Egypt will attempt to shore up its struggling economy by selling state-owned companies. The country is hoping to raise $6 billion by the summer of 2023 from the liquidation of its shares in various businesses.
At this point, the list of companies that will be made available remains unknown. However, Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala Helmy El-Said revealed some details about the plan in her recent chat with Bloomberg.
El-Said revealed that the sale might include both the public offering and sales to strategic investors. The country will approach sovereign wealth funds in the near future to gauge its investment interest as well. The UAE’s Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia previously made substantial investments in Egypt, believed to be around $3 billion, and took ownership of state-owned shares in a number of companies.
“Sovereign wealth funds are usually long-term investors, they add value in terms of expertise, finance, and technology,” El-Said explained.
The plan will provide Egypt with badly-needed finance boos in the short term but also aid their efforts to get in line with International Monetary Fund (IMF) policies that call for a lesser role of the state in the economy. The country is currently negotiating a new loan deal with IMF while also exploring the possibility of taking loans from Japan and China.