Mohamed Younes
Chairman of Concord Group
Finance / Egypt
Top private equity firm hungers for food sector
The New York-based Concord Group, an Security Exchange Commission-registered investment management company, is one of the leading fund managers of Egyptian securities in the world. Founded in 1988, the group manages investment portfolios and mutual funds amounting to approximately $1.6 billion worldwide, of which $1.3 billion are currently invested in Egyptian equities. We caught up with its chairman, Mohamed Younes.
In which sector is Concord currently most bullish?
We are bullish on the food sector. Egypt has a large and growing population and this sector will be pressured to supply growing demand from consumers, as well as better developed supply chains. Moreover, agriculture has always been a stalwart of the Egyptian economy: it contributes up to 14.5 per cent to GDP and provides 28 per cent of all jobs. According to the USAID, recent economic increases in Egypt can actually be attributed to the rising participation of women in the agriculture sector, which employs about 45 per cent of all women in the workforce.
How do you perceive the Egyptian economy performing?
The Egyptian economy is performing much better than many Western media would make you believe. Net profits aren’t strong, but there is evident economic activity and many companies have posted enviable earnings. Of the 96 companies in our portfolio, 57 of them posted positive growth last year, or approximately 59 per cent of the total group. In 2014, 75 per cent of these companies displayed positive earnings.
What makes you optimistic about the future of Egypt?
In the short term, funding from Gulf states – especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia – have had a deep and pervasive impact on business performance, capability and sentiment in Egypt. Without this support, Egypt would be in a very tough situation.
