Saudi Arabia’s Alhokair Plans to Invest $5 Billion in Egypt

Investments from the GCC countries, particularly from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE, continue to flow into Egypt to give a fillip to its struggling economy, and the latest one is from the Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair Company, which is planning to invest as much as $1.5 billion in Egypt in 2024.

In an interview with an Arabic daily Asharq Business on the side lines of a press conference at the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry, Alkohair CEO Turki Al-Hokair said that energy, real estate, and infrastructure sectors were on the priority list of his company’s investments plans. However, he did not disclose further details.

Alhokair is no stranger to Egypt as FAS Finance, which is partly owned by Alhokair, bought a 5% stake in the Egyptian fintech player valU last year, while FAS Energy has a $75 million solar park in Benban and announced plans to build a $450 million solar park in Egypt last year.

Alhokair also owns Marakez, the real estate and mall developer and operator whose brands include District 5 and Cairo’s largest shopping center, the Mall of Arabia, in addition to facilities in Mansoura and Tanta.

According to the latest data issued by the Egyptian Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, Saudi investments in the Egypt stood at $32 billion in the Kingdom. However, Saudi-Egyptian Business Council Chairman Badr Al-Amiri said that the Saudi investments in Egypt reached $35 billion.

Saudi Central Bank’s latest report said that Saudi Arabia has deposits in the Central Bank of Egypt worth $10.3 billion, and they include $5 billion in short-term deposits, and $5.3 billion in medium- and long-term deposits.

Launched in 1975, Alhokair group is actively involved in the Kingdom’s hospitality and entertainment for several decades and is associated with the country’s tourism sector under the leadership of Sheikh Abdulmohsin Alhokair.

Over five decades, the group’s projects expanded to include 92 entertainment centres and 35 hotels spread in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The group continues to develop its tourism investments to deliver the best of what top global companies offer by attracting expertise and establishing partnerships that enhance returns of investment and makes a difference in the fields of entertainment and hospitality, according to Alhokair’s website.

Investments in Fintech

Besides critical sectors such as energy, real estate and infrastructure, the Saudi companies have also shown increasing interest in acquiring Egyptian start-ups specialising in various technologies as significant expansion was witnessed in the Egyptian technology sector.

Saudi Arabia’s strategy to takeover Egyptian tech firms is to seek out local institutions that operate with less capacity in Egypt, while operating with more intensive capacity in other markets and countries. 

For instance, Al-Arab news agency reported that Mazid Financial Technology was exploring the possibility of a Saudi-Egyptian alliance to acquire a 40%-49% stake. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year, and the funds raised will be used to finance the company’s expansion into other countries. 

Even Egyptian deep tech company Intella has raised $3.4 million in a pre-Series A funding round, which was led by Saudi Arabia-based HALA Ventures and Wa’ed Ventures, the venture capital arm of Aramco.

This fresh capital will accelerate Intella’s entry into the Saudi market and support the development of artificial intelligence models tailored to audiences in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.