Egypt sovereign fund inks deal with Al-Ahly Cira to establish four universities

The agreement was signed by Chairman of the Board of Directors of Egypt’s Sovereign Fund for Investment and Development Hala El-Said, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Ayman Ashour, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Egypt Hisham Okasha, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of CIRA Education Company Hassan El-Kalla.

The joint venture will establish four universities based on collaborations with prestigious global educational institutions from Canada, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States.

El-Said highlighted the social and economic development plan set under the current FY2024/2025, which started on 1 July, which includes improving the state of competition of higher education through a number of incentivizing investment packages for the private sector.

The plan targets the improvement of Egyptian public universities through projects that boost the quality and international competitiveness of these universities. In addition, the plan also promotes the creation of technological universities in other governorates in collaboration with the private sector to increase educational services exports.

El-Said pointed out that the plan seeks to match the higher education outcomes with labour market needs. This is affirmed by the National Structural Reform programme which sheds light on several key pillars, most importantly focusing on labour market efficiency and flexibility and understanding the technology-dependent nature of the labour market.

The fund’s strategy aligns with Egypt’s Vision 2030, being the state’s investment arm. The sovereign fund is currently operating at full capacity alongside its partners to maximize returns from the assets transferred to it.