UAE Group Investing $333m in Egypt Sugar Factory

Egypt secured its biggest non-oil foreign direct investment deal since it floated the pound, Investment Minister Sahar Nasr said, as Dubai-based Al Ghurair Group agreed to put $333 million into a new sugar factory and farm. Canal Sugar Co. will hold a 33% stake in the project about 165 miles (265 kilometers) south of Cairo, rising to 51% when it is finished in three years, the government said late Monday. Egyptian companies, including Al Ahly Capital Holding, will hold the remaining stake, Nasr said at a press conference, Bloomberg reported. Egyptian officials were betting on a revival in foreign investment to boost growth and create jobs when they floated the pound and secured a $12 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund in November 2016. Overseas investors have been eyeing the food, health and education sectors in Egypt to capitalize on the 96-million population—the Arab world’s largest. The new factory will cost $450 million and produce one million tons of sugar annually, enough to cover about 80% of Egypt’s production gap, according to the government.