Egyptian Business Structures

As stated above, many companies in Egypt operate according to Islamic, rather than secular law and this can impact in a number of key areas of business structure and performance.

One key issue is that, due to Islamic strictures on avoiding usury, the difference between companies and banks are less defined than in western economies. Companies tend to be financed through a combination of equity capital and short-term loans where the lenders do not charge interest but take a share of profits or losses (PLS loans.) Thus all risks are shared equally amongst the shareholders and lenders.

In addition, many companies have a religious Supervisory Board comprised of Islamic jurists whose role is to ensure that the company’s operations comply with the strictures of Sharia law. Thus employees must be Muslims and work stops for the regulatory prayer sessions every day. Firms are expected to make reasonable, but not excessive, profit and managers have a social as well as corporate responsibility – they are expected to balance the interests of the company with the interests of society at large.

None of the above applies to the workings of those firms that are non-Islamic in orientation (remember that 10% of the Egyptian population are Coptic Christians) or joint-ventures with overseas organisations.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture.  Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Australia only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in Egypt only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.