Wadi El Nil for Agricultural Development aims to achieve EGP 2bn in sales this year, representing 20% growth over the last two years, according to company Chairman Musa Freiji. Company investments in Egypt are currently valued at $283m, while Wadi El Nil hopes to bring in $170m in investments over the next two years, according to Freiji. A group of Lebanese businessmen own the company which recently reclaimed an area of 5,400 acres by 1700 acres at the 49 kilometre mark of the Cairo-Alex Desert Road in addition to 1,000 acres at another location on the same road, 2,700 acres in Wadi Natrun, and 400 acres in New Nubariya, west of the Beheira governorate. According to Freiji, the aim of adding new investments is to expand production lines for various olive and poultry plants. The company has maintained a presence Egypt since 1984 and works in the fields of reclaiming of land, poultry farming, river transport, and silos. The company has a total of EGP 350m invested in its river port and hopes to add EGP 2bn over the next year in order to allow for 60,000 tons of product to be unloaded every 24 hours. Freiji said that the company owns an olive pickling plant, adding that 60-65% of its production is exported to overseas markets. Freiji requested a foundation be developed to protect Egypt's poultry industry in light of the fact that imported poultry is subsidised, which harms Egyptian industry. The company's has approximately 2m hens out of a total 7m in Egypt. According to Freiji, the company aims to increase that share to 2.5m by 2015. He stated that poultry industry prices rose by the same proportion as electricity and petroleum product prices in July as part of a government plan to decrease allocations for subsidies.
