Sukuk Issuance in Egypt Expected to Reach EGP 7.5bn During 2021

Egypt will witness sukuk issuances worth over EGP 5bn before the end of this year, bringing the total expected outstanding of Islamic bonds to more than EGP 7.5bn in 2021, Sayed Abdel Fadeel, head of Central Department for Corporate Finance at Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) told Daily News Egypt on Monday.

Abdel Fadeel’s remarks defied previous official expectations of EGP 20bn worth sukuk issuances.

Contact Financial Holding launched the only sukuk issuance YTD in Egypt, with a value of EGP 2.5bn. Noteworthy, FRA still has sukuk offerings on the table, according to Abdel Fadeel.

Hassan Allam Holding, Palm Hills Developments, Wadi Degla, Amer Group, and an agricultural reclamation company considered offering sukuk during the coming period, the most likely of which were by Palm Hills and Wadi Degla.

Abdel Fadeel revealed that Amer Group’s sukuk offering is expected to be postponed to the beginning of next year. The company aims to adopt a mixed formula in issuance that consists of two types of sukuk formats, which will take more procedures and time. 

Egypt saw only three sukuk issuances in the first year of approval (2020), with a total value of EGP 5.1bn. 

FRA Chairperson Mohamed Omran said in an earlier statement that the authority sought to develop the sukuk market in 2021, once economic conditions improve and the need for new investments arises.