Egypt’s merchandise exports to the world grew by more than 20% during the past year, to record about $31 billion, compared to $25.4 billion in 2020, according to estimates by the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Egyptian export revenues in 2021 are equivalent to nearly a third of the $100 billion targets that the state hopes to achieve in the coming years.
During the past five years, Egyptian export revenues have grown, but at lower rates than last year.
In 2017, merchandise exports grew by 9% after recording $22.4 billion, compared to $20.4 billion in 2016.
The value of Egyptian exports increased in 2018 by 12% after recording $25.1 billion, and by 2% in 2019 after rising to $25.6 billion.
Merchandise exports fell slightly during 2020, affected by the Corona pandemic, to record $25.4 billion, before resuming significant growth in 2021.
Why did exports rise in 2021?
5 main reasons that pushed Egyptian exports to reach a record level during 2021, led by the payment of exporters’ dues, expanding the base of products benefiting from export support programs, export support to Africa and focusing on industrial sectors with high added value, as well as the growing global demand for goods with the relative recovery of markets global impact of the Corona pandemic.
Government initiatives to refund exporters’ arrears during the past months have contributed to providing companies with cash, which helped them maintain employment, continue production and maximize exports.
The government spent more than 30 billion pounds for 3,000 companies as part of initiatives to pay exporters dues during the period from November 2020 to October 2021, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The government paid dues worth 20.6 billion pounds as part of the “immediate payment to exporters” initiative, during the mentioned period, according to the Ministry of Industry.
The Ministry of Industry said in a previous statement, that the exporters’ dues were paid in 4 stages, the first included the disbursement of 13.2 billion pounds, the second 4.6 billion, and the third 1.8 billion, while nearly one billion pounds was disbursed as a first payment from the fourth stage.
The immediate cash payment initiative allows paying 85% of the total value of dues to exporters immediately, instead of paying them in installments that may take several years.
Expand the base of products benefiting from export support programs
Last July, the Ministry of Industry began implementing a new 3-year program to support exports, including for the first time introducing new industries to the list of sectors benefiting from export support.
The Board of Directors of the Export Development Fund approved a sectoral program to support exports of passenger cars and commercial vehicles for a period of 7 years, as well as a program to support ceramic exports.
A new set of items of importance to the support program were also included, including medicines, industries feeding electronic and electrical devices, production lines, molds, and some items in the chemical sectors.
Export support to Africa
The Ministry of Trade and Industry raised the value of the subsidy for shipping Egyptian products to Africa in the new export support program from 50% to 80%.
In addition to shipping support, the Ministry of Industry has organized training programs to help companies enter the African market.
The government’s steps helped the Egyptian exports to the African Union grow by 37.8% during the first nine months of 2021, to record $3.9 billion, compared to $2.8 billion during the same period in 2020, according to data from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics.
Egypt aims to increase its exports to African countries to reach $7 billion by 2022.
The government is working to implement a strategy to develop Egypt’s exports to the continent, to reach $10 billion by 2025.
It is scheduled to launch the first phase of the strategy in January, targeting 10 countries.
