Controversy ensued in Egypt after the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy received two offers on May 28 from a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, the world's largest asset management company, and a Malaysian company, Edra Energy, to buy shares in power plants in Beni Suef, Burlus and the new administrative capital being built in the desert. 

The three gas-powered plants went online in July 2018 at a cost of 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) and were funded by a partnership led by Deutsche Bank and HSBC. They currently generate a combined capacity of 14,400 megawatts (MW).

Some analysts have said that a deal to sell shares might be of particular interest to the government because the resulting income could help Egypt cut its external debt, which stood at $96.6 billion at the end of December 2018. External debt premiums for the current fiscal year stand at $10.5 billion.

“These stations are the state's assets so it has the full right to sell them,” Rashad Abdo, an economist and head of the Egyptian Forum for Economic and Strategic Studies, told Al-Monitor.