$20bn worth Qatari investments on the way to Egypt

Newspaper Title: https://dailynewsegypt.com/

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Monday - 22 August 2022

Egypt is preparing to receive new Qatari investments in the next few days.

Daily News Egypt has learned that Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad will visit Egypt in the upcoming weeks, when several agreements for Qatari investments worth $20bn will be announced.

Closely related sources revealed that the investments will take place in several stages, and investments worth $5bn will be directed to acquire stakes in Egyptian companies through the Qatar Investment Authority.

The agency is preparing to implement its first deal in Egypt during the next few days, and the agency is focusing on acquiring stakes in 3-4 listed companies, in addition to other unlisted companies at a later stage.

Negotiations are underway with The Egypt Sovereign Fund regarding stakes in Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling Company and other companies in the financial technology and food sectors.

The sources added that part of the investments will be injected into the clean energy sector, whether by acquiring existing projects or establishing new projects in Egypt in cooperation between Egypt’s sovereign fund and the Qatari body.

According to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI), the Qatar Investment Authority ranked ninth globally in terms of assets, amounting to $450bn.

Egypt is racing against time to meet a number of conditions set by the International Monetary Fund to approve a new loan programme. Goldman Sachs estimated the financing gap that Egypt needs from the International Monetary Fund at about $15bn.

Sources in investment banks working with the government on the IPO Programme said that this year will not witness any offering on the Egyptian Exchange.

This was confirmed by sources close to the Governmental IPO Committee, who stated that the current prices do not encourage offering, because some companies trade at a profitability multiple of two and three times, which is a historically low level, and offerings cannot be priced at a large premium to these prices except in sectors that are rarely represented in the stock market.

In June, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani held talks in Cairo as part of the Emir’s first visit to the Egyptian capital in nearly seven years.