The consistent growth of the Egyptian economy over the last few years has led several notable local companies to flourish. Business development was not limited to one industry but included a variety of activities, such as energy, financial technology, construction, education, and the food industry. This list displays Egyptian firms that thrived over the past few years, which includes a mixture of startups and well-established organisations.
Suez Canal Bank
The Suez Canal Bank was established in 1978 in Ismailia with an authorised capital of 10 million EGP. Throughout the years, it kept on spreading all over the country and now it has about 49 branches in Egypt and Libya. However, the real boost in the bank’s performance occurred in 2023, when it diversified the financing of various sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and real estate, which led to growth in the number of clients and the loan portfolio. As a result, the bank’s net profits amounted to 628 million EGP in June 2023.
The Arab Contractors
The Arab Contractors was established in 1955 by Osman Ahmed Osman, as a company that specialises in general contracting, architecture and civil engineering consultancy. Nowadays, it is considered one of the leading companies in the Middle East and Africa, as it operates in more than 29 countries. In the last couple of years, the company expanded their operations in Africa by performing numerous projects in Tanzania, as reflected by their compound annual growth rate which was among the highest in Africa according to the Financial Times.
MNT-Halan
MNT-Halan was founded in 2018 with their main mission being the digital banking of the unbanked, and substituting cash with electronic solutions such as mobile wallets and cards. Moreover, different types of services include microfinancing loans, SME lending, nano loans, payroll lending, and buy now pay later. Their broad coverage of Egypt has gained them over 7 million customers who perform transactions on a daily basis. Consequently, MNT-Halan attracted $400 million in 2023 – the largest funding in Egypt that year.
Edita Food Industries
Edita Food Industries is a leading Egyptian food producer that operates all across the Middle East and North Africa in 17 regional markets, with their goal being to provide snacks with a high level of quality and innovation. Their range of products include cakes, baked goods, rusks, wafers, candy and biscuits; produced in four factories in 6th of October, 10th of Ramadan and Beni Suef. Their ever-growing consumer demands led to significant increases in their production capacity and distribution network, reaching a revenue of 7.7 billion EGP in 2023.
EFG Hermes Holding
EFG Hermes Holding is a financial services company that was established in 1984 by Dr. Mohamed Taymour. The company specialises in a variety of services, including securities brokerage, asset management, investment banking and private equity. Over the past decade, they have expanded their operations to serve clients from the Middle East, Europe and the USA, resulting in a significant growth rate, placing them 93rd among Africa’s fastest-growing companies in 2023.
MaxAB
MaxAB was established in 2018 as an e-commerce platform providing local merchants in Egypt and Morocco with the chance to grow and increase their revenue. The company introduced MaxAB Payments in 2021, a fintech service that allows local merchants to receive payments for various services. This consistent growth led to their merger with the Kenyan company Wasoko, which is considered to be one of the largest technological mergers in Africa as they will have a combined customer base of 65 million consumers.
Karmsolar
KarmSolar was founded in 2011 by Ahmed Zahran, Randa Fahmy, Yumna Madi, and Xavier Auclair, a main goal to empower Egyptian companies and communities with renewable energy. They became the first Egyptian company to receive an Independent Power Producer (IPP) license allowing them to sell electricity from a major off-grid solar station. Afterwards, they were handed several major projects including Juhayna’s ENMAA farm, Sahl Hasish solar station, and Marsa Alam solar grid.
CIRA Education
Cira Education was founded in 1992 and is considered the largest integrated provider of educational services in the Egyptian private sector. The organisation builds, owns and operates a number of institutions, including 27 schools with 34,000 students and two universities. However, the corporation’s true expansion came in 2023 when it started owning and managing a large-scale nursery brand that targets the middle-income segment. As a result, their compound annual growth rate received a significant boost and reached 39.02%.