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#Egypt #TheWorldfolio SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2019 01 This Special supplement was prepared by The Worldfolio. The production of this supplement did not involve the news or editorial staff of The Washington Post. For more information contact The Worldfolio. Africa’s top investment Bold economic reforms pay major dividends The Egyptian government has implemented reforms and laid down the plans that will ultimately allow the private destination sector to take the driving seat on the road towards sustainable development and inclusive growth. Egypt is now the second- After some turbulent years follow- “For economic growth this largest recipient of direct ing the Arab Spring in 2011, Egypt’s year, we are targeting 5.6 U.S. investments in the economy has bounced back and is Middle East. now primed and ready to reach percent and for the next year new heights. Politically and eco- we’ll be working very hard Egypt has been identified as the nomically stable, the North African to reach 6 percent. I think African continent’s best invest- nation is pushing ahead with a re- this is quite outstanding. I’ve ment destination for 2019 – an form agenda and visionary plan for honor it is celebrating for the sec- the future that includes hundreds seen a lot of reports showing ond consecutive year. of billions of dollars worth of pro- that Egypt was among the The accolade, awarded by Rand jects across the board – from brand WRSͤYHJURZLQJFRXQWULHVLQ Merchant Bank (RMD), attributes new cities to the game-changing the world” Egypt’s top-spot to two factors: Suez Canal Economic Zone, which that the country is Africa’s high- has already attracted some of the plementing new initiatives to subsi- est gross domestic producer, and world’s largest companies. dize exporting and the contribution that it enjoys the single larg- Last April, the Egyptian people of the private sector to improving est consumption market in the voted to keep incumbent president the country’s negative trade bal- MENA region. Abdel Fatah El-Sisi in power, allow- ance, which stood at $3.87 billion RMD’s report also observed ing him to continue with the IMF- in December 2018. that Egypt has the most diver- backed economic reform program “We are now working very hard sified market in Africa, and the that has put the economy on the with the Ministry of Investment to “strides that have been made to road to recovery and laid the foun- really overcome any kind of prob- improve the investment and le- dation for strong and sustained lems facing the investors, whether gal business environment”. The growth that will improve living from the local or the international report’s findings are echoed by standards for all Egyptians. With market,” he adds. FDI Markets, affiliated to the the economic reforms and recov- Financial Times, which ranked ery luring many foreign investors Mega projects create 4 million Egypt first in Africa in terms of to enter the increasingly dynamic jobs foreign direct investment (FDI) and diversified Egyptian economy, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi As part of the economic recov- flows with $7.4 billion. foreign direct investment is ex- swearing in Prime Minister ery, the El-Sisi government has “Reforms that took place over pected to grow significantly over Mostafa Kamal Madbouly in launched thousands of projects the last three years far exceeded the coming years. June, 2018. costing tens of billions of dollars our aspirations. For the first time, At the peak of the crisis in 2013- to overhaul Egypt’s poor infra- we are witnessing momentum 2014, Egypt’s growth was hover- 200,000 Egyptian families – the structure. Unlike the shorter-term and real political will to reform ing at under 3 percent, foreign poverty rate in Upper Egypt has fiscal problems, infrastructure is a the country,” says the Managing reserves had dropped to as little fallen for the first time, according decades-old issue that needed to Director at the American Cham- as $15 billion and unemployment to the prime minister. be addressed. ber of Commerce, Tarek Zakaria had jumped to almost 14 percent. “These social initiatives and pro- Some of the highlight projects Tawfik, referring to the recent leg- Since November 2016, and with grams are moving ahead and with that have been launched under El- islative changes that have enabled the help of a $12 billion IMF loan, the new government, our target Sisi’s government include: the $8.2 Egypt’s ascent to the top of the Egypt has taken bold measures – now is to really focus on the coun- billion extension of the Suez Canal; investor rankings. such as the devaluation of its cur- try’s human resources. We have the creation of the 285-square- rency, removing limits on foreign more than 65 percent of the popu- Apple CEO Tim Cook meets with Prime Minister Madbouly in Davos. mile Suez Canal Economic Zone ̸)RUWKHͤUVWWLPHZHDUH currency transfers, lifting hard lation below 40 years old, this is a (SCZone) set to become a hub for witnessing momentum and currency restrictions for importers, real challenge. The most important Creating a conducive environment Over the past four years, the logistics, manufacturing, ICT and cutting fuel subsidies and raising thing if you would like to make real for investment government has helped to steer petrochemicals; a $45-billion New real political will to reform value-added tax – that have truly positive contributions is to focus on As the government has pushed on the country in the right direc- Administrative Capital; a national the country” paid dividends. health issues and education.” with its economic reform agenda, it tion – implementing reforms roads projects; two new inter- “This country could have been led has also implemented measures to and laying down the plans for national airports; modernization TAREK ZAKARIA TAWFIK, MD, to disaster if we hadn’t made these “It’s our target in the coming make the country more conducive major infrastructure and other and extension of ports along the American Chamber of bold economic reforms. If we look period as a government to foreign direct investment (FDI) development projects that will SCZone; as well as several power at the numbers today, in the last to open more doors, make and private sector participation. ultimately allow the private sec- projects to meet growing electric- Commerce quarter, unemployment was at 8.9 In the fiscal year 2017-18, FDI tor to take the driving seat on the ity demand, including the world’s Besides its status as the top percent, down from almost 14 per- it more conducive and rose by 14.5 percent to $7.9 billion, road to Vision 2030 and beyond. largest solar park. It is safe to say FDI destination in Africa, Egypt cent. The foreign currency reserves flexible for the private sector, compared to the previous period. The government has also set out that there are very few countries in is also now the second-largest re- are now about 44 billion U.S. dol- whether from inside or But to ensure the success of the a plan to support the creation of the world witnessing development cipient of direct U.S. investments lars,” says Egypt’s Prime Minister, outside the country, to play Vision 2030 plan – which envi- a thriving SME sector, which in- on this scale. in the Middle East, trailing only Dr. Mostafa Kamal Madbouly. sions a competitive, balanced and cludes programs such as expand- “According to our calculation, the UAE. The United States is “For economic growth this year, their planned and major role” diversified economy, dependent on ing micro-financing for women these mega projects have man- among the top 10 countries with we are targeting 5.6 percent and innovation and knowledge – and in rural areas to create 100,000 aged to generate around 4 mil- direct investments in Egypt, re- for the next year we’ll be work- DR. MOSTAFA KAMAL the completion of the plethora of jobs and the Central Bank of lion new job opportunities. We cording $2.6 billion at the end of ing very hard to reach 6 percent. MADBOULY, planned mega projects, Egypt will Egypt’s SME-financing initia- have dramatically and substan- July, 2018. I think this is quite outstanding. Prime Minister of Egypt have to secure much higher levels tive that has compelled banks tially improved the infrastruc- Oil and gas producer Apache I’ve seen a lot of reports show- of foreign investment in the com- to expand their SME lending to ture, roads, water, sanitation, Corporation is the largest U.S. in- ing that Egypt was among the ing years. 20 percent of their portfolios. gas and electricity. We’ve also vestor in Egypt and is set to make top five growing countries in the One of the highlight initiatives While measures such as the Through all of the SME-focused managed to lower the deficit of an investment of $1 billion in new world. So, in terms of the econo- in the health sector is the pro- new investment law, the cut- initiatives, the government housing and other services. We wells in Egypt’s Western Desert. my, things are moving on and we gram to eradicate hepatitis C ting of red tape and financial wants to raise the SME sector’s have paved the way for horizon- Expressing his admiration for are very determined to continue in Egypt, which has one of the incentives are crucial to attract- share of GDP by 25 percent. tal expansion on desert land,” the Egypt’s economic decisions over our economic reform program in highest rates of the disease in ing more foreign investors (see “Even if you look at the new fis- prime minister proudly explains.

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