Egypt FDI on the rise between 2013 and 2017

Greenfield investment monitor fDi Markets shows that FDI into Egypt has increased steadily from 2013 to 2017. In 2013 Egypt recorded 49 investments with a capital expenditure of $4.37bn and 7453 new jobs created. The number of investments increased by 20.41% to 59 during 2014 and capital expenditure and the number of jobs created also witnessed a stark increase, from $4.37bn to $17.63bn and from 7453 to 22,81. 

The number of investments into Egypt continued to increase between 2014 and 2015, recording an additional seven projects. In contrast, the capital expenditure and the number of jobs created during the same period witnessed a decline, of 16.61% and 42.72%, respectively. Between 2015 and 2016 the number of projects once again increased from 66 to 79, jobs created increased from 13,107 to 19,181 and capital expenditure increased from $14.7bn to $40.91bn, the highest level of capex recorded since fDi Markets began recording data in 2003. Egypt recorded 92 FDI projects in 2017 by 73 investing companies with a capital expenditure of $37.62bn and 17,524 new jobs created.

Between January 2013 and December 2017, the primary investing country in Egypt was the United Arab Emirates with 52 investments, followed by the US with 45 and Saudi Arabia with 29. Of the total 345 investments made during this timeframe, Cairo, the country’s capital, attracted the lion’s share with 23.48% of the investment. The key industries for investment were financial services, followed by alternative/renewable energy and transportation which combined made up 28.12% of all investment recorded during the five-year period.

Despite only ranking sixth in terms of industry investment, Egypt's coal, oil and natural gas sector contributed the highest capital expenditure with $51.07bn. This was primarily due to a $30bn project announced by Russia-based energy company Rosatom in December 2017, which will see the firm build a power plant in El Dabaa as part of a joint venture with Egyptian authorities. It will comprise four water-energetic reactors of 1200 units, each with a capacity of 1200 megawatts. The first unit of the 4800-megawatt plant is to be commissioned in 2026 and will serve the local market.

Data for 218 is only available from January through to May. However, when compared to the same timeframe in 2017 it seems the upward trend is not set to continue. The first quarter of 2018 has seen a decline in the number of projects recorded from 35 to 21 when compared with the same period of 2017. The second quarter of 2018 has also decreased from 14 to six, although it remains to be seen whether data from June 2018 will bolster project numbers for the quarter and if the remaining two quarters of 2018 can turn the year around.