Seismic Resilience of Egypt's Built Environment: A GIS-Based Framework for Assessment and Mitigation (Egypt-SeReAM)

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Natural disasters can have dire effects on countries, in the form of human casualties/injuries, infrastructure damage, economic and environmental losses. Earthquakes, in particular, are the most damaging as they are responsible for an annual death toll of over 20K and 20% of the total annual economic losses due to natural disasters. In low-income or developing countries, earthquake impacts are exacerbated, leading to substantial human loss, injuries, homelessness, and population displacement. Irreparable infrastructure damage can also have a great economic impact reaching 20% of a country's gross domestic income, leading to disruption of economic growth and development. Acknowledging this problem, there has been growing national interest in assessing regional seismic risk and loss for major cities. Several countries initiated Disaster Risk Management (DRM) programs which make use of the interdisciplinary advances in science and technology to model the complex interaction of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability and compute loss metrics that can be used by stakeholders and decision-makers to quantify of potential structural, economic, and social consequences, identify critical infrastructure components, outline pre-disaster damage mitigation measures and policies, and planning for post-disaster response protocols. Egypt, a lower-income country and one of Africa's most populated countries, is highly susceptible to the impacts of natural hazards (flooding, rising sea levels, and earthquakes). Several major cities, with populations larger than 5M and overly populated urban centers, are subject to high seismic risk triggered by risk drives such as poverty, climate change, decades of poor construction practices, and absence of municipal oversight. Countries with similar urban conditions, such as Albania and Turkey, experienced a wide extent of damage and losses from recent earthquakes. These countries, and others, allocate extensive funding and resources for DRM. On the other hand, the safety and robustness of Egypt's infrastructure is greatly under-researched. Although several studies investigated the seismic hazard for Egypt's major cities, no attention has been paid so far to either collapse risk assessment or loss and damage estimations (urban exposure, vulnerabilities, and resilience). Egypt-SeReAM will build on and further develop existing DRM methodologies to create such a digital framework for assessing the seismic resilience of Egypt's vulnerable built environment. A partnership between the University of Southampton, three of Egypt's top academic and research institutions will undertake this project combining different disciplines spanning urban planning, seismology, and structural engineering. The project will use the city of Alexandria as a pilot case study to establish the building blocks of the DRM framework concerned with built-environment resilience. The seismic vulnerability of Alexandria's urban center will be assessed, in terms of human, structural, and economic losses due to potential damage to the residential building stock. In the process, spatial urban, geotechnical, structural, and hazard data will be collected and an automated digital framework will be developed to quantify risk and loss under potential earthquake scenarios. The project will employ the geographic information system (GIS) mapping system to describe and communicate the earthquake consequences to the government, academia, industry, and public sectors. This will be packaged within an easily-to-use practice-oriented digital workflow that will assist authorities in making effective decisions for seismic protection measures to minimize potential damage and losses (primarily human, but financial as well) in future earthquakes. Through networking, training, and showcasing activities, the project will promote and specifically target Egypt's short- and long-term resilience to natural disasters, in support of its economic development.

Newton Fund Egypt programme delivery

DEPARTMENT FOR SCIENCE, INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

Newton Fund Egypt programme delivery to support the delivery of ODA activities in Newton Fund countries

SP Energy (Egypt) SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Banque du Caire

British International Investment plc

Banque du Caire is a commercial bank in Egypt.

ARC For Renewable Energy SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Arinna Solar Power SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Phoenix Power SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Winnergy for Renewable Energy Projects SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Kelix Bio Limited

British International Investment plc

Kelix Bio (formerly Zanzibar Pharma) is a specialty generic pharmaceuticals business focused on emerging markets. The company aims to develop and commercialise affordable products in countries historically deprived of access to such medications.

Africa Water Infrastructure Development Limited

British International Investment plc

Africa Water Infrastructure Development is a joint venture co-established by BII in collaboration with Metito Utilities. It aims to promote private investment in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sectors on the continent.

Algebra Ventures II Co?peratief U.A.

British International Investment plc

Algebra Ventures is Egypt's leading tech venture capital firm specializing in startup, early venture, mid venture, and growth capital investments in the Fintech sector.

Algebra Ventures II is an Egypt-focused venture capital fund investing in entrepreneurial founders building transformative companies.

Delta for Renewable Energy SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Horus Solar Energy SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.

Sawari Ventures North Africa Fund I Cooperatief U.A.

British International Investment plc

Sawari Ventures is venture capital fund manager based in Cairo,investing in knowledge and innovation-based technology companies across North Africa.

ADP III Holding 5 L.P.

British International Investment plc

ADP III Holdings 5 LP is the special purpose vehicle for BII’s investment into Kazyon Limited, an Egyptian discount supermarket chain.

Winnergy for Renewable Energy Projects SAE

British International Investment plc

The Nubian Suns projects comprise 13 solar power plants located in the Benban Solar Park, near Aswan in Egypt. These plants will add a 590 megawatt (MW) capacity to the park. Winnergy for Renewable Energy Projects SAE is one of these plants, with a 5oMW capacity.The projects are funded by a syndicate of lenders led by the IFC. When complete, Benban will be the largest solar power installation in the world with up to 1.65GW capacity and 32 solar plants.Nubian Suns play a central part in round 2 of the Egypt Feed-In Tariff solar power programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country.The Egyptian government launched this large-scale initiative in 2015 and has offered strong support for the Nubian Suns projects.

Paymob International B.V.

British International Investment plc

Paymob is a financial technology company based in Egypt. It allows merchants to accept digital payments online and in-store.

Tamweely Microfinance

British International Investment plc

Tamweely Microfinance is a leading Egyptian independent non-bank financial services (NBFS) player offering microfinance products. The company was established in 2017 by veterans of the microfinance industry to offer financing and other services for small and micro-businesses. SPE invested c.$22m

CDC North Africa Healthcare Limited

British International Investment plc

Alfa Medical Group is one of the largest healthcare providers in Egypt delivering quality healthcare across pathology, radiology and hospital services.

Aten Solar Energy SAE

British International Investment plc

Our investment supports the Nubian Suns project, which will construct 13 solar power plants at the Benban Solar Park in Egypt (our investment spans nine of the 13 projects for a total capacity close to 400 megawatts). Estimates suggest that 18 per cent of Egypt?s power capacity is inaccessible due to poor maintenance. The Egyptian Government has set a target to generate 20 per cent of its power production originating from renewable sources by 2022. Nubian Suns plays a central part in a programme which is introducing international investors and banks to Egypt at a crucial time for the country. The initiative is aimed at lowering Egypt?s cost of electricity generation, reducing the dependence on imported fossil fuels, and providing essential energy harnessed from a clean and renewable resource.