Acting on presidential directives to restart struggling factories and businesses and to support industrial investment as a key pillar of the national economy, Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and Eng. Khaled Hashem, Minister of Industry, announced the launch of the "Distressed Factories Restructuring Fund" with total capital of EGP 1 billion. The fund aims to take equity stakes in struggling industrial facilities in Egypt that have promising operating fundamentals and to restructure them, helping restore their operational efficiency, strengthen their ability to grow sustainably and maximise their long-term value.

The two sides met on Thursday at the CBE's headquarters to launch the fund, attended by Tarek El-Khouly, Deputy Governor for Banking Stability, and representatives of the banks contributing to the fund: Mohamed El-Etreby, CEO of National Bank of Egypt (NBE); Hesham Okasha, CEO of Banque Misr; Tamer Waheed, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Arab African International Bank (AAIB); Mohamed Abou El Soud, CEO of Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE); and Ahmed Galal, Chairman of Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE). Also present were Eng. Mohamed El Sewedy, Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and head of the fund's investment committee; Ayman El Bayaa, Assistant Minister of Industry for Digital Transformation and Executive Director of the Industrial Modernisation Centre; Eng. Mohamed Samy, Assistant Minister of Industry for Strategic Affairs; and Mahmoud Attalla, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of CI Capital, which will manage the fund.

Attending from the CBE were Nehal Orkhan, Head of the Central Department of Corporate Communications, and Ahmed Gomaa, Mohamed Abdel Moneim and Seif El Din Seif El Nasr, representatives of the Central Department for Monitoring the Bank's Investments, along with Mahmoud Khalifa, the fund's manager.

On the occasion, CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla said the launch of the Distressed Factories Restructuring Fund is an important step in the state's efforts to support the industrial sector and boost its contribution to GDP and economic growth, by channelling capital into rehabilitating productive assets and making use of production capacity that can be sustained and grown.

The Governor added that the banking sector is sparing no effort to encourage investment and production and to provide every solution needed to restart struggling factories, by offering diverse sources of financing to this vital sector. He affirmed that the CBE and the banking sector will continue to support everything that deepens local industry and provides it with alternative financing channels, helping to meet development targets and strengthen sustainable economic growth.

For his part, Minister of Industry Eng. Khaled Hashem said the launch of the fund is an important step in efforts to restructure and restart struggling factories, a priority for the Ministry of Industry and one of the main pillars of the state's drive to boost local production and raise the efficiency and sustainability of the industrial sector in the Egyptian market. He noted that the fund is part of an integrated initiative for struggling factories.

Hashem explained that applications for financing from the fund will be made through the manufacturers' support system recently launched by the Ministry of Industry, through which the fund will assess the factories applying for financing.

The minister said he hopes the fund will help restore idle production capacity and create new jobs, while strengthening local supply chains and raising the competitiveness of Egyptian industry.

The fund is built on a specialised investment strategy targeting factories and industrial facilities that face financial or operational challenges despite having assets and production capacity that can be developed. The fund's specialist team will work with the management of these facilities to carry out integrated restructuring plans, including loan restructuring, fresh capital injections, and programmes to raise operational efficiency and strengthen governance frameworks, helping to restore productive efficiency, preserve jobs and support the competitiveness of Egypt's industrial sector.