Egypt

THE COMPANY: Eastern Company (EC) is the leading tobacco manufacturer in Egypt, with an estimated market share of 81% in fiscal year 2011/12 (FY11/12). The industry caters to 31% of the population, who consume an average of 10 sticks per day. EC produces five main products: cigarettes, molasses tobacco,...

Although Egypt’s petrochemicals production capacity is small by regional standards, the country is one of the larger African players in the industry. Furthermore, capacity – which leverages the country’s large gas reserves – has grown rapidly over the past decade and is set to expand even more quickly in coming years. Ethylene capacity alone should...

Although summer 2013 has seen increased political risk and uncertainty in the country’s broader macroeconomic environment, the positive financial results of Egypt’s banking sector over 2012 and into 2013 attest to its overall resilience. A process of regulatory reform, which began in 2004, underpins this solid performance, and continues to this day...

Over the past two years, a state of transition has become a more or less permanent feature of Egypt’s political scene. After 18 months, the 2011 uprising that led to the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak resulted in the election of a new president, Mohammed Morsi of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), and a new constitution for the country...

THE COMPANY: Commercial International Bank (CIB) was established in 1975 as a joint venture between the National Bank of Egypt (51%) and Chase Manhattan Bank (49%). It is now the biggest publically traded bank in Egypt. With the sale of National Société Générale Bank, CIB offers the only exposure to a...

One area of the Egyptian transport sector that stands to see a new lease of life is river transport, which currently accounts for less than 1% of all goods transported within the country. Historically, the Nile was Egypt’s main transport route for millennia, but the advent of the railways and later, motorways, made river transport seem out-dated. As...