Banking and business opportunities in Egypt – an underrated, non-crs country.

[Martin Everson]

I'm interested to know which banks do you deal with/consider the best in Africa, looking forward to your feedback

That I will keep to myself.

 

[minotari]

Are there e-wallets or EMIs in Egypt where a tourist can open an account without a help of a local person, advocate or requirement of Egyptian residency?

 

[coq]

- No, but you can an own Egyptian LLC with US LLC and open an Egyptian bank account with merchant account under the Egyptian LLC.

- see my reply here for foreign taxes

- Yes, there are a lot of firms that you could work with, but all depends on what you're looking for!

I was wondering how would be the tax implications of a foreign-owned US single member LLC owning a Egyptian LLC?
If the parent LLC is dormant and never had activities, while the Egyptian LLC does have activities, does it trigger the requirement for filing the form 5472+proforma 1120?

 

[ikan]

The third option though is that you can open an account via nominee director, which means your name won't appear on the bank but you can have the right to control the account in some form or another. but you have to check with an Egyptian lawyer first though.

Can you provide list of lawyer offering this type of service ? Or any other indication that help ? Thank's

 

[dor]

muslim country in africa enough said... thanks but no thanks

 

[Hist]

I registered a limited liability company in Egypt in 1997: I bought land and built a workshop on it. I employed 50 workers.

It took 3 years to get connected to electricity: in the end we took the electricity company to court, and won. But in the meantime I had to buy a big generator or allow my newborn business to die.

We are still not connected to water 20 years later.

The local authority hit us with illegal re-zoning fees equivalent to 4 times the purchase cost of the land. We took them to court, and again, we won. But the court decision is simply ignored, and veiled threats are made to kick me out of the country unless we pay.

We have been in and out of the labour courts for over twenty years, and lost every single case.

We have been screwed over by our own lawyers more times than I can recount.

I have had over thirty AIDS/HIV tests, which are a condition for the issuance of a work permit.

Knowing what I now know, I would never have invested in Egypt as an independent investor, all those years ago.

And the worst of it all, whereas I want to close the business and retire, I am terrified of the costs involved, which appear to be without defined limit.

Finally: forget the legal definition of a limited liability company. It exists on the statute book, but in practise your personal liability is unlimited.

 

[Selord]

I'm not angry nor defensive. The thing is you don't know jack s**t about what you're talking about, what facts are you talking about mate? Every country has it's own problems that doesn't mean that this country has no place in business. Not sure where did you brought these "facts" from.

Yes, you got me!. matter of fact I'm the minister of foreign investment in Egypt and I would like to take all these members money to invest in my failed country. But now I'm exposed Idk what should I do with my life now. No one is gonna invest in Egypt now. Yeah, what about Bloomberg that said Egypt is gonna be the 7 biggest economy by 2030. yeah, completely Fake news I know.

One man's hell is another man's paradise. I prefer the obvious "corrupt" system where you can get around it easily by having connections to some people or "gifting" money to them. Instead of going through the "legal corruption/connections" that exist nowadays in the west and around the world. believe it or not, opening a bank account in Egypt was Extremely easier in Egypt than the ones that I opened in Hong Kong and Dubai.

Why there are British Expats in the UAE? why there are American Expats in the UAE? why there are Americans denouncing their citizenship and leave the American dream behind them? Why there are corrupt cops in the US that Get away with a lot of s**t? why there are excessive taxes in the EU? Why the sun is hot? Why the Winter is cold?
Every human being is unique and has his own priorities. Every country has it's own priorities and the way of dealing with things. Asking why a person is doing that or this. or why this country is doing this Won't solve jack s**t.


what basics man, these poor people buy from local markets that buy bulk from places like turkey and sell them for locals or "poor people" as you call them - for pennies. These poor people don't buy online, they buy from local markets, and that's why there are a big un regulated free-ish market in Egypt and the government know about this and there are kinda of mutual agreement between the unregulated market and the government. Sorry mate, you really don't know what are you talking about.

international companies exit in the UK market regularly. Airbus, Aviva etc . why they would escape when there no competition/alternatives lmao?

Sorry man, that's total BS. Yes there are the shady sellers that exist in touristy areas. But they exist in Rome, pairs, Prague and in lots of other cities/countries. nothing, totally unique to Egypt.

You keep talking about "most Egyptians" pretty often, have you dealt with them, they are pretty warm and welcoming most of the time. they remind me of Malaysians and Indonesians and some people in countries in Latin America like Cuba and Chile. Totally warm and welcoming people. That's been my experience at least. Some people hate Egypt some people love it. Some people Hate the US, some people love it, Some people hate Europe, some people love it. That's life.

Dude, I can't keep wasting my time at you. I'm not trying to sell anybody anything. I started this thread based on @Martin Everson suggestion and he can confirm this.

Not sure what's your issue with me or what I wrote in this thread? Do you think that people in this forum are stupid or what? Do you think that they do not now that there are certain risks when investing in Egypt or Africa in general?.

people here talk about Vanuatu, Nevis, Belize, Seychelles and all these banana republics and these countries/islands are corrupt to the teeth and they are blacklisted every where, yet people still go to these countries and invest/bank there despite the risks. Every one has a different/unique risk appetite and If this don't apply to you, then simply don't bother with this thread and try to make fun of yourself arguing about something that everybody know about.

people come here because they want to escape the hell hole of these "clean" countries if these even exists. people came here because they want to lower their taxes and have a plan B just in case something happens or they just want better banking or whatever. Don't bring morals and all these bulls**t 5 year old arguments with me. As history shows us, no country on earth gave a s**t about morals.

You look at problems and see them as problems, a lot of people (including me) look at these problems and see them as untapped opportunities.

This is my last reply to you mate, as I don't have any more time to waste. Sorry

Good luck.

Great job putting that guy on his place.

 

[Piano]

Any banks one can recommend for opening individual account ?

 

[uplana]

Any banks one can recommend for opening individual account ?

Depends on your requirements and what it is you are looking for. Also where are you located, country and business will be of importancy.

 

[backpacker]

Any banks one can recommend for opening individual account ?

For an individual account you first need a residency permit. Without that you can not legally open and maintain a bank account in Egypt.
Once you've secured that permit, doors are wide open: If you are more of an international client (meaning you want to transact cross-border with functioning online banking) try AAIB Arab African International Bank, QNB Al Ahli, ABC Arab Banking Corporation or Ahli United.
Otherwise stay with Banque Misr or National Bank of Egypt since they pay the highest interest and are government owned.

 

[JackAlabama]

For an individual account you first need a residency permit. Without that you can not legally open and maintain a bank account in Egypt.
Once you've secured that permit, doors are wide open: If you are more of an international client (meaning you want to transact cross-border with functioning online banking) try AAIB Arab African International Bank, QNB Al Ahli, ABC Arab Banking Corporation or Ahli United.
Otherwise stay with Banque Misr or National Bank of Egypt since they pay the highest interest and are government owned.

There are a few Emirates bank there as well like Adib, Enbd and Mashreq, for those who might dabble in UAE as well.

 

[backpacker]

not adding anything about the banking account but some opinions on egypt itself

There is also the BIG scandal of a polish woman which are being misused which is very comman there and how politics and police do everything to crimininalise her to protect their own scammers.

Typical ignorant Westener: He just arrives in a foreign country with tons of suspicious equipment (electronics, cameras etc. are always suspicious in the developing world) and thinks they will let him pass. A true idiot!
It was even quite generous of Egyptian customs authorities that that they did not seize his equipment and fine him right away. It is not allowed to import that stuff without pre-registration, let alone the fact that he has no permit from the Ministry of Information .

Your claimed BIG scandal is an event that happened in year 2017. Look into the details and you will understand that something like this can happen everywhere.
As a matter of fact, the crime rate in Egypt is extremely low. Specifically when compared to the gorgeous "free-speech" nations of the West.

 

[clemens]

wonder how you will go about it to open an account in Egypt and if there are any limitations doing swift transfers to say EU bank?!

 

[369]

Typical ignorant Westener: He just arrives in a foreign country with tons of suspicious equipment (electronics, cameras etc. are always suspicious in the developing world) and thinks they will let him pass. A true idiot!
It was even quite generous of Egyptian customs authorities that that they did not seize his equipment and fine him right away. It is not allowed to import that stuff without pre-registration, let alone the fact that he has no permit from the Ministry of Information .

Your claimed BIG scandal is an event that happened in year 2017. Look into the details and you will understand that something like this can happen everywhere.
As a matter of fact, the crime rate in Egypt is extremely low. Specifically when compared to the gorgeous "free-speech" nations of the West.

Didn't heard of young woman being so desperate because of officals and their abuse to jump out of hospital windows to get relief.
But the worst thing every offical in egypt be it in hospital,police or criminal agent were notorious liars and acted like she had no rights at all.
Could this really happen in tier 1 countries ?
I doubt.

 

[backpacker]

wonder how you will go about it to open an account in Egypt and if there are any limitations doing swift transfers to say EU bank?!

Read:

• Question - Egypt - taxation of foreign sourced income
• Which of these non EU countries are good long term?

There are no restrictions for SWIFT transfers. Egypt has been removed from the list of restricted countries (due to certain politicians from the times of the Arab Spring) in summer last year.
However, like with Georgia, if you transfer to an account which is not in your name you will have to present a bill or other reasonable documentation.

I do not transfer to EU-banks, so no experience with that.
Transferring from Egypt to other Middle Eastern countries, Hong Kong, Philippines and Singapore is a smooth process without any problems on both ends, considering transferred amounts do not exceed reasonable limits.

Didn't heard of young woman being so desperate because of officals and their abuse to jump out of hospital windows to get relief.
But the worst thing every offical in egypt be it in hospital,police or criminal agent were notorious liars and acted like she had no rights at all.
Could this really happen in tier 1 countries ?
I doubt.

In tier 1-countries people got shot by police during routine traffic controls; something which does not happen in Egypt.

 

[hc99]

Fantastic thread, including trolling, but not much suspense. Two thumbs up for the rollercoaster. Thank you to those with constructive posts.

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

Fantastic thread, including trolling, but not much suspense.

I will bring my guns with me next time

 

[cuno]

I find it to be difficulty to bank in Egypt. Sooner or later one will face huge problems if they transfer money to the EU or US, sanctioning, scrubbing and stuff like that will hammer you in the head quickly.

 

[backpacker]

I find it to be difficulty to bank in Egypt. Sooner or later one will face huge problems if they transfer money to the EU or US, sanctioning, scrubbing and stuff like that will hammer you in the head quickly.

This already happened in the past: Arab Spring, just to name one incident.
You should not use Egyptian banks to do SWIFT transfers of significant size to Western countries. However, you can transfer to other Arab and Asian countries without any problems. Worked even during Arab Spring.
Note: Egyptian banks are only open to citizens and residents of Egypt.

 

[MiddleEuroAsia]

This already happened in the past: Arab Spring, just to name one incident.
You should not use Egyptian banks to do SWIFT transfers of significant size to Western countries.

Not all "western countries" will give you headaches and it MASSIVLY depends on the bank you use to intiate the transfers.

However, you can transfer to other Arab and Asian countries without any problems. Worked even during Arab Spring.

True, specially money to UAE via UAE bank branches in Egypt, and almost all of them have presence here, FAB, ADIB, ENBD, ADCB, mashreq, all of them have local branches in egypt.

Note: Egyptian banks are only open to citizens and residents of Egypt.

Not true. Some will work with non residents if they meet certain conditions. HSBC is one of them.

I find it to be difficulty to bank in Egypt. Sooner or later one will face huge problems if they transfer money to the EU or US, sanctioning, scrubbing and stuff like that will hammer you in the head quickly.

You just need to be smart, and be aware of what you're getting into, have proof of any "business" that you do with any egyptian entity and you will be more than fine. Unless you are a very high profile person that's on the interpol list or something like that, nothing will happen. this is from experience.