Over the past decade, Reliance Egypt has diversified from trading commodities like cement and clinker, into mining, ready-mix concrete, solid fuel supply, and waste management. In 2008, it began developing a logistics business – including port handling, storage, and transportation – to serve the cement industry, and has built up a fleet of 150 trucks in just three years. It has also purchased land near Ain Sokhna Port, on the western side of the Gulf of Suez, for a new logistics hub and coal terminal.
The company has three divisions that work with markets worldwide. “Whatever is imported to Egypt is done through Reliance Logistics, [our] Egyptian company,” explains Magdi Kassabgui, its Chairman and CEO. “Dubai-based Reliance Cement Trading sources and trades outside Egypt. And Reliance Fuels, [another] Dubai company, is the vehicle we use for our international solid fuels activity.”
Reliance buys from Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia, and sells to Africa, South America, and the United States, its CEO explains. Looking ahead, Kassabgui is bullish about Egypt’s prospects in the construction sector, thanks to the launch of mega-projects nationwide and the expansion of the Suez Canal Economic Zone. “The finalisation of the project in just one year is a source of great pride for Egyptians,” he notes. “It will definitely contribute to GDP growth.”
The company is now expanding its logistics and building materials activities to provide a complete solution to the construction market, which is set to rebound over the next few years thanks to massive public- and private- sector investment in housing and tourism. The company is also ramping up its waste-management business to serve cities like Alexandria, Cairo, and Port Said, where it plans to recycle refuse to produce renewable energy.
Reliance is persuaded enough about the country’s future prospects to have doubled its own investments in Egypt over the last 12 months. Kassabgui confirms: “This should be seen as a message to international companies that the private sector is playing a leading role in Egypt’s growth. The business climate today is much better than compared to previous years. We are convinced that the country’s fundamentals will lead to growth of the economy and, accordingly, high returns.”
