Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), met with representatives from a group of Mauritian companies aiming to launch a significant e-waste recycling project in Egypt. The delegation included Mike Hepworth and Basil Botha, co-founders of Greentech, a company specializing in metal recycling; Caesar Akbar, CEO of Pycrest Energy, a sustainable energy solutions firm; Omar Hussein, CEO of Biocom, an economic consultancy; Nitin Colapen, Managing Director of Strafin Financial Services; and Jennifer Orr, Commercial Director of ENL Property, a company specializing in construction.
Omar Hussein highlighted that the Mauritian business community is keen to strengthen cooperation with Egypt, seeking a strategic partnership between Africa’s key financial hub, Mauritius, and the continent’s leading investment destination, Egypt.
Basil Botha stated that the group of investors is eager to establish a large-scale e-waste recycling project in Egypt, aimed at extracting five key metals from electronic devices: gold, platinum, silver, palladium, and copper. Additionally, they plan to convert plastic waste into fuel. He noted that these metals account for 30% of the components in electronic devices, while the remaining 70% is plastic.
Botha emphasized that his company’s factories use eco-friendly technologies to separate and recycle the components of electronic devices. This process not only recycles used metals but also prevents the need to extract new tons of raw materials. He pointed out that the global e-waste output reaches 10 million tonnes annually.
Heiba mentioned that the e-waste recycling industry in Egypt is promising and has attracted local and foreign investments in recent years. Egypt generates about 90,000 tons of e-waste annually, providing ample investment opportunities.
The CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones discussed potential investment opportunities and partnerships in the e-waste recycling sector, highlighting investment systems suitable for the Mauritian companies’ goals. He also presented economic data and studies related to the recycling industry.
