In 2024, Egypt’s Ora Developers was awarded the main contract for a new mega-residential city Ali Al-Wardi, located in the southeast of Baghdad.

Ali Al-Wardi is one of about 10 contracts awarded during the past three years to construct new cities that could house more than 2 million people.

The construction and housing ministry this year unveiled plans to build 20 new cities in and around the capital to ease congestion in the city and tackle a festering housing supply problem caused by urban population growth and internal conflicts.