Egypt’s Mansour and General Motors are planning to build electric cars

The new GM logo can be seen on the facade of General Motors’ headquarters in Detroit, Michigan, USA on March 16, 2021. REUTERS / Rebecca Cook / File Photo

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CAIRO, Dec. 1 (Reuters) – General Motors Co (GM.N) and Al Mansour Automotive Co of Egypt have agreed to investigate the joint manufacturing of electric vehicles in Egypt and, when done, seek government support, Mohamed Mansour said, Chairman of Mansour Automotive on Wednesday.

According to a memorandum signed Wednesday, the two companies will examine the production requirements, quantities and incentives they may need from the government, Mansour said, without specifying what those incentives might look like.

“Some kind of government support to see how we can work together. This will be a new capital investment that we make on our side and of course hopefully use Egypt as a hub for exports to Africa,” he said.

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“We will start with a team and hopefully within the next two to three months we will submit a specific study that we will present to the Egyptian government.”

GM International President Steve Kiefer said in a statement accompanying the agreement that the Mansour partnership was key to the US automaker’s global growth strategy.

The Ministry of Public Enterprises said last month the government was ready to pay a grant of 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($ 3,190) to buyers of locally made electric cars.

The government plans to build a network of 3,000 charging stations around Cairo and Alexandria over the next two years.

State-owned El Nasr Automotive has suspended a plan to build electric vehicles in collaboration with Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor (0489.HK) but plans to look for other partners, the ministry said.

Mansour Automotive has been a General Motors dealer in Egypt since 1975 and has been manufacturing GM vehicles through their joint venture General Motors Egypt since 1983.

“We have to be ahead of the curve. And we are,” Mansour told Reuters ahead of the signing ceremony on Wednesday.

($ 1 = 15.6600 Egyptian pounds)

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Reporting by Patrick Werr, additional reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit Editing by Sonya Hepinstall and Cynthia Osterman

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