In what may be viewed as Africa’s millennial megaproject in trade and investment, Egypt and a number of other African countries are working on a highway linking the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria and Cape Town, South Africa, on the Atlantic. Egyptian Transport Minister Hisham Arafat told a parliamentary committee on Feb. 3 that Egypt has completed its part of the Alexandria-Cape Town Road extending to Egypt's border with Sudan. The roadway is now open to travelers.

The Pan-African road, at an expected 6,400 miles, will link Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa. Egypt, which initiated the ambitious project, launched it in June 2015. Each country is financially, technically and logistically responsible for its part of the roadway.

It is hoped that the project will help pave the way for sustainable development on the continent. With this in mind, Egyptian and South African economists have urged African countries to devise a comprehensive transportation policy to balance the economic benefits of the road against its environmental costs.

“This is one of the most important megaprojects, one that will reshape the trade and investment chart in Africa,” Abdel Mottaleb Abdel Hamid, professor of economics at the Cairo-based Sadat Academy for Management Sciences, told Al-Monitor. “It also falls in line with Egypt’s inclination toward Africa to restore its influential role on the continent as it assumes the presidency of the African Union.”