Author: Ola Noureldin

The Suez Canal Economic Zone has announced the arrival of the first green fuel container ship in the world. The ship was received by East Port Said in the first voyage of the ship, belonging to the shipping line Maersk, to an Egyptian port overlooking the eastern Mediterranean. The ship is coming from Asia, passing by Africa, through Egypt, and then on to Europe. The container ship arrived at the port of East Port Said, which is ranked among the ten most important ports in the world, according to a World Bank report. This reflects the confidence of the shipping…

Read More

The Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) announced the creation of a new single-approval system for projects to encourage investments. The new single-approval system is issued within 20 days and covers licensing for construction, environmental requirements, civil defense, and other permits relevant to investment activities. Watch the video for more details. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L61lNITWmtU

Read More

Egypt’s private-sector minimum wage will rise by 11% in July after the National Council for Wages (NCW) decided to increase the threshold for the second time this year to support workers amid soaring inflation. The private-sector firms will have to pay their employees at least EGP 3,000 a month starting July 1, up from EGP 2,700, the Planning Ministry said. Three currency devaluations have helped to push inflation to a near-record high of 35.7% in June, placing pressure on low-income households. Watch the video for more details! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSBpfJRzYHE

Read More

Egypt’s new FY 2023/24 budget took effect on July 1 with higher revenues and expenditures forecasted by the government. The government plans to increase revenues to EGP 2.1 trillion in FY 2023/24, a 41% rise from the expected EGP 1.5 trillion in the current FY 2022/23. Projected expenses for FY 2023/24 are EGP 2.9 trillion, a 33.8% increase from FY 2022/23. The budget deficit is projected to be EGP 824.4 billion, accounting for 7% of the GDP, slightly higher than the 6.4% estimated in FY 2022/23. The government aims for a primary surplus of EGP 295.6 billion in FY 2024/23,…

Read More

Climate change and the race to net zero are arguably the most significant challenges facing the construction industry. The building and construction industry is responsible for 40% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Global Property Guide, a real estate data curation portal, found real estate prices in Egypt rose by nearly 58% between January 2022 and 2023. A significant portion of those increases is due to more expensive building materials. Published research from the Faculty of Engineering in Mansoura estimated 60% to 70% of the cost of low-income housing, which the developers usually sell at near-zero profit margins, is down to…

Read More

Green and sustainable finance—broadly defined as financial tools that support activities that address climate change and other environmental and social challenges—plays a critical role in realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Such funding comes from the public and private sectors, including international financial institutions, central banks and financial regulators, banks and institutional investors. Among depository institutions, the financing of environmentally friendly projects has been dubbed ‘green banking.” The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued guidelines for sustainable financing in Egypt’s banking sector in July 2021, based…

Read More

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures business activity in the non-oil private sector, dropped to 46.7 in March, down from February’s 46.9. As such, the index moved further below the 50.0 no-change thresholds, where it has been mired since November 2020. The reading signaled a steeper deterioration in private sector operating conditions from the previous month. March’s downtick was chiefly due to a sharp contraction in new orders as steep inflationary pressures dampened client demand. This, coupled with difficulty securing key inputs due to import controls and currency restrictions, led to a marked fall in output levels.…

Read More

Egypt announced on March 8 that it would be offering citizenship to foreign investors willing to spend at least $250,000 in the country, as it struggles to fill its devoured foreign reserves. The announcement comes as the value of the Egyptian pound continues to plummet and the exchange rate of the US dollar continues to hike. Since March 2021, Egypt has been struggling with a shortage of foreign currency reserves. With three devaluations in less than one year, the Egyptian pound has lost nearly half of its value. According to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly’s decree, the Egyptian nationality will be…

Read More

Egypt has resumed its initial public offering program to sell its stakes in state-owned companies, announcing 32 planned companies. Starting from the first quarter of 2023, Egypt will hold IPOs for 32 state-owned companies to strategic investors via offerings on the Egyptian Exchange, and a mix of both, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in February. Madbouly said that the IPOs will include companies from 18 sectors, selling stakes in companies within sectors such as banking, insurance, construction, energy, tourism, oil, energy, and petrochemicals. “The whole goal is to increase the participation of citizens and the private sector in the development process…

Read More

The Egypt Economic Profile is an essential reference for decision-makers looking for timely information about the country’s transforming economy. It is filled with key, up-to-date data on all of Egypt’s major services and goods sectors as well as a review of the current macroeconomic landscape – including foreign trade, investment and the stock market. This report is distributed to more than 2,000 AmCham Egypt member companies and affiliate members as well as local institutions that rely on well-researched, trustworthy information to guide their decisions. All AmCham Members receive one complimentary copy. The Egypt Economic Profile is sponsored by bp and…

Read More