Egypt’s prosperity rests on private sector, says billionaire Sawiris

• ‘Most important part of economy’
• Ministers coming from private sector
• Chosen Abu Dhabi for latest project

Egypt’s second-richest man Naguib Sawiris has predicted a long-awaited turnaround in the country’s private sector.

Sawiris told AGBI that it had taken the Egyptian government a long time to acknowledge the importance of the private sector, but that it now knows that the country’s economic future rests on it.

“The private sector is the most important part of the economy. It can drive prosperity and growth,” the billionaire developer said.

“We have a much better government now than we used to. We have ministers coming from the private sector, so Egypt will prosper,” he predicted.

Naguib Sawiris, who has a net worth of $7.5 billion, is the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom and Executive Chairman of Orascom Investment Holding.

Now chairman of Ora Developers, he has chosen the Emirates for his latest project, launching a 4.8 million square metre coastal community in Abu Dhabi.

“We’re in the UAE because this is one of the most exciting countries in the world,” he said. “People are immigrating from the world to Dubai and Abu Dhabi now, so we should be here.”

In fact more than 1,500 Egyptian companies have moved headquarters to the UAE over the past year – including Sawiris’s brother Nassef (Egypt’s richest man with a net worth of $8.38 billion), who moved his family office NNS Group to Abu Dhabi.

• Billionaire calls for review of Egyptian mega-projects
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• Orascom wins $2.6bn contract for Saudi power plant

Sawiris was bullish about the impact of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs on Orascom. “It’s not going to affect us, but it has destroyed the markets and made people lose a lot of money,” he said.

“It was unwarranted,” he added. “If he keeps on going like that, he’ll end up in a recession, and then there will be no escape for him.”