Nissan to invest $56m in Egyptian car market

Tom Kidd/Alamy via Reuters Connect

• Funding in local assembly
• Aim to increase Sunny exports by 50%
• Manufacture of a new model in sights

Nissan plans to invest $56 million into the Egyptian car market over the next two years and increase exports of locally assembled vehicles, as government officials seek to enhance the homegrown manufacturing sector.

A statement released by the government said that Nissan has exported 15,000 locally assembled Sunny models since August 2022. Mohamed Abdel Samad, the managing director of Nissan Egypt, said that the company plans to increase this by 50 percent.

Abdel Samad held a meeting on Monday with members of the cabinet that included Mostafa Madbouly, the prime minister, Kamel El Wazir, the industry minister, and Hassan El Khatib, the investment minister.

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Nissan also wants to begin manufacturing an unspecified new model, assembling 10,000 cars for the local market and 7,000 for export over the next year.

Abdel Samad said that it intends to invest $2 million to establish a freezone company at the Port of Alexandria for exports.

“Nissan was the market leader in Egypt in 2023,” he said, reporting a market share of 13.5 percent. Nissan was also the largest Japanese private sector investor in Egypt, with total investments of around $235 million.

Egypt is hoping to attract record high foreign direct investment this financial year, with a particular focus on manufacturing and textiles sectors.

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Since devaluing the pound in March, Egypt has become a more attractive market for foreign investors. On Thursday local media quoted Yehia El Wathek Bellah, the head of the trade ministry’s Commercial Representation Authority, as saying that the country has attracted $11.6 billion in fresh investment during the current financial year.

Government officials have often spoken of the need to reduce Egypt’s import bills for cars and mobile phones in particular, increasing local production and exports.

By 2030 they plan to increase exports to more than $146 billion. In 2023 alone the import bill for cars and mobile phones was $4.6 billion and $1.5 billion respectively.

On Sunday Amr Talaat, the minister for communications and technology, told reporters that Egypt now has a mobile phone production capacity of 11.5 million units a year, with total investments currently standing at $87.5 million. 

Both Samsung and Vivo opened mobile phone factories in Egypt in 2022 with a combined investment of $40 million.

On Wednesday the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone announced the launch of a $40 million clothing factory in cooperation with Turkish group Eroğlu Global Holding. It aims to sell 30 percent of its products to the local market and export 70 percent, targeting $100 million in export revenue.