Healy Consultants Group can help you to start and expand your business in Egypt, efficiently and effectively. Our services include i) Egypt company registration ii) government license registration iii) business bank account opening iv) employee recruitment v) employee visa strategies and vi) office rental solutions.

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Egypt business setup summary

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• Advantages and disadvantages

  Advantages of Egypt company registration

  

  1. Registering a wholly foreign-owned company in Egypt is possible and can be done within 2 months. A Egypt LLC entity can be set up with only i) two shareholders of any nationality, ii) a legal registered address and iv) US$1,000 of capital, which however does not have to be fully paid-up before incorporation;
  2. Although Arabic is the official language in Egypt, the majority of businesspeople are proficient in English. Consequently, foreign investors can easily communicate with Egyptian business professionals;
  3. Registering an Egyptian company operating in agriculture may qualify the company for a 10 year exemption from income tax;
  4. Our Clients who start an Egypt company will benefit from an ample supply of cheap labor. The average monthly labor cost ranges from US$65 to U$200;
  5. Egypt is the third largest economy in Africa ( by GDP) with a population of 99.9 million people. As a result, businesses are likely to have a wide consumers base and they can launch new products in the Egyptian market whilst maintaining a substantial profit margin.
  6. Clients needing a fast turnaround may pay Government VIP service fees to have the company set up in 2 weeks.

  Disadvantages of Egypt company registration

  Before registering their company in Egypt, foreign entrepreneurs should be aware of the following challenges with which our Egyptian business registration specialists will assist:

  1. Under Egyptian Investment Law, foreign investors are not eligible to act as a commercial agent;
  2. Business registration in Egypt is risky because of an unstable political situation. The country has been on the edge of civil war since the 2011 revolution and is currently ruled by a military commander. New riots are not to be ruled out and, in such context, foreign investors may find it difficult to protect and maintain their business interests in Egypt. The Sinai region remains particularly problematic;
  3. The corporate tax rate in Egypt is 22.5%. However, companies operating in oil production are subject to a higher tax rate of 40.55%;
  4. Egypt imposes a withholding tax of 10% on dividends. However, this is reduced to 5% for shareholders owning more than 25% of the company’s shares. These rates may be reduced under double taxation avoidance treaties – Healy Consultants can help your firm to plan its tax structure for investing in Egypt;
  5. Running a business in Egypt can be complex, if you don’t know how. According to the 2021 Doing Business Survey by the World Bank, Egypt is ranked as the world’s 114^th easiest place to do business. A great improvement since 2016, when Egypt hold the 131^st position but still far from other major countries. According to the same survey, Egypt places 90^th for ease of starting a business, down from 73^rd in 2016 or 69^th the year before.
  6. Due to the unstable political system and cheap labor costs, a brain drain has occurred due to large number of highly-skilled Egyptian workers have left the country to seek higher-paid jobs overseas. Investors may have difficulties in hiring qualified staff for their companies;
  7. Sporting events in Egypt can cause severe traffic disruptions and violent riots. This may obstruct business logistics and delay the speed of operations;
  8. Registering a subsidiary in Egypt is a long process. Construction permits may take 6 months for approval and property registration process can take up to 2.5 months.
  9. It is mandatory for every Egyptian company to appoint a company independent auditor during company incorporation to annually audit the entity’s financial statements. Most of our Clients appoint Healy Consultants’ preferred auditor for company incorporation without an additional fee. The auditor’s annual fees will be payable directly and independently to the auditor at the end of each year. The estimated of these fees are US$4,500 per annum;
  10. Unfortunately, all shareholder and director information must be officially translated into Arabic, notarized and attested by the Egyptian embassy in their country of origin. In addition, all Egypt corporate documents will be in Arabic. If required, Healy Consultants will be pleased to translate all Arab company documents into English and vice versa
  11. Together with company incorporation, it is necessary for the Egyptian government to conduct a security check on each individual director and shareholder. This process can take up to 3.5 months! However, after the company is fully registered, your Firm will start conducting business as usual;
  12. Egypt is poorly ranked at the 93^rd out of 141 countries in the latest edition of the Global Competitiveness Index. This is majorly due to the nation’s i) political instability, ii) poor macroeconomic environment due to widespread corruption and a high inflation and iii) an inadequately trained labour force.
  13. Unfortunately, Clients can only apply for an import license 18 months after company registration. In addition, prior to applying for the licence, the company must appoint i) a 51% Egyptian shareholder and ii) an Egyptian managing director. In addition the company must iii) have a paid up share capital of US$130,000 (EGP2 million) and iv) have issued invoices for an amount above US$320,000 (EGP5 million). If required, Healy Consultants Group will be happy to supply you an Egyptian national as managing director and 51% shareholder. Our one-time nominee introduction fee is US$1,950. Expected annual nominee shareholder fees amount to US$6,600.

• Best uses for an Egyptian company

  North African expansion

  1. Setting up an Egyptian is a good way to ride the growth in the north African economy, which is recovering from a period of political instability. Thanks to the country’s rich cultural history, tourism is a popular business for foreigners to establish in Egypt.