Egypt to offer foreign investors a large share in power plants
Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund seeks to acquire 30% in power plants co-established by Germany’s Siemens and involve foreign investors and companies in the rest, which raises questions on whether the state seeks to privatize them or the result is higher bills for citizens.
CAIRO — Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund seeks to acquire 30% in power plants co-established by Germany’s Siemens and offer a share of 70% to foreign investors and companies, Bloomberg reported Nov. 11.
Parliament passed July 16 a bill to set up Egypt's sovereign wealth fund to manage the state’s unused assets. The draft law stipulates that the fund has a sovereign legal entity, with its headquarters in the Cairo governorate.
Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund was established by Law No. 177 of 2018, published Aug. 21 in the Official Gazette after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ratified it. Under the decision, the fund’s mission is to manage state-owned assets such as real estates, shares, bonds or other investment tools.
Regarding its resources, the fund’s authorized capital totals 200 billion pounds (nearly $11.2 billion), while the issued capital stands at 5 billion pounds ($280 million). This is added to the transferred assets, the return on investment, tapped assets, credits, incentives, bond issues and other financial tools.
