Egypt Economy

Long central to the cultural, political and economic history of the MENA region, Egypt, its most populous nation, found itself once again at the centre of Middle Eastern affairs when it stood in the vanguard of the political changes sweeping the region in 2011. While the road forward from that point has been rocky, Egypt still has huge...

The past year has been a busy one in the political life of Egypt. In 2015 the country conducted its first parliamentary elections since 2011, the year of the January 25 revolution. The ballot represented an important milestone, as it ushered in the first sitting Parliament in three years and the culmination of the post-revolution transition....

After seven years of negotiation, the signing of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) in June 2015 at Sharm El Sheikh is being heralded as a turning point in regional integration, and a significant boost for Egypt’s efforts to increase its exports to the fast-growing markets of sub-Saharan Africa. According to news reports following the...

The expansion of the Suez Canal, completed in early August 2015, could be a significant step towards solidifying Egypt’s position as a logistics and trade centre, leveraging its location astride major East-West shipping routes. The goal of boosting traffic on the 163-km canal – a key source of government revenue and hard currency – is...

Egypt lies at the heart of the Middle East and North Africa region and remains its most populous country and one of its largest economies. The country is of vital importance to regional and continental allies, with whom trade, investment, and security ties have seen growing relevance in recent years.

One of the potentially positive results of Egypt’s improved economic situation is that it has compelled the government to get creative to meet social and fiscal obligations. Nowhere is this more apparent than in area funds – historically the preserve of financial houses, but recently a key area for the administration.