Sovereign Fund of Egypt to double $1bn portfolio

The Egyptian Sovereign Fund plans to expand its $1 billion investment portfolio this year, with a focus on new sectors and green initiatives, according to Ayman Soliman, the fund’s chief executive.

“We are at roughly $1bn worth of assets and cash … Our aim for 2022 is to double that number,” Mr Soliman said. “That growth will be driven by in-kind cash and value creation around existing assets.”

The fund, also known as TSFE, was founded in 2018 with the goal of attracting private investment to Egypt as well as promoting and co-investing in state-owned assets in order to maximize their value.

The fund’s current composition is roughly two-thirds property, 10% financial services, 10% infrastructure, and the rest in the services industry.

The target in the current year and 2023 is to “dilute that heavy weight property down to a third”, Mr Soliman said. “Diluting out real estate is a conscious effort because we’re actively building the rest of the components of our portfolio.”

To its four primary subfunds, which include tourist, property and antiquities; health care and pharmaceuticals; infrastructure and utilities; and financial services and FinTech, the fund recently added two new categories – education and food and agriculture – that lean on agriculture technology.