Back to the complete issue
Monday, 31 May 2021

More FDI, please

Net foreign direct investment is expected to rebound next fiscal year to a near pre-pandemic level, Planning Minister Hala El Said told the Senate yesterday, saying she expects Egypt to land some USD 7 bn worth in FY2021-2022, just ahead of the USD 6.8 bn we are on track to land this fiscal year (pdf).

The bigger picture: Prior to the pandemic, annual net FDI was in excess of USD 7 bn, reaching USD 7.5 bn in FY2019-2020, according to Central Bank of Egypt figures. The country saw its highest level of FDI in more than a decade the year before, receiving USD 8.2 bn in 2018-2019.

FDI is recovering: Net FDI rose around 10% q-o-q in the second quarter of the government’s current fiscal year to USD 1.75 bn from USD 1.6 bn. FDI figures remained almost a third lower y-o-y than the USD 2.6 bn worth of net FDI recorded in 2Q2019-2020. S&P forecast the FDI-to-GDP ratio to bounce back to 2% in FY2021-2022 from 1.4% this fiscal year, before slipping marginally over the following two years.

The IMF thinks we might do a bit better, estimating in January (pdf) that FDI would reach USD 8.3 bn in FY2021-2022, before jumping to USD 11.4 bn in FY2022-2023, then to USD 14.6 bn and USD 16.3 bn in the following two years.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.