Egyptian businessman Mohamed Arafa’s firm mulls expansion

Haj Arafa Group, an agri-food enterprise under the leadership of Egyptian businessman Mohamed Arafa, is exploring opportunities to broaden its reach into the Arab and African markets.

The move, which follows a period of strong growth for the group, will see the agri-food business, under the leadership of Arafa, a leading Egyptian businessman, capitalize on the growing demand for its products in the MENA region.

According to Arafa, who is the CEO of Haj Arafa Group and also a member of the export committee of the Egyptian African Businessmen’s Association (EABA), one of the group’s subsidiaries is considering expanding across Arab and African markets, whether by relying on exporting products or opening branches in those countries.

He also added that the group has received a number of offers for partnerships from Arab, African, and Egyptian entities, and is currently in the process of evaluating the best offer.

Haj Arafa Group operates as a holding company for several companies that are specialized in exporting and importing a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, such as oranges, lemons, onions, potatoes, garlic, and many other agricultural products.

The group is set to build a $4 million date packaging unit in the Siwa oasis, west of Egypt, in a project that will be implemented in collaboration with date producers in the region, who will supply it with raw materials.

The new facility will provide, among other things, fruit sorting, cleaning, and packing services and will include a thermoforming packaging machine that allows dates to be packed in flexible film or rigid film automatically.

According to Arafa, the factory’s production will be mainly reserved for the African and Asian markets, and it will support the local industry, with plans in the works to increase export revenues to $100 million by 2024, up from $40 million in 2021.

The Egyptian businessman also revealed that the group will also announce a new industrial project that will add value to the group’s portfolio and the Egyptian market in the first quarter of the year.