Government reduces its stakes in 61 companies for IPO programme

The Egyptian government decided to include 61 new companies in its IPO programme, from which exiting could be faster than others.

Sources told Daily News Egypt that this step involved companies affiliated with the National Investment Bank (NIB), the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the Ministry of Public Enterprises Sector, and the Ministry of Transport.

This followed a study conducted by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the government. It concluded that four main sectors were prioritized in the government proposal programme. The sectors were airports, telecommunications, banking, and insurance.

The sources also said that the inclusion results identified 61 new government companies, including several banks that the government would offer either for sale to strategic investors or whose stakes it would offer on EGX. The aim was to activate the state ownership document and provide dollar liquidity.

The sources confirmed that the new companies listed would be different from the list of 32 companies previously announced by the Prime Minister to be included in the IPO programme.