Banque Du Caire, United Bank, Arab African Bank will be offered to public investors on EGX

Egypt will be selling stakes in three banks state-owned banks namely Banque Du Caire, The United Bank and The Arab African Bank through an IPO on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Wednesday.

In a press conference yesterday (watch, runtime: 16:22), Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced an ambitious programme that will begin during the current quarter and continue through to the end of 1Q 2024, Madbouly said.

 The government aims to complete at least 25% of the share sales within the first six months of the program, he said.

These companies work in 18 different fields. According to Madbouly, the government will list 25 percent of these companies within 6 months.

These companies include two-military owned companies: water company Safy and petrol stations operator Wataniya.

There are also several companies working in the field of energy, insurance and petrochemicals.

The premier stressed that floating the companies is one of the strategic goals under the State Ownership Policy Document.

The document, approved by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in December, charts a roadmap to determine the state's presence in economic activities and enhance the private sector's participation in public investments.

The ownership document states that Egypt seeks to raise the role of the private sector in the country’s economic activities from 30 percent at present to 65 percent within three years.

Boosting the role of the private sector in growth in parallel with reducing the size of the state’s footprint in the economy was one of the country's commitments and targets under the $3 billion 46-month loan approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Egypt offered the first state-owned company, tobacco monopoly Eastern Company, on the EGX under the IPO (Initial Public Offering) programme in March 2019.

The national plan to float state companies dated back to 2018 when Egypt announced the names of 23 state companies whose stakes will be offered, including Banque Du Caire and Middle East Oil Refining (MIDOR). However, the plan was delayed due to the consequent global crises