Law & regulation
Real estate brokerage licensing in Egypt: who must register, and how
If you take a commission on a property deal in Egypt, registration is now a condition rather than a choice — and the size of your deals decides which category you fall into.
For a long time brokerage in Egypt had no formal front door. Anyone could introduce a buyer to a seller and take a percentage, with no register and no oversight. That has changed: Decision 578/2025 took effect on 18 January 2026, and a real estate broker must now register with the General Organisation for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) before trading.
The four categories
Registration is not a single tier. Your category is set by the value of the transactions you handle, and each carries a minimum capital requirement:
- Category A — transactions above EGP 100M — capital of EGP 1,000,000
- Category B — transactions above EGP 50M — capital of EGP 500,000
- Category C — transactions above EGP 10M — capital of EGP 50,000
- Category D — transactions up to EGP 10M — capital of EGP 20,000
The point people get wrong: the category is set by the largest deal you can handle, not the average of your work. In commercial property one EGP 60M transaction puts you above the tier you registered in.
Training and registration
- 1Book an appointment through the authority's site, goeic.gov.eg
- 2Attend the approved training programme — three days, costing roughly EGP 1,500
- 3Submit company documents and proof of capital for your category
- 4Receive your registration before you start taking commissions
If you trade unregistered
Trading without registration breaches Law 120/1982 and blocks you from obtaining commercial registration for the activity. More important than any fine: a brokerage agreement signed by an unregistered broker stands on much weaker ground if the fee is ever disputed.
This is not sitting unenforced either. Property Finder has signed a protocol with GOEIC to qualify brokers, which tells you the market itself is moving toward registration being the norm rather than the exception.
What a buyer or seller should ask
- Ask for the GOEIC registration number, not just a business card
- Check that the broker's registered category covers the value of your deal
- Take a copy of the brokerage agreement before any viewing, not after
- Ask plainly: who pays the fee, how much, and at exactly what point it falls due
Togary works from a written brokerage agreement with each side before they meet, on one stated fee: 1% from the seller on a sale with nothing from the buyer, and half a month's rent from each side on a lease — with nothing payable until the deal completes.
Common questions
- Does registration apply to individuals or companies?
- It is the activity that is registered, and the capital requirements assume a commercial entity with a registration. If you are working in your own name, that is precisely the situation the decision was written to regulate — take advice on the right entity for your category.
- I am registered in Category D and a EGP 40M deal comes along?
- That deal is above your tier. The clean route is to move your registration up before you sign a brokerage agreement on it, rather than pushing it through and hoping. The first thing a party who does not want to pay will reach for is that you were outside your category.
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