• Minister added private sector will be offered 40 percent stake in new company established to operate pay-for-use charging stations

Mohammed Abu Zaid

CAIRO: The first Egyptian electric car will be produced next year, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said at the World Youth Forum in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

The country “moved quickly in the field of electric cars, and five years ago we talked with car companies about Egypt’s willingness to be partners in the electric car industry,” he added.

Hisham Tawfiq, minister of the public business sector, said his ministry is in contact with three companies in its quest to obtain a partner for the El-Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Co. in the project, in which $127 million will be invested.

He added that the Egyptian electric car will be called either the E70 or the A70 and will sell for around $20,000, with half the buyers likely to be taxi or Uber drivers.

Tawfiq said the private sector will be offered a 40 percent stake in a new company established to operate pay-for-use charging stations, with El-Nasr acquiring 10 percent and the remaining 50 percent held by a “government entity.”

The first phase consists of 3,000 charging points in the cities of Cairo and Alexandria, before expanding to the rest of the governorates.

These initiatives come at a time when Egypt is preparing to host the COP27 Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh this year, and is increasing its production of green energy.