With the largest population in the Middle East and a relatively established insurance sector, Egypt has long been a promising market for insurers. Domestically licensed companies have shown strong growth in recent years, driven by public expenditure on capital projects and increasing private sector activity. However, the sector’s impact on the lives of ordinary Egyptians has been limited, with...
Egypt Financial Services Articles & Analysis
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.
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Articles & Analysis | Progress in long-awaited, public sale of Egypt's state-owned entities from The Report: Egypt 2019
In early 2017 Egyptian officials announced plans to offer stakes in 23 state-owned companies in a series of public offerings that would raise LE80bn ($4.5bn) over the following two and a half years. The move marked the return of the subject of privatisation on the national agenda after a decade of absence.
Articles & Analysis | Egypt's mutual fund market offers more products and accessibility from The Report: Egypt 2019
Although the country launched its first Egyptian Mutual Fund in 1994, the industry has evolved slowly since then. As of late 2018 there were nearly 100 funds operating under the supervision of the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), including specialised funds in a range of asset classes: 29 equity, 10 sharia-compliant, six fixed income, 27...
Articles & Analysis | New lending initiatives increase access to finance for Egypt's SMEs from The Report: Egypt 2019
Attempts by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to boost lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) dates back more than a decade. The Access to Finance initiative was one of the pillars of the second Egyptian banking reform plan – which was in effect over the 2008-11 period – and introduced the idea of exempting banks from a portion of...
Articles & Analysis | Product expansion, rule simplification and wait reductions support Egyptian capital markets from The Report: Egypt 2019
The year of 2018 was challenging across the board for many emerging markets, and changing trends in global capital movements have brought turbulence to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) as well. After rising significantly in the first four months of 2018, the exchange’s main index, the EGX30, showed a sustained retrenchment to end the year at a...
Articles & Analysis | Egyptian capital markets bullish despite recent setbacks from The Report: Egypt 2019
The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is one of the oldest stock markets in the Middle East and dates back to 1883. It includes the main market, an over-the-counter market, and the Nile Stock Exchange (Nilex) for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Articles & Analysis | Egypt's economic reform and IMF aid reshape bond and other debt markets from The Report: Egypt 2019
In November 2016 the executive board of the IMF approved a three-year, $12bn loan under an extended fund facility (EFF) to assist with Egypt’s economic reform strategy. The liberalisation of the exchange rate, elimination of the parallel market and the stability of the Egyptian pound were crucial goals of the EFF programme. Moreover, several...