Egyptian Banks Are Taking A Liking To China
Egyptian (EGPT) banks are moving east (FXI) for international expansion. Egypt’s largest banks have opened up branches in China to strengthen mutual trade between the two countries and take advantage of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. In a recent interview with China’s news agency Xinhua, Akef Abdel-Latif al-Maghraby, vice chairman of Egypt’s national bank Banque Misr said, “We see China as one of the priorities of our bank for external expansion due to the large Chinese market and the volume of trade between China and Egypt that has exceeded 11 billion U.S. dollars.”
Credit Suisse (CS) expects China’s One Belt One Road Project to attract $500 billion worth of investments over the next five years. They expect India (INDA), Russia (ERUS), Indonesia (EIDO), Iran, Egypt, the Philippines (EPHE), and Pakistan (PAK) to attract the most flows as a result of this project. As per a recent report by Daily News Egypt, China also plans to pump around $40 billion into big development projects in Egypt as part of its ambitious OBOR project. The volume of trade between China and Egypt, was $11.3 billion in 2016, making Egypt the third largest African trade partner with China.
China’s partnership with Egypt dates back to 2011 and it has grown over time. Currently, Chinese investments in Egypt are worth $600 million, and experts expect it to rise substantially following implementation of OBOR projects. “The Belt and Road Initiative will restore cooperation and investment opportunities and will increase Egyptian trade not only with China but all other states included in the initiative,” Maghraby stated.
