Egypt

With only limited opportunity to improve wheat yields due to shortages of arable land and water, Egypt is looking to tightening up the storage and logistics links in its grain supply chain to reduce import costs and bolster food security.

Muted levels of construction activity since the 2011 revolution, combined with constraints on electricity supply, has stifled operating conditions for Egypt’s cement producers, though new projects scheduled to launch in the second half of 2014 could provide a helpful boost to the segment, recently buoyed by the successful IPO of Arabian Cement.

Egypt’s banking sector, which was impacted by the instability of the past few years, is beginning to see increased momentum, with the formal launch of an Emirati-owned bank and modest upgrades in credit ratings for a pair of key players.

A new licence system governing Egypt’s fiercely competitive telecoms sector is expected to be rolled out within weeks, paving the way for mobile and fixed-line operators to vie for each other’s business.

Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) producers and retailers in Egypt face a somewhat mixed outlook in the short term, with limits on disposable incomes and high inflation making many Egyptians cautious about overspending. However, with such favourable demographics, long-term prospects appear more positive as the economy recovers, consumer confidence rises and export opportunities open up.

Over the past 15 years, Egypt has built a growing reputation as a centre for export-oriented ICT services, particularly business and knowledge process outsourcing (BPO and KPO), with revenues that exceeded $1.1bn in 2011, according to a Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) presentation last year.