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…
Author: Tamer Hafez
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…
Mohamed Mourad relocated to 6 October City to escape the hustle and bustle of downtown Cairo, but the move has not turned out as the 33-year-old accountant planned. “I used to take one bus to work,” he says. “Now I have to take three.” Even worse, Mourad spends more than half his commute time waiting for buses. “If I arrive at the bus station 10 minutes late, I have to wait for 30 to 40 minutes for another one. For the first time in my life, I need to buy a car.” But for Mourad and countless other Egyptians, car…
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…
Because of his budget constraints, it didn’t take long for Kamal Tawfik, a 35-year-old real estate broker, to decide on a new car, “I needed a midsize sedan that didn’t cost more than EGP 350,000 ($21,084),” he says. “I wanted a car that looked good and could last for seven years.” Only three cars met his criteria. The Opel Astra, a German car (EGP 315,000); the South Korean Kia Cerato (EGP 335,000 to 425,000) and the locally assembled Nissan Sentra (EGP 287,000 to 305,000). “It was a no brainer,” says Tawfik. “I chose the German car. The Opel had the…
“Should I invest in my business or put the money in a savings account?” That was the question for 55-year-old Raafat Mahgoub, who owned a company that manufactured plastic bags. The answer was a no-brainer. “I saw interest rates climb from 9.25 percent at the start of 2016 to 11 percent a year later. My profit margins were about 10 percent,” he says. “Once I realized it was more profitable to put my money in the bank, I sold the business. Now I live off the returns.” Mahgoub does not regret his decision despite interest rates declining from an all-time…
Since getting married in 2017, Samy Abdallah, a 36-year-old bank teller, hunted for a new home. “Prices seemed to spike overnight in line with pound’s depreciation,” he says. Abdallah rents a 120-square-meter (1,291-square-foot) flat in Manial that eats up more than half his salary. “I worry we will never find an affordable home,” he says, reflecting a widespread sentiment. “Before the devaluation, I never had a buyer and seller I couldn’t match,” says Mahmoud Samir, a Maadi real estate broker with 20 years of experience. “Now, it is common.” Hoping to expand the supply of properties, the Ministry of Housing…
A white paper by Fitch Group noted that Egyptian fintechs could succeed in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Lebanon. What challenges and opportunities could they face? Not so long ago, a mobile phone was just that: a device that made its users reachable anytime, anywhere. Today, it is more of a personal assistant that helps with everything from paying bills to entertainment. MENA governments, however, have been talking about making residents use smartphones to pay for everything from public services to impulse purchases. So far, the results have been underwhelming. “In our region, what I have noticed so far is that…