Farid tells London fund managers to look for non-oil FDI boom: EGX Chairman Mohamed Farid met in London on Sunday with fund managers from 10 UK and US-based real-money investment funds including Fidelity, Metlife, and Aberdeen Standard, with an aggregate AUM of USD 3.9 tn for a roundtable debate organized by BNP Paribas.

The IPO pipeline for 2018 is looking “very strong” with planned IPOs from the pharma, chemicals, and real estate sectors, the bourse chief told participants. Farid told the investors that Egypt’s reform program “should be viewed as a transformation rather than stabilization story,” particularly when it comes to reforms in utilities such as electricity and fuel and state-controlled commodity markets such as that for wheat. He also said that “economic reform has reaped quick wins from portfolio investors on Egypt’s debt and equity markets, but the next phase should see the return of non-oil FDI investors who normally take longer to digest and embrace the new economic landscape.” The next phase for the country’s growth should center on structural changes aimed at prolonging the economic cycle to make “high GDP growth sustainable beyond a five-year cycle.”