Egypt Launches a 1 Billion Pound Fund to Restructure and Restart Distressed Factories
The Central Bank of Egypt and the Ministry of Industry on Thursday launched a Distressed Factories Restructuring Fund with capital of 1 billion Egyptian pounds, to take stakes in struggling industrial companies that retain viable operations and restructure them, Governor Hassan Abdalla and Industry Minister Khaled Hashem announced. The fund follows presidential directives to restart distressed factories and companies and is worth about 19.1 million dollars at the midpoint of the central bank’s official buy and sell rates for 1 October, on our calculation.
5 banks back the fund
| Role | Institution |
|---|---|
| Contributing bank | National Bank of Egypt |
| Contributing bank | Banque Misr |
| Contributing bank | Arab African International Bank |
| Contributing bank | Agricultural Bank of Egypt |
| Contributing bank | Export Development Bank of Egypt |
| Fund manager | CI Capital |
| Investment committee chair | Mohamed El Sewedy, Federation of Egyptian Industries |
Individual bank contributions were not disclosed.
The fund’s restructuring plans can include loan restructuring, new capital injections, programmes to improve operating efficiency and stronger governance. Factories apply through the Ministry of Industry’s Manufacturers Support System, through which the fund will assess applicants. Abdalla said the launch supports efforts to raise industry’s contribution to GDP and growth by directing capital toward rehabilitating productive assets. Hashem said the fund is part of an integrated initiative for distressed factories and that he expects it to help restore unused production capacity, create jobs and strengthen local supply chains.
Land and localisation on the same day
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on Thursday directed the government to take back vacant, unused industrial land and to keep easing procedures for new factories in priority sectors under the state’s industrial strategy, the Presidency said after his meeting with the Prime Minister and the ministers of petroleum and industry. The meeting also reviewed the localisation of feeder industries such as refractories and alloys, greater local use of scrap, and steps to deepen steel production.
Why it matters: The fund gives the participating banks an equity channel into industrial recovery, pairing new capital with operational restructuring rather than relying on new lending alone, as the state works to raise industry’s contribution to output and growth.
Outlook: The first factories to be assessed will come through the Ministry of Industry’s Manufacturers Support System, with the fund’s investment committee led by the head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries.
Sources: Central Bank of Egypt, Egyptian Presidency, The Edge.
