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With one of the world’s leading outsourcing sectors, Egypt is holding its own in a globally competitive field. The industry has ambitious growth targets, which places an increasing emphasis on higher-value services and niche segments. Outsourcing earned the country $1.1bn in export revenue in 2011, according to the Information Technology Industry...

As a net importer of oil as well as a producer, Egypt is sensitive to the ups and downs of the global crude market. This is especially true given that the government heavily subsidies the price of petrol. And, to the extent that native oil is sold on the local market, producers are compensated based on prevailing world prices. In an era when oil...

When asked about 2011, Egypt’s former minister of tourism, Mounir Fakhri AbdelNour, is candid: “It would be an understatement to say it was a difficult year.” The same holds true for the millions of Egyptians who rely on tourism for their livelihoods. More than any other sector of the economy, tourism has suffered from the ongoing political...

One of the most important industrial segments, Egypt’s textiles sector is a major employer and source of export revenue. Proving resilient to competition, economic downturns and social unrest in recent years, it thrives on a number of competitive advantages, like favourable trade relations and active government support.

With its geographical location making it an ideal land bridge between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and one of the major channels of commerce between the Levant, Africa and Arabia, Egypt’s status as a centre of trade was already well established by the era of the Old Kingdom in the third millennium BC.

The fast growth in Egypt’s retail sector took a pause in 2011 and early 2012, as political uncertainty following regime change led many retailers to scale back expansion plans. However, the expectation is that once political stability returns, the increased purchasing power of Egypt’s rapidly-growing population is likely to drive expansion once more...