Egypt: when the Gulf countries buy up the crown jewels
In April, Egypt announced the sale of nearly $40bn in assets over four years to try to revive an economy in crisis. Several Gulf countries have jumped at the opportunity and have already spent some $20bn on the acquisition of public assets for sale.
This is an opportunity for these investors to grab the most profitable public companies and assets. But within the government, the operation is causing great concern.
On 3 July, the Egyptian parliament, all of whose members support President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, approved an agreement signed in late March between the Egyptian and Saudi governments. This is supposed to facilitate the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) purchase of Egyptian assets. This new agreement comes after trade between the two countries jumped by 62.1% in 2021. It reached $8.7bn in 2021 compared to $5.4bn in 2020, according to the Egyptian Statistics Agency.