Located at the geographic centre of the MENA region, Egypt has a well-documented history that has seen it accumulate knowledge and wealth over millennia. Egypt proved resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic: it was the only country in the MENA region to record positive GDP growth in 2020. Its economy has been widely driven by the execution of Egypt Vision 2030. This plan notably aims to increase annual GDP to 12% in 2030.
With one of the biggest consumer markets in the region and robust fundamentals, Egypt is well placed to attract international investment and emerge from this difficult period in a strong position. Although the Covid-19 pandemic has caused considerable disruption, the government’s ongoing reform efforts have helped to mitigate the worst effects of the crisis.
As Egypt is the most-populous Arab nation and third-most populous in Africa, population pressure is driving the nation’s economic agenda, with an estimated 3.5m young Egyptians entering the labour force by 2023. Recent years have seen an array of public initiatives aimed at encouraging private sector activity, but these remain hampered by a challenging economic backdrop and structural hurdles.
As Egypt enters 2018, a newly liberalised local currency and the recent implementation of a much-anticipated investment framework have left the country well positioned for continued economic expansion: the IMF expects GDP growth to reach 4.5% in 2018 and accelerate to around 6% over the medium term.
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