Our annual readers’ poll is back after a hiatus and it looks like the business community is finally shaking off years of economic pessimism and daring to be optimistic as we begin 2026. Before we jump into the results of our Annual EnterpriseAM Executive Sentiment Survey, we want to say a big, big thank you to all those who took part in the poll.

It seems that almost all of you are entering 2026 with an optimistic step in your stride, with 94.1% of you either agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement that business conditions will improve in 2026. Those who strongly agreed accounted for a sizable 27.5%.

This follows a few difficult years and a whole lot of pessimism from the business community. Policymakers will be happy to hear that it seems reforms and the often hard choices are paying off, as only 2% of you disagreed and 4% didn’t know.

The community also looks back on the first full year following the float of the EGP in a broadly positive light, with 92.2% of you telling us you either agree or strongly agree.

Bureaucracy and government regulation was the clear front runner as the biggest issue facing your businesses today with 39.2% of the vote, reflecting that while progress has been made doing business in Egypt remains tricky for many of us. The interest rate environment despite recent cuts ranked as the second most widespread concern with 27.5% of the vote.

But for 25.5% of you, finding and retaining talented employees ranked as your biggest challenge, a theme we’re starting to hear a lot more now that more immediate economic challenges are easing. Just 2.0% of you signalled taxation as the key problem, while 2.0% pointed to FX access as your biggest issue.

Challenges or not, a good 76.5% of you say your businesses will increase their investments here in Egypt this year, while only 5.9% say it’s unlikely and 13.7% say you don’t know.

But it seems you’re all waiting for rates to fall before you look to debt to fund expansion, with a 16-17% overnight lending rate as the highest some of you will tolerate before making the move. The sweet spot seems to be 10-13%, which had some 25.0% of the vote.

Most of you seemed to be unsure whether the government is sympathetic to the needs of the private sector, with 39.2% telling us neither agree nor disagree with the statement. However, a much larger percentage of you agreed with the statement than disagreed, with 37.3% of you either agreeing or strongly agreeing against 23.5% that disagreed or strongly disagreed.

A majority of 66.7% of you see the EGP staying where it is against the greenback or improving by the end of 2026, including an optimistic 2.0% that think the EGP could strengthen to 43 against the USD. While a fair few of you see the EGP depreciating this year, the weakest you think it will go is only as far as 51 against the greenback.

While 98.0% of you don’t see inflation getting worse, only 17.7% see inflation falling within the central banks target of 7% (±2%) by the end of 2026. Most see inflation ending the year at 10% with 31.4% of the vote, but a surprisingly large 29.4% see inflation standing about where it is now after 12 months.

The great AI shake up is coming and only 7.8% think it will harm your company. A collective 58.8% either agree or strongly agree that AI will be a net positive to your business, but many of you seem to think it won’t have much of an effect on you, with 27.5% neither agreeing or disagreeing with the statement.

Despite the global tariff war continuing to dominate the pages of the international business press, it seems the Egyptian business community is unfazed, with 52.9% of you telling us that the global tariff wars will have no impact on your business. In fact, more of you told us that it will help your business, not hinder it.

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