Cairo — Egypt’s economy expanded by 4.77% in the third quarter of its 2024/25 fiscal year, a marked improvement from the 2.2% growth recorded during the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Planning.
The fiscal year in Egypt runs from July to June. A key driver of the rebound was the manufacturing sector, which surged by 16.3% in the third quarter, reversing a 3.9% contraction during the same period the previous year.
Oil and gas sector remains a drag
However, these gains were offset by persistent declines in the oil and gas sector, which contracted by 10.38%, according to Reuters.
This comes as Egypt works to position itself as a regional energy hub, building on major discoveries like the Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean, which holds an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Last year, the government announced plans to invest $1.2 billion in the 2024/2025 fiscal year to drill 110 exploratory wells. This is part of a broader strategy to invest $7.2 billion in drilling 586 exploratory wells by 2030.
More recently, the country announced a new oil and gas find in the Abu Sennan brownfield, located in Egypt’s Western Desert,
The ministry also released data on Suez Canal revenues, showing a drop in earnings to $900 million in the fourth quarter, down from $1.1 billion a year earlier.
In the third quarter, activity through the vital trade route declined by 23.1%, although this was a smaller fall compared to the 51.6% plunge recorded in the same period the year before.
*Adekunle Agbetiloye – Business Insider Africa
