With economic growth at its slowest in years, worsened by an atmosphere of political uncertainty, the under-pressure government of Egypt has opened doors to foreign investment into its gold mining sector.
For the first time since 2009, the government, through the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA), will hold tender for the first international tender for gold mining concessions on Sunday, the 15th of January 2017. Most of the concessions are located in the Eastern Desert and Sinai.
It is expected that more tenders for mining concessions are to be unveiled in the coming months. Potential investors are curious to find out what’s in it for them.
Mining has been the least in the pecking order of priorities for the government of Egypt, as more focus has been on the lucrative tourism sector, which has been its main foreign exchange earner for years. But since the instability that followed the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, tourists have been coming in trickles. The country has also experienced capital flight running into billions of dollars.
Egypt’s half-hearted attitude towards promoting mining investment has been demonstrated by measly dividends stipulated for potential investors.
