A Conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, President and CEO of Tatweer Misr
A Conversation with Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, President and CEO of Tatweer Misr:
President and CEO of Tatweer Misr in an interview with Osoul Misr on the main factors that contributed to achieving their business objectives and encouraged further expansions in several strategic locations across Egypt.
Investment Climate Readiness
According to Dr. Shalaby, the past seven years witnessed steady strides in terms of developments and laws & regulation that encouraged larger investments.
The real estate market has also showcased its resilience against challenges including the devaluation of the Egyptian Pound and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The real estate sector has proved its resilience through different challenges including currency devaluation and COVID-19 and it has achieved a significant growth that exceeded 25%, in 2021
Regardless of such challenges, Dr. Shalaby stated that the real estate sector is witnessing continuous growth and it increased by around 25% during 2021.
He elaborated that this constant growth in the real estate sector resulted from high demand.
This is due to a large population which exceeds 100Mn and an annual increase of 2Mn individuals and high martial rates.
On the other hand, this is met with a low supply rate in comparison to the demand, proving that there is a market gap in residential and non-residential units (educational, commercial and administrative).
The government launched a series of smart cities and provided different mechanisms and methods to investors
Shalaby also shed the light on the government’s efforts in launching a series of 4th generation cities accompanied with a large transportation network and a smarter and more sustainable infrastructure, a matter that was not prioritized in the past.
The government has also provided different mechanisms and methods to facilitate land purchasing, through fixed prices, auctions or partnerships.
Such efforts would result in a more prosperous future and bolster the industry’s overall growth.
Addressing the main challenges in the local real estate sector, Dr. Shalaby highlighted that the main setbacks include a decreased purchasing power accompanied by an increase in prices of raw materials in such a short time.
Tatweer Misr’s strategy focuses on providing customers with added-value and unmatched quality whilst working in line with the government’s vision
This was due to local challenges such as the currency devaluation and global challenges such as COVID-19 and its impact, another setback was the global inflation that resulted in a large increase in the prices of real estate products, much larger than the increase in citizen’s incomes and resulted in decreased purchasing power.
To cater to such a decreased purchasing power, real estate developers had to resort to longer periods of installments, up to 10 years.
A decrease in purchasing power accompanied by an increase in prices are the main challenges faced by developers. A comprehensive mortgage system is the solution
Such phenomenon is not a significant one as it slows capital flow and therefore, a proper financing mortgage system needs to be activated on a wide range.
Local Expansions are the ideal Choice
Our strategy for the past period was to expand on the local level and we are currently resuming our expansion plan on the international level
“Since the inauguration of Tatweer Misr, the company set a long-term expansion plan on the international level, especially after witnessing remarkable success on the local level, gaining more experience and winning clients’ trust,” stated Dr. Shalaby.
He also added that the company was already discussing a series of investment opportunities abroad but with the rise of COVID-19, such plans were put on halt due to the different safety and precautionary measures taken by countries.
On the company’s future plans, Dr. Shalaby stated that the company will continue to expand on a local level through a wide-spread geographical distribution to accompany the large demand on the different real estate products, both residential and non-residential (Commercial, administrative and educational) and currently Tatweer Misr is resuming its negotiations related to different investment opportunities in different countries.
In Egypt, the ROI in the real estate industry is considered the highest in the MENA region as a result of the efforts to attract foreign direct investment (FDIs) in the latest period. On the company’s ROI, Dr. Shalaby stated that return has reached 300 on average.
He further explained that Tatweer Misr’s main vision was to establish an entity that abides by the highest levels of transparency and governance.
The company has also agreed on differentiating between ownership and the administration, highlighting that experts in the industry are managing the administration.
The company has also set a clear and unique vision regarding real estate products in the market, where it has introduced a set of creative and unique products that exceeded clients’ expectations which resulted in building a strong and trusted relationship between Tatweer Misr and their clients.
Selecting prominent opportunities
Since its inception, Tatweer Misr has always prioritized selecting attractive investment opportunities that in return, provide the company’s clients with added-value and exceed their expectations.
The company’s project portfolio features a number of projects in different strategic geographical locations namely; Galala City, North Coast and Mostakbal City.
The projects are also differentiated in the market by being mixed-use real estate projects that feature residential, Commercial, hospitality, administrative, entertainment and educational zones.
Building on their vision to developing smart, sustainable and happy communities, Dr. Shalaby highlighted that the company has invested over two million pounds to establish a smart infrastructure in IL Monte Galala.
The flagship project is built over 2.5 million sqm on Al Ain Sokhna – Zafarana road.
The project is only 60 minutes away from Cairo and 90 minutes away from Cairo International Airport.
IL Monte Galala consist of over 10000 units split into; 5000 residential units, 4000 branded apartments and 1000 hotel rooms and is home to nine hotels.
The project is also home to the world’s first mountain top Crystal Lagoon that will be operating throughout this year.
On the Mediterranean, specifically in the north coast, Tatweer Misr has established Fouka Bay located on Alexandria- Matrouh road, after Al Fouka road exit in Ras Al Hikma and close to Marsa Matrouh and Alamein City.
Last year, the company has also launched D-Bay spanning over 200 acres and located near El Dabaa area, the company aims to start the operation of some phases in the project during the summer season of 2023.
We Proposed a set of incentives to be offered by the government to encourage developers to implement sustainable solutions
To fulfill their strategic vision, Tatweer Misr has signed a series of prominent partnerships, including a partnership with Huawei Technologies to develop smart and sustainable solutions across their projects.
In the educational sector, Tatweer Misr has signed three contractual agreements for the first phase of the educational zone in Bloomfields located in Mostakbal City.
The educational entities included New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), King’s College and Narmer American College.
Sustainability and Green Buildings
According to Dr. Ahmed Shalaby, green buildings are part of sustainability practices in the real estate industry that aims to utilize natural resources and safeguard the environment.
The Egyptian government has been prioritizing green economy which is evident in hosting COP27 that will take place in Sharm El Sheikh from 7-18 November 2022.
On this topic, Shalaby highlighted that sustainability projects require large investments during the initial phase, which is considered a challenge faced by real estate developers.
However, its impact on the long run is much more efficient in terms of maintenance and operations cost and of course its positive impact on the environment.
Incentives are suggested to include longer installment period over land prices to ease the initial financial burden
Accordingly, Dr. Shalaby announced that Tatweer Misr was among the companies who presented to the government a recommendation entailing a series of incentives that could be offered by the government to encourage developers to implement more sustainable solutions across their projects.
One of the incentives suggested included providing investors with longer installment period over land prices to ease the initial financial burden.
Tatweer Misr has always been keen on implementing sustainability measures across all its projects driven from the company’s beliefs to creating sustainable projects that in return would decrease energy, water and renewable energy consumption, ultimately, limiting the overall negative impact on the environment.
