Egypt is on a long-term mission to attract an ever-growing volume of foreign investment into projects that range from solar-powered desalination plants and the digitalization of its education system to the electrification of its transport infrastructure. In the process it is enjoying the continent’s second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, a success story due in part to the professionalism and financial acumen of private equity firms like B Investments.
Established in 2006, B Investments is held in high regard for its ability to create value for investors and portfolio companies that operate across an array of sectors, including healthcare, real estate, non-banking financial services, renewable energy, manufacturing and the food and beverage industries.
“One of our great strengths is that we have been able to adapt very, very quickly to changing circumstances,” says B Investments chairman and cofounder Hazem Barakat. “This is particularly useful when you are operating in a developing country which has experienced its ups and downs.”
Another of B Investment’s core strengths is the quality of its staff, who have successfully leveraged over 300 years of combined financial and operational experience to identify some of the country’s most promising investments and to maximize shareholder value.
Listed on the Egyptian Exchange since 2018, B Investments plays an increasingly important role in the development of Egypt as a whole. In May, for instance, B Investments entered into a partnership to provide the country’s pharmaceutical sector with a dependable one-stop shop for all its logistics, administrative, distribution and trade requirements. It is also committed to sustainable growth and has been instrumental in securing funding for several of Egypt’s growing arsenal of solar power installations.
Barakat is now looking to roll out the business model across Africa and the Middle East, while remaining supremely confident about his company’s domestic growth prospects. “Egypt is a big country with a growing economy,” he says, “and with the government’s imminent focus on encouraging FDI, there is a good chance it will become an international manufacturing hub.” With B investments on hand to lend support every step of the way.