Saudi, Emirati investors express their desire to invest in Egyptian market

CAIRO - 20 February 2023: Investors from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) expressed their great interest to invest in the Egyptian market, adding that they are currently studying investment opportunities in non-bank activities, according to a statement by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) on Monday.

 

This came during a promotional tour by an Egyptian delegation to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

 

The Egyptian delegation included senior executives from the Financial Regulatory Authority, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

 

The tour included a series of meetings with 20 investment institutions with large solvencies in Riyadh, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, to discuss the latest developments of the Egyptian economy and the government’s future plans to deal with economic variables such as inflation and exchange rates.

 

The tour coincides with the Egyptian government’s announcement of offering 32 different companies on the EGX, as part of the government's preparations to provide the necessary liquidity to deal with the global economic crisis and amplify the involvement of the private sector in the economy -as stated in the state ownership policy document.

 

For his part, Chairman of the EGX, Rami El-Dokany, revealed that the Egyptian stock market is ready to receive the new offerings, as the average return on investment in Egyptian stocks is still competitive, compared to neighboring exchanges by the end of January 2023.

 

He also pointed out that the exchange market indices are witnessing a huge improvement when it comes to value, size and exchange rates, constituting a perfect timing for public and private offerings.

 

In the same statement, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the FRA, Mohamed Farid, revealed that the authority is working on the automation of all non-banking financial services, including granting and renewing practicing licenses for professionals, in addition to developing financial technology (FinTech) to enable non-bank financial companies to market and distribute its products more effectively.

 

These efforts aim to expand the base of individuals benefiting from non-banking financial services, including capital and insurance markets, as well as non-banking funding activities like real estate financing, financial leasing, factoring, micro-financing and consumer credit/ consumer financing.

 

According to Farid, the standards of Egyptian accountability are being developed to align with best global practices to ensure financial stability for non-banking financial companies and the markets.

 

Moreover, a unified insurance law is currently in the works, aiming to benefit more segments of the society with the Egyptian insurance services and support developmental efforts within the insurance sector.

 

“We are also working on developing rules of listing, which have already undergone lots of changes, to simplify procedures and encourage companies to list, offer and exchange their stocks on the bourse in order to reach the funding needed for their expansion and development,” he added.

 

The aforementioned changes include reducing the necessary time frame for listed companies to increase their capital, preceded by allowing companies to be temporarily listed within the exchange - before completing all listing requirements - to encourage companies to complete the listing process.