Egypt’s sovereign wealth fund CEO resigns: Reports

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The head of Egypt‘s $12bn sovereign wealth fund Ayman Soliman has resigned, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, after limited progress in the privatisation drive announced at the start of his tenure five years ago.

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt‘s (TSFE) stated aim is to foster private sector partnerships and help foreign investment to flow into state-owned companies, but the government and military have been hesitant to relinquish control over some assets.

Neither Soliman, who was appointed in 2019 for an initial three-year term that was subsequently extended, nor the TSFE responded to requests for comment.

Soliman’s resignation had been anticipated, with one government source saying the country’s political leadership wanted to introduce fresh faces into key positions as part of a broader reshuffle.

“It’s not really Soliman’s fault. But with the reshuffle, Egypt wanted to present a fresh image, and that meant Soliman had to step down,” said the source, speaking – like the others – on condition of anonymity.

Egypt’s divestment strategy

Back in 2019, Soliman outlined an ambitious vision for TSFE, telling Reuters he aimed to “unlock value and create wealth”.

A cornerstone of that plan was selling stakes in public projects and state-owned companies and banks both privately and on the Egyptian stock exchange.

This included offering shares in two military-owned companies, as well as a stake in a 25-year-old power plant concession owned by the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company.

However, progress on such deals has been slow, with many still pending completion, despite Egypt’s repeated pledges both locally and to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In July, the IMF completed the third review of its extended $8bn loan agreement with Egypt and stressed that greater efforts were needed in accelerating the divestment programme and levelling the playing field for private firms, avoiding uncompetitive practices by state-owned enterprises.

Read: Egypt says it cut foreign debt by $14bn