In an effort to combat a failing economy that has plunged a quarter of its population into poverty, Egypt is planning to build a new US$45bn (€42.3bn, £30.6bn) administrative, business and leisure capital east of Cairo to house five million people and feature a theme park “four times bigger than Disneyland.”

Speaking at a global investor conference set up by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Housing minister Mustafa Kamel Madbuli said the new city would relieve pressure on overcrowded Cairo, with its population of 18 million expected to double over the next few decades.

The ambitious development plans will soon be underway, with the privately-funded Capital Cairo offering a new administrative centre, retail facilities, housing and tourist destinations to stimulate economic activity for the country, which has greatly suffered since the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

The Capital Cairo masterplan is a mixed-use network combining residential, shops, cafés, schools, recreational areas, industrial zones and religious institutions. Egypt’s governing bodies and foreign embassies would be also relocated to the new city, branding it as an economic and political stronghold. Covering more than 270sq m (699.2sq km), the plan – which is focused on innovation and sustainability – will take five to seven years to develop.

Madbuli said the city would also include “an international airport, a theme park four times bigger than Disneyland in California, 90sq km (34.7sq m) of solar farms, and an electric train” which would link directly with Cairo.

At the conference, the masterplan gained financial pledges worth around US$4bn (€3.7bn, £2.7bn) each from the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, who have all been key investors in the Egyptian economy in the past 18 months. Private real estate investment fund, Capital City Partners, is leading the mega-development.