Industry & Retail

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 its goals for the sector are ambitious. Manufacturing accounted for approximately 16.6% of the country’s GDP in 2015, with medium-term plans to create 3m jobs and increase its share to 25% by 2020, in part through the development of new industrial zones. Egypt’s industrial sector features substantial attractions for long-term investment, including a large consumer base, low labour costs and a potential gateway to the growing African middle class. Short-term obstacles remain, however, starting with the Egyptian pound’s struggle to stabilise against major international currencies and continued instability in gas supply; yet the goal of long-term growth remains the key priority. Egypt’s retail market is competitive and highly fragmented. The maturing formal retail sector features a range of shopping malls, supermarkets, hypermarkets and smaller franchised competitors, as well as the more informal options that have traditionally served Egypt’s shopping needs, such as souqs, street vendors, independent high-street shops and neighbourhood corner stores. 

This chapter contains interviews with Mohamed Zaki El Sewedy, Chairman, Federation of Egyptian Industries; and Hassan Nouh, Managing Director, Ezz Steel.