Egypt's real estate market can improve with investment funds: Experts

During a roundtable held by Invest-Gate on Sunday under the title "Real Estate Funds: Unlocking Investment Opportunities," Egyptian real estate experts and executives at leading development companies in the market highlighted the importance of this type of funds for the real estate sector, which contributes 20 percent to Egypt's GDP.

Real estate experts shed light on the role of these funds in collecting financings to decrease the liquidity shortage facing many developers in the Egyptian market.

Recently, there have been several calls for establishing a culture of real estate investment funds in Egypt. For several years there has been only one real estate investment fund traded on the Egyptian Exchange, which is the Egyptian Real Estate Investment Fund.

In December 2022, another fund was launched by Banque Misr in partnership with Banque du Caire, Misr Insurance Holding, and Allianz Insurance, under the name Misr Real Estate Investment Fund. 

Real estate investment funds enable big and small investors to invest in different projects and obtain profits according to their level of participation in the investment. Usually, the profitability is reflected in the medium or long term.

 Measures in Egypt

"Real estate investment funds attract different entities to the Egyptian market. These types of funds enable citizens to own shares in properties. From 2007 to 2020, legislation was drafted for real estate investment funds, which hadn’t been considered legal entities until 2024," said Sally George, head of the Mutual Funds Department at the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA).

Meanwhile, Alaa Wally, advisor to Egyptian Exchange chairman, said: "EGX is fully ready to support real estate investment funds and help investors. These funds are a big opportunity for small investors, as they enable them to invest small amounts. Real estate investment funds also allow developers to secure liquidity at a lower cost.”