Orascom Construction, the Egyptian engineering and building contractor, has announced that it has added approximately $920 million of new awards to its backlog in the fourth quarter of 2020.

In a statement, the company says that this brings the total new awards for the financial year 2020 to $2.9 billion – a reflection of the group’s successful efforts to add high-quality projects and maintain a healthy backlog throughout the year.

The estimated consolidated backlog stood at $5.3 billion as of 31 December 2020, it added.

Projects in Egypt comprised 62% of new awards during Q4 2020, a large portion of which is attributable to the transportation sector, while new awards in the US accounted for the balance and included a sizable share of data centre projects, the contractor said.

In addition, Orascom Construction recently signed a new $63.6 million contract with Emaar to build Vida Marina Hotel & Yacht Club in Marassi, Emaar’s flagship development on Egypt’s North Coast. This project follows the group’s successful, fast-track delivery of Emaar’s Vida Al Alamein Hotel in July 2018, which was delivered in less than 8 months.

It also builds on Orascom Construction and Emaar’s repeat partner relationship spanning projects such as Mivida and Marassi, the statement concluded.