Carrefour Invests Big in Egypt

The Carrefour franchise is looking to make some major moves to further its global empire both in Egypt and in Europe. Dubai retailer Majid Al Futtaim holds the Carrefour franchise rights in the Middle East, and announced on Wednesday that they plan on investing $2.3 billion in Egypt over a few years.

This announcement is not only good for legitimising Egypt's interim government, but it is also a good sign that the Gulf is still interested in investing in Egypt's economy. The investment plan includes an expansion of a shopping mall in Cairo's Maadi district, the construction of another mall next to Cairo's main airport, as well as the completion of the Mall of Egypt project in the 6th of October.

"Total investments on the plan, including Carrefour, should be around 16 billion Egyptian pounds over the next four to five years," Iyad Malas, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim  told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Western investors still remain cautious about investing in Egypt, while Gulf companies are finding themselves encouraged by their governments. "We definitely receive support from the UAE government to invest in Egypt." Malas said. "We also have a very good relationship with the government in Egypt. We've managed to work with different governments and clearly this government is going the extra mile. That's what we need."

This is great news for Egypt, as the elephant in Cairo is what lasting effects the revolution will have on the economy. As for Carrefour, their global domination is going strong as they have just announced that Carrefour will be buying the Klepierre real estate portfolio of 127 shopping mall across Europe.