Egyptian Prime Minister Visits China to Throw Olive Branches to the Great Wall, FAW to Power Africa's New Energy Vehicle Market

Source: China Business News

Reporter Chen Maoli

"If Gaoshan is sold in Egypt, it will sell very well. It is beyond imagination and will be very competitive. I hope that the new Blue Mountain and Gaoshan can be produced in Egypt."

A few days ago, the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (hereinafter referred to as the "summit") was held in Beijing. Egyptian Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli threw an olive branch to Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motors, hoping that Wei brand new blue mountains and mountains could be produced in Egypt. During the summit, Wei Jianjun, as a representative of the automobile industry, had an in-depth and friendly exchange with Madbuli on the latest achievements, progress and planning of investment and layout projects in Egypt.

China-Africa cooperation has broad prospects, especially new energy technology is becoming a new bright spot in China-Africa cooperation. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Africa reached 282.1 billion billion US dollars, setting a new historical peak for the second consecutive year. Among them, China's new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products to non-exports increased by 291, 109 and 57.

A reporter from China Business News noticed that in addition to Great Wall Motors, in June this year, the Egyptian GV Investment Company and China FAW Group reached a cooperation agreement to plan to produce affordable electric vehicles in the Middle East.

According to Xinhuanet, GV Investment Chairman Sharif Hamuda said that according to the agreement between the two parties, its subsidiary will start producing China FAW's affordable electric vehicles in Egypt in the first quarter of 2025, which is expected to be mainly used for online car-hailing services. GV Investments aims to localize 65 per cent of vehicle components in the next three to five years and export them to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

"In order to actively respond to the Egyptian automobile industry policy, Great Wall Motors has worked closely with local dealers to gradually shift from vehicle exports to technology exports." Great Wall Motor told reporters.

As the second largest car market in Africa, the Egyptian market has a lot of potential, with annual sales of about 300000 new cars during the peak period. At present, Egypt is working hard to promote the development of the electric vehicle industry, implementing a "zero tariff" policy on the import of electric vehicles, and enhancing the country's potential as a manufacturing and export center for electric vehicles.

According to the "Electric Vehicle Development Plan" launched by the Egyptian government in 2018, the goal is that by 2025, electric vehicles will account for 2% of the total number of vehicles; by 2030, electric vehicles will account for 10% of the total number of vehicles. As early as 2022, Egypt launched the national strategy for the localization of the automobile industry and established the Supreme Committee of the Automobile Industry to promote the localization of automobile production, especially electric vehicles.

It is worth mentioning that since 2024, the sales of Chinese new energy vehicles in Egypt have increased significantly. According to official data from Egypt, in the first quarter, the number of new energy vehicles registered in Egypt exceeded 1419, which is close to the sales volume of previous years, and most of them were produced in China.

At present, the Egyptian government has begun to implement a large-scale production of electric vehicles plan, and strive to achieve nearly 100 per cent of locally purchased components in the future. The Egyptian government has introduced measures and plans to invest about US $1.5 billion million to expand the country's electric vehicle manufacturing plants and charging stations.

Reporters learned from Great Wall Motor that in October this year, Great Wall Motor's new energy model Haver H6 will be listed in Egypt. Wei Jianjun said, "The Egyptian government is accelerating the promotion of new energy transformation, which is critical to the social and automotive investment environment, and Great Wall Motor is in line with Egypt's goals. Great Wall Motor will provide Egyptian users with a new product and service experience based on local market demand and the government's vision of transforming new energy."

Great Wall Motor entered the Egyptian market in 2008 and has been deeply cultivated for 16 years so far. In the local area, Great Wall pickup truck, Haver H6 and Haver Jolion have won high praise from Egyptian users for their advantages of comfort, safety, intelligence, control and fuel saving. Among them, Haver H6 and Haver Jolion have entered the top 10 in each market segment. At present, Great Wall Motor has 25 stores in Egypt. With the development of vehicle business and CKD business in Egypt, Great Wall Motor will expand more sales channels in Egypt in the future.

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