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Egypt’s Ministry of Public Business Sector is planning to bring in private sector participation to monetise the assets of its holding companies, minister Hisham Tawfik said.
Speaking at the sixth Portfolio Egypt 2022 conference, Tawfik said the plan is aligned with the government’s draft state ownership policy, which envisages a reduced for the state in various sectors.
He said private sector participation would be enabled through management and operation contracts, revenue sharing contracts, and sale of share capital.
He disclosed that the ministry is working on a plan to bundle seven historical and profitable hotels owned by the Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels (HOTAC) under a new asset management company, whose shares could be offered to a strategic investor.
He said up to 25 percent of the new company could be offered to the strategic investor.
He pointed out that the ministry intends to lease its old cotton gins in Delta and Upper Egypt to the private sector for use as wholesale or distribution warehouses. The ministry owns about 25 cotton gins.
The minister disclosed that ministry is looking to offer a stake in Misr Aluminium to a strategic investor in return for financing its capacity expansion to 320,000 tonnes per annum and the modernisation of its existing production lines.
The ministry is planning to expand Delta Steel Mill Company’s steel production capacity to 500,000 tonnes per year, and its cast iron and steel foundry’s capacity to 100,000 tonnes per year by exploiting the company’s unutilised assets, he said.
Tawfik said his ministry will also offer its unused hangars for rent in the coming period to garment companies.
He also disclosed that El-Nasr Pharmaceutical Chemicals Company, owned by Holding Company for Pharmaceuticals, is partnering with an Indian investor to set up a major project to produce pharmaceutical raw materials in the country.
In December 2021, Zawya Projects had reported that a tripartite MOU has been signed between the Holding Company, Pharmaceutical Egyptian Association and India’s Syschem to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients in the country.
The Minister said they are studying new production lines for pharmaceutical raw materials aligned to the needs of the local market.
(Writing by Eman Hamed; Editing by Anoop Menon)
