Following Nassif Sawiris’s recent decision to relocate his investment management to the Emirates, his brother, Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris, clarified that transferring the business headquarters to the UAE does not mean that he closed his investments in Egypt.
All he did was change the location of his wealth management office from London to Abu Dhabi, he assured.
Nassef Sawiris is the richest man in Egypt, with a net worth of about US$7.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
“The Egyptian billionaire, the younger brother of Naguib Sawiris, intends to redomicile his NNS Group in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, subject to regulatory approval. From there, NNS Group aims to build significant stakes in a concentrated number of companies, primarily in Europe, the Middle East and North America,” Bloomberg reported.
Naguib added, during a Thursday press conference launching the “Shaghalni” initiative in Sohag, that it will provide more than 10,000 job opportunities.
He adds that this step means a lot to his brother, and he feels that he has done something for his country.
The lack of investment in his hometown of Sohag so far is due to bureaucracy in the governorate’s administration and the difficulty in finalizing licenses, he added.
He stressed that the volume of investments of his affiliated companies is huge, while the volume of his personal investments in Egypt is estimated at one billion dollars.
Dedicated to Egypt
Naguib said that the Sawiris family is the largest employer and taxpayer in Egypt, and their companies provide more than 100,000 jobs.
In statements on the sidelines of the conference held by his company, Ora Developers Egypt, he said that despite the obstacles facing the Sawiris companies in Egypt, they will not stop opening new job opportunities.
“I cannot live in any place other than Egypt,” he said.
The sugar factory in which he invested continued to make losses for eight years due to the government’s desire to force him to buy beets at a high price and sell sugar at a low price, he said, noting that this factory was the only reason his father used to criticize him before his death, but the factory made gains.
“I wish my father lived to see this success,” he said.
