CAIRO: Building on the rapid growth of Egypt's real estate sector and with growing demand for diversified mortgage finance opportunities, Amlak Finance PJSC officially launched its Egypt operations at a press conference Monday Amlak Finance and Real Estate Investment is a wholly owned subsidiary of Amlak Finance PJSC. It is the largest publicly listed Islamic finance company and a pioneer in home finance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Having entered the Egyptian market it will offer products and services customized for the local market. "Egypt's real estate sector is growing at an unprecedented rate and the need to offer local and foreign consumers the opportunity to choose their desired mortgage finance scheme led Amlak Finance to enter the Egyptian market, Nassar Al-Shaikh, chairman of Amlak Finance, said at the press conference. The mortgage market has become a key factor in the country's economic growth, fostered by the nation's impressive macroeconomic performance, recording a GDP growth of over 7 percent. Amlak is capitalizing on this growth, as well as the lack of other viable competitors, offering a "wide array of customized Islamic finance products that are guaranteed to add value and opportunity to Egypt's growing [number of] home buyers, Al-Shaikh said. "Egypt is the first key market that Amlak Finance expanded into regionally, and we are optimistic with the massive investment opportunities that the housing sector in Egypt is primed for, he added. Amlak Finance and Real Estate Investment were established in Egypt early in 2007. Within the first quarter of its launch, the company had successfully signed joint agreements with many of Egypt's major developers and residential and commercial projects. "We not only fund the purchase of your house, we also provide construction and furnishing loans, said Ahmed Haggag, CEO of Amlak Finance and Real Estate Investment. Amlak regulations are simple. "If you are between 21-65 years old, you submit a copy of your national ID, bank statements from the last six month, your income and property documents, you are eligible for an Amlak Construction Finance loan, the brochure says. Amlak will finance up to 90 percent of the value of your contracted property, up to LE 5 million. "Egypt is the first key market that Amlak Finance expanded into regionally, and we are optimistic with the massive investment opportunities that the housing sector in Egypt is primed for, he added. "We not only fund the purchase of your house, we also provide construction and furnishing loans, said Ahmed Haggag, CEO of Amlak Finance and Real Estate Investment. Amlak regulations are simple. "If you are between 21-65 years old, you submit a copy of your national ID, bank statements from the last six month, your income and property documents, you are eligible for an Amlak Construction Finance loan, the brochure says. Amlak will finance up to 90 percent of the value of your contracted property, up to LE 5 million. Egyptian citizens can repay Amlak back over 20 years (15 years for foreign residents), paying "equal monthly installments that allow you to easily adjust your budget and save big with an annually floating profit rate. Egypt's mortgage law was passed in 2001, and within a few years, the value of deals approved under the law reached LE 1.4 billion. This number is expected to grow further with the availability of mortgage finance opportunities and diversified products for local and foreign investors. "We have rolled out a number of sharia compliant home finance products to provide customers with the opportunity to purchase any commercial property, with long term tenures of up to 20 years, Haggag said. The reforms implemented and planned for the near future are key to the growth of the mortgage sector, which has an estimated annual growth rate of 1.5 percent. This will also help in dealing with the annual deficit of around 145,000 units per year as well as the availability of more than one million apartments, which remain unoccupied due in part to the lack of financing opportunities. "Mortgage finance will give a push to GDP in future years. We have amended the legislation and rules that govern mortgage finance to prepare the market for these new companies, said Osama Saleh, chairman of the Mortgage Finance Authority. "We are working in unison with the Mortgage Finance Authority to provide prospective customers with the choice of advanced Sharia compliant products when looking to invest their savings in a life-long property, Al-Shaikh said.
