• Egypt is responding to its unique economic needs.

• The North-African country has opened up entry requirements to willing global citizens.

• The conditions encourage investments mutually benefiting to the country and the investors.

Egypt has lessened requirement for granting its nationality to foreigners who invest in dollars in the country currently working to rise above inflation and a lack of foreign currency. A law passed by parliament in 2018 and amended by the prime minister in 2019 had paved the way for Egyptian nationality to be obtained through investment, such as when depositing in an Egyptian bank or buying real estate in dollars.

According to the recent new adjustments, immigrants can get Egyptian passports if they buy a real estate property belonging to the State or a public company worth at least 300,000 dollars, instead of the earlier required 500,000 dollars, or if they deposit 500,000 dollars, instead of 750,000 required until now, in an Egyptian bank account.

This decision is how the Prime Minister, Mostafa al-Madbouly, has responded to the need to boost state revenue by attracting overseas investment to enhance the wellbeing of the country’s 105 million residents.

The Russia-Ukraine war spiked wheat prices, which impacted Egypt significantly, especially since it is one of the world’s largest grain importers. Egypt got a loan from the International Monetary Fund, IMF, last December, but the three billion dollars to be paid within a space of about four years still leaves much gap: the debt service only for 2022-2023 sums up to 42 billion dollars.

In return, the government has been implementing an economic reform program since 2016 that includes phasing out subsidies on petroleum products.