The Egyptian market still has a large potential for growth in the coming years, according to construction and real estate experts speaking at a panel discussion during the Euromoney conference.
Hesham Shoukri, Chairman and CEO of Rooya Group, said that real estate investments still have potential.
“We are living on only 6% of our land, and we are expecting [the population] to be more than 180 million by 2050,” Shoukri said. “We can absorb more investments.”
Omar Dorra, Managing Director of Dorra Group, said that Egypt still needs communities that offer houses, schools and hospitals. The panellists discussed the gap between the private and public sector in providing housing, where the private sector creates houses for the rich, while the public sector is more concerned with social housing.
On whether the private sector should be obliged to take part in social housing projects, Dorra said that companies have already shown interest and that the private sector executes with a high level of professionalism.
Hassan Hussein, Chairman and Managing Director of El-Taamir Mortgage Finance, said there is a change in the market, with the private sector starting to shift their attention to the lower end of the market. This comes especially after the initiative that was started by the Central Bank of Egypt. Regarding how to export this sector abroad, Hussein added that development companies can export expertise outside Egypt.
Hussein Mansi, CEO of Lafarge Egypt, said that what Egypt lacks is a feasible model to make investments possible in various sectors.
Regarding property prices, Stuart Gissing, Regional Director for the MENA region at Colliers International, said there is a problem of overpricing, due to people seeing real estate as a safe way to invest their money.
For the past 25 years, property prices have not declined, Shoukri said, reinforcing the point that properties are a safe investment.
