When top African officials talk about the importance of economic integration within the continent, they speak with conviction and enthusiasm. “There is an urgent need for African countries to economically integrate and complement each other,” said President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after meeting with Liberian officials and the ambassador to Egypt in November. “We have been organizing conferences with our African counterparts these past few years to overcome any obstacles on the ground.” It was, therefore, no surprise that 54 of Africa’s 55 nations signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in March 2018. Eritrea didn’t sign due to deep-rooted…
Author: Tamer Hafez
With five of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies located in Africa, the continent is witnessing an unprecedented economic boom. To sustain it, governments have to quickly implement strategies and policies favorable to potential and existing foreign investors. To avoid being bogged down by incumbent administrative and regulatory problems, almost all those countries are fast-tracking construction of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) that have their own administrative and regulatory frameworks. The Suez Canal Special Economic Zone (SCZone) is Egypt’s most ambitious attempt to date to compete with 236 other SEZs in Africa, according to a 2019 report by the United Nations Conference…
Storming out of the gate, Egypt’s first sovereign wealth fund (SWF), signed a $20 billion deal with Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co. (ADDHC) to create a joint investment platform that would remain active for seven years. ADDHC will contribute $10 billion in cash, while Egypt will provide cash or assets of a similar value. After the announcement, the SWF board began signing contracts with state-owned companies and ministries to include their unused assets in its portfolio to activate the platform, a top priority for SWF CEO Ayman Soliman. “State-owned companies could become part of the fund either by allocating assets…
Last year, the government and Central Bank launched three initiatives for 2020 to help boost healthy large and medium factories, firms near bankruptcy or bankrupt because of unpaid debts, and exporters. Industry insiders say the initiatives addressing three in a long list of problems. Often described by state officials as the “locomotive of Egypt’s economic recovery,” industrial investments not only create permanent jobs, they account for 48 percent of dollar inflows. Yet the sector was the first and hardest hit by the aggressive structural reforms since the pound was floated in late 2016, and the sector’s recovery has been lackluster…
After representing the U.S. government abroad for 34 years, Johnathan Cohen became ambassador to Egypt in November. Cohen is known in diplomatic circles as a deal broker, matching companies with U.S. interests with opportunities in countries where he served. “I believe in forging U.S. partnerships with countries and regions to expand mutually beneficial opportunities,” he said at an AmCham luncheon event January 28. During his brief presence in Egypt, Cohen witnessed the signing of a $430 million deal in late November between the government and Noble Energy to supply natural gas through the East Mediterranean Gas Co. pipeline. In December,…
Egypt’s food security has long been a concern. Last fiscal year (FY), the country imported more than half of its corn, rice, sugar and wheat, according to AmCham’s 2018 Egypt Economic Profile Report. Worryingly, that ratio has worsened. In 2014, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimated Egypt could supply 60 percent of its food needs. Even more concerning is the value of wheat and corn imports in FY 2018/2019 were nearly triple that of all packaged fresh food exports. To increase cultivation of fruits and vegetables, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi launched three megaprojects. The flagship initiative would boost the…
For Speed Medical, listing on the NileX was an important step to advance its core labs business as well as diversify to building hospitals. “We wanted to raise about EGP 46 million,” says company Chairman Mahmoud Lashin. However, he only raised EGP 21.16 million as the IPO was covered 0.46 times. “It wasn’t bad. But we put the majority of our post-listing plans on hold to determine our next step.” Ahead of the 2016 listing, Speed Medical had 52 medical labs in nine governorates. “We had treated 1.2 million patients in 2015 and were on track to receive 2 million…
A century and a half after Khedive Ismail Pasha hosted European royalty and financiers to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal, Egypt’s leadership is preparing gala events to showcase the Grand Egyptian Museum. Authorities have moved nearly 50,000 Pharaonic artifacts to the 120-acre facility scheduled to open in late 2020 and hope 4 million visitors a year will flock to the nation’s latest attraction. The state estimates a direct return on investment of $840 million, including nearly 6,000 new jobs in construction, transportation and manufacturing with the museum becoming the prime economic growth engine for the Giza Plateau. “Millions…
Ahmad Hafez, 37, the front desk manager at a well-known Sharm el Sheikh resort, has noticed a new pattern in his booking system since the start of year: Room occupancy rises dramatically for a few days, only to drop significantly in subsequent weeks. “It seems that every time there is an event in the city, occupancy rises dramatically,” he says, “then returns to below-average afterward.” Hossam el Helw, chairman of Safa Tours, on the other hand, has seen high occupancy rates throughout the year, especially in Alexandria. “There is a definite lack of ‘decent’ hotel rooms for tourists from Europe,”…
It was an inevitable decision for Ahmed el Rayes, a 31-year-old owner of El Rayes Limousine Services, to change his four-car fleet to natural gas instead of petrol. “With petrol now at EGP 8 per liter, my costs would have been impossibly high. Also, my usual clientele can’t afford another price increase,” says el Rayes. “The majority of my clients ride from Sheikh Zayed to Maadi or New Cairo. Therefore, any increase to the fare will translate to a huge amount of money.” He is not alone in converting his cars to natural gas after years of using petrol. According…