Holding their nerve on the Nile

A woman with shiny brown locks stares down from billboards at motorists navigating Cairo’s chaotic streets. This is how TREsemmé, an American hair-care brand, introduced itself to Egyptians in February. At 65 Egyptian pounds ($9.25), a large bottle of shampoo is not cheap. Yet Unilever Mashreq, the Dubai-based branch of the European multinational, reckons it will sell in the volatile north African country.

Compared with other emerging markets such as India and China, Egypt looks forbidding. Hundreds have died in street protests; bombs explode often. The economy is a mess. Tourism, a mainstay before the “revolution” in 2011, collapsed. Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, an ex-field-marshal who is almost certain to win the presidential election on May 26th, is likely to end Egypt’s brief experiment with non-military rule. Funds from the Gulf prop up the economy.

Yet foreign firms, though wary, have not abandoned Egypt. With about 90m people, it is the region’s most populous country and still a cultural trendsetter in the Arab world. Middle-class incomes have been growing. And though poverty has soared even the poor must eat and wash. Consumers are “internet-savvy”, says Fadi Malas, who runs Just Falafel, a Dubai-based food chain that advertises online.

All this makes Egypt hard to overlook for producers of consumer products. Dove soap and Pantene shampoo sell well. Procter & Gamble, a consumer-goods giant, reckons that its products reach nine out of ten homes. Carrefour has more than 20 stores in Egypt. After much delay, IKEA opened a furniture store at the end of 2013. Officials from HSBC are scouting for opportunities to expand, even as the bank scales back in nearby countries such as Lebanon.

It takes more courage to manufacture in Egypt, but for some the cheap labour force makes that worthwhile. Foreign direct investment has made a modest recovery. Coca-Cola, which already exports to more than 40 countries from Egypt, said in March that it would invest a further $500m there, part of which will finance the building of a juice factory.