Egypt

Industrial firms in Egypt are beginning to focus their efforts on expanding further afield, as the domestic economy is still somewhat shaky on the back of local political instability and the faltering international economy. Meanwhile, the government is promoting local industry and goods in foreign markets to draw in more foreign currency to support the national economy.

Limited scope for further increasing mobile penetration amongst Egypt’s massive 80m-person population has intensified competition in terms of both tariffs and products between Egypt’s three GSM operators – Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat – who may soon be joined by the country’s first virtual network operator.

An ambitious growth plan for Egypt’s tourism industry, a major contributor to the wider economy, is under way to steer the sector forward after political revolution in 2011 put a damper on arrival numbers and revenues. However, taking into account the revolution’s effects on the sector, Egypt still attracted an impressive 10m visitors in 2011 and maintained its position as the most-visited country in the region.

Although a number of Egypt’s other major revenue earners may have suffered following the ouster of former President Mubarak, foreign remittance inflows have weathered the instability fairly well, totalling roughly $14.3bn in 2011, according to the central bank.

The domestic pharmaceuticals sector has seen expansion in recent months on the back of a large and rising population, health promotion activities to reduce endemic disease and plans to revamp the government registration and pricing processes. Growth is expected to continue at a rate of 11% through 2015.

Renewed confidence in the medium- and long-term outlook for Egypt’s economy is buoying its capital markets, with stocks up strongly in 2012 and bond issues attracting plenty of interest. In spite of lingering political uncertainty, good growth prospects, a large and growing domestic market, and likely backing from the IMF are all helping to restore much-needed investor confidence.