Egypt’s al-Sisi inaugurates military HQ that’s as large as Lisbon

Egypt on Sunday inaugurated a new armed forces headquarters, which observers say is the largest in the world, with an elaborate ceremony and a rare appearance from President and former general Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in military uniform.

The Octagon, as the complex is being called, consists of eight buildings each with an eight-sided floor plan in an area of around 90 square kilometres, the size of the Portuguese capital Lisbon.

It has replaced the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Defense Department, as the world’s largest defence ministry building.

Al-Sisi, who appeared in public wearing a military uniform for the first time in more than 10 years, described the complex at the opening as “proof of the will of a nation that knows nothing of the impossible.” On his way to the opening of the massive complex, the Egyptian leader was accompanied by attack helicopters.

The complex is located in the new administrative capital in the desert east of Cairo and, with estimated costs equivalent to €50 billion ($57 billion), is one of the most expensive projects since al-Sisi took power. Egypt is in one of its worst economic crises in decades and currently has foreign debt equivalent to €143 billion. Many Egyptians blame al-Sisi and his mega-projects for the crisis.

Al-Sisi took power in the North African country in 2013 in a military-backed coup. Egypt has for years felt the effects of wars in neighbouring Gaza and Sudan as well as the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Libya. The security situation in Egypt itself has been comparatively stable since the unrest of the 2011 revolution.