Britain plans to inject new investments into Egypt

Written by Ziad Abdel Fattah:

The UK International Investment Authority confirmed its intention to increase Her investments In Egypt during the coming period, the government is called upon to take additional steps to ensure equal opportunities between the public and private sectors, which will enhance the investment climate and increase investor confidence.

The agency’s chief executive, Leslie Masdorp, told Reuters during his visit to Cairo last week that Egypt represents the agency’s largest market for investments in Africa, stressing that this trend is “intentional” and reflects the importance of the Egyptian market.

Current investment volume is $1.1 billion

Masdorp explained that the authority, which focuses its investments on the private sector, is currently injecting about £850 million (equivalent to $1.1 billion) into Egypt, adding: “We will increase our investment activity in the country during the coming period.”.

He pointed out that a large part of the current investments is concentrated in climate finance projects, including financing exceeding $300 million for a 1.1 gigawatt wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, in addition to solar energy and battery storage projects in cooperation with the Norwegian company “Scatec”.

In a general context, Masdorp noted that the authority aims to invest around £5 billion in Africa over five years, while working to attract an additional £4 billion from private sector investors, without specifying a particular share for Egypt, stressing that investments will follow available opportunities.

He praised the economic measures recently taken by Egypt as part of its $8 billion program with the International Monetary Fund, particularly the liberalization of the exchange rate in 2024, considering it a sustainable structural transformation of the economy.

Nevertheless, he stressed that achieving greater parity in competition between government and private entities will remain the most important factor in attracting more investments, emphasizing that “the private sector is the main driver of growth, development and prosperity.”.

He added: “If there is one measure that can enhance the attractiveness of investment in Egypt, it would be achieving a level playing field for all parties in the market.”.

These statements come at a time when Egypt is seeking to strengthen the role of the private sector and reduce state intervention in economic activity, as part of broader efforts to restore investor confidence and support sustainable growth.