In 2025, the Central Bank of Egypt recorded a 71 percent year-over-year appreciation in the value of its gold reserves, which represents a significant achievement.
The market value of gold in the North African country’s vaults reached $18.166 billion by the end of December, indicating Cairo’s deliberate move to use precious metals as a hedge against global volatility.
Gold functioned as a crucial buffer, preventing Egypt’s foreign reserves from declining during times of volatile liquid currency balances, so this spike turned out to be more than just a nominal gain.
As reported by The Egypt Independent, the constant rise in gold prices throughout the world and the CBE’s proactive plan to amass an extra 79,600 ounces over the course of the year served as two catalysts for Egypt’s gold milestone.
The most recent data from the country’s central bank revealed that the total balance reached a historic high of $51.45 billion, the highest level in the country’s history, thanks to a $1.236 billion increase in total international reserves in December alone.
This rise was mostly driven by gold, which contributed $914 million, while liquid foreign currency assets increased by $327 million to $33.23 billion.
In October, reports indicated that Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian billionaire, who had previously announced plans to invest $50 billion in the U.S. real estate market, became the richest person in North Africa.
His net worth growth, which shot up from $8.69 billion at the beginning of the year to $9.88 billion in October, was primarily driven by a surge in gold prices.
Naguib Sawiris’s gold gains
Naguib’s investment firm, La Mancha, at the time announced that it increased its holding in Greenheart Gold Inc. by 2 million shares, bringing the Fund’s total holding to approximately 5%.
As of October, the firm boasted an investment portfolio worth $ 2.44 billion.
The Egyptian billionaire also owns large shares in Endeavour Mining and Evolution Mining, both of which reported output of 751 kilos of gold and 76 kilograms of copper in the first three quarters of 2025, which was within the guideline range.
The company’s quarterly and annual cash flow records were $308 million and $787 million, respectively, according to Evolution.
As reported in Capital Brief, it generated record operating mine cash flow of $697 million for the 3rd quarter of 2025 and $2,288 million for the fiscal year leading up to Q4 of 2025.
