October 14, 2026
The Egyptian government has allocated 10 billion pounds, equivalent to about 190 million dollars, to support troubled factories and help them restructure and resume production, according to what was announced by the Egyptian Minister of Industry, Khaled Hashem.
Hashem explained, during his participation in a conference of the Canadian-Egyptian Business Council on Tuesday evening under the title “Egyptian industry between today’s challenges and future opportunities,” that the first phase of the initiative was launched a week ago through a fund launched in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt worth one billion pounds, with the aim of contributing to the capital of some troubled factories and restarting them. He pointed out that the initiative relies on three main tracks, which include providing technical support, providing financing, and linking factories with new investors to enhance their production capacity.
On Sunday, seven institutions and banks operating in Egypt began subscribing to the first phase of the investment fund with a capital of one billion pounds, in preparation for pumping investments into industrial companies that have opportunities for recovery. In the same context, Hashem announced that the Ministry of Industry will launch industrial complexes dedicated to small and medium industries, in addition to preparing a new initiative to finance these projects. He also revealed plans to launch an initiative to provide renewable energy to factories through soft loans aimed at providing capacities of about 1,000 megawatts to about 7,000 factories to reduce production costs.
Regarding African trade, the Minister of Industry pointed out that the volume of intra-African trade amounts to about 220 billion dollars, while Egypt’s share of it does not exceed 9 billion dollars. He pointed out that only three to four African countries have real industrial bases, which gives Egypt the opportunity to transform into an industrial and logistics center that serves African and regional markets. He also announced that Egyptian robots have entered the manufacturing stage with a local component exceeding 70%, with the aim of receiving purchase orders from 25 factories, and expanding the base of local companies in technological industries.
On the level of legislation, Hashem confirmed that the Ministry is working to amend industrial laws dating back to the 1950s and 1960s, explaining that the fines for some violations do not exceed 20 pounds, which requires updating them to keep pace with current investment requirements. He added that the ministry aims to enhance the integration of Egyptian industries into global supply chains by 2030, by benefiting from the experiences of countries such as South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.
It is noteworthy that the contribution of the industrial sector to the Egyptian GDP is about 12.8%, and the government seeks to increase it during the coming period by supporting troubled factories, expanding investments, and enhancing local manufacturing and technology.
