Planning Minister orders reallocation of National Investment Bank, NI Capital investments

2026-03-07 - 17:33

Ahmed Rostom, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, has directed the reallocation of investment priorities for the National Investment Bank (NIB) and its investment arm NI Capital Holding, as part of efforts to enhance their role in supporting development and economic growth. Speaking during a Saturday meeting with Ashraf Negm, NIB’s Managing Director and Deputy Chairperson, and Mohamed Metwally, CEO and Managing Director of NI Capital Holding, Rostom said the current phase requires the National Investment Bank to transform into a strategic development partner. He noted that the bank should direct its investments towards sectors with the greatest impact on economic growth while ensuring effective governance of public investment spending. As part of efforts to strengthen the group’s developmental role, the minister directed a reordering of the investment programme to focus on three main priorities. The first involves supporting spatial development by strengthening economic clusters in governorates, with the aim of transforming development projects into productive engines that support local value chains. This approach aligns with the presidential Decent Life initiative, which seeks to promote economic transformation in villages and shift from direct support to sustainable economic empowerment. The second priority focuses on financing the innovation economy. This includes expanding the group’s role in supporting the entrepreneurship ecosystem through the creation of an investment platform dedicated to financing start-ups, alongside the provision of flexible financing tools for innovative projects. The goal is to enable entrepreneurs to transform promising ideas into viable ventures capable of generating quality jobs and strengthening the knowledge-based economy. The third track targets sustainable infrastructure financing, including studying the expansion of innovative mechanisms to fund infrastructure and logistics projects. Such mechanisms are expected to accelerate the implementation of vital projects and attract additional domestic and foreign investment without imposing additional burdens on the state budget. Rostom said NI Capital plays a pivotal role in developing investment tools and strengthening private-sector participation in financing development projects with promising returns, thereby enhancing the Egyptian economy’s capacity to attract long-term development financing for strategic opportunities. He added that integration between the ministry’s planning policies and the investment arms of the National Investment Bank represents a key pillar in building a modern development finance system capable of supporting major projects and delivering more sustainable and competitive growth, with a direct impact on improving citizens’ quality of life.