Over the span of the past decade, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) has disclosed that the cumulative net foreign direct investment (FDI) directed into Egypt has reached a substantial figure of $66.7 billion.
According to a statement released on Sunday, the agency outlined the progression of foreign investments over the years. In the fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014, foreign investments accounted for $4.2 billion, marking an 11.3% increase compared to the previous year’s $3.8 billion. This growth continued into the subsequent year, reaching $6.4 billion, an impressive rise of 52.7%. The upward trend persisted in 2015/2016, recording $6.9 billion, reflecting an 8.7% increase from the preceding year.
The trend of investment varied in the following years, climbing to $7.9 billion in 2016/2017 (an increase of 14.4%), decreasing slightly to $7.7 billion in the subsequent year (a decrease of 2.7%), rising again to $8.2 billion in 2018/2019 (a 6.7% increase), and experiencing a decline to $7.5 billion in 2019/2020 (a decrease of 9.5%). The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant drop to $5.2 billion in the following year, marking a 30% decrease. However, through governmental efforts, investments rebounded to $8.9 billion in 2021/2022, showing a remarkable 71.4% increase.
In the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023, the net foreign direct investment stood at $5.7 billion, compared to $3.3 billion during the same period of the fiscal year 2021/2022, resulting in a substantial increase of $2.4 billion or 75.4%.
The analysis by CAPMAS also revealed the prominent investing countries in Egypt during the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023. Saudi Arabia took the lead with investments valued at $2.1 billion, followed by the UAE with $1.5 billion, Italy with $1.2 billion, the United Kingdom with $1.2 billion, and the United States of America with $1 billion, among others.
The agency reported a surge in the establishment of new companies according to investment laws during the fiscal year 2021/2022, with a total of 31,200 companies compared to 28,500 the previous year. These companies amassed a combined capital of EGP 117.4 billion, indicating a substantial 38.3% increase from the fiscal year 2020/2021.
Among the sectors, services took the lead in terms of the number of newly established companies in the fiscal year 2021/2022, with 17,100 companies. It was followed by the industry sector with 5,200 companies, the construction sector with 4,400 companies, the communications and information technology sector with 2,400 companies, the agricultural sector with 1,500 companies, the tourism sector with 496 companies, and the financing sector with 27 companies.
CAPMAS underlined the Egyptian government’s commitment to facilitating a favourable environment for investors, aiming to attract more investments that contribute to foreign exchange reserves and job creation. This aligns with broader goals to stimulate economic growth and reduce unemployment rates.
