As is common in most parts of the region, the facilities management industry in Egypt is fragmented with both domestic and global players.

The market is at an early growth stage , and customers in the market are price sensitive and lack awareness about the importance of facility management services. This has invariably resulted in a slow growth and low penetration level for FM players in the market. 

However, fast track construction of residential, commercial and industrial units along with increasing inflow of foreign direct investment has led to rise in demand for integrated facility services. Also, an evolving economy that demands huge infrastructure development, along with growing government concern for terrorism and other mal-practices, contribute to a growing demand for facilities management services

Understanding Egypt’s facility management market segmentation:

• By type of soft service (housekeeping, security, landscaping and others): Soft services include manned security, housekeeping, landscaping, waste management, pest control and others. Soft services dominate the facility management market in Egypt in terms of revenue. Housekeeping, which includes cleaning, contributed a major share in terms of generating revenues for the industry as it is the most basic service demanded by any sector. The demand for housekeeping has also been increasing in government offices.
• By type of hard services (electromechanical and operational maintenance, fire safety and security systems and civil maintenance): Electromechanical and operational maintenance accounted for the maximum market share in terms of revenue due to high demand of on-site electrical and mechanical solutions both in the commercial and industrial sector. This is followed by the demand for fire and security systems due to growing construction around the country that has driven the demand for fire safety and security systems, as these are required by law to be installed in every building. Civil maintenance had the least market share as the cost of hiring local service providers is much cheaper than hiring a facility management company.
• By integrated facility services – bundled services and single services: Single services contributed the most to the overall revenue of the facility management market. The price and quality of the service offered along with selection of the company specializing in the service in demand are the key reasons for people opting for single services. integrated facility services occupy the least market share due to client’s inability to opt for such services.
• By end user sector (industrial, commercial, residential and others): Industrial sector includes factories, plants and other such production spaces and these units contribute the most to overall revenue of the facility management market. This is followed by the demand from commercial, residential and others.

Some of the main challenges faced by facility managers in egypt currently include issues in cost management, operations & time management , vendor and inventory management, safety and security management, as well as lack of references and documentation.

This article is written by Ahmed Khamees, CEO of Edara Property Management. Established in 2010 and fully owned by SODIC, EDARA is a leader in its field, offering diverse services to tenants and residents of commercial, residential and administrative units, buildings and projects.