The size of Cisco’s business has seen significant growth in 2015 and 2016, general manager of Cisco in Egypt and Libya Ayman El-Gohary said. He told Daily News Egypt that the company expects a business growth of 10% in 2017 despite the difficult economic conditions in the wake of the flotation of the Egyptian pound.
El-Gohary said that the Supreme Council for Investment’s recent decisions are positive and will have a good payoff in encouraging investment and attracting foreign direct investments to the Egyptian market, on the condition that the government would ease investment obstacles. It is expected that all sectors will have investment opportunities, especially the telecommunications and information technology sector.
He believes that the pound’s flotation would have a positive effect on investment, despite the devaluation of the pound against the US dollar. The next few days will see ups and downs in the dollar exchange rate, but it will be stable by the end of the year, he said, which will reflect on the investment climate.
The Supreme Council for Investment, headed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, has issued 17 decisions to encourage foreign investment. The council’s main goal is to exempt investors from taxes or offer tax cuts, according to the type of investment activity. It would also allocate free lands with utility connections for investors in certain areas that require more investment. The council established a National Council for Payments, and a permanent committee at the Ministry of Investment to review investors’ complaints.
El-Gohary pointed out that the market will face some difficulties in the short term due to the flotation and low purchasing power of the pound. However, these economic changes will have a positive impact on the Egyptian market and accelerate its growth in the long term.
He added that the parent company of Cisco believes the Egyptian market is promising and has many growth opportunities, expecting that the coming period will witness an acceleration in growth rates in different sectors, especially telecommunications and the information technology sector. El-Gohary noted that the Egyptian market is the second largest market on the continent after South Africa.
