{"id":586786,"date":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/05\/17\/foreign-investors-still-want-in-on-egypt-but-local-firms-need-to-get-the-fundamentals-right\/"},"modified":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-17T00:00:00","slug":"foreign-investors-still-want-in-on-egypt-but-local-firms-need-to-get-the-fundamentals-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/05\/17\/foreign-investors-still-want-in-on-egypt-but-local-firms-need-to-get-the-fundamentals-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign investors still want in on Egypt \u2014 but local firms need to get the fundamentals right"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span>The economic outlook is uncertain \u2014 but good Egyptian businesses remain attractive to <\/span>investors: <\/span>That was the key takeaway from a panel at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum on Monday that featured <\/span>Hossam Abou Moussa<\/span>, partner at Apis Partners, <\/span>Hassan Massoud<\/span>, associate director and head of private equity for the Southern Mediterranean at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and <\/span>Cheick-Oumar Sylla<\/span>, the International Finance Corporation\u2019s director for North Africa and Horn of Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEgypt is and has always been investable,\u201d <\/span>Abou Moussa said, pointing out that Apis <\/span>\u201cdoesn\u2019t have allocations, and we choose to invest in Egypt.\u201d Economic uncertainty \u201cis a little bit higher\u201d right now, \u201cbut this doesn't prevent investors from investing in Egypt. They just need to price it in,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

The IFC is in for the long haul: <\/span>\u201cWe believe in the future and we are not stopping any <\/span>investments [in Egypt],\u201d Sylla said. \u201cThe short term will be difficult, we\u2019re more optimistic on the medium term, but the important thing is that investment decisions are still moving ahead.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The best-placed firms to ride out challenges? <\/span>Exporters have an upper hand in navigating <\/span>the uncertainty around the FX rate, Massoud pointed out. Looking ahead, the next question will be which businesses can weather inflationary pressures, he said, highlighting NBFS firms as good candidates. Abou Moussa pointed to the fintech sector as particularly resilient to economic challenges as tech-enabled financial inclusion brings a \u201cwave of digitization that is benefiting the bottom of the pyramid\u201d and creating business opportunities. <\/span><\/p>\n

Lending a helping hand: <\/span>\u201cProgressive legislation\u201d targeted at facilitating investment from the <\/span>likes of the Financial Regulatory Authority and the central bank is also helping to attract FDI, Abou Moussa said. <\/span><\/p>\n

A good time to look to private equity? <\/span>\u201cPrivate equity at large has a huge role to play in this <\/span>period of economic dislocation that we're living through, because PE capital can be flexible [and] go places where capital has not gone before,\u201d the EBRD\u2019s Massoud said. The current economic situation, \u201cas difficult as it is at this point for a lot of folks,\u201d is also \u201copening up opportunities [and] places where private equity and private capital has not really spent a lot of time looking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All three organizations invest heavily here:<\/span><\/p>\n