By Patrick Werr

CAIRO, Reuters- An Egyptian and a Sudanese company signed an agreement on Tuesday to build a key section of the Cape-to-Cairo highway, an Egyptian official said.

The road has been a dream since the late 19th century, when British officials planned a road to connect their colonies in Africa. Under the agreement, a 400-km (250-mile) stretch of highway will be built between Aswan in Egypt and Dongola in Sudan at a cost of $500 million, Osama Saleh, chairman of the General Authority for Investment, told reporters.

This is the last section to be built between Khartoum and Cairo, although major gaps remain unfinished in East Africa.

“The project aims to connect Egypt’s Alexandria and Cape Town in South Africa,” Saleh said.

Egypt’s state Holding Co. for Building and Construction and Sudan’s privately owned Zawaya Group for Development and Investment signed the memorandum of understanding.

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