UAE-based retail conglomerate Lulu Group said on Sunday it has opened its first hypermarket in the Egyptian capital Cairo, the start of a $300 million investment in the North African country.

The new store is located in Twin Plaza, opposite the Police Academy on the Zakir Hussein road extension in the 1st settlement of New Cairo. Spread over an area of 170,000 square feet, the new outlet is the group's 119th hypermarket opening.

The opening was inaugurated by Khalid Hanafy, Egyptian Minister for Trade in the presence of Galal El Saeed, Governor of Cairo, Mohamed Abdul Sayed, advisor to the Prime Minister, Khalifa Thunaiji, deputy UAE ambassador to Egypt and other high ranking government and civil officials.

Yusuffali MA, chairman of Lulu Group, said: “We consider Egypt as a very important market for us and our experience of more than four decades of success and accomplishment in the retail industry is sure to help us become the most popular retailer in the region. Egyptians are already well aware of Lulu and we hope to bring world class shopping closer to them in various important location of this great country”.

The group is planning to invest $300 million opening 10 new hypermarkets in Egypt over the next 2 years, creating around 10,000 new jobs.

Lulu Group currently has stores in the GCC and India plans to open 15 more hypermarkets over the next two years.