I want to learn how to register a business in Egypt. What do I need to know?

For business registration, our Client will be required to i) reserve the company name ii) lease an office in Egypt iii) sign the incorporation forms iv) register for tax and social security and v) obtain any necessary business license(s). Healy Consultants’ experts know perfectly how to register a company in Egypt and will make the process simple and pain-free for our Clients.

Can I start a company in Egypt as a foreigner?

Yes, foreigners may fully own companies in Egypt, as most industries open to foreign investment without any local or national ownership requirement. However, our foreign Clients will need to appoint an Egyptian national as a director for their company. Healy Consultants can provide our Clients with nominee director services or assist them with finding the right director to manage their company.

What are the different business entities available to start a business in Egypt?

There are several different types of companies in Egypt, the most common being i) the limited liability company ii) the joint stock company iii) branch offices and iv) representative offices.

Why should I expand my business into Egypt?

While Egyptians’ purchasing power is limited to approximately US$3,300 per year, Egypt is inhabited by 88 million people, the largest population among Northern African and Middle-Eastern Countries. This large population provides entrepreneurs with significant market opportunities. Thanks to low labor costs, Egypt is also a great place to establish a manufacturing business.

Egypt company registration

DOING BUSINESS IN EGYPT IN 2023

Healy Consultants Group PLC 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.

Compare different Egypt entities	LLC	Nominee Fast Solution	Free Zone	JSC	Branch	Representative Office
Best use of company?	All products and services	Marketing & research	Close a customer deal now	Manufacturing and export trading	To secure public funding	Professional services
How soon can you invoice Clients/sign sales contracts?	2 months	1 month	3 months	3 months	3 months	NA
How soon can you hire staff?	2 months	1 month	3 months	3 months	3 months	2 months
How soon can you sign a lease agreement?	3 weeks	1 week	1 week	3 weeks	3 weeks	3 weeks
How long to supply corporate bank account numbers?	3 months	1 month	4 months	4 months	4 months	3 months
How long to supply company registration/tax numbers?	2 months	1 month	3 months	3 months	3 months	2 months
Corporate tax rate on annual net profits?	22.5%	22.5%	0%	22.5%	NA	NA
Limited liability entity?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Government grants available?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Government approval required for foreign owners?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Resident director/partner/manager/ legal representative required?	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minimum paid up share capital/ security deposit?	US$1	US$1	Varies	US$15,000	US$350	US$350
Can bid for Government contracts?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Corporate bank account location?	HSBC Egypt	SCB Egypt	NBE Egypt	Banque MISR Egypt	CIB Egypt	Alex Bank Egypt
Can secure trade finance?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
VAT payable on sales to local customers?	14%	14%	0%	14%	14%	No Local Sales
Average total business set up engagement costs?	US$23,150	34,350	US$22,750	US$20,750	US$21,900	US$21,900
Average total engagement period?	3 months	1 month	4 months	4 months	4 months	3 months

See full table

Accounting and tax considerations	LLC	Nominee Fast Solution	Free Zone	JSC	Branch	Representative Office
Statutory corporate tax payable?	22.5%	22.5%	0%	22.5%	NA	22.5%
Legally tax exempt if properly structured?	No	No	No	No	No	No
Group HQ tax incentives?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Must file an annual tax return?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Must file annual financial statements?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Must appoint an auditor?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Access to double taxation treaties?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Withholding tax on payments to foreign shareholders?	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%	10%
Company Registration	LLC	Nominee Fast Solution	Free Zone	JSC	Branch	Representative Office
Resident director/partner/manager/ legal representative required?	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minimum number of shareholders/partners?	1	1	1	3	Parent Company	Parent Company
Maximum shareholding for foreigners?	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%
Minimum statutory paid up share capital/security deposit?	US$1	US$1	Varies	US$15,000	US$350	US$350
Security deposit to be kept with Government?	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Shelf companies available?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Time to incorporate a new entity?	2 months	1 month	3 months	3 months	3 months	NA
Can easily convert to a PLC?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Public register of shareholders and directors?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Can have preference shareholders?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Good entity for trademark registration?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Can secure an import and export license?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Sponsorship by a local citizen required?	No
Our Client needs to travel to Egypt for business set up?	No
Temporary physical office solutions available?	Yes
You need a local resident as bank signatory?	No
Can be wholly foreign owned?	Yes
The entity will likely be regulated by?	GAFI
Minimum number of directors/managers?	1
Monthly VAT reporting to the Government?	Yes
Must sign an office lease agreement during incorporation?	No
Shareholders & directors documents to be attested/translated?	Yes
Each foreign director needs a personal income tax number?	No
Foreign director needs a residence visa?	No
Maximum number of staff allowed?	Unlimited
Expatriate to local staff ratio?	Foreign labour may not exceed 10% of total workforce
Can secure residence visa for business owner?	Yes
Other useful information
What will be included in my customer sales invoice?	Click link
This country has signed free trade agreements?	Yes
This country is a member of WIPO/TRIPS?	Yes
This country is a member of the ICSID?	Yes
Average custom duties suffered?	5% to 40% on CIF (Cost, insurance and freight)
Government foreign investment approval required?	Yes
Average monthly office rental? (US$ per sq m)	US$35
Minimum statutory monthly salary?	US$174
Average monthly US$ salary for local skilled employees?	US$941
US$ deposit interest rate? (1 year average)	1.10%
Overseas remittance currency controls?	Yes
Banking considerations
Multi-currency bank accounts available?	Yes
Corporate visa debit cards available?	Yes
Quality of e-banking platform?	Good
Crowd funding available in this country?	Yes

Egypt business setup summary

Press the link headings below to read detailed, relevant, up to date information.

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.

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Company purpose?
Will the LLC be a trading company or a holding company?
Will the entity be a subsidiary of a foreign company?
The LLC will be tax resident? Having local customers and local staff and local suppliers?
The entity will receive investment income or professional services fees or sales from trading with multi-national customers?
Is double taxation treaty access important?
Do you need our help to legally minimize your international tax obligations?
Do you need our help to increase e-commerce sales (click link)?
Company structure?
Will the shareholders be individuals or corporate?

In what country do you require a corporate bank account? Refer to this web page (click link) for ideas

Do you need multi-currency corporate visa debit cards?

Do you need a resident director?

Nationality of shareholders and directors?
Expected annual sales and net profits?
Does the entity need a special regulatory license or import or export license?
Additional comments?
Tell us about your existing business?
Name of your existing company?
Your business web site address?
What products and services does your company supply?
How many years are you operating this business?
Is your Firm regulated by a Government agency?
In what country are the majority of your customers?

In what country are the majority of your suppliers?
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What country are you based in?

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