Egypt

As of the end of 2016, Egypt’s telecommunications sector was strongly positioned for future growth. With more than 95m mobile subscribers, the nation’s three mobile telecoms providers – namely Vodafone Egypt, Etisalat Misr and Orange Egypt – are investing heavily in network expansion, quality of service improvements and new technologies. This has accelerated in recent months, following the...

Transport infrastructure is one of the current priority areas for development by the Egyptian government, which is looking to roll out an era of mega-projects. Roads are congested, with 92m people competing for space with trucks and trailers, as almost all commercial goods in the country are moved via roads. The process of refurbishing ports and rail lines is under way, but are in need of...

With a market of 92m consumers and growing, Egypt is a natural fit for manufacturing industries. The sector spans a diverse range of activities, largely led by the private sector, that range from building materials and downstream processing, to long-running textile factories, as well as competitive food and fast-moving consumer goods segments. Yet the government hopes to further expand, and...

Egypt is one of Africa’s main oil and gas producers, but it is also the continent’s largest consumer of energy. Both oil and gas are found throughout the country in multiple onshore and offshore regions, including the Mediterranean Sea, which is emerging as a major new gas basin. Nevertheless, sourcing enough supply to meet demand is the sector’s central challenge, even as these discoveries...

The Egyptian insurance industry, one of the oldest in the region, has shown a welcome degree of resilience in recent years. Despite its long history, however, the market remains at a relatively nascent stage of growth compared to those in more advanced economies, characterised by a low penetration rate and modest insurance density. While this means that growth opportunities abound, questions...

The year 2016 was a difficult one for exchanges across the MENA region, due in large part to persistently low oil prices and political unrest. Egypt’s main index reflected the regional malaise for the first half of 2016, with a currency crisis and seemingly intractable fiscal deficit impacting investor confidence. By the second half of the year, however, the index was climbing once again as...