The Madbouly cabinet will form a special unit to fast-track the government’s privatizationprogram, a Finance Ministry official told Enterprise yesterday. The unit — which will hold its first meeting soon — is designed to expedite the decision-making process for the cabinet by supervising the program and working directly with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), our source explains. The news was first picked up by Daily News Egypt.

Remember: The government earlier this week appointed the IFC to act as an advisor for the privatization program.

More: The unit will supervise the program, follow-up on acquisition offers, collaborate with the IFC and receive its recommendations, see to investor requests, track progress, and prepare periodical reports for the cabinet, our source tells us. The unit will also set time frames for the stake sales.

Who’s in? Members of the unit include Sovereign Fund of Egypt head Ayman Soliman, Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk, head of cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center Osama El Gohary, and Mohamed Abdelaziz, an assistant to the chairman of the Financial Regulatory Authority, according to Daily News Egypt.

Background: The government aims to sell stakes inat least 32 state-owned companies by March 2024 via public offerings on the EGX, sales to strategic investors, or a mix of both.

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