Egypt seeks to manufacture its first electric vehicle in 2023: President Sisi

During the World Youth Forum’s fourth edition held last month in Sharm El-Sheikh city, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi shed light on the country’s plan to have its first electric vehicle been locally manufactured in 2023.

During the forum, the president underscored the problem of expected increase in cars over the next years, highlighting the need to replace gasoline-powered vehicles with those working by natural gas or electricity.

In December, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli checked a model of an electric car produced by General Motors, and is expected to be offered in the Egyptian market in 2022.

The prime minister told the representatives of General Motors, and its agent in Egypt, Mansour Group, that the government can promote the sales of the car through various programs and initiatives, and through a number of incentives and exemptions granted to consumers.

Madbouli urged the two companies to prepare a detailed plan on the manufacturing of the car in Egypt so that the government takes the necessary support steps.

The prime minister had held a meeting with them earlier with the attendance of Minister of Finance Mohamed Mait, and Minister of Industry and Trade Nevine Gamea.

During the meeting, CEO of Al Mansour Group Ankush Arora presented a proposal to launch the manufacturing of electric cars in Egypt, which is a goal the government has been working on along with the localization of electric automotive feeding industries.

The CEO of Al Mansour Group also displayed the company's vision on the factors it perceives as essential for the success of the electrical cars market in Egypt, as those are similar to the incentives adopted in many other countries.

Arora noted that the number of electric vehicles offered in 2021 has recorded 2.65 million, with a rise of 168 percent compared to 2020. Further, the share of electric vehicles doubled to 14 percent globally up from seven percent in 2020. He added that the electric cars market is estimated to grow 27 percent per annum globally until 2030.

In November, the prime minister met with the CEOs of General Motors and Mansour Group, who said they would begin selecting the features of the electric car to be offered in the Egyptian market.

They also noted that the company is willing to invest around $35 million in Egypt by 2025.

It is noteworthy to mention that the negotiations of Nasr cars - affiliated with the public business sector - with the Chinese Dongfeng Company to produce electric cars stopped as they failed to agree on reducing the price of the imported component, according to the Ministry of Public Enterprise Sector.

In its statement, the ministry stated that the two companies were unable to agree to reduce the price of the main imported component sufficiently to enable Al-Nasr Automotive Company to produce the car and offer it at a competitive price, which resulted in the negotiations stalling.

Al-Nasr Automotive Company had signed two contracts with the Chinese company last January to assemble electric cars locally, and to rehabilitate its factory through a subsidiary of the Chinese group.