Cairo — Egypt's government is expected to finalise timelines for initial public offerings (IPOs) or stake sales in at least 20 state-owned enterprises immediately after the Eid El Fitr break, a government source told EnterpriseAM. The programme is part of a push to generate $3-4 billion in inflows before year-end, and the list includes Banque du Caire, AlexBank, fuel retailer Wataniya, Safi, Silo Foods and Chillout.
New entrants reportedly under consideration include Egyptian Ferroalloys, El Nasr Mining and plastics manufacturer Alamal Alsharif.
PRIVATIZATION PUSH GAINS MOMENTUM
Entities like Silo Foods join the banking heavyweights, signaling a cross-sector approach that includes finance, fuel retail and food processing.
A senior government official told EnterpriseAM earlier in March that a 30-40% stake in Banque du Caire, which is owned by Banque Misr, could be offered, and EnterpriseAM has reported that officials want to sell the 20% of AlexBank not owned by Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo.
The inflows form part of a plan to raise $6 billion to support foreign-currency reserves in the next fiscal year as Egypt completes its IMF programme, which concludes in December.