The National Investment Bank (NIB) is set to nominate nine state-owned companies for the second phase of the state privatization program, Egypt’s planning ministry has recently announced, noting that all firms being considered have already brought in a combined EGP 4 bn in dividend revenues for the bank since 2015, Invest-Gate reports.

The planning ministry did not provide further details on the selection process or when NIB is expected to unveil the lineup, however, it confirmed that the bank has contributed to increasing the capital of 17 contributing companies to about EGP 1.7 bn, according to a ministerial statement on January 3.

In its statement, Planning Minister Hala El-Saeed highlighted that NIB’s contributions have resulted in a leap in the bank’s annual cash returns, with total revenues of LE 4.6 bn in 2018, in addition to a hike in its capital gains totaling EGP 11.6 bn during the same period.

El-Saeed explained that the bank’s positive boom was due to NIB’s move in investing part of its funds in the stock exchange in order to develop and revitalize the Egyptian stock market, while diversifying its investments and obtaining attractive returns, which resulted in raising the total size of the bank’s portfolio from EGP 2 bn in 2013 to EGP 7 bn in 2018 – an increase of EGP 5 bn at a growth rate of 251%.

Back in March 2018, the Egyptian finance ministry had announced the names of 23 state-run companies that will sell stakes under its privatization scheme’s first phase, which is mainly aimed at raising EGP 80 bn through minority share offerings on the Egyptian bourse.

The 23 companies range from banking and petroleum to real estate and are seeking to sell stakes ranging from 15-30% in the next couple of years.