Egypt has signed contracts to sell stakes in 14 state-owned assets worth a total of $5.6 billion as part of a programme to boost the private sector engagement in economy, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said on Wednesday. Madbouly revealed that the government, in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), conducted preliminary studies on 50 state-owned companies in preparation for offering. Under the studies, the IFC concluded that four sectors will be of top priority, including management and operation of state-owned airports, telecommunication, banks, and insurance, Madbouly added. The prime minister further said that the telecommunication projects considered for offering and investments include broadcasting towers and data centres. In August, the Egyptian government unveiled plans to raise $5 billion from the offering of power plants and state-owned companies from October 2023 until the end of June 2024. It also announced that it secured $5 billion from offering state-owned stakes in 13 companies during the period from March 2022 to July 2023. The government also plans to offer stakes in 35 state-owned companies to strategic investors by the end of June 2024, under the State Ownership Policy Document. A list of 32 companies was released in February and three companies were added to it later in 2023, namely Eastern Company, Al Ezz Dekheila, and Telecom Egypt.
