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Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sharm el-Sheikh, in the South Sinai governorate, south of Cairo, March 15, 2015. Sawiris said he was ready to invest $500 million in Egypt and was diversifying his telecoms business into infrastructure, energy and transportation, sectors which need major funds in the country. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris said that if the two stock exchanges in the UAE could unite, it would attract bigger companies to list in the market and give the country more access to liquidity.
The Chairman and CEO of Ora Developers was speaking at Investopia 2025 in Abu Dhabi, where he discussed the growing financial strength of the UAE’s capital markets in the region.
“Last year, we saw 1,500 Egyptian companies move their headquarters to the UAE, and many of them are keen to list on the stock exchanges here in Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Sawiris. “My one advice is for the exchanges here is to unite, which will be such a powerful change that will drive more and bigger companies to list here.”
Sawiris also referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi as “over ambitious”, criticising the mega projects that have been launched in the country over the last year, which the billionaire said “requires a lot of mega money that requires us to perhaps stop and take a look at the expenditures first before committing.”
Sawiris said the dollar situation in Egypt is not stable and the pressure on local currency, coupled with inflation that is shy of 30%, are concerns that need addressing.
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
