Egypt

The three years since the 2011 revolution have proven to be profitable for most of Egypt’s insurers, making it one of the few sectors to overcome the country’s economic malaise. Insurance companies collected LE13bn ($1.85bn) in premiums in the 2012/13 financial year, an increase of 18% from LE11bn ($1.56bn) in 2011/12. However, by most measures, Egypt’s insurance market remains small relative...

After a downturn in the wake of the 2011 revolution, the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has staged an impressive recovery. Having dealt effectively with the fallout from the broader economic uncertainty, the management of the EGX has now turned its attention to deepening the market and widening its investor base. The EGX is relatively diverse compared to its regional peers, with the largest sector in...

Despite a challenging economic backdrop, Egypt’s banks have succeeded in growing their assets and maintaining profitability over the past year. Their solid performance has been facilitated by a process of reform that began a decade ago. The banking network comprised 3651 branches in 2013, an increase of 41 branches over the previous year, which resulted in a density of 22,900 people per...

With the elections over, Egypt’s economy is showing signs of an incipient recovery. After three years of stagnation the IMF anticipates GDP growth will reach 3.5% by 2015, although much of this may be making up for lost time. The new government has outlined an ambitious vision for the future development of the country, and taken the first steps towards solving a structural fiscal deficit....

At the meeting point of Asia, Africa and Europe, Egypt is African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean. Its fertile Nile Valley and Delta cultivated one of the world’s first great civilisations, and its geographical location has seen great empires come and go, many of them making Cairo a capital. The population of nearly 87.5m is young, with around half of all Egyptians under the age of 25 and...