economy - amcham...banking, finance & insurance - non tenders section type description date...

2 (2018) Report

Economy

1 of 87American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt - Business Information Center

Economy Sector - Q2 2018 Report

Copyright ©2018, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham). All rights reserved. Neither the content of the Tenders Alert Service (TAS) nor any part of it may be reproduced, sorted in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. In no event shall AmCham be liable for any special, indirect or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits.

Non-Tenders Section

Special RemarksThe Economy Q2 2018 report provides a comprehensive overview of the Economy sector with focus on top tenders, big projects and important news.

- Business News - Projects Awards - Projects in Pre-Tendering Phase - Privatization and Investments - Published Co. Performance - Loans & Grants - Fairs and Exhibitions

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List of sub-sectors

Banking, Finance & Insurance

Economy

This report includes tenders with bid bond greater than L.E. and valuable tenders without bid bond

Tenders may be posted under more than one sub-sector

- Client

- Generating Sector

- Supply Jobs

(the sector of the client who issued the tender and who would pay for the goods & services ordered)

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- Integrated Jobs (Having a certain engineering component) - sorted by

Tenders Section



Banking, Finance & Insurance - Non Tenders Section Type Description Date Published

Business News Non petroleum exports during the first four months of 2018 increasing by 16 % to reach $ 8.6 billion compared with their $ 7.44 billion level reached during the same period of 2017. That was announced by Egypt's Minister of Foreign Trade & Industry & reported in the media. Meanwhile the Central Bank announced Egypt's foreign trade with the outside world during the first half of FY 2017/ 2018 reached $ 42.8 billion made of $ 30.8 billion imports & $ 12 billion exports and that compares with $ 29.4 billion imports & $ 10.4 billion exports for the same period of FY 2016 & 2017.

Jun 04, 2018

Financial leasing contracts in Egypt witnessing an un- precedent growth over the period extending January 1 2017 till February 28, 2018 to reach LE, 33 billion up from L.E. 21.5 billion by the end of 2016. Development is mainly attributed to increasing demand on financial leasing offer packages circulated on the market. Observers believe the trend would continue in the short to the medium term reflecting a sort of a bottleneck restricting smooth investments flow in the country. Media reports revealed shortly that an alliance of for financial companies are trying to come up with L.E. 600 million financial leasing offer in favor of an industrial project promoted by an unnamed investor.

Jun 11, 2018

Suez Canal Authority President, General Mohamed Mamish, announcing 52 vessels crossing the Suez Canal on May 18, 2018 with total 3.7 million tons load. That was reported in the media quoting SCA President, indicating that half the number of vessels crossed the canal from north with 2.2 million tons & the other half crossed it from south with 1.5 million tons load.

May 19, 2018

Recent periodical navigational statistics of the Suez Canal Authority showed Suez Canal revenues during the first 4 months of 2018 reached $ 1.8 billion marking 12.6 % increase above their level in the 2017 comparison period. That was reported in the media revealing that revenues during the month of April 2018 reached $ 479.3 million marking 11.5 % above their level of the same month of 2017put then at $ 429.8 million. The figure was the highest ever achieved by the Suez Canal since reopened in August 2015.

May 22, 2018

With 62 vessels crossing the Suez Canal from both directions on May 13, 2018 carrying 4.2 million tons total weight, Egypt's Suez Canal made a repeated historic record. That was reported in the media quoting Suez Canal Authority Chairman indicating that 29 vessels crossed the canal from north with 2.4 million total weight & 33 vessels crossed it from south with 1.9 million total weight. This is the second time that similar number of vessels crossed the canal.

May 14, 2018

Banque du Caire expanding in Africa by opening a chain of new representative offices. That was revealed by Mr. Tarek Fayed, Chairman of the Bank, indicating the restructuring of the existing branch in Uganda is targeting to regain its earlier weight accompanied with the reshuffling and upgrading of its executive management. Mr. Fayed revealed that an ambitious plan was drawn for the next 5 years to boost the bank's role in in financing small to medium sized projects. Meanwhile the bank noted that it is eyeing also large sized development projects considering its 3 million clients' portfolio at home and abroad supported by more than 7,500 employees & infrastructure.

Apr 29, 2018

58 vessels crossing the Suez Canal yesterday, Friday 6/19/2018, carrying total tonnage of 3.7 million tons of petroleum, containers and cargo, of which 33 vessels coming from the north & 25 vessels from the South.

Jun 18, 2018

Suez Canal tolls during FY 2017/ 2018 recording the highest annual revenues in its history with $ 5.6 billion up from $ 5 billion only in FY2016/ 2017 marking $ 600 million increase. That was reported in the media indicating 17,845 vessels crossed the Canal during the year marking 841 additional vessels (4.9 %) with net loads increasing by 9.8 % above 2017 their level in previous year to reach 97.6 million tons. Mr. Mamish here reminded on President El Sisi decision to complete the new Canal project in one year only rather in three years as earlier planned and has contributed in generating almost one billion Dollars revenues obviously apart from other project investments.

Jun 30, 2018

Loans & GrantsA new strategy for cooperation potential with the Islamic Bank Group reviewed recently with the Bank's executives by Egypt's Minister of Economy & Investment indicates the Bank to allocate Egypt over the years 2018/ 2020 some $ 3 billion apart from earlier announced final allocations to other relevant projects. That extended to supporting water desalination projects in Sinai, opening a regional office for the bank in Egypt to serve Jordan, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq & Syria, launching a new $ 500 million fund to support science, innovation & technology solutions in projects undertaken by youth. The meeting was held in Tunisia, and honored by Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the IDB Group. It was further shared by Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, head of the Islamic Trade Finance Est., Egypt' Ambassador to Tunisia, Mr. Nabil Habashi, also Dr. Shebab Merzaban, Chief Advisor of the Minister for economic affairs.

Apr 06, 2018



Banking, Finance & Insurance - Non Tenders Section Type Description Date Published

Projects Awards General Mohab Mamish, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority & its Economic Zone with Deputy President & CEO of the Kuwait based Agility Co. agreed to cooperate in building & operation of a (unique) logistic center at East Port Said one of the most strategic locations on the Mediterranean. Agreement provides for the development of a logistic axe in the backbone of the extensions of East Port Said Port hosting a unique industrial & logistic infrastructure to support the import & warehousing of raw materials, also the export of & distribution of intermediate commodities & end-user goods all to go via the world famous Suez Canal.

Jun 27, 2018

Published Co. PerformanceNBK - National Bank of Kuwait - Egypt posting L.E. 496.9 million net profits for the first quarter of 2018 compared with L.E. 323.5 million posted for the comparison quarter of 2017 marking 50.8 % growth. That was formally reported in the media indicating that total assets during the quarter increased by 12.81 % to reach L.E. 59.51 billion by its end up from L.E. 52.75 billion during the same quarter of 2017. Also customers' deposits by the end of the quarter increased to reach L.E. 44.2 billion up from L.E. 38.87 billion in the comparison quarter of 2017.

May 16, 2018

Economy - Non Tenders Section Type Description Date Published

Business News Commercial International Bank (CIB) has announced that it has granted two medium-term loans to two of the UAE Abraaj Capital ’s units that have regular cash inflows.

The Egypt-listed bank stated that it has no stakes in the troubled Emirati private equity company and that it has only small stakes in two private equity funds as a limited partner, according to a bourse statement released on Wednesday.

The liquidation of Abraaj does not affect the bank in any way, CIB added.

Arif Naqvi, the founder of The Abraaj Group, is facing criminal charges in the UAE for issuing a bounced cheque.

Earlier in June, Abraaj filed for liquidation, as a response to a group of liquidation petitions after the company was hit by money misuse allegations.

Cayman Islands court has approved a request submitted by Abraaj Group for a provisional liquidation of its business, allowing for a court-supervised restructuring and the protection of stakeholders’ rights.

Abraaj Group was accused of mishandling a $1 billion healthcare fund and audits discovered that the UAE-based company commingled investor funds with its own money in the healthcare fund.

Jun 28, 2018

The Egyptian Ministry of Finance (MoF) has announced plans to issue EGP 475.5 billion treasuries in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2018/2019.

The ministry is planning to issue EGP 182 billion treasuries in July and EGP 147 billion treasuries in August, according to an official statement.

The MoF is also projecting to issue EGP 146.5 billion treasuries in September.

Egypt’s budget deficit increased by 14.2% year-on-year in the first eight months of the fiscal year 2017/2018, recording EGP 258.9 billion.

Jun 28, 2018

Italian oil firm Eni will begin drilling an exploratory well at its Noor field in Egypt’s North Sinai in two months, Egyptian Oil Ministry spokesman Hamdi Abel Aziz told Reuters on Thursday.

Egypt’s Cabinet approved the $105 million deal to explore the North Sinai region of the Mediterranean Sea in March.

Eni’s discovery of the giant Mediterranean gas field Zohr in 2015, estimated to hold about 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, has raised interest in gas exploration in Egypt.

The company has not said what level of reserves they expect Noor to contain, and the exploratory well will help to begin determine that, Abdelaziz said.

Jun 28, 2018




Business News Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) spokesperson Tarek Hassanein has denied that the SCA is seeking a €300 million loan from lenders based in the Arabian Gulf.

Reuters had cited unnamed banking sources as saying that the authority is seeking a loan to buy two large dredgers.

The SCA had signed a contract in October 2017 with Dutch company Royal IHC “for the design and construction of two custom-built 29,190kW heavy-duty rock cutter suction dredgers (CSDs),” according to a statement from the company.

“[The signing] is a serious step towards upgrading our fleet of dredgers, and means that we will have the world ’s largest CSDs in terms of dimensions and total power. The new state-of-the-art CSDs from Royal IHC will enable the SCA to participate in deepening and widening the waterway and help realise the Egyptian plan to develop local ports,” SCA Chairman and Managing Director Admiral Mohab Mohamed Hussien Mameesh had said after the signing.

However, the authority could not secure funding from local banks.

Jun 28, 2018

France is one of the biggest foreign investors in Egypt, with investments worth over 4 billion euros, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported Egypt’s investment minister as saying on Tuesday.

There are more than 160 French companies working in Egypt with investments worth 4 billion euros, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said at the inauguration of an economic forum on the future of economic relations between the two countries, held at the Arab World Institute in Paris.

In attendance were French Ambassador to Cairo Stéphane Romatet, French Deputy Finance Minister Delphine Gény-Stephann, and the institute’s head, Jack Lang.

In her speech to the forum, Nasr said that the economic cooperation portfolio between the two countries was worth 1.5 billion euros, in addition to a joint program with the EU that is worth 1 billion euros.

The ministry is working according to the directives of the political leadership, Nasr said, to support economic relations, not only through French development projects in infrastructure but also through private French investments.

The 160 French companies operating in Egypt work in fields including infrastructure, transportation, industry and telecommunications, she said.

Nasr also discussed with Gény-Stephann how to increase economic and investment cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of energy, health and electricity.

Jun 28, 2018

Suez Canal tolls during FY 2017/ 2018 recording the highest annual revenues in its history with $ 5.6 billion up from $ 5 billion only in FY2016/ 2017 marking $ 600 million increase. That was reported in the media indicating 17,845 vessels crossed the Canal during the year marking 841 additional vessels (4.9 %) with net loads increasing by 9.8 % above 2017 their level in previous year to reach 97.6 million tons. Mr. Mamish here reminded on President El Sisi decision to complete the new Canal project in one year only rather in three years as earlier planned and has contributed in generating almost one billion Dollars revenues obviously apart from other project investments.

Jun 30, 2018

French investments in Egypt now exceeding EURO 4 billion divided on 160 French companies. That was announced by Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment & International Cooperation noting that French investments in Egypt during 2017 have doubles. The trend was crystal clear after the ratification of the investment law & the huge number of French companies who were constituted thereafter the larger number who extended their presence on the market. On her side Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning, Follow up & Administrative Reform, stressed that results of the applied economic reform in pressing down unemployment rate to 10.6 % during the third quarter of 2017/ 2018 and adjusting upward the economic growth projection during FY 2017/ 2018 to 5.4 % with declining inflation to 12.9 %.

Jun 27, 2018

Egyptian commodity exports to Russia increasing by 41 % during the first 4 months of 2018 to reach $ 284 million up from $ 201 million during the same period of 2017. That was announced by Eng. Amr Nassar, New Minister of Trade & Industry, indicating the increase contributed tangibly in reducing the large trade deficit with Russia due to huge wheat imports there from a.o. The minister revealed that Egyptian vegetables & fruit exports during the said period reached $ 233.7 million including mainly potato, oranges, tomato & strawberry.

Jun 29, 2018




Business News Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla asserted Egypt’s support to efforts of the OPEC to enhance joint cooperation among the oil producing states to maintain a balanced and fair global oil market of benefit to both producers and consumers.

Addressing the 4th ministerial meeting of member states of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers, held in Vienna under the chairmanship of UAE Minister of Energy and Industry Suhail al Mazroui, el-Molla praised the historically unprecedented support among the OPEC and non-OPEC members to create equilibrium in the world petroleum market.

The historic cooperation agreement announced in December 2016 is considered a milestone that categorically changed the entire energy scene and led the world petroleum market gradually to stability and sustainability, he said as quoted by the Ministry of Petroleum in a press release on Saturday.

Jun 24, 2018




Business News The future of tourism in Alexandria is very promising within the next period as a result of the Egyptian government’s recent agreements with Greece, Cyprus, and Italy, specially from Milano city, to lure their citizens to visit Alexandria, said Alexandria Chamber of Travel Agencies ’ chairman on Saturday.

Ali al-Manesterly further said in a press statement Friday that the establishment of beaches for tourists on the Mediterranean coast in Alexandria, the second biggest city in Egypt, should be private to suit the needs of foreign nationalities.

Those beaches will be an opportunity to promote beach tourism alongside the classical, cultural and conference tourism enjoyed by Alexandria, he added.

He pointed out that foreign tourists prefer privacy in spending his vacation, and the idea of allocating beaches to foreign tourism in return for fees is not strange to tourist cities in general.

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Jun 23, 2018

Additionally, regular direct flights between the three countries and Alexandria city have also been part of the Chamber ’s strategy to increase tourist flow to the city.

Subsequently, Borg al-Arab Airport will be expanded to serve twice the number it serves now, amounting to four million passengers by 2022. The airport currently serves 1.2 million passengers a year, he said.

Additionally, the government plans to double the number of hotel rooms in the city to cater to the anticipated increase in visitors.

Despite the end of Eid al-Fitr holiday , occupancy rate in Alexandria hotels now exceeds 90 percent, said Manesterly.

Jun 24, 2018




Business News Egypt’s New Administrative Capital Company for Urban Development says it has approved in principle to establish a major public hospital and three new headquarters for health insurance authorities in the New Administrative Capital.

The state’s Health and Population Ministry has earlier submitted an order in April 2018 to attain four land plots to build the hospital and three headquarters, said the company’s spokesman and public relations manager Khaled Al-Husseini on Thursday.

“The negotiations with the Health Ministry is still continuous,” Al-Husseini further told Amwal Al Ghad, referring that the works aims to provide a health care in the new capital within the upcoming years.

“The New Administrative Capital Company suggests to establish the public hospital and the headquarters of health insurance authorities near to the residential district area,” he stated, saying that this area will include the second and third residential districts in the new capital.

Located 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo, the under construction new capital city is part of the Egyptian government’s scheme to expand urban areas to deal with the state’s rapid population growth and improve the nation’s infrastructure.

The new city will be a 270-square-mile hub with 21 residential districts to accommodate five million people. It will feature 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities and a park that is projected to be the world’s largest.

Jun 24, 2018



Business News One of the largest wind power farms in the world will be inaugurated by the Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy in Egypt on Saturday, as part of the country ’s efforts to increase the amount of electricity it generates from renewable sources.

The wind farm is located in the Gabal El-Zeit area of the Red Sea governorate. It will have an overall capacity of 580 megawatts (MW).

With a total of 300 wind turbines, the mammoth farm consists of three projects.

Launched in 2015, construction has cost EGP 12 billion (approximately $625 million).

In statements to the press, the head of the project, Osama Noman, described the wind power project as the “biggest in the world” in terms of area, number of turbines, and the capacities generated from the plan.

The first phase of the wind farm is already running and connected to the country’s national grid. It includes 120 wind turbines and generates 240 MW of power.

The second phase, which includes 110 turbines with an overall power capacity of 220 MW, and the third phase, which includes 60 turbines generating 120 MW, will be connected to the national grid this month.

According to officials, the overall 580 MW capacity is aided by the location of the project, and by wind speeds in the area, which run at an average of 12 metres per second but have reached records of up to 33 metres per second.

Steps have also been taken to protect migratory birds whose migration routes take them through the area.

Around 37 different species of migratory birds pass through Gabal El-Zeit in spring and autumn.

The new wind farm features a migratory bird monitoring system; operating via radar, it can shut down operations when birds are in the vicinity.

According to the environment ministry, the monitoring system to protect the birds, which was implemented last year, is working successfully, with only a 0.03 percent effect on energy precaution.

New power projects

A number of new power-generation projects have been inaugurated in Egypt over recent years.

Among them are the under-construction Dabaa nuclear power plant, in cooperation with Russia, and the 2015 Siemens megaproject, in cooperation with Germany, which includes gas and wind power plants.

Egypt approved feed-in tariffs for renewable energy production in 2014, allowing the government to guarantee a certain price for energy produced so as to encourage investment in the renewable energy sector, with tariffs depending on designated production categories.

Egypt has set a goal of obtaining 20 percent of its power from renewable resources by 2022, and 42 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2025.

Another wind farm is also planned to be built in the Gabal El-Zeit area.

In March, the Egyptian cabinet announced the inking of a deal between the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and a consortium comprising Orascom Construction, French energy group Engie, and Toyota Tsusho Corporation, to build a $400 million wind farm in the area.

The agreement is under a build-own-operate framework to generate a capacity of 250 MW.

This represents a third of the total wind power currently generated in Egypt, according to the Egyptian cabinet.

The wind farm will be linked to the national grid for trial operation by mid-2019, and will be fully linked by the end of 2019.

Jun 26, 2018




Business News Egypt’s first monorail is more than 40 percent complete, the construction companies under-taking the project said on Monday.

The six-kilometre long monorail is being carried out by two of Egypt’s major construction companies, the Arab Contractors and Orascom Construction, as part of the fourth construction phase of the third Cairo metro line.

Work started in November 2017 and is set to be completed by the end of 2018, according to the companies.

The overground line extends from Cairo's Heliopolis Hisham Barakat station to Adly Mansour station in 10 Ramadan city, passing through the Hikestep, Kebaa and Omar Ibn Al-Khattab stations.

Orascom’s stations manager for the project, Gaber Kassem, said that 100 percent of the project will be implemented by Egyptian workers, and by using pillar construction technology, which he said was new for the country.

In 2017, Egypt's ministries of transportation and housing accepted preliminary blueprints from national and international companies interested in building the country's first electric elevated railway network.

One of the proposed elevated railway lines will stretch over 35km from 6 October City to suburban Giza, while another planned line would extend the 52km from Nasr City to New Cairo.

Built in the 1980s, Cairo's metro transported about four million passengers daily in the 2013/14 fiscal year, according to the Egyptian Company for Metro Management and Operation (ECMMO).

The company expects to transport about 6 million passengers per day in the financial year 2019/2020.

The last construction phase of Cairo's third metro line is set to be completed by the end of 2018, with a fourth line due to be finished by 2019.

Jun 26, 2018

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) closed Monday’s trading session on a mixed note amid heavy liquidity.

The benchmark EGX30 index s maintained the upward trend to rise 0.38%, finishing the session at 16,457.51 points.

The small- and mid-cap index EX70 slipped 0.31% to 810 points, while the broader EGX100 index inched up 0.08% to 2,066 points.

The equal-weighted EGX50 index shed 0.65% to 2,764 points.

Trading volume amounted to around 215.9 million shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 1.02 billion through 24,950 transactions.

Market capitalisation gained EGP 86.4 million and closed at EGP 915 billion.

Egyptian investors were net sellers with EGP 78.4 million, while Arab and foreign investors were net buyers with EGP 30.5 million and EGP 47.8 million, respectively.

The heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) leveled up 0.56% to EGP 86.47, with a turnover of EGP 104.9 million.

Jun 26, 2018




Business News Egypt repaid a total of US$30 billion during the 2017 , distributed across due bonds and foreign debt to international banks, the country’s finance ministry announced on Sunday.

Egypt met and repaid $30 billion, from the Central Bank of Egypt, for due bonds, foreign debt to international banks, such as the African Export-Import Bank, deposits and loans from many countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Libya and Turkey.

The figures were published in the March edition of the ministry’s monthly financial bulletin.

The country also paid outstanding obligations to government entities like the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and to the Paris Club, an informal group of official creditors who provide debt treatment to countries undertaking economic reforms.

The issued monthly bulletin did not provide detailed information about the amount paid to the lenders.

The CBE said in January 2018 that it paid back around $700 million in debt to the Paris Club, like the payment of the same amount in July 2017.

The government’s external debt stood at US$ 38.7 billion as of the end of December 2017, 16 percent of the GDP, up from the figure at the end of June 2017, when external debt was US$ 34.9 billion, or 18.1 percent of the GDP, at end of June 2017.

The debt increased due to an increase in loans to US$ 29.8 million as of the end of December 2017, compared to US$ 25.9 billion at end of June 2017.

The country’s total government debt, both domestic and external, has increased to LE 3676 billion, 105.9 percent of GDP, at end of March 2017, according to statistics published by both the CBE and the finance ministry.

Egypt’s net foreign reserves rose to $44.14 billion at the end of May from $44.030 billion at the end of April, according to the CBE earlier in June.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have been climbing since it secured a $12 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund loan programme in 2016 as part of efforts to woo foreign investors and revive its ailing economy.

Jun 26, 2018

50 vessels have crossed the Suez Canal on April 1, 2018 from both sides including crude tankers and containers carriers. That was announced by Mr. Tarek Hassanein, Speaker on behalf of the SCA - Suez Canal Authority, indicating that 29 vessels crossed the canal from north carrying 2 million tons of cargo and other 21 vessels with similar tonnage crossed the canal from south.

Apr 02, 2018

Suez Canal witnessing a new record of 62 vessels to successfully cross the pathway on April 4, 2018 from both ends carrying 4.4 million tons of oil & cargo exceeding all previous figures since reopened. That was formally reported in the media quoting General Mahab Mamish, President of the SCA - Suez Canal Authority - reflecting positively the international trade growth & the pattern of crossing tankers and vessels all heading towards larger sizes and down water depths.

Apr 05, 2018

The government agreed to establish a free-zone in Nuweiba city, South Sinai governor Khaled Fouda announced

“Nuweiba has suffered of drop in tourism rates over the past seven years, although the industry is active in both cities of Sharm el-Sheikh and Dahab, reaching 40 percent,” said Fouda.

He went on explaining that Nuweiba’s infrastructure enables it to have a free zone, which will have a positive impact on trade and tourism in the city.

According to Fouda, the foundation stone of the free zone will be laid soon, and the project will be executed over the course of two years. He added that the project will provide 14,000 job opportunities and will benefit the $500 billion mega city of Neom.

In 2016, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement upon which an industrial zone will be developed north of Sinai, and will be linked with Neom city that will be constructed in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.

Apr 01, 2018




Business News Egypt’s Novus Stanza Properties Company says it hopes to start delivering its newest residential flagship Liberty Village in the country ’s New Administrative Capital City, some 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo, at the end of 2020.

The project will be executed over 29 faddans in various phases, Novus Stanza’s advisor Mohamed El-Mosalamy said Thursday, referring that his company is set to start the construction works within April 2018.

“The project will be completely carried out within the upcoming four years,” El-Mosalamy stated, adding that the company has achieved total sales worth 160 million Egyptian pounds ($9 million) at the end of 2017.

Apr 01, 2018

Cement prices in Egypt decreased by EGP 200 per tonne, according to the building materials committee in the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

Prices now stand at EGP 1,000 per tonne at the factory, and EGP 1,050 per tonne as a final price for the consumer, down from EGP 1,250.

The decrease in prices is due to the increase in supply as the forced arms efforts to secure supplies from North Sinai helped to rebalance the market, the chamber added.

Apr 01, 2018

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 15.25 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The first tranche of T-bills will be offered through 91-day notes at EGP 7.5 billion, while the second offering will be through 273-day notes at EGP 7.75 billion, according to the CBE’s official website.

The issuance will be used to finance the budget deficit, the CBE said.

Egypt’s debt instruments, especially T-bills, are attractive to foreign investors owing to their high yield.

State-run banks are the largest holders of the government’s debt instruments.

The MOF posted a 51% year-on-year surge in T-bill issues for the second quarter of fiscal year 2017/2018, recent data showed.

Apr 01, 2018

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced on Thursday that the government’s economic and social development plan for fiscal year 2018/19 is Egypt’s largest-ever investment plan, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Ismail told reporters that the government has allocated EGP 942 billion for the economic and social development plan in FY 2018/19; a 46 percent increase from the 2017/18 fiscal year.

The prime minister added that the new fiscal year, which will start on 1 July, will witness many investments in all sectors.

The budget, valued at EGP 1.412 trillion, is set to be presented to the House of Representatives before 31 March.

Ismail also said the government will focus in the new fiscal year on developing and improving education and health, adding that the country ’s new health insurance law will be implemented during this period.

The PM said that a complete restructuring of the Egyptian ministries will also be implemented in the new fiscal year.

He also said that ministries and other government institution are expected to move their headquarters and offices from Cairo to the new administrative capital by mid-2019.

Apr 01, 2018




Business News The Egyptian Stock Exchange opened in the green in Monday-morning trading, with market capital gaining around EGP 3 billion, recording EGP 981.6 billion in total, supported by foreign institutions and investment-fund purchases.

The main EGX30 securities index increased by 0.15 percent, registering 17,623.08 points, while the small and medium enterprises EGX70 index rose by 0.26 percent to 878.04 points.

The all-embracing EGX100 increased by 0.14 percent, registering 2,260.27 points.

Last Thursday, the Central Bank of Egypt cut key interest rates by 100 basis points.

The rate of the central bank’s main operation and the discount rate were both cut by 100 basis points to 17.25 percent.

Egypt’s foreign reserves rose by nearly $87 million to reach $42.611 billion at the end of March, up from $42.524 billion at the end of February, the central bank said on Monday.

Apr 03, 2018

Egypt’s non-oil private sector slashed in March 2018 amid eased inflationary pressures, recording improved export orders for the third month in a row.

The headline seasonally adjusted Emirates NBD Egypt Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 49.2 in March from 49.7 in February, according to a recent survey sponsored by Emirates NBD and produced by IHS Markit.

“While we still anticipate an improvement in the Egyptian economy this year as the negative effects of its IMF-sponsored reforms pass through, the latest PMI data implies that this is taking longer than the authorities might have hoped,” MENA Economist at Emirates NBD Daniel Richards commented.

“Nevertheless, the index has consistently threatened to turn expansionary over recent readings, which is a vast improvement on the months just prior to the economic reforms,” Richards continued.

Non-oil private sector firms reported a marginal contracting output, which had improved since February, the survey showed.

Non-oil business activity had remained the same since last month, following a slight growth registered in February.

The rate of growth in new export orders was “modest” for the third consecutive month, with the upturn showing increased demand from near Middle East economies.

Input and output price pressures seen by non-oil private sector’s firms had softened during March, while average cost burdens rose at the slowest pace since September 2015, the survey highlighted.

“The rate of contraction accelerated since February and was moderate overall. Some firms noted that retiring members of staff were not replaced,” the survey noted.

Non-oil business has seen improved supplier delivery in March, following a five-month period of vendor performance deterioration.

Companies’ sentiment towards growth prospects dropped to an eight-month low during March, despite the overall positivity of the non-oil business confidence, the survey concluded.

Apr 03, 2018




Business News US-based market research firm Frost & Sullivan expected total global spending on logistics to reach $10.6 trillion by 2020.

The analysis, which was titled “Urban Logistics Opportunities—Last-Mile Innovation”, showed that the transportation sector would likely account for the majority of logistics expenditures.

The report further attributed these forecasts to new technologies like cloud computing, big data, and crowdsourcing, and growing tech-savvy start-ups, which increased the costs of value chain and transforming delivery models.

Frost & Sullivan also projected that the market would rapidly move towards new delivery and transportation technologies, indicating that suppliers are working on modern and cost-effective solutions.

“Spiraling last-mile delivery costs and changing customer demands are causing retailers to rethink their strategies and look toward new business models such as click-and-collect, locker boxes, on-demand, and autonomous solutions,” Frost & Sullivan’s analyst Vijay Narayanan Natarajan said

“Moreover, the influx of start-ups in logistics has enabled innovative solutions that not only provide value-creation customized solutions for the consumer, but also tackle the inefficiencies currently witnessed,” He added.

Apr 03, 2018

Egypt's Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil said Monday that 99 percent of the production units in the Damietta Furniture City (DFC) have been completed , including 1,400 units, in accordance to the set timetable.

Efforts are currently under way to finish the entire facilities in the new city including water, electricity and roads, the minister added.

In a statement on Monday, the minister noted that the DFC reflects the state’s strategy for sustainable development 2030 and comes in line with the government’s investment approaches for the current phase, stating that the new city is a successful model of cooperation between the government and the private sector.

The new city will be one of the largest specialized industrial zones in the field of furniture industry in the Middle East and is expected to put the Egyptian furniture industry on the world map through using global expertise with the aim of promoting such vital industry, Kabil noted.

He pointed out that the DFC is established on an area of 331 feddans and contributes to providing many jobs including direct and indirect employment opportunities that are expected to hit 100,000 ones.

Apr 03, 2018




Business News

Egypt’s foreign reserves rose $100 million by the end of March 2018 to reach $42.6 billion, compared to $42.5 billion by the end of February 2018, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The state’s foreign reserves started to rebound since the delivery of a $12 billion three-year International Monetary Fund loan program in 2016.

The IMF Executive Board approved in November 2016 a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFT) loan to Egypt worth $12 billion to support its economic reform program.

In December 2017, Cairo received the third $2 billion tranche of its loan, bringing total disbursements to $6.08 billion.

While the $2 billion fourth tranche will be received by Cairo after concluding the program’s third review in June.

In February, the reserves passed $41 billion for the first time after Egypt received the proceeds from its recent Eurobond issuance, which amounted to $4 billion.

Egypt returned to the international bond markets on Feb. 14 by issuing Eurobonds worth $4 billion on three tranches; three, five and 30 years, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The purchase requests exceeded $12 billion in the first few hours after the issuance despite the volatility of the international stock markets

Egypt had embarked on a bold economic reform program that included the introduction of taxes, such as the value-added tax (VAT), and cutting energy subsidies, with the aim of trimming the budget deficit.

The country has floated its currency in November 2016 before it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Apr 03, 2018

Trade exchange between Egypt and the Mercosur countries has increased by $316 million in January 2018 compared to $242 million a year earlier increasing by 23.4 percent.

Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Qabil underlined Egypt's keenness on enhancing commercial ties with the Mercosur bloc's market which is considered an important and promising future economic partner for Egypt.

On the other hand, the volume of trade exchange has decreased by 3.8 percent during last year recording $4.5 billion compared to $4.7 billion a year earlier.

Mercosur is an economic and political bloc comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), considered one of the most effective trade pacts in the region, is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela; and has associated countries like Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Apr 03, 2018




Business News Recent hikes in the prices of steel and cement, reaching almost LE13,000 per ton and LE1,100 per ton, respectively, will likely lead to knock-on effects in the real estate market, experts said this week.

“No doubt real estate prices will follow suit, probably at a higher rate than the increases in the prices of steel and cement,” said Fathallah Fawzi, deputy president of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association and a real estate developer.

Real estate companies had already been obliged to raise their prices after the floatation of the pound in November 2016 following the increase in the prices of building materials, Fawzi explained.

Most real estate companies sell units before building them. Buyers pay down payments, and installments are divided over several years. Price increases in building materials are therefore shouldered most by real estate developers, explaining why they are wary of rising prices.

“Real estate companies will likely raise their prices for the next phases of their current projects,” Fawzi said.

Fawzi expects a 20 per cent increase in the price of units after steel and cement prices increased. Before the recent increase, prices were already anticipated to rise by 10 to 15 per cent.

Officials at the Chamber of Metallurgical Industries (CMI) in Cairo told the media this week that increases in the price of steel pallets on the international market was the reason behind the local price increases.

“Steel pallets increased by $10 per ton, reaching $556, and this led to the recent increase in the price of local steel,” CMI officials stated. Increases in the international price of scrap metal is another reason why local steel prices have increased.

The price of cement increased by some LE250 per ton to reach LE1,100 at the beginning of March. Members of the Building Materials Division of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce said some cement factories had used the halt in cement production in Sinai to raise the prices of cement.

Mohamed Magdi, a real estate analyst with Sigma Capital in Cairo, said that companies that had not announced new projects lately were unlikely to be affected by the recent price increases in building materials.

However, companies in the construction phase and that have already sold units at pre-increase prices would likely suffer losses, he said.

Future projects would also likely put the recent increases in the prices of building materials on the shoulders of the consumer, said Mohamed Marei, a real estate analyst at Prime Securities in Cairo.

A 15 to 20 per cent rise in the prices of real estate units was likely throughout the year, he said.

Despite the recent price increases, cement is not likely to continue at its present higher price, as four million tons of cement are anticipated to come onto the market in 2018, relieving the pressure on prices.

Apr 10, 2018




Business News Egypt's Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat has announced a project to revamp the national railway network, with 55 billion pounds to be invested up to 2022.

During a surprise visit to Giza railway station on the Sham El-Neseem holiday, Arafat told reporters that Egypt has “a clear and comprehensive plan to develop all aspects of the railway system, whether in infrastructure, tractors, train carriages and signals,” Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

He said Egypt has signed deals with US company General Electric for the supply of 100 tractors and the refurbishing of 81 others, as well as access to funding for another 100 tractors.

He said his ministry will also sign deals for 1,300 passenger carriages and 300 others for cargo, emphasizing that citizens will see an upgrade in the ailing system next year.

The minister's statements come nearly a month after Egypt's parliament finally approved several government-drafted amendments to the 1980 law that regulates the performance of the debt-laden Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA), with a view to rescuing the vital railways sector.

Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal described the amended law (Law No 152/1980) as a crucial step to reviving the ERA, which he said suffers from massive debts, outdated operation systems, and dilapidated train locomotives and wagons.

Egypt's railway system has a poor safety record, with frequent deadly collisions often blamed on lack of maintenance and poor management.

Last February, 12 people were killed when a passenger train collided with a cargo train in the northern governorate of Beheira.

In 2017, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi highlighted the need to upgrade the railway network to prevent deadly accidents, stating that the system needs 180 billion Egyptian pounds (about $10 billion) to be modernized.

He made the statements shortly after an August train disaster in Alexandria that killed 41 people and injured some 179.

Apr 10, 2018

Egypt will raise up to €2 billion with its planned dual-tranche bond, which is expected to price later on Monday, a document from one of the banks arranging the debt offering showed.

The debt sale- Egypt’s first public bond denominated in euro- received orders in excess of €7.2 billion, split evenly across the proposed eight-year and 12-year tranches.

Final price guidance for the bonds was set at 4.75-4.875 percent for the eight-year paper, and at 5.625-5.75 percent for the 12-year, with the notes expected to price within those ranges.

Apr 10, 2018

Aeroflot Russian Airlines’ flights to Cairo International Airport will be resumed next Wednesday, 11 April 2018, after a two-year ban.

Flights from Moscow to Cairo will arrive at 12:20 am Cairo time and take off 1:30 am, according to state-run news agency MENA.

Chairman of the Cairo airport Company Magdy Ishak and members of the Egyptian Tourism Authority at the airport will welcome the Russian flight.

In March 2018, Russia’s flag carrier Aeroflot announced that flights from Moscow to Cairo will be resumed on 11 April 2018.

In January 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to resume flights between Moscow and Cairo.

Russia suspended all Russian flights to the North African nation in November 2015 after a Russian passenger jet had crashed in the Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board.

Apr 10, 2018




Business News The Chamber of Food Industries in the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) released on Sunday report which expects that the global prices of raw and white sugar will continue decreasing until May 2018.

According to the report, the price of a ton of refrained white sugar declined to US$355 in March, compared to US$ 359 in February. The price could fall to US$350 by May.

The price of raw sugar declined to US$279 in March, compared to US$295 in February. The price is expected to fall to US$270 in May, the report said.

Apr 10, 2018

Egypt’s annual inflation dropped to 13.1% year-on-year in March 2018 from 32.5%.

The consumer price index (CPI) grew 1% month-on-month, recording 169.8 points last month, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The monthly rise in the Arab nation's inflation rate was driven by an increase in the prices of vegetables, meat and poultry, fish and seafood, fruits, vehicles, and organized tourism trips by 3.9% 1.6%, 5.2%, 1.8%, 1%, and 5.2%, respectively.

It is worth noting that annual urban consumer price inflation had recorded 14.3% in February 2018.

Apr 10, 2018

Abu Dhabi Airports announced it has signed a contract with a consortium of Orascom Construction and Al Sahraa General Transport & Clearance Abu Dhabi to expand Fujairah International Airport.

As per the contract, the two-firm alliance will implement the design and construction of a new parallel taxiway and emergency runway with airfield lighting system, in addition to extending the current runway and connecting taxiways, according to a press release.

The contract also includes changing the floor lighting systems, setting up a new air traffic control tower and air traffic management systems, and building a firefighting and an aircraft rescue sub-station, as well as other related construction work.

Abu Dhabi Airports would use its resources to bolster the planning phase and provide administrative assistance during construction.

The consortium has been awarded the contract in line with the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Abu Dhabi Airports and the Department of Civil Aviation of Fujairah in 2014, upon which Abu Dhabi Airports manages Fujairah International Airport’s expansion plan.

In March, the joint venture of Orascom Construction and the UAE-based Al Sahraa General won a $180 million contract to develop Fujairah International Airport in the UAE.

Apr 10, 2018




Business News Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will inaugurate within days the Middle East’s largest cement pant, opening in the Beni Suef governorate on the Eastern Desert Road.The Armed Forces Engineering Authority began to make the finishing touches to the opening of the plant in April, and the factory was inspected by the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Kamel al-Wazir to follow-up the final touches, in preparation for its opening.

Beni Suef cement factory is the largest cement plant in Egypt. Six cement production lines were established and the Armed Forces established it in 18 months instead of four years.

Each line produces 6,000 tonnes per day for several types of cement, such as type2, and opc, which are the two most important cement types used in all of Egypt’s current projects. All lines are expected to produce 36,000 tonnes of various cement daily, totaling 13 million tonnes Cement annually.

China has participated in the establishment of plant units, the latest high-quality and environmentally-friendly production units. The plant cost 900 million euros, equivalent to $1.12 billion, without the cost of civil constructions.

The factory is equipped with an airstrip, furnished administrative offices, and parks.

Apr 12, 2018

Egypt plans to issue $6-7 billion Eurobonds in the new fiscal year 2018/19, Finance Minister Amr el-Garhy said Wednesday.

This comes two days after Egypt raised $2.46 billion in a euro-denominated bond sale with maturities of eight and 12 years at rates of 4.75 and 5.625 percent respectively.

Garhy said that Egypt resorts to debt because it is in need for it, adding that the country’s foreign debt is within safe limits.

He said that investment in Egypt’s debt instruments reached more than $20 billion since the decision to float the Egyptian pound in late 2016.

Monday's issuance saw high interest from investors, attracting an overall €7.5 billion in orders from 350 investors from 35 different countries.

Garhy said that proceeds from the sale will be directed to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to support foreign reserves, while the equivalent value in Egyptian pounds will be directed to finance the budget deficit.

The issuance was the second in 2018. In February Egypt sold $4 billion in dollar-denominated bonds on three tranches; three, five and 30 years.

Deputy Finance Minister for Capital Market Operations Khaled Abdelrahman told Reuters on Tuesday that Egypt will not need to issue any more Eurobonds until the end of 2018 at least.

Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $42.611 billion at the end of March, a rise of nearly $87 million from $42.524 billion at the end of February, according to the CBE.

Egypt issued $7 billion in Eurobonds' sales in January and May 2017 on the global bond market, both of which were oversubscribed, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Apr 12, 2018




Business News The first trade mission to Ghana has started today organized by Egyptian Chemical & Fertilizers Export Council in cooperation with Egyptian Exporters Association (Expolink) between 11st April and 13th April.

There are 13 companies taking part in the mission working in different sectors of the Egyptian Exporters Association . The mission is headed by Waleed Azab Executive Director at Chemical and Fertilizers Export Council.

He said that mutual meeting would be held today between the Egyptian and Ghanaian companies, adding that meetings with more than 100 companies have been organized. Azab further noted that it's expected that export contracts of $500,000 will be signed.

The mission comes in light of the CEC’s plan to double exports to Africa, The council’s head Khaled Abo el-Makarem said.

The council, in cooperation with Egypt’s commercial office in Ghana, had prepared detailed studies on the needs of the Ghanaian market as well as those of the African market.

The studies showed that the West African countries, on top of which comes Ghana, are considered promising markets for Egypt ’s chemical exports.

Egypt’s current share of Ghana’s chemical imports does not exceed one percent.

Apr 12, 2018

Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed a cooperation agreement with Jordanian Minister of State for Investment Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh to set up a coordination council for investment cooperation between the two countries.

This came during the Joint Annual Meeting of the Arab Financial Institutions that kicked off late Tuesday on the shores of the Dead Sea in Jordan.

The agreement aims at establishing an effective regulatory framework that would help boost bilateral investment relations by fostering cooperation, sharing relevant information on investors and stakeholders and developing new initiatives that would help achieve mutual economic objectives.

The council will bring together a group of investors and businessmen from both counties to be selected by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Jordan Investment Commission, according to a statement released by the ministry.

The agreement provided for sharing information on investment-related policies and legislation, means of improving investment environment and investment opportunities in both countries, the Egyptian minister added.

Apr 12, 2018

Egypt’s government has approved a bill to launch an EGP 200 billion ($11.34 billion) sovereign wealth fund named ‘Misr [Egypt] Fund’, planning minister Hala Al-Saeed said.

The fund will manage the North African nation’s assets, Al-Saeed added during a press conference on Wednesday.

In March, the planning ministry had completed the draft law of the fund, the minister noted.

The public business sector ministry had previously stated that it was considering launching a sovereign wealth fund for managing the state-owned firms in line with the government’s plans to float stakes of these companies on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Apr 12, 2018




Business News Arab African International Bank’s (AAIB) consolidated financial statements showed an increase of 1% year-on-year in its profits during the full-year 2017.

Consolidated profits amounted to $260.35 million last year, compared to $257.7 million in 2016, according to the bank’s statement issued on Wednesday.

Administrative expenses declined to $77.45 million in 2017, down from $106 million in the previous year.

The bank’s consolidated financial statements showed a decrease in lending revenue during 2017, registering $948.91 million, compared to $1 billion in the year before.

The lender's standalone profits stood at $255.5 million in 2017 versus $251.58 million in 2016.

AAIB's capital amounts to $500 million distributed over 100 million shares at a par value of $5 per share.

Apr 12, 2018

Quantum Investment BV has raised its stake in Edita Food Industries to 40% from 33%, Egyptian investment bank HC Securities said.

Quantum acquired 50.77 million shares in the Cairo-based confectioner at EGP 20 per share with a total value of EGP 1.01 billion, according to a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Wednesday.

The producer of Twinkies in Egypt last posted an EGP 243 million in profits during the full-year 2017, up from EGP 168.17 million a year earlier.

Edita’s sales amounted to EGP 3 billion last year, compared to EGP 2.5 billion in 2016.

Edita’s capital amounts to EGP 145.07 million distributed over 725.36 million shares at a par value of EGP 0.20 per share.

Apr 12, 2018

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) closed Wednesday’s trading session on a mixed note amid foreign and Arab buying, against local selling.

The benchmark EGX30 index jumped 1.39%, closing at 17,943.96 points.

The EGX70 index slid 0.35% to 864.72 points, while the EGX100 index added 0.61% to 2,273.6 points.

The equal-weighted EGX50 index edged up 0.61% to 3,042 points.

Market capitalisation gained EGP 3.7 billion and closed at EGP 988.2 billion.

Trading volume stood at around 545.5 million shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 3.9 billion through 46,000 transactions.

Egyptian investors were net sellers with EGP 161.5 billion, while foreign and Arab investors were net buyers with EGP 70.6 million and EGP 90.6 million, respectively.

The heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) fell 1.81% to EGP 88, with a turnover of EGP 42.4 million.

Apr 12, 2018




Business News Fuel prices in Egypt are expected to rise between 35% and 45% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2018/2019.

The Egyptian government is aiming at cut fuel subsidies to EGP 89 billion in FY18/19, from EGP 120.9 billion in the current fiscal year, according to a recent report by Beltone Financial Holding on Wednesday.

The increase in the prices of petroleum products could raise the North African nation's inflation rate by 3% to 5%, the report stressed.

Beltone forecast the international oil prices to hit an average of $69.8 per barrel (pb) in FY18/19, while Egypt's key interest rates would remain the same during the first half of the coming fiscal year due to an increase in inflation rate.

Finance minister Amr El-Garhy on Wednesday said that slashing fuel and electricity subsidies is still under study.

On Tuesday, a government document has shown that Egypt plans to curtail fuel subsidies by 26% to EGP 89.075 billion ($5.05 billion) in fiscal year 2018/19, compared to an estimated subsidy of EGP 120.926 billion in FY17/18.

The government aims to reduce electricity subsidies as well by around 47%, or EGP 16 billion ($906 million), in FY18/19, Reuters reported, citing the document.

The Arab world's most populous country also seeks to raise food subsidies by 5% to EGP 86.175 billion ($4.88 billion) for the same fiscal year, the London-based new agency highlighted.

The Egyptian cabinet had cut fuel subsidies and raised petroleum product prices in June 2017.

Apr 12, 2018

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects economic growth in Egypt to reach 5.2 percent in 2018 and 5.5 percent in 2019, according to its new World Economic Outlook report.The report moreover forecasts growth to reach as much as 6 percent by 2023, reflecting the rise in domestic demand and the impact of recent economic reforms which is now harvesting their fruits.

The IMF also predicts a decline in Egypt’s unemployment rate to 11.1 percent in 2018 and 9.7 percent in 2019 compared to 12.2 percent in 2017.

Earlier this week, Egyptian Minister of Finance Amr el-Garhy revealed that the government’s IMF-sponsored economic reform programme has yielded results, saying it helped decrease the unemployment rate by 2.3 percentage points in the past three years.

The IMF also expects inflation rates in Egypt to fall to 13 percent in 2019 compared to 20.1 percent during the current fiscal year.

Egypt’s official statistics body the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) reported that the annual urban consumer price inflation fell by 1.1 percent in March compared to February this year.

In late 2016, Egypt adopted a wide-ranging IMF-supported reform program aimed to reinvigorate the country’s ailing economy after years of social and political instability following a 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

As part of the reforms, Egypt devalued its pound currency, which resulted in it losing half of its value overnight, which in turn led to prices on basic consumer goods such as sugar, bread and oil to skyrocket.

Despite the economic reforms that hit the country’s poor the hardest, public expressions of dissatisfaction with the government’s policies have largely been absent, which critics claim is due to a crackdown on dissent carried out by Egyptian authorities.

Apr 19, 2018




Business News A delegation from the Egyptian ministry of electricity will visit Sudan next Saturday, to discuss the needs for the electricity interconnection project between the two countries.

The two countries have stressed strong will to carry out the project, especially after the recent visit by the Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, who met with the President of Egypt Abdel Fatah El-Sisi in Cairo.

Apr 19, 2018

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has met with Orange chairman and CEO Stéphane Richard to discuss bilateral collaboration to enhance services provided to Egyptian citizens.

El Sisi commended the French telecom giant’s cooperative conduct since the launch of its services in Egypt through its subsidiary Orange Egypt for Telecommunications (Orange), according to an official statement.

Egypt has launched several initiatives in telecommunication and information technology to develop the Egyptian society and boost industry, El Sisi said.

Orange is keen on increasing its investments in Egypt and deepening mutual relations with the government, Richard commented.

The CEO stated earlier that the French multinational telecom company has raised capital in its Egyptian unit to EGP 16.4 billion last January to boost its investments in the Arab world's most populous country.

Apr 19, 2018

Egypt on Friday unveiled a new plan at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva to double the number of businesses selling products and services online by 2020 in an effort to expand the country's e-commerce sector.

The strategy was developed in cooperation between Egypt's Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology and UNCTAD.

According to UNCTAD’s director of technology and logistics, Shamika Sirimanne, the national strategy aims at leveraging e-commerce to create jobs, increase competitiveness and increase the nation's wealth through economic growth.

It also aims to raise business-to-business e-commerce volume from the current 0.5 percent of GDP to 1.5-2 percent.

Additionally, the strategy aims to double the number of Egyptian businesses selling online, and significantly increase the share of e-payments in e-commerce from current 8-10 per cent.

Yasser El-Kady, Egypt’s minister of telecommunications and information technology, said during the conference that Egypt has advanced telecommunications services and infrastructure that provides a strong foundation for developing safe electronic payment mechanisms.

He added that development of the logistics sector and the proliferation of Egypt Post centers across the country, in addition to the large youth population, will enable the growth of e-commerce.

The strategy, according to El-Kady, is important to the encouragement of entrepreneurship and job creation.

He also added that there is an initiative to raise social awareness about using e-payment methods, as well as establishing centers for e-commerce and e-services.

Meanwhile, Sirimanne recommended further action to strengthen Egypt's information and communications infrastructure, including switching to cheaper, high-speed broadband and continuing to improvem fiber access and 4G mobile broadband.

She also stated that by 2020, Egypt would fully leverage the potential of e-commerce to boost regional and international exports and domestic trade so as to create jobs and increase e-commerce production, services and applications.

Political committment to this goal, a competitive IT sector, ample engineering and technology talent as well as tech-savvy youth are all important strengths for Egypt's plan to drive e-commerce forward, Sirimanne said.

Apr 22, 2018




Business News The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 14.75 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).






Apr 22, 2018

Egyptian non-oil exports grew by 7%, exceeding $2.2 billion last month, as shown by the data of the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

The General Organization for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) reported an increase in Egyptian non-oil experts to $2.22 billion in March 2018, up from $2.08 billion for the same period last year.

Trade and industry minister Tarek Kabil recently noted that Egyptian exports grew 14% year-on-year by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Consumer exports to the European Union (EU) surged by 21% last year to EUR 8.1 billion, compared to EUR 6.7 billion in the year before.

Trade exchange between Egypt and the EU reached a total of EUR 28 billion by the end of 2017, compared to EUR 27.3 billion in 2016, as shown by official data.

The European Union is currently the biggest trade partner for Egypt, dominating 22.7% of Egyptian exports, according to Kabil.

Apr 22, 2018




Business News Egypt’s investment map includes promising opportunities for investors in various areas, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr told US companies representatives in the United States on Friday. In an official statement, the ministry of investment and international cooperation said Nasr met with several major US companies desiring to invest in Egypt at the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) during her participation at the World Bank’s Spring Meetings in Washington DC.

Nasr gave the US representatives an overview of the reforms achieved, highlighting the Egyptian government’s efforts to encourage investments by the private sector to drive economic growth, job creation, and elimination of poverty, by implementing economic reforms and huge investments.

Egypt has introduced a number of fiscal reforms since 2014, including fuel subsidy cuts, as well as imposing a new value added tax (VAT) to ease a growing budget deficit, and a decision in 2016 to float the currency.

The country has since secured a $12 billion loan programme from the IMF.

Nasr pointed to the passing of the new investment law and its executive regulations, as well as the bankruptcy law, and amendments to the companies and the capital market laws and their executive regulations.

She also spoke about implementation of national mega-projects, topped by the Suez Canal Development Project, and the establishment of several new cities, among of which are the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein, “besides fostering a legislative environment attractive for the private sector which has been conducted through the investment law and its complementary laws”, the statement added.

According to the statement, Nasr called on the US companies to identify Egypt's distinguished investment opportunities and benefit from the investment law's incentives.

In June 2017, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ratified a long awaited investment law which Egypt hopes would boost a much-needed investment by cutting down on bureaucratic requirements, especially for new projects.

The new investment law includes a raft of new incentives, such as a 50 percent tax break on investments made in underdeveloped areas and government support for the cost of connecting utilities to new projects.

It also includes subsidised utilities, the allocation of lands free of charge for strategic activities, and other incentives.

Nasr praised several US companies for the expansion of their activities in Egypt and the injection of new investments such as Mars Companies, General Electric, Honeywell and Kellogg's.

From their side, US companies expressed their keenness on injecting new investments into the Egyptian market during the upcoming period, while commending the steps taken by Egypt to improve the business environment during the previous period, according to the statement.

Nasr is in Washington to attend the spring meetings held from 20 to 22 April by the board of governors of the World Bank Group and the IMF.

Apr 22, 2018

Egypt’s state-run construction firm Arab Contractors (AC) says it will win 2017 Excellence in Concrete and Construction Award for Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Hospital flagship in Kuwait on 8 May 2018.

The company has received this award from The American Concrete Institute, said AC’s chairman Mohsen Salah on Saturday.

Egyptian Presidential Assistant for National and Strategic Projects Ibrahim Mahlab earlier inspected the works of the project, which is the biggest hospital in the Middle East and it reflects cooperation between the two countries.

The hospital is established on a total space of 720,000 square metres. More than 3,000 engineers, technicians, and workers participated in this flagship.

Apr 22, 2018




Business News Bilateral foreign trade volume between Egypt & the EU increased during 2017 to reach Euro 28 billion up from Euro 27.3 billion reached in 2016. That was announced by Mr. Tarek Kabil, Minister of Trade & Industry, indicating the development was backed by strong increase of Egyptian exports to the EU during the year to reach Euro 8.1 billion up from Euro 6.7 billion recorded in 2016 marking 21 % growth. As such the EU turned to become the largest economic & commercial partner to Egypt hosting 22.7 & of Egyptian exports world wide.

Apr 21, 2018

The World Bank is providing a $500 million investment in Egypt’s five-year education reforms, a statement by the group said.

In an official statement on Friday, the World Bank said the investment will support increasing access to quality kindergarten education, improving the quality of learning and adopting technology as a vehicle to achieve the reform objectives.

It added that the project will expand access to quality kindergarten for around 500,000 children, train 500,000 teachers and education officials, while providing 1.5 million students and teachers with digital learning resources.

The education reform program is aligned with Egypt’s “2030 Vision” sustainable development strategy, which puts a strong emphasis on the critical role of education sector reform in the country's social transformation.

“Investing in people is key to inclusive economic growth. We welcome the World Bank’s support for the implementation of our ambitious home-grown education sector reform program," said Sahar Nasr, Egypt’s minister of investment and international cooperation, who also represents the country on the World Bank’s Board of Governors.

"It is a strategic opportunity and the government is fully committed to developing the education system to build a productive generation that is well-equipped and ready for the competitive world."

The project aims to achieve its goals by improving access to and the quality of early childhood education, developing a reliable student assessment and examination system, enhancing capacity of teachers, education leaders and supervisors, and using modern technology for teaching and learning, assessing students, and collecting data, as well as expanding the use of digital learning resources.

Commenting on the investment, Egypt’s Education Minister Tarek Shawki said that “September 2018 marks the start of the journey to make our students ready for life, and we are pleased to have this partnership with the World Bank to accompany us on that journey.”

“Our goal is to provide our students with the competencies they need to create a society that learns, thinks and innovates,” he added.

World Bank Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti Asad Alam said that bolstering the education system is critical to improving productivity and promoting growth.

“By focusing on strengthening learning conditions, young Egyptians will be better prepared for higher paying and skilled jobs of the future,” Alam said.

The World Bank group finances programs and projects to help Egypt reduce poverty and boost shared prosperity.

It currently has a portfolio of 16 projects in Egypt with a total commitment of $6.69 billion.

Apr 15, 2018

The National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr announced on Thursday they have halted the issuing of savings certificates with fixed annual returns of 17 percent.The NBE announced it will issue new variable-revenue savings certificates from Sunday, with 0.25 percent revenue more than the deposit rate at the Central Bank of Egypt.

In February, the CBE cut key interest rates by 100 basis points.

The rates of the central bank’s main operation and the discount rate were both cut by 100 basis points to 18.25 percent

Apr 15, 2018




Business News Egypt's Minister of Finance Amr El-Garhy is scheduled Sunday to address the parliament on the country's new budget for the financial year 2018/19.A parliamentary report said Minister of Planning and Administrative Reform Hala El-Saeed will also address the parliament in Sunday's plenary session on Egypt's Socioeconomic Plan for the 2018/19 year.

Egypt's new budget and plan were referred to parliament's Budget Committee one week ago after they were approved by the Cabinet in their final form 30 March.

According to Egypt's constitution and parliament's internal bylaws, the country's new budget and plan should be submitted to the House of Representatives three months ahead of the end of its legislative season in July of each year.

After the two ministers address parliament Sunday, their statements and the budget and plan will be discussed in the Budget Committee.

Each of parliament's other committees will also hold hearing sessions to discuss the part of the budget and plan related to its business and activities.

At the end of the debate, which is expected to take one month, a general parliamentary report on the new 2018/19 budget and plan will be prepared to be discussed and voted on in a plenary session.

Article 124 of Egypt's constitution gives parliament complete powers to amend any of the budget's items. In case of amending expenditure items, this should be done in coordination with the government.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on 12 April said Egypt's 2018/19 budget targets a GDP growth of 5.8 per cent, up from 5.2 per cent in the current fiscal year, a budget deficit of 8.4 per cent of GDP, 91 per cent public debt, and a two per cent primary budget surplus.

The statement said the new budget targets expenditure of LE1.41 trillion and investment worth LE100 billion, up from LE70 billion in the current budget.

While the new budget will see a 15.5 per cent increase in expenditure, it also seeks to increase revenues by 21.6 per cent.

"This will come through boosting tax and fiscal revenues, focusing on administrative and institutional reform, and switching to cash instead of in-kind subsidies," the statement said.

Apr 15, 2018

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other Arab leaders arrived in the city of Dhahran, south to Dammam, on Saturday to participate in the 29th Arab summit.

Sisi was received at King Abdulaziz Air Base by Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Eastern Province, Prince Ahmed bin Fahad bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Deputy Governor of the Eastern Province, and Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The summit, which will be held in Dammam on Sunday, will discuss several issues, the most important of which are the Palestinian issue and the crises in Syria, Libya, and Yemen as well as Iranian interference in Arab affairs.

The summit will also discuss regional and international issues and push forward international efforts to combat terrorism.

Apr 15, 2018




Business News In exclusive statements to Ahram Arabic website on Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry announced that his government had invited the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation, as well as the heads of the intelligence agencies of Ethiopia and Sudan, for another round talks about Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.Those talks will be held in Cairo starting April 20, Shoukry said from Riyadh, where he is currently attending preparatory meetings for the 29th Arab summit.

The foreign minister explained that this invitation for another round demonstrates just how keen Egypt is to reach a common understanding between the three parties.

"We will continue to comply with the instructions of political leaders in our countries to break this deadlock, during the upcoming one-month period lasting from 5 April to 5 May," he told Ahram Arabic website.

In early April, FM Shoukry stated that the roundtable talks in Khartoum about the impact of GERD on downstream countries were fruitless.

"The talks were transparent and discussed a lot of issues but they did not yield anything," he said.

The foreign minister added that Egypt was suggesting innovative solutions in accordance with international law.

"We think about what the others may think and want in the most objective way, not only about what we think or want, and we believe that the other parties should do the same. This is what Egypt is looking for," he said.

The Ethiopian government began constructing the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile near the border with Sudan in 2011 as part of a development plan aimed at eradicating poverty and generating electricity.

In the past seven years, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have held several rounds of talks on the dam’s anticipated impact on Nile water resources.

Egypt has expressed concern the dam could adversely affect its share of Nile water.

Apr 15, 2018

Egypt’s labour ministry is reportedly in talks with a UAE-based company over the latter's potential 50% acquisition of the Shepheard Hotel in Cairo.

Under the deal, a joint venture (JV) will be created by the unnamed UAE firm and the Shepheard’s owner, the Egyptian General Company for Tourism & Hotels (Egoth), according to Almal newspaper.

Egoth and the Emirati partner will each own a 50% stake in the new JV.

A government committee will be formed to evaluate Shepheard Hotel’s assets before being offered to the UAE investor, the newspaper added.

The estimated value of the deal was not revealed.

Apr 15, 2018




Business News The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) saw a positive performance in the week ended Thursday, which had only three trading sessions, due to Easter Holidays on Sunday and Monday.

In the second week of April, the benchmark index was able to reach the 18,000-point level.

EGX30 settled at 17,615 points, rising by 1.18%, or 205.10 points, with traded volumes reaching 975.5 million shares, and a total turnover of EGP 4.8 billion.

The market capital added EGP 4.5 billion, to reach a total EGP 977.6 billion.

Meanwhile, the small and medium enterprise index EGX70 marginally increased by 0.25% this week, as it closed at 867.68 points.

The broader index EGX100 increased by 1.1% to 2,262 points, and the equal-weighted EGX50 leveled up 0.6% to the level of 2,995 points.

Market analyst Sameh Gharib said that selling pressure led to the retreat of the main index from the level of 18,000 points, after penetrating the resistance level at 17,700.

Support for EGX30 remains at 17,400 points, the analyst noted.

Apr 15, 2018

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 14.75 billion on Thursday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).






Apr 15, 2018

NAT - National Authority for Tunnels receiving Euro 700 million soft loan to revamp the Egypt Cairo Metro Fist line extending El Merj/ Helwan. That was reported in the media indicating the loan was raised by the AFD - Agence France de Development, the EIB - European Investment Bank & EBRD. Tenders for the works will be soon released in the next few weeks to start in the second half of 2018.

Apr 15, 2018




Business News Egypt’s unemployment rate fell to 11.8 percent in 2017, from 12.5 percent in 2016, CAPMAS announced on Monday.The government has been leading a policy of prioritizing labor-intensive industries, in a bid to provide job opportunities.

Unemployment in 2017 was at 14.5 percent in rural areas, versus 9.8 percent in rural areas.

Unemployment among males recorded 8.2 percent in 2017, down from 8.9 percent in 2016.

The gender gap results in a 23.1 percent unemployment rate for females in 2017, down from 23.6 percent in 2016.

The highest unemployment rate was recorded in the governorate of Suez (22.3 percent) and the Red Sea governorate, which relies on tourism for job opportunities (18.5 percent), while the lowest was in Menoufiya (6.9 percent).

Among young people (aged 15-29 years old), the unemployment rate was 24.8 percent in 2017.

Within this age group, 20 percent of males and 36.5 percent of females were unemployed.

A rate of 31.8 percent of youth who are degree-holders are unemployed.

According to CAPMAS, the labor force in 2017 consisted of 29.474 million Egyptians – including people who work and those who are seeking work – up from 28.934 million in 2016.

Forty-five percent of the population above 15 years old contributed to the workforce in 2017, compared with 46.6 percent in 2017.

Among those, employees constituted 26.006 million people in 2017 (20.620 million of which were males), compared with 25.331 million in 2016 (including 19.986 million males).

The difference between the labor force and those who are employed constitutes the 3.468 million unemployed in 2017, down from 3.603 million unemployed in 2016.

Among the unemployed, the percentage of people who used to work before was at 27 percent in 2017, down from 28.9 percent in 2016.

A quarter of Egyptian employees work in agriculture and fishing, 12.9 percent in building and construction, 12.6 percent in wholesale and retail trade, and 12 percent in transformative industries.

Only 3,600 work in international institutions and authorities, embassies, and foreign consulates.

Apr 17, 2018




Business News Egypt’s parliament approved on Thursday a new law which aims to regulate the work of parking attendants (Arabic: sayes) around the country by setting six specifying conditions for them to abide by in order to obtain a work permit as well as establishing a committee to manage parking lots in each governorate, state newspaper Al-Ahram reports.According to the law, the committee will be responsible for issuing decisions and regulations to govern the scope of the parking attendant ’s work, identifying areas in need of them, determining their working hours, as well as the maximum fee to be imposed on vehicle drivers for using the service.

The committee will be headed by the governor of each of the country’s governorate, members of the Security Directorate, head of the Traffic Authority, a representative from National Security as well as the criminal prosecution, Al Ahram said.

Interested Egyptians who aspire to work as parking attendants should be at least twenty-one years of age, the law, which will be published in the official gazette shortly, states.

It also mandates them to be literate, hold driver’s licenses, and to never be previously convicted in a court of law. The law also stipulates that a drug test should be conducted with a negative result before a licence can be issued to work as a parking attendant in Egypt.

The newly approved law also sets a punishment of up to six months in prison and a LE5000 fine for those practicing the profession without a permit. The punishments double if the offence is repeated.

A large portion of economic activities in Egypt is carried out informally, that is, without state regulation, and the new law is seen as part of the Egyptian government ’s efforts to formalize informal economic activities.

Apr 17, 2018

Egypt’s Amer Group Holding has signed a contract to implement a fully-fledged touristic and entertainment flagship in Port Said city, around 170km (106 miles) northeast of Cairo, said chairman Mansour Amer on Monday.

The new project is with initial investments worth three billion Egyptian pounds ($169.6 million), Amer further added.

The Egyptian official referred that the project will be carried out on a space of 90 feddans and it will provide about 6,000 job opportunities.

Amer Group is a leading real estate firm, offering mixed-use, family oriented destinations. It has diversified businesses in the primary and secondary homes market, as well as hotels, shopping malls, and restaurants.

Apr 17, 2018

Egypt's Suez Canal revenues rose to $463 million in March from $435.8 million in February, local financial newspaper Al-Borsa reported on Monday.The canal's revenues for the first quarter of 2018 rose by 12.9 percent year-on-year to reach $1.351 billion, the newspaper said.

The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the main sources of foreign currency for the Egyptian government.

Apr 17, 2018

The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and China recorded 1.002 billion dollars during February, the Chinese General Administration of Customs stated Monday.

This is 91.1 percent rise on the same month last year, it noted.

Chinese exports to Egypt increased by 76.9 percent to 828 million dollars, the customs administration said.

Egypt's exports to China increased by 209.54 percent, reaching 174 million dollars, it added.

The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and China upped by 42.73 percent during the first two months of 2018 on a year-on-year basis, amounting to 2.028 billion dollars, the administration noted.

Apr 17, 2018




Business News Egypt aims to raise its revenues from taxes imposed on tobacco by 7 billion Egyptian pounds ($395.50 million) in the 2018/2019 financial year, which start in July 2018, a government document said.According to a government's document, the country is targeting around 58.524 billion pounds ($3.10 billion) in revenues from tobacco taxes.

Egypt has been increasing taxes and cutting subsidies to narrow its budget deficit as part of economic reforms tied to a $12 billion International Monetary Fund programme aimed at reviving the economy.

The Egyptian government is set to collect 51.452 billion pounds in revenues from tobacco taxes this financial year 2017/2018.

Egypt imposed a valued-added tax on non-essential goods last year in the months leading to its signing of the three-year IMF deal in November.

20.2 percent of Egyptians above the age of 15 are smokers, according to 2016 statistics of state statistics body CAPMAS.

Apr 17, 2018

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) is expected to carry on the sideways trend on Tuesday, analysts told Mubasher.

The indices of the EGX are likely to see a sideways trend on the mid-week's trading session, branch manager at Watheeqa Securities Brokerage Ahmed Abdel Hamid said.

The benchmark EGX30 is projected to move between 17,400 and 17,700 points, Abdel Hamid added.

The EGX is likely to maintain the positive performance as long as the EGX30 is settled above 17,000 points, he noted.

For his part, head of capital market committee at the African Economic Council Ayman Fouda said that the Egyptian stock market is likely to continue the sideway-to-rising trend on today’s trading session.

The EGX30 index has a short-term resistance at 17,730 and 17,850 points, and has support at 17,540 and 17,450 points, Fouda highlighted.

The small- and medium-caps EGX70 index has a short-term resistance at 878 and 885 points, and support at 860 and 855 points, he pointed out.

Fouda recommended investors to hold onto their stocks between support and resistance levels to protect earnings, in line with performing quick trades.

He advised traders to pick stocks with positive financial news that are likely to rise and to avoid buying on margin.

The EGX closed Monday’s trading session up 31.42 points, or 0.18%, to 17,620.28 points.

Apr 17, 2018

Ghabbour Auto (GB Auto) announced it has used EGP 101 million of the capital increase proceeds at the end of December 2017 to settle technical and advisory fees and buy some equipment.

The remaining proceeds amount to around EGP 857.64 million out of total EGP 958.67 million, GB Auto said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

GB Auto indicated it has closed negotiations over required contracts to establish a two- and three-wheel motorcycles factory with a production capacity of 360,000 units per annum.

Production from the new facility is projected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the filing.

GB Auto’s capital amounts to EGP 960 million distributed over 1.09 billion shares at a par value of EGP 1 per share in Q4-17.

Apr 17, 2018




Business News The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) closed Monday’s trading session up, backed by local and foreign buying.

The benchmark EGX30 index inched up 31.42 points, or 0.18%, to 17,620.28 points.

Market capitalisation gained EGP 3.1 billion and closed at EGP 976.5 billion.

The EGX70 index added 0.38% to 867.61 points, and the EGX100 index edged up 0.28% to 2,261 points.

The equal-weighted EGX50 index went up 0.61% to 3,001 points.

Trading volume on stocks amounted to around 274.8 million shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 1.2 billion through 29,280 transactions.

Arab investors were net sellers with EGP 74.7 million, while foreign and Egyptian investors were net buyers with EGP 20.2 million and EGP 54.5 million, respectively.

The heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) tumbled 0.3% to EGP 86.7, with a turnover of EGP 55.6 million.

Apr 17, 2018




Business News Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil issued a decree on 30 April increasing the local-component requirement for local car manufacturing to 46 per cent. It also increased assembly-line contributions to local manufacturing to 28 per cent from 17 per cent, reducing it by one per cent each year.

The decision gives companies a year to comply with the new criteria and adjust their operations accordingly.

Kabil said the decision aimed to streamline the car-manufacturing industry in Egypt according to fair and transparent criteria, adding that the previous target for local components had not reflected reality and had not helped achieve the ministry’s objective of establishing a car industry based on manufacturing and not just assembly in the country.

The minister added that the decision was part of a national strategy for car manufacturing being prepared in cooperation with various bodies. The strategy includes incentives and guarantees to attract investment to the industry.

The decision also includes the formation of a committee tasked with keeping track of the implementation of local content changes and measuring the percentage of local components in each car model.

The committee will be headed by the assistant to the trade minister on industrial matters and will include the head of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), among others.

“The new decision is a very good one that sets proper criteria for measuring local components in car manufacturing,” Hamdi Abdel-Aziz, former head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries Engineering Industries Chamber, said.

He said the decision gave an opportunity to manufacturers to boost local components and thus added value. Under the new decision, local components are hiked to 46 per cent, of which 28 per cent will be contributed on the production line and reduced by one per cent every year.

Abdel-Aziz said that raising the production line contribution from 17 per cent to 28 per cent was necessary to give the market a greater chance to adapt. Raising the local-component requirement would help stimulate investment, he said.

“We can consider this as part of a transitional period to get us to what we want to achieve,” Abdel-Aziz told Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that the transitional period would smooth out any teething problems, giving the market time to adapt.

The decision had been discussed in advance with car manufacturers, he said. The committee formed by the decision would also help to identify and resolve any problems, he added, including by drawing up facilitation arrangements with manufacturers.

Board member of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association Magdeddin Al-Manzalawi said the new decision would increase the added value of Egypt’s car industry. He said it aimed at boosting the car-manufacturing industry in the country, which, started 50 years ago, without notable development. He added that current local feeding industries would not be able to cover the 46 per cent requirement for local components, and new industries should be set up to help to meet it.

Al-Manzalawi said the decision could also help to encourage exports. “Companies will now think about manufacturing components in Egypt in order to meet the requirement, but supplying the local market alone is not likely to cover the cost of production, so they will seek to export as well,” he told the Weekly.

The decision comes amid talk of an anticipated automobile directive that has yet to be discussed in parliament.

The directive, which aims to encourage local assemblers to move further up the value chain into manufacturing in return for incentives that would not be enjoyed by cheaper imports from the EU, Morocco and Turkey, has been stalled for months, with no clear timeline on when it is likely to be presented to parliament.

Starting on 1 January 2019, customs duties on European Union-assembled cars will fall to zero, making fully-assembled imports more cost competitive than those assembled in Egypt.

May 13, 2018




Business News Standard and Poor's (S&P) Financial Services has upgraded its credit-rating for Egypt, citing strengthening economic growth and rising external foreign exchange reserves.

Egypt’s long-term rating rose to B from B-, with a stable outlook, according to the statement issued by S&P Global Ratings on Friday.

"The liberalization of the currency regime on 3 November 2016 has reduced external imbalances and boosted remittances and portfolio inflows, leading to higher foreign reserves," the report noted.

"Inflation has started to moderate, partly because of base effects but also reflecting the increasing effectiveness of the monetary framework,” it added.

May 13, 2018

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has upgraded its economic growth forecast for Egypt during fiscal year 2017/2018 to 5.3%.

This is a 0.8% increase compared to the previous expectations of 4.5%.

The decision was attributed to an improved competitiveness and greater investor confidence.

“In Egypt, growth continued to accelerate for the fifth consecutive quarter and reached 5.3% year-on-year in the second quarter of the FY17/18. The acceleration was driven by manufacturing, trade, tourism and construction, as well as the recovery in mining.”

“Exports and investment picked up and became more prominent drivers of growth thanks to the liberalisation of the exchange rate in November 2016, the resolution of foreign exchange shortages and the strong performance under the IMF-supported programme.

“Meanwhile, private consumption slowed down and its contribution to growth declined, the result of the record levels of inflation which reached its peak in July 2017 and averaged 29.6% in 2017, thus eroding purchasing power.

“Economic activity is expected to grow at 5.3% and 5.5% in FY17/18 and FY18/19, supported by the continued boost in confidence, recovery in tourism, increase in foreign direct investment, improved competitiveness, continued strengthening of exports, the start of natural gas production from the Zohr field, the implementation of business environment reforms and prudent macroeconomic policies.” the report indicated.

May 13, 2018




Business News The periodically held Egyptian-Russian two-plus-two dialogue mechanism, which involves the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries, is set to start on Monday in Moscow, a statement by Egypt’s foreign ministry said. The meeting will include discussions between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on boosting bilateral relations.

The upcoming meeting will be the fourth after those held in Cairo in November 2013, in Moscow in February 2014, and in Cairo in May 2017.

The discussions will cover strengthening political, economic, cultural, and tourism ties, building on “the breakthrough in relations following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest visit to Egypt in December 2017,” the ministry said.

In December 2017, Putin met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, where they attended the signing of an agreement officially launching work on Egypt's first-ever nuclear power plant at Dabaa on the North Coast, which is being built in cooperation with Russia.

In April, Russia resumed flights with the Egyptian capital following a 30-month flight ban by Moscow after a Russian airliner crashed in Sinai in 2015.

Flights have not yet been resumed to Egyptian Red Sea resort destinations, however, with Egypt awaiting the arrival of Russian experts in mid-May to discuss the return of flights to the tourist getaways.

The two ministers will also discuss a number of regional issues, including the crises in Syria, Libya, Yemen, as well as the Iran nuclear deal.

The will also discuss developing cooperation and coordination between the two countries in combating terrorism.

The strategic two-plus-two mechanism between Egypt and Russia was activated in 2013, with Egypt being the sixth country to establish such a framework with Russia after the US, France, Italy, the UK, and Japan.

May 13, 2018

Egyptian Finance Minister Amr el-Garhi has welcomed Standard & Poor's Global Ratings' upgrading of Egypt's sovereign credit rating from B- to B.

Garhi said the better rating with a stable outlook is a new step confirming that "we are on the right track, and represents a certificate of success of the Egyptian economic reform program."

"This decision will contribute to increasing the confidence in the ability and potential of the Egyptian economy and attract more foreign investments, as well as reducing the cost of finance available to the state and its institutions and the private sector," added the minister.

For upgrading Egypt to B with a stable outlook, S&P cited a strengthening economic growth and growing foreign exchange reserves.

"The liberalization of the currency regime on Nov. 3, 2016 has reduced external imbalances and boosted remittances and portfolio inflows, leading to higher foreign reserves," S&P said in a fresh report.

"Inflation has started to moderate, partly because of base effects but also reflecting the increasing effectiveness of the monetary framework".

It added that the reelection of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for a second term represented a positive sign of the continuity of economic and financial reforms in Egypt.

May 13, 2018




Business News

Foreign currency inflows to banks operating in Egypt have risen to more than $120 billion since the flotation of the Egyptian currency in November 2016, Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Governor Tarek Amer said.

Amer announced targeting to pump 30 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.68 billion) in small enterprises to benefit 8-10 million citizens, adding that around 10 billion is going to facilitate medium enterprises.

He added that the government would pay a debt of $850 million to international oil companies.

“We enabled to attract around $25 billion from treasury bills and around $10 billion from the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), to raise the total foreign investments to $35 billion,” Amer said.

Egypt recorded the highest GDP among developing countries, ranking number six or seven in Morgan Stanley’s index for growth after China, Malaysia and India, he added.

Amer said earlier that all restrictions on foreign exchange in Egypt have been canceled, clarifying that investors now can manage their financial situations and get the foreign currency they want.

He pointed to the availability of liquidity necessary to finance projects, reaching all levels of society through financing small and medium enterprises.

The CBE also announced that Egypt’s foreign reserves stood at $44.03 billion at the end of April for the first time in history, with an increase of $1.42 billion, compared to $42.6 billion by the end of March.

The state’s foreign reserves rebounded after clinching the first tranche of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) loan.

The IMF’s executive board approved in November 2016 a three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFT) loan to Egypt worth $12 billion to support its economic reform program.

The current average of foreign reserves covers about eight months of Egypt's commodity imports, which is higher than the global average of about three months of commodity imports. Egypt spends an average of $5 billion monthly on imports with an annual total of more than $60 billion.

Foreign currencies of Egypt’s foreign reserves include the U.S. dollar, euro, Australian dollar, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan.

The main function of the foreign exchange reserve, including its gold and various international currencies, is to provide commodities, repay the installments on interest rates of external debt, and to cope with economic crises.

May 15, 2018




Business News Egypt’s newly-established real estate developer firm, Edge Holding for Urban Development says it has launched its flagship Oia Compound in the country ’s new administrative capital, 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo.

The project was launched in the presence of Hussein Sabbour, Al Ahly for Real Estate Development’s chairman, Hazem El Sherif, Edge’s chairman, Fathy El-Sebai, Housing and Development Bank’s (HDB) chairperson, and Mohamed El Asy, Edge’s chief executive.

Nader Badr, Edge’s vice chairman for commercial, said Sunday his company prepares to launch a new major project on a space of 100 feddans in New El Alamein City, northwest of Cairo.

Founded in 2018, Edge Holding is a result of a huge mutual fund between Al-Borouj Egypt and El-Mashareq in Saudi Arabia. The company, established to seize the huge investment opportunity in Egypt, has a huge vision for the real-estate business in Egypt and with huge plans for the future.

In 2006, As for El-Borouj Egypt is construction firm that is owned by a group of Egyptian investors, with a track record over ten years in the construction business, with a net worth exceeding one billion of successful projects.

Established in 1970, El-Mashareq seeks to expand its business in the cities of New El Alamein and New Capital as well as Ain Sokhna within the upcoming two years.

May 15, 2018

Egypt will pay off $850 million in arrears owed to international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the country, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Tarek Amer said.

He did not mention any further details regarding the total debt or the date of payment, state-run newspaper Al-Ahram reported.

The North African nation owed foreign oil companies around $2.4 billion at the end of June 2017.

Petroleum minister Tarek El-Molla had previously said that the Arab world's most populous country aims to settle the entire dues of foreign oil firms within two years.

May 15, 2018

A consortium including Italy’s Eni, Russian energy company Lukoil, and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is set to build a natural gas processing plant in Egypt’s Western Desert with a capacity of 100 million cubic feet of gas per day and investments worth $700 million.

The construction will start once government approvals are issued. It is expected to start before year-end, Chairman of AGIBA Petroleum Company Mohamed al-Kaffas said.

He said that the plant will receive natural gas from companies working in the Western Desert and will link it with the natural gas complex in Alexandria through a 200-km pipeline.

Construction of the plant is expected to be completed in three years, Kaffas said, adding his company will dig 28 new natural gas wells that will enter production in tandem with the new station.

AGIBA petroleum company is a joint venture between Eni and the EGPC. AGIBA is active since 1981 with operations mainly focused in Eni’s oil and gas concessions located in the Western Desert Area of Egypt.

Egypt’s gas production currently stands at 5.5 billion cubic feet a day, after adding some 1.6 million cubic feet as a result of starting production from several projects, including the giant Zohr gas field.

The country's total natural gas consumption is about six billion cubic feet per day, of which roughly 65 percent goes to the electricity sector.

The new discoveries are expected to turn Egypt into a net exporter of natural gas from a net importer.

Egypt plans to stop importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the end of financial year 2017/2018 as it accelerates production at a number of newly-discovered gas fields, Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said in January.

May 15, 2018




Business News Egypt-based SICO Technology has recently started to export its domestically-manufactured smartphones to the UAE.

The company has exported over 1,000 devices to the Emirati market as the first stage of an ongoing process after obtaining the approval of the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), chairman Mohamed Salem told Shorouk News.

SICO, the first Egyptian brand specialised in the field of mobile phones, aims to carry on its expansion plans overseas and to export its products to the Arab and African countries over the coming period, he indicated.

In February, SICO had launched its first Egyptian android smartphone through six models, their prices range between EGP 999 and EGP 4,200.

May 15, 2018

Egypt’s Export Development Authority (EDA) is planning to achieve a minimum annual growth in exports of 15% in the coming two years to reach a targeted exports value of EGP 534.9 billion ($30 billion) by 2020.

2015 was a milestone year for the Egyptian balance of trade, as exports registered EGP 332.91 billion ($18.67 billion) and imports hit EGP 1.25 trillion ($70.27 billion), EDA chair Sherine El-Shorbagi stated.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade's strategy, which is adopted by the EDA, includes a plan to increase Egypt ’s exports to $30 billion by 2020, which will not be realised without the growth of foreign markets and the database of Egyptian exporters, El-Shorbagi added.

The EDA is committed to informing the Egyptian private sector of trade agreements signed with friendly countries to boost bilateral trade, the top official said.

May 15, 2018

Egypt has approved an exploration agreement with Italy’s Eni and the Egyptian Tharwa company to search for oil and gas in the Mediterranean off the coast of northern Sinai, the Egyptian oil minister said on Wednesday.Under the deal, Eni and Tharwa will spend $105 million in two stages over six years, which involve drilling one well in the first stage and another in the second, Minister Tarek El Molla told journalists.

The inked deal comes a few days after Eni announced a new oil discovery at the A-2X exploration prospect, located in the South West Meleiha license in Egypt's Western Desert.

The discovery was made in the first well drilled by Eni to explore the deep geological sequences of Faghur Basin.

The Italian gas giant is best known for the 2015 discovery of Egyptian mammoth Zohr gas field -- the largest offshore field in the Mediterranean.

In January 2018, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi attended the inauguration of the first stage of production at the super giant gas field. Eni announced last week the start of production at the field's second production unit (T-1), which will pump at a production capacity of 400 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).

Egypt hopes to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency in gas.

It has rapidly increased its production of natural gas and hopes to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years, including Zohr.

Egypt is targeting about $10 billion in foreign investment in the oil and gas sector in the 2018/19 fiscal year, which begins in July, according to statements by the oil minister last month.

May 10, 2018




Business News The Ambassadors of Singapore, Serbia, Norway, and a representative from the Swiss Embassy in Cairo participated on Tuesday in a session held by the Egyptian-European Business Council (EEBC) to discuss Egypt's latest steps in economic reform in light of its 2030 development strategy.

The session was headed by Egyptian Ambassador Ehab Srour, and administered by Mona Zaki with the attendance of several members of the EEBC's board of directors and other public figures.

During the meeting, the attendees stressed the importance of cooperating with foreign partners and drawing upon their experience to help Egypt's reforms suceed.

Egypt began an economic reform plan in 2014 in hopes of boosting an economy battered by years of political upheaval.

The foreign ambassadors highlighted their countries' economic cooperation with the Egyptian government in several fields, foremost among them being education reform, vocational training, and sporting exchange.

The EEBC, which is chaired by prominent businessman Mohamed Abou El-Enein, often meets European business partners to discuss attracting foreign investment to Egypt.

Egypt Vision 2030, launched in 2016, aims to implement a programme of sustainable development policies involving the country's youth, to be implemented regardless of any changes in government or leadership.

May 10, 2018

Egypt's government is targeting to cut the budget deficit by 6.2 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) within the financial year 2019/2020, according to a recent report by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).The CBE noted in its monetary policy report that through the economic reform programme that government is aiming to reduce the total deficit to 9.8 percent at the end of financial year 2017/2018, down from 10.9 percent from the previous year, as reported by the Middle East News Agency (MENA).

Real economic growth is forecasted to maintain its upwards trend supported by the increasing local demand in the public sector.

The Egyptian minister of finance said that the country’s strategy within the upcoming period is targeting sustainable growth rates between six percent and seven percent, to help reduce inflation.

The budget proposal for next year targets an initial surplus of 0.2 percent, which is a huge achievement, Minister Amr El-Garhy said in a statement on Saturday.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said today that he expects economic growth to exceed the expectations of international instructions and surpass 6 percent for the financial year 2018/2019.

May 10, 2018

The ministry of housing has finished the distribution of work on the biggest amusement park in New Alamein City among the contracting companies.

Sources told Amwal Al Ghad that the first phase of the project will be finished by the end of this summer. The project is with total cost of 1.2 billion Egyptian pounds.

The project will be built upon a space of 150,00 metre square. the works is distributed among three companies namely the National construction company Samco, Redcon Construction and Dorra Group.

the source added that the current period is witnessing the implementation of the concrete structure of the buildings of the park, noting the three companies' achievement rates are close.

The project is expected to create 25,000 jobs and generate employment for hundreds of thousands.

May 10, 2018




Business News Foreign currencies’ balance in Egypt’s international reserves increased to $40.5 billion in April, up from $39 billion in March, increasing by $1.5 billion in one month, according the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Egypt’s foreign reserves reached $44.03 billion in April 2018 for the first time in history, compared to $42.61 billion at the end of March.

The reserves are expected to further grow over the coming two years to reach $50 billion, banking sources said Wednesday.

They said that the reserves will be buoyed by tourism revenues, Egypt’s Eurobonds issuance, foreign direct investments and the savings from natural gas imports.

Egypt imports goods with an average of $5 billion monthly, meaning that the current reserves will cover around eight months of imports.

The international reserves in Egypt consist of a basket of five main currencies, namely, U.S. Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro, Japanese Yen and Chinese Yuan.

Egypt embarked on a bold economic reform program in 2014 that includes cutting energy subsidies and introducing new taxes to cut the budget deficit.

It floated its local currency in November 2016, after which it clinched a $12 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Foreign reserves have been increasing since then. Reserves were only $19.041 billion at the end of October 2016.

A delegation from the IMF is currently visiting Egypt to review progress on economic reforms. The review is necessary before the fund disperses the fourth tranche of the $12 billion loan deal.

In December 2017, Cairo received the third tranche of the loan, worth $2 billion. The fourth disbursement will bring the total Egypt has received so far to $8 billion.

May 10, 2018

The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority said that final contracts to establish a new Russian industrial zone in Egypt will be signed on 23 May, with investments of around $7 billion.

The region is currently focused on heavy industries such as buses and tractors, Mohab Mamish said in an interview with SkyNews Arabia.

As production is set to begin after a year and half or two years, distribution will be in both the Egyptian and African markets, Mamish noted.

May 10, 2018

President of SCA - General Mohamed Mamish predicting Suez Canal Revenues during the present year by 12 % compared with the previous year. The highly seen official revealed that the Economic Authority of the Suez Canal Zone will hold an international conference on Maritime Transport in cooperation with the UFM (Union for the Mediterranean) and the International Conference on Maritime Transport & Logistics on Tuesday May 8, 2018 in Ismailiya.

May 04, 2018




Business News Banque Misr, Egypt’s second largest lender, has hired an international bank to manage a $500 million medium-term syndicated loan as it seeks to fund growth through low-cost debt.

The state-run bank is working with the financial adviser to find lenders to underwrite the loan it hopes to secure in the third quarter, Banque Misr ’s chairman, Mohamed Eletreby, said in an interview, without naming the bank.

"It’s better to rely now on international loans because their interest rates are good," Eletreby said, adding that’s why Banque Misr decided to postpone plans to issue international bonds to next year.

Banque Misr is planning to expand its operations as the Egyptian government presses ahead with sweeping economic changes aimed at boosting growth, cutting costs and trimming a bloated public sector. Officials are looking to sell stakes in some public companies and banks.Competitive Rates To take advantage of competitive interest rates, Banque Misr last month repaid a $200 million long term loan to the Africa Export-Import Bank due in 2020. In its place, it got a three-month renewable $150 million loan from the same lender with a “better” rate, Eletreby said.

It will also next month get the 125 million euro first tranche of a 250 million euro loan it had previously signed with the European Investment Bank to support small and medium-enterprises.

Eletreby said Banque Misr has an abundance of foreign currency after the central bank’s November 2016 decision to float the Egyptian pound to kick-start the economy that had been struggling to rebound after an uprising in 2011. “We don’t have any waiting lists for letters of credit for essential or non-essential goods,” he said.

The International Monetary Fund-backed reforms also call for boosting growth by cutting subsidies and promoting job growth in a nation where the population is growing by around 2.5 million people per year. To help deal with that increase, trimming the bloated public sector is key, and the government has been working on selling stakes in companies and banks such as Banque Du Caire.

May 08, 2018

The Food Export Council is organising an Egyptian trade mission to Brazil from May 6 to 12 within the framework of activating the Mercosur Agreement to maximize trade movement from Egypt to Brazil.

Moreover, the mission is consisted of a group of 12 Egyptian companies, with participating sectors ranging from dates, olive oil, pickles, flour, pasta, juices, dairy products and cheese, pretzel snacks, tomato sauce and dipping sauces.

The trade mission to Brazil comes in coordination and cooperation with the Egyptian Commercial Service Office (ECS), the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and the Egyptian Commercial Service office in Sao Paulo.

The mission coincides with the APAS Fair, the biggest supermarket industry fair in Brazil, held in São Paulo from May 7 to 10.

In April 2018, the Export Development Authority organized the first Egyptian trade mission to Brazil from April 2 to 5, coinciding with the Arab-Brazilian Forum that was organized by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, along with the Union of Arab Chambers.

Egypt’s exports to Brazil increased by 64.7 percent year-on-year in 2017, to stand at $155.4 million, compared to $94.3 million in 2016.

The Mercosur Agreement is a free trade agreement signed by Egypt and Mercosur countries in 2010, including immediate customs clearance for 63 percent of the exports of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay to Egypt.

There are potential trade opportunities for Egypt and Brazil under the Mercosur Agreement that include the trade of animal feed, wood, paper, iron and steel.

The South American Common Market (Mercosur) is an economic bloc compromised of Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

The trade deal, which covers food, cars, auto parts and industrial supplies, was signed by Egypt and Mercosur members in 2010, but it only came into force in 2017.

May 08, 2018




Business News A planned pipeline connecting Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field to Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities will cost between $800 million and $1 billion, Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Monday.

Egypt has rapidly increased its production of natural gas and hopes to become a hub for exporting to Europe after making a series of big discoveries in recent years.

Molla, speaking at a joint news conference with Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis, said Cypriot gas would be used in part for domestic consumption and in part for export.

Molla said last month that Egypt aims to sign an agreement with Cyprus for a pipeline to transport gas from the Aphrodite field to its LNG facilities.

Lakkotrypis said a final agreement on the pipeline would be signed as quickly as possible but did not specify when.

Egypt hopes to halt gas imports by 2019 and achieve self-sufficiency.

Egypt has an extensive pipeline network and two idle gas liquefaction plants ready to export new gas as it arrives.

The country believes its strategic location straddling the Suez Canal and the land bridge between Asia and Africa and its well-developed infrastructure will help turn it a trading and distribution center for countries in the region and beyond.

Molla said that domestic gas production has increased to 5.7 billion cubic feet per day as a result of new production coming online, up from 5.5 billion in February.

It rapidly increased its production of natural gas in 2017 with four major new gas production projects coming online, some ahead of schedule. Its newly discovered fields include the mammoth Zohr field discovered by Italy’s Eni in 2015.

Egypt is targeting about $10 billion in foreign investment in the oil and gas sector in the 2018/19 fiscal year that begins in July, Molla said last month, matching the figure expected for the current year.

May 08, 2018




Business News The head of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Mohab Mamish announced on Monday the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Dubai with Dubai Ports (DP) and the Holding Company for Maritime & Land Transport (HCMLT) to develop Egypt’s first dry port in the 6 October City on the western outskirts of Cairo at a cost of $100 million.

The MoU was signed by Mamish and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman and chief executive officer of DP World Group, as well as Mohamed Youssef, the chairman of HCMLT, which follows the Egyptian Ministry of Business Sector.

A dry port, also known as an inland port, is an intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operates as a transshipment centre for sea cargo to inland locations.

The MoU states that DP will operate the project and take the lead in bidding procedures given its extensive experience in operating more than 78 land and sea ports around the world, according to the CEO of DP.

Sultan added that the memorandum comes as a result of the historic partnership between Egypt and DP, who have cooperated for many years in Egypt's Sokhna port region.

“Then project will be an important logistics hub to serve trade by linking with sea ports, especially the Port of Alexandria,” said chairman of HCMLT Youssef.

Egypt is working to attract international investors to the Suez Canal Economic Zone to boost job creation and economic growth.

Mamish also said that rapid progress is being made on reaching development agreements for expanding Egypt's industrial shipping zones in Port Said and Ain Sokhna.

Last Month, Egypt’s Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil affirmed that negotiations are progressing smoothly between Egypt and Russia on establishing a Russian Industrial Zone in eastern Port Said.

May 08, 2018




Business News Egypt's Tourism Minister Rania El-Mashat said on Monday that focusing on sustainable cities, untapped locations and regulatory reforms are all part of a plan by the tourism sector to attract more tourists and investors to the country.

In an interview with Bloomberg, El-Mashat said that part of her ministry’s strategy to boost tourism is to create sustainable cities, one of which has already been built near the Mediterranean coastal city of El-Alamein.

The newly built eco-city aims to develop Egypt's tourism, agricultural, residential, and industrial sectors.

Al-Ahram reported that more projects are set to be launched in Al-Galala city near Ain El-Sokhna.

"We have areas that are untapped along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts, we want to open these up for international bids," El-Mashat told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) exhibition in Dubai, which is being held from 22 to 25 April.

On Sunday, El-Mashat told Al-Ahram that Egypt is seeking investors for the development of upscale tourism projects in these untapped areas.

"We want to remove many of the structural impediments to pushing the sector forward," El-Mashat said during the Bloomberg interview.

The minister said that the tourism sector contributed 15 percent to the country’s economic growth in the last quarter, which registered an overall growth rate of 5 percent.

El-Mashat added that the tourism sector has always traditionally been a big job creator for Egyptians.

"We have a number of laws that govern the tourism sector that have not been touched since 1970, so regulatory reforms could attract investments to hotels and tourist facilities," Al-Mashat said during the interview.

Al-Mashat also said that training is an extremely important structural reform that the ministry is working on in different governorates.

During her participation in the ATM, El-Mashat met with different tour companies that specialise in market studies and reviews of tourist impressions on all booking sites and social networking platforms.

The minister called on the companies to develop plans to increase the number of tourists from the Arab market as well as find ways to ease procedures to obtain entry visas to Egypt.

El-Mashat said that bookings by tourists to Egypt look “promising,” and that 2018 is expected to be stronger than last year.

Apr 24, 2018

Egypt’s Travco Group for tourism and hospitality has signed an agreement with a group of German investors to launch a new hotel in Sheikh Zayed City during 2018.

Travco Group will own 50% of the planned project, Al Borsa newspaper reported, citing Travco chairman Hamed El Chiaty as saying.

The 300-key hotel is slated for inauguration at the beginning of 2019 and will be managed by Germany’s Steigenberger Hotels, El Chiaty revealed.

Travco Group aims to complete four new hotels next year, boasting a combined 1,500 rooms, in Marsa Alam and Hurghada, the newspaper added.

The Egypt-based company did not disclose the value of the deal.

Apr 24, 2018




Business News Egypt's accumulated microfinance activity has increased over the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 to register 8.5 billion Egyptian Pounds, Mohamed Omran, Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said.

He made these comments on the side line of The Afro-Asian Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance Conference for Life Insurance, under the title of “Life Insurance and Financial Inclusion for all segments of society”

Non-bank financial services officials, such as the Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, leaders of Egyptian insurance companies, regional insurance associations, associations, NGOs and representatives of 140 organizations, and insurance companies from 20 member countries, participate in the event.

He added that microfinance activity register 7.2 billion Egyptian Pounds by the end of the previous year pumping new funds of 1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2018.

He further noted that 40 percent of the microfinance volume has been executed in upper Egypt.

"The micro insurance is a key foundation to support microfinance, providing insurance protection to these funds in addition to covering the projects that have received them.

Apr 24, 2018

Egypt's accumulated microfinance activity has increased over the first quarter (Q1) of 2018 to register 8.5 billion Egyptian Pounds, Mohamed Omran, Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) said.

He made these comments on the side line of The Afro-Asian Federation of Insurance and Reinsurance Conference for Life Insurance, under the title of “Life Insurance and Financial Inclusion for all segments of society”

Non-bank financial services officials, such as the Chairman of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority, leaders of Egyptian insurance companies, regional insurance associations, associations, NGOs and representatives of 140 organizations, and insurance companies from 20 member countries, participate in the event.

He added that microfinance activity register 7.2 billion Egyptian Pounds by the end of the previous year pumping new funds of 1.3 billion during the first quarter of 2018.

He further noted that 40 percent of the microfinance volume has been executed in upper Egypt.

"The micro insurance is a key foundation to support microfinance, providing insurance protection to these funds in addition to covering the projects that have received them.

Apr 24, 2018

50 vessels crossing the Suez Canal on April 25, 2018 carrying 3.3 million tons of petroleum, containers and cargo from both sides. That was announced by Mr. Tarek Hasanein, speaker on behalf of the Suez Canal Authority. The northern convoy included 32 vessels with 2 million tons total tonnage while the southern convoy included 18 vessels carrying 1.3 million tons total tonnage.

Apr 25, 2018




Business News A project to develop Egypt's restive Sinai peninsula should be completed by 2022 at a cost of some 275 billion Egyptian pounds ($15.6 billion), a presidential aide said on Saturday, describing the scheme as "a project for national security."

The cost estimated by Ibrahim Mehleb, a presidential aide for national and strategic projects and former prime minister, is almost three times that given by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi when the project was announced in December.

Islamist militants have been waging an insurgency for years in the north of the peninsula, which lacks basic infrastructure and job opportunities.

In contrast, the region's southern coast is peppered with Red Sea tourist resorts.

The project includes plans for a comprehensive network of roads, residential and industrial developments, four water desalination plants, hospitals and sewage networks, Mehleb said.

"The Sinai development project is a project for national security," he said.

Financing sources for the initiative remain unclear.

Egyptian security forces launched a large-scale security operation in February to crush jihadists who have waged an insurgency that has killed hundreds of soldiers, police and residents over many years.

Security forces have battled Islamist militants in the mainly desert region, stretching from the Suez Canal eastwards to the Gaza Strip and Israel, since 2013.

Apr 29, 2018

Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni announced in a statement on Thursday the start-up of the Zohr gas field's second production unit (T-1), which will increase production capacity by 400 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).

Zohr now has a capacity of 800 MMSCFD, or 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, the statement said.

The step comes four months after gas production started at Egypt's giant offshore gas field.

Production increases are set to continue in order to reach 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (BCFD) in May 2018, 2 BCFD by end 2018, finally plateauing at 2.7 BCFD in 2019.

The Zohr field, the largest natural gas discovery ever made in the Mediterranean Sea, is located off Egypt's northern coast within the Shorouk block some 190 km north of Port Said.

The field was discovered in August 2015 and production began in December 2017 with a time-to-market of 2.3 years.

The mammoth gas field is set to transform Egypt's liquid natural gas (LNG) industry, ending Egypt's importation of the product by 2018.

Eni holds a 60 percent stake in the Shorouk block, while Russian Rosneft owns 30 percent and British Petroleum BP owns 10 percent.

In March 2018, Eni agreed to sell a 10 percent stake in the concession to UAE's Mubadala Petroleum.

The project is executed by Petrobel, the operating company jointly held by Eni and the state-run Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC), and is run on behalf of Petroshorouk, which is jointly held by Eni, its partners and the state-run Egyptian Natural Gas holding Company (EGAS).

Eni has been present in Egypt since 1954, where it operates through its subsidiary, the Italian-Egyptian Oil Company (IEOC).

The company is the country's leading LNG producer, putting out about 250,000 BOE per day.

Apr 29, 2018




Business News The meetings of the joint Egyptian-Russian economic committee will be held in Moscow in the second half of May, Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil said.

During the committee meetings, a number of agreements and protocols will be signed with the aim to boost joint cooperation between both countries, mainly in the industrial, agriculture and customs fields, said Kabil.

Kabil made the remarks on Saturday at a meeting with a high level Russian delegation led by Yevgeny Kuivashev, the Russian Sverdlovsk region governor, currently in Egypt to review preparations for the Ekaterinburg's World Expo 2025 that Russia will host.

Kabil added that the establishment of the Russian industrial zone in Egypt till top files to be discussed during the committee ’s meetings.

Trade relations between both countries have witnessed significant development, Qabil said, noting that the volume of trade exchange between both countries surged by 55 percent, hitting $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018, compared with $862 million in 2017.

For his part, Kuivashev stressed his country’s keenness on supporting Egypt within the framework of hosting Expo 2025, especially in light of the historical relations binding the leaderships and peoples of both countries.

Apr 29, 2018

Egypt’s New Administrative Capital Company for Urban Development says it hopes to establish new headquarters for the foreign embassies at the diplomatic district in the new capital within the next period.

The diplomatic district is set to be executed on a space of 1,600 square metres, said the firm’s spokesman and public relations manager Khaled Al-Husseini on Thursday.

“New Administrative Capital Company has received several offers by the embassies to build the headquarters in the new capital,” Al-Hussein added.

Located 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo, the anticipated new capital city is part of the Egyptian government’s scheme to expand urban areas to deal with the state's rapid population growth and improve the nation's infrastructure.

The new city will be a 270-square-mile hub with 21 residential districts to accommodate five million people. It will feature 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities and a park that is projected to be the world’s largest.

Apr 29, 2018

Egypt is targeting over EGP 610 billion in tax collection, including customs, in the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Amr El-Garhy said on Monday, according to a statement from the ministry.

The previous fiscal year, which ended in June 2017, saw tax revenues worth EGP 464.4 billion, a 31.8 percent year-on-year increase that was mainly driven by value-added tax (VAT) collection.

The ministry is targeting a 22-24 percent year-on-year increase in tax collection in the coming 2018-19 fiscal year, El-Garhy also said.

The month of April 2018 saw tax revenues worth EGP 55.5 billion, the statement quoted the head of the Tax Authority, Emad Samy, as saying.

The finance ministry announced in January that in the first half of the current fiscal year tax revenues had increased by 62 percent year-on-year to reach EGP 249 billion.

Egypt increased value-added tax to 14 percent in the the beginning of the current fiscal year, in July 2017, up from 13 percent the year before, when the VAT was first introduced as part of a programme of economic reforms.

The government is targeting a budget deficit of 8.4 percent of GDP and a 2 percent primary surplus in the next fiscal year, compared with a 0.2 percent primary surplus this year, El-Garhy said.

May 02, 2018




Business News Egypt signed a number of bilateral cooperation protocols with Greece and Cyprus during an economic forum held Tuesday in Alexandria on the sidelines of the week-long heritage event "Nostos: Reviving Roots."

The protocols aim to strengthen Egypt's economic, industrial and commercial relations with its two Mediterranean neighbours.

A number of Egyptian, Greek and Cypriot officials attended the signing of the protocols, including Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil and Alexandria's Governor Mohamed Sultan.

In his speech at the forum on Tuesday, Kabil said that the total value of trade between Egypt and Greece reached 400 million euros.

Kabil explained that trade between Egypt and Cyprus has recently increased by 43%.

Kabil added that there had been an increase in Egyptian goods exported to Cypriot markets, including steel, furniture, food products and plastics.

He also said that the Egyptian exports to Greece increased in 2017 especially in fertilizers, potatoes, steel, textiles, olives and vegetables.

Egypt is currently importing fruits, wheat, plastic products and oils from Greece.

Kabil stated that the Greek investments in Egypt reached USD 155 million in 160 projects in industry, services, construction, tourism, telecommunication, finance, information technology and agriculture.

The Egyptian minister encouraged further Greek and Cypriot investment in the country.

On Monday, the Nostos cultural heritage week was inaugurated by President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Nostos is being held from 30 April to 6 May in Alexandria, Cairo and the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh with the participation of Greeks and Cypriots who once lived in Egypt.

The Greek word “nostos,” for which the festival is named, means “return to the roots," and is a theme prominent in ancient Greek literature.

Egyptian, Cypriot and Greek ties have strengthened since President El-Sisi assumed office in 2014.

The three partners are cooperating closely on several regional and international issues, chief among them security in the Mediterranean.

May 02, 2018

Egypt aims to sign an agreement with Cyprus to connect the island's Aphrodite gas field with Egypt, Egypt's oil minister said on Sunday.

Tarek El Molla, speaking at an American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt event in Cairo, also said the country was preparing a bid round for unexplored offshore areas west of the Nile Delta to the Libyan border.

"We intend to have a bid round in this area shortly," Molla said.

Egypt may also invite companies to bid for oil and gas exploration in the Red Sea before year-end, he said.

In 2016, Cyprus and Egypt signed an agreement paving the way for the supply of Cypriot gas to Egypt through pipelines.

May 02, 2018




Business News Egypt will receive an EUR 200 million sovereign loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to finance the development of the national electricity grid.

The loan will be used to establish and upgrade five high-voltage substations in Upper Egypt, Delta, Cairo, and Alexandria, EBRD highlighted in a statement on Tuesday.

The loan will also contribute to financing Egyptian Electricity Transmission Co’s (EETC) plan to invest in electricity grids in a bid to enhance power generation, diminish transmission losses, and link new renewable energy-fueled plants with power generation units, according to the statement.

In October 2017, Egyptian investment minister Sahar Nasr said that EBRD had invested up to EUR 2.6 billion in 49 projects in Egypt.

May 02, 2018

Oil major BP on Tuesday reported a 71% year-on-year surge in its underlying replacement cost profit, used as a proxy for net profit, for the first quarter of 2018.

The UK-based oil and gas firm’s underlying replacement cost profit rose to $2.586 billion in Q1-2018, beating analysts’ expectations of $2.33 billion on the back of higher crude prices and rising production levels.

BP's output hiked to 3.7 million barrels per day (pd) in the three-month period ended March 2018, up 6% from the year before.

Operating cash flow, excluding a $1.6 billion payment related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, stood at $5.4 billion in Q1-18, BP noted.

Over the course of the first three months of 2018, BP finished divestment deals worth $200 million, in addition to maintaining its overall divestment guidance for the year of between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Commenting on the first quarter financials, CEO Bob Dudley said BP has “delivered another strong set of results. Our safe and reliable operations and strong financial delivery have continued into 2018.”

BP, which is one of Europe's largest oil and gas developers, is willing to keep delivering its operational targets and maintain “capital discipline while growing cash flow and returns”, he added.

May 02, 2018

Egyptian Countryside Development will launch Wednesday 100 land plots over 230 feddans for small-scale farmers in Moghra area, among 1.5 million-Feddan Project, according to its chief executive head Ater Hanoura.

Moghra area is located around 60km (37.3 miles) south of El Alamein town in Marsa Matrouh Governorate. The town lies 106km (66 miles) west of Alexandria and 240km (149 miles) northwest of Cairo.

On December 30, 2015, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi launched in Farafra the 1.5 million Feddan Project, which is one of mega national flagships and the pillars of a step toward the future.

This project, which aims to achieve sustainable development, is a model for the modern Egyptian countryside Company that will be a model for a series of villages, addressing the problems of the past and invest the present elements.

May 02, 2018

The 16th session of the Egyptian-Saudi ministerial committee started on Tuesday in Riyadh.

The Trade and Industry Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that the meeting will be co-chaired by Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Tareq Qabil and Saudi Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed Bin Abdullah al Kassabi.

Participants in the meeting will discuss promoting bilateral cooperation in the trade, industry, economic and cultural fields.

On the sidelines of the meeting, a series of meetings will be organized between the Egyptian community in the Kingdom and Syrian businessmen in Saudi Arabia to discuss investment opportunities in Egypt.

May 02, 2018




Business News International Monetary Fund projected that growth will rise to 5.2 percent in Financial year 2018 (from 4.2 percent last year) and accelerate further to 5.5 percent in FY 2019.

In its report on the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) region published Wednesday, the IMF said the outlook for Egypt has improved relative to the October 2017 forecast.

In the context of its IMF-supported program, improving confidence is boosting private consumption and investment, adding to the increase in exports and tourism.

on the other hand, Regional growth in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAP) is estimated to have reached 4.2 percent in 2017.

It is projected to increase further to 4.7 percent this year and to 5 percent on average during 2019–23, with some countries experiencing appreciably faster growth.

Further strengthening of the outlook for the euro area will continue to support economic activity through exports, remittances, foreign direct investment, and tourism, according to the International Monetary fund (IMF).

Following three years of decline, exports of MENAP oil-importing countries grew by 6.4 percent in 2017 and are projected to accelerate by 8.4 percent in 2018 and 8.6 percent in 2019.

This largely reflects improved external demand, greater exchange rate flexibility (Egypt, Pakistan, Tunisia), gains in competitiveness (Morocco, Tunisia), and a pickup in the prices of phosphates (Morocco, Tunisia), metals (Mauritania), and cotton (Pakistan).

In contrast, despite the impact of higher oil prices relative to 2017, import growth is projected to slow to 4.8 percent in 2018 (from 6.8 percent in 2017) and remain broadly steady around 5.5 percent over the medium term.

This import compression partly reflects an anticipated slowdown in capital imports for infrastructure projects (Djibouti, Mauritania, Pakistan).

The region’s current account deficit is, therefore, projected to narrow from 6.5 percent of GDP in 2017 to 6.2 percent in 2018, and further to 5.7 percent in 2019.

To take full advantage of the growing global economy, the region should accelerate key economic reforms. The focus should be on improving the investment climate, boosting productivity, and strengthening governance,” said Jihad Azour, Director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department.

Countries in the region also need to integrate further into the global economy and diversify their products and services. This will require greater access to finance for the private sector (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) and upgrading workforce skills

May 03, 2018

Egypt’s Al Ahly for Real Estate Development plans to start executing its flagship Aria compound in Mostakbal City in New Cairo within the second half of 2018, said deputy managing director Amr Sultan on Tuesday.

The project is with total initial investments estimated at four billion Egyptian pounds ($226.4 million), Sultan further told Amwal Al Ghad.

“The project will be carried out on a space of 108 feddans and it will include 175 various villas and 1,500 apartments,” the Egyptian official added.

Al Ahly has marketed around 50 percent out of Aria’s total units, Sultan stated, referring that this project is set to be delivered within 2021.

Established in 2000 by presidential decree No. 191, New Cairo city is located on the southeastern edge of Cairo Governorate, 25km (15.5 miles) from Maadi.

May 03, 2018




Business News Industrial Development & Workers Bank of Egypt (IDWBE) has approved funding 45 clients with EGP 60 million Egyptian pounds($3.4 million) as part of a protocol signed with Industrial Development Authority.

Tarek Galal Head of Small Enterprise Credit Sector said that the protocol aims to fund projects so that the beneficiaries could buy industrial units where the bank provide 75 percent of the total amount of the units with repayment period up to 10 years.

He added that the bank has allocated 225 million Egyptian pounds for 200 clients as part of the initiative.

Galal further noted that the bank has signed another protocol directed to develop the agriculture activity in Beheira governorate, aiminig to fund 300 clients with 150 million Egyptian pounds.

Industrial Development & Workers Bank of Egypt provides short, medium, and long term loans and facilities to industrial projects, financial engineering, and feasibility studies, documentary credits for importing equipments and raw materials, letters of guarantee with a preferential terms and financing local orders, and current accounts, saving certificates, saving accounts, deposits, and online services.

May 03, 2018

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 15.75 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The first tranche of T-bills will be offered through 91-day notes at EGP 7.75 billion, while the second offering will be through 266-day notes at EGP 8 billion, according to the CBE’s official website.

The MOF plans to issue T-bills and bonds worth EGP 166.5 billion in May 2018, versus an estimate of EGP 132.5 billion last April.





May 06, 2018

Egypt aims at attracting more than $150 billion in industrial investments by 2030, according to the minister of trade and industry, Tarek Kabil.

The government is also targeting an increase in the industrial sector contribution to the country’s GDP to 21% by 2030, which requires raising production by no less than 8% during that period, the minister said in a statement on Saturday.

Kabil also revealed that recent reforms helped reduce trade balance deficit to 35%, noting that Egypt achieved the biggest industrial growth in the world, over the last eight-month period.

May 06, 2018

Egypt’s newly-established Capacity Development Competitiveness for Training (Quodrat) is seeking to sign funding agreements with a bunch of foreign entities within 2019, its chief executive said Thursday.

Quodrat is an affiliate to the country’s Holding Company for Construction and Development (HCCD).

The anticipated funding will finance Quodrat’s plan to expand its investments into training field within next year, Amr Sadik said.

“We are already in talks with a number of foreign entities to attain the required funding,”

The Egyptian official referred that his company is running one of the biggest investments in the country’s training sector, represented in Quodrat Academy. The academy is located in Beheira governorate over 13 feddans, with investments of 120 million Egyptian pounds ($6.8 million).

May 06, 2018




Business News The volume of Egyptian investors’ cumulative investment reached around AED17 billion, equivalent to 81.5 billion Egyptian pounds or US$4.6 billion, in Dubai’s real estates during the last few years.

Majid Al-Marri, Senior Director Real Estate Promotion Department at Real Estate Investment Management and Promotion Centre in Dubai, said Thursday that Egypt and Dubai have achieved a higher level in the field of construction and urban development.

May 06, 2018

Italian multinational oil and gas company Eni announced in a statement on Thursday a new oil discovery at the A-2X exploration prospect, located in the South West Meleiha license in the Egyptian Western Desert.

The well is the first drilled by Eni to explore the deep geological sequences of the Faghur Basin, the company said.

"The exploratory well, named SWM A-2X, has been drilled to a total depth of 5,090 meters and encountered 18 meters of light oil in the Paleozoic sandstones of Dessouky Formation of Carboniferous age," Eni said in a statement.

"Based on Competent Authority’s approval, the production is expected to be linked to already existing nearby infrastructures and then shipped to El-Hamra Terminal through existing pipelines," the statement added.

Egypt's Minister of Oil Tarek El-Mullah said that the exploration using the latest technologies in the Western Desert area has shown very promising results, according to Ahram Arabic website.

El-Mullah added that there will continue to be intensified exploration in the area, especially with the already existing infrastructure that would allow the production of high quality crude oil.

Last week, Eni announced in a statement the start of production at the Zohr gas field's second production unit (T-1), which will increase the production capacity by 400 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).

The step comes four months after gas production started at Zohr, the largest offshore gas field in the Mediterranean.

Zohr now has a capacity of 800 MMSCFD, or 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, the company said.

Eni is Egypt's leading LNG producer, producing around 250,000 BOE per day.

May 06, 2018




Business News Egypt's non-oil private sector activity expanded in April for only the second time in 31 months, with output holding steady new export orders growing more, ending four months of deterioration, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Emirates NBD Egypt Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for the private sector excluding the oil industry rose to 50.1 in April from 49.2 in March, putting it just above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.

The PMI "broached the 50.0 level for only the second time in 31 months in April, indicating that the non-oil private sector is finally starting to contribute to the positive growth story underway in the country," Daniel Richards, MENA Economist at Emirates NBD, said.

New export orders grew further, widening the current period of expansion in exports to four months, the survey showed. This appeared to be linked to stronger international demand for Egyptian goods and services.

Despite inflation rates easing to their lowest levels in nearly two years in March - the latest available data - firms raised their selling prices for the 27th month running in April citing higher cost burdens.

The economy has been struggling to recover since a 2011 uprising scared tourists and investors away, two big sources of foreign currency.

A series of tough economic reforms tied to a three-year $12 billion IMF programme agreed in late-2016 have hit Egyptians hard, affecting purchasing power with a much weaker Egyptian pound and soaring inflation.

"We anticipate that the PMI will be more consistently positive over the coming quarters, as ongoing economic reforms and loosening monetary policy encourage greater private sector activity,” Richards added.

The central bank cut its main interest rates by 100 basis points for the second meeting in a row in late March citing easing inflation.

May 06, 2018

53 vessels crossing the Suez Canal on May 6, 2018 carrying 4.3 million tons of petroleum, containers and cargo for both sides of the Canal. That was announced by General M Mamish, President of the Suez Canal Authority indicating the figure represents a new record for the canal in its history.

May 07, 2018



The Central Bank of Egypt will most likely keep interest rates unchanged during its upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday, a number of economists have said.Deposit and lending rates are currently at 16.75 and 17.75 percent respectively.

Managing Director of Multiples Group Omar El-Shenety says that despite the easing of inflation, a wave of price increases is expected in fuel and electricity, in addition to the latest public transportation price increases.

“The application [of price increases] will be aggressive,” says El-Shenety.

The increases are part of Egypt’s economic reform programme and will be driven by the increase in oil prices to over $70 per barrel, says El-Shenety.

Global changes indicate that rates will remain unchanged, El-Shenety added.

A stronger US dollar means the CBE would not cut rates to keep the Egyptian market attractive for portfolio investors, according to El-Shenety.

“The US dollar is gaining ground,” El-Sheney told Ahram Online, adding that this is due to the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates and signaling it will raise rates further.

A strengthening of the US dollar means a lot of funds are not going to emerging markets anymore, but are kept in the US.

Given a global trend of emerging markets raising rates to make their currencies more lucrative, the CBE is not likely to cut rates in order to prevent portfolio investors from fleeing to other markets.

Economist Riham ElDesoki also expects the Central Bank will not change interest rates.

ElDesoki says her expectation is based on the resilience in inflation changes.

ElDesoki adds that the CBE also needs to assess the impact on the market of cutting interest rates twice since February, as well as the expected inflationary impact of the restructuring of energy subsidies in early summer.

Pharos Holding Chief Operating Officer and Chairman of Asset Management Angus Blair agrees that inflation rates are not likely to change, ahead of fuel and electricity subsidy cuts.

EFG Hermes lead economist Mohamed Abu Basha told Reuters, “We expect rates to remain on hold given a slightly elevated inflation reading in April, and more importantly, given the sharp increase in global oil prices.”

However, CI Capital senior economist Hany Farahat expects a cut of 1 percent.

“I do not think the seasonal noise surrounding inflation on the back of Ramadan, higher metro tickets, or higher oil prices should impede the CBE from progressing with its monetary easing plan,” Farahat told Ahram Online.

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation had slowed to 13.1 percent in April from 13.3 percent in March.

Annual core inflation remained almost unchanged, recording 11.6 percent in April, compared to 11.59 percent in March, the CBE said.

April’s annual headline inflation easing was a slight decrease compared to the sharp fall in March (from 14.4 percent to 13.3 percent).

Indeed, April numbers showed a higher monthly inflation figure of 1.5 percent compared to 1 percent in March.

After October 2016’s floating of the Egyptian pound, the CBE raised key interest rates by 700 basis points in order to control inflation, then moved to cut rates by 200 basis points in February as inflation eased.

Annual headline and core inflation peaked in July 2017 at 33 percent and 35.3 percent following energy subsidy cuts.

May 17, 2018




Business News Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Wednesday a five-year tax exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that register their business in the formal economy.El-Sisi's made the comments during the fifth edition of the National Youth Forum in Cairo, which was attended by a number of ministers as well as Egyptian youth and public figures.

"You have five years of tax exemption so that your businesses flourish and is able to join the formal economy," El-Sisi told investors.

El-Sisi also highlighted during his speech that the state has no data on SMEs operating in the country; a fact that he described as unacceptable.

The president stressed that the informal economy has helped many Egyptians sustain their basic needs.

El-Sisi comments come nearly two years after he announced an initiative to provide EGP 200 billion in loans for SMEs through the central bank over four years.

The Egyptian cabinet, headed by PM Sherif Ismail, has been discussing legislation focusing on smart tax incentives upon registration to the state's tax system.

In 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt explained its plan to incentivise banks to participate in a “comprehensive programme” to help finance SMEs to create jobs and support the economy.

The programme involves offering interest rates on loans for SMEs that do not exceed 5 percent.

The SME programme aimed to finance 350,000 companies and create 4 million new job opportunities over a period of four years, according to the CBE.

May 17, 2018

Egypt's unemployment rate dropped to 10.6 percent in the first quarter of 2018, in comparison to 12 percent in 2017 and 12.7 percent in 2016 for the same period, official statistics agency CAPMAS announced on Tuesday.

Unemployment also declined 0.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2017.

Egypt’s labor force was estimated in quarter one of 2018 to total 29.186 million, down 37,000 from quarter four of 2017.

According to CAPMAS, about 3 million Egyptians are currently unemployed.

Youths (15-29 year olds) make up 75.2 percent of total unemployment.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has pledged to reduce unemployment during his tenure, by attracting private sector and foreign investments to boost the economy.

Since 2014, the government has been implementing a set of economic reforms to lower budget deficits, including floating the local currency, cutting energy subsidies and putting in place a Value-Added Tax.

May 17, 2018

Trade Minister Tarek Kabil welcomed the parliament's approval to a bill on giving priority to Egyptian products in government contracts, as it is expected to enable the domestic industry to have a fair share in public procurement.

The draft law will contribute to creating a suitable atmosphere, where the domestic industry can compete in the local and foreign markets, through granting more privileges to the domestic product, the minister said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kabil stressed the importance of abiding by quality standards in products' manufacture, which in turn could help the domestic product to vie with the imported one.

The bill aims to support the national industry with all possible means and encourage investors to pump new investments in the industry sector, he added.

May 17, 2018




Business News Egypt’s Al Maadi Group Real Estate Development has completed 40 percent of its flagship Family Home Compound in Mokattam district, southeastern Cairo, its chairman Ahmed Labib said Wednesday.

“We target total returns estimated at 200 million Egyptian pounds ($11.1 million) from the residential project, which is set to be completely carried out at the end of next year,” Labib further told Amwal Al Ghad.

The project is being executed on a space of 40,000 square metres, the Egyptian official stated, adding that it will include 200 various housing units.

Moreover, Labib said that Al Maadi also plans to implement a new fully-fledged project on a space of ranging between 20,000 square metres and 50,000 square metres in the state’s New Administrative Capital, some 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo.

May 17, 2018

Carbon Holdings is set to start the construction works of Tahrir Petrochemicals Complex with total investments of $10 billion by the end of the current year, according to Chairman Karim Helal.

Tahrir Petrochemicals Complex is the largest petrochemicals complex in Egypt. The complex will be built on the northern outskirts of Ain Sokhna. Its exports are forecasted to equal 25% of Egypt’s oil and non-oil exports.

The complex is expected to create 20,000 temporary job opportunities, It will be built on 5 million square meters in close proximity to Ain Sokhna Port. Once completed, it should create around 50,000 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect job opportunities.

He told Amwal Al Ghad that the company has signed an agreement with Bechtel Corporation, an engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company, to manage the project's construction works within a consortium including number of specialized local and global construction companies.

The Tahrir Petrochemicals Complex is split into three separate sites. The first site is where the naphtha cracker facility is located. Its maximum annual production capacity will be around four million tons, making it the biggest in the world.

The second site is dedicated to facilities that produce associated oil derivatives.

The last site has three polyethylene units with a forecasted maximum annual production capacity of 1.4 million tons of both ethylene and polyethylene, 900,000 tons of propylene, 250,000 tons of butadiene, 350,000 tons of gasoline, and 100,000 tons of hexene-1.

Another separate production line will have a maximum annual production capacity of 1,060 tons of ammonium nitrate. Also in the complex will be two polypropylene production facilities.

May 17, 2018

Egypt's Sixth of October for Development and Investment (SODIC) said Wednesday it has achieved profits worth 212.11 million Egyptian pounds ($11.8 million) during the first quarter of 2018, slightly above 211.9 million pounds during the same period in 2017, including minority shareholders’ rights.

Revenues retreated to 512.12 million pounds duirng the first quarter of the year, versus 703.47 million pounds a year earlier, the company, said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Meanwhile, standalone profits fell to 82.7 million pounds from 114.6 million pounds.

In 2017, SODIC had previously reported a net profit of 598.62 million pounds, compared with 441.33 million pounds in 2016, including minority shareholders’ rights

May 17, 2018




Business News Saudi Arabia's Zadna Company for Agricultural Investment and Real Estate Development seeks to set up a major project for the cultivation, production, and distribution of dates and olive in Egypt, with two billion Egyptian pounds ($112.4 million) in capital.

The company has already started planting palm trees over 1,000-acre land in Bahariya Oasis, Egyptian trade minister Tarek Kabil said in a statement on Thursday.

The company will also begin the construction of a plant for dates’ production, in addition to a number of storage refrigerators, Kabil added.

This came on the sidelines of the minister’s meeting with a delegation from Zadna Group headed by chairman Abdul Wahab Saleh Al Rajhi.

The ministry aims to improve dates’ production in Egypt and boost its competitiveness, Kabil said, pointing out that Egypt ranks the world’s first in terms of dates’ production by 18 percent of total production in the world.

The minister highlighted that the oasis produces more than 60,000 tonnes a year of semi-dry dates and other kinds from Siwa and Upper Egypt.

May 20, 2018

Egyptian Life Takaful Company GIG has took over a bid to insure the Egyptian Bourse headquarters and its vehicle fleet.

Sources with knowledge said that the total amount of the insurance policy has reached 600 million Egyptian pounds.

Moreover, four insurance companies has withdrawn the statements of work including Misr Insurance, AXA Egypt, Egyptian Takaful Insurance along with the winner Egyptian Life Takaful Company GIG.

on the other hand, the insurance policy tenure is one year.

The sources added that the policy included the coverage of the dangers of fire hazards and explosion and fire caused by self-ignition, in addition to the dangers resulting from firefighters services during their resistance to fire, besides the dangers of lightning. Egyptian Life Takaful Company is the first established Takaful life insurance company in the Egyptian market, having a strong foundation and an ambitious and experienced team.

Egyptian Life Takaful Company was established in 2006 as the first joint Takaful Insurance Company registered under the Insurance Companies’ Registry number 22 for 2007. The company’s shareholders include the most prestigious banks in Egypt with Gulf Insurance Group being the major shareholder.

May 20, 2018




Business News

Banque Misr, Egypt’s second largest bank, has mandated Citigroup <C.N> to arrange a $500 million syndicated loan, banking sources said, the latest sign of a pick-up in interest among international banks in lending to Egyptian borrowers.

Misr's debt facility follows a $600 million loan being syndicated among banks for National Bank of Egypt, the country’s largest lender.

Other deals in the Egyptian bank market include a loan of up to around $700 million for Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and three loans recently raised by Telecom Egypt with a combined value of around $900 million.

Such loans are being seen as a sign of returning confidence among international lenders in the Egyptian economy, where business conditions are slowly improving under a three-year IMF loan programme tied to fiscal and economic reforms.

Banque Misr could not be reached for comment, while Citi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Before November 2016, when the central bank allowed the Egyptian pound to float, Egyptian banks could only access foreign liquidity through central bank auctions, rather than the interbank market.

While the move has improved Egyptian banks’ access to foreign currency liquidity, they still need to bolster their hard currency buffers to face requirements accrued before the currency floatation.

National Bank of Egypt is syndicating its planned $600 million loan with HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, Emirates NBD, Bank ABC, Rakbank and Commercial Bank of Qatar.

Telecom Egypt’s loans were mostly backed by United Arab Emirates banks, while the loan for Egyptian Electricity is being arranged by Credit Suisse and HSBC, banking sources told Reuters earlier this month.

May 20, 2018

Saudi-based Rajhi Steel Industries Limited (Rajhi Steel) has begun exporting the first iron shipment to Egypt since the Egyptian government announced the preliminary anti-dumping decisions last year.

Al Fajr Steel Building Materials Company has contracted with Ahmadi Construction Materials to buy 10,000 tonnes of iron from Rajhi Steel at $610 per tonne, chairman of Al Fajr Steel in Egypt Wael Said told Alborsa News on Thursday.

The shipment has already reached Al Adabiya port on the Red Sea, he added.

Rajhi steel aims to export 10,000 tonnes of iron a month to Egypt, Wael indicated, noting that the company would sell iron of its first shipment to the North African nation at a price ranging between EGP 12,400 and EP 12,450 per tonne.

Egyptian trade minister had imposed temporary tariffs on steel rebar imports from China, Turkey, and Ukraine in mid-2017 to combat dumping.

May 20, 2018




Business News The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 15.5 billion on Thursday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).





The CBE had previously said that Egypt’s total foreign debt rose 2.3% quarter-on-quarter, or $1.8 billion, to $80.8 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017/2018.

May 24, 2018

The Egyptian government and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has agreed on a $200 million financing package for major investments in energy efficiency and refurbishment of the oil refinery owned by Suez Oil Processing Company (SOPC).

The agreement aims at supporting the modernisation of Egypt’s oil industry, according to an official statement.

The plant has a capacity of three million tonnes each year, or 68,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD), and is located at the entrance of the Suez Canal, playing a crucial role in servicing the local market.

The refinery will also undergo an extensive energy efficiency programme, leading to a direct reduction of over 295,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) each year and estimated yearly savings of 300,000 megawatt hour (MWh) of energy and 384,000 cubic meters of water.

May 24, 2018

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II discussed several regional issues as well as boosting bilateral relations between the two countries during a summit in Cairo on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

The two leaders discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian issue, stressing the Palestinian people's right to establish their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as pushing forward with direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations to reach a two-state solution in light of the Arab peace initative.

The visit comes nearly a week after the two leaders discussed in a phone call efforts to reach political settlements in the region, at the top of which is the Palestinian issue.

"The two leaders also discussed the latest developments in Syria, reaffirming the necessity of reaching a political solution to the crisis in a way that preserves the unity of Syrian territories and achieves the Syrian people's aspiration for safety and stability, expressing their support for all efforts to stop the violence and end the humanitarian suffering of the brotherly Syrian people," the statement said.

Sisi and Abdullah's meeting was followed by a session of talks attended by the prime ministers of both countries.

The Egyptian president also stressed Egypt's interest in coordinating with Jordan on various issues of mutual interest and keenness to boost the unique strategic relations between the two countries.

King Abdullah affirmed his country's keenness to continue the ongoing coordination with Egypt in light of their close ties on all levels as well as Egypt's pivotal role as a main pillar of regional and international security and stability.

May 24, 2018




Business News source with knowledge that the amount allocated by the Industrial Development Authority to utilise lands since the beginning of the financial year reached to 1.1 billion Egyptian pounds.

The sources added that the amount used for the infrastructure works is 1.1 billion pounds of the total of 1.4 billion pounds assigned within the financial year 2017-2018.

The sources told Amwal Al Ghad that the authority plan include the concentration on the infrastructure works specially in the industrial zones located in upper Egypt governorates and Sinai.

The Industrial Development Authority seeks to increase the amount of its issued lands for investors to 11 million metre square during 2018.

IDA has submitted around 28.5 million metre square during the last couple of years with investments worth 42 million Egyptian pounds.

The authority has lately launched lands spanning over 8 million metre square for development in 10th Ramadan and Sadat cities.

May 24, 2018

Egyptian Heliopolis Company for Housing and Development plans to finalise executing the designs of Heliopark City in New Cairo before the end of 2018, its managing director for financial and administrative affairs said Tuesday.

This comes as part of the state-owned company’s scheme to start developing Heliopark and carrying out a bunch of new projects there, added Wael Youssef.

A consulting office is responsible for implementing the designs of Heliopark’s land plot over 1,700 feddans, Youssef stated, referring that his company also seeks to launch the city in partnership with one of the real estate developers.

“The city’s first phase will be developed on a space of 500 feddans in various phases within a timeframe of seven years,” the Egyptian official concluded

May 24, 2018

gypt’s Housing Ministry says it is carrying out eight drinking water and sewage stations in Marsa Matrouh governorate, 524km (325.6 miles) west of Cairo, at a cost worth about 2.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($139.4 million).

These stations are set to be operated soon, said Housing Minister Moustafa Madbouly on Wednesday.

“There are three drinking water stations projects that are being executed in the governorate, at a capacity of 56,000 cubic metres per day and at a cost of 1.116 billion and €6 billion,” Madouly further added.

As for the sewage stations, the Egyptian minister said that his ministry is also implementing five projects, at a cost of 80,000 cubic metres daily and a cost of 1.278 billion.

May 24, 2018




Business News Egypt's biggest lender, the state-owned National Bank of Egypt has pumped 3.4 billion Egyptian pounds as part of the Central bank of Egypt mortgage initiative, Vice Chairman of Yehia Abul Fotouh said.

He told Amwal Al Ghad that has succeeded in achieving the targeted as per the initiative before the end of the current financial year.

During 2014, CBE has launched an initiative worth 10 billion Egyptian pounds (US$1.4 billion) to stimulate the mortgage sector and finance the purchase of housing for earners with low and average incomes.

The money will be sent to banks, in the form of deposits, over a period of 20 years at low interest rates. Low-income citizens who qualify to benefit from the programme will be lent the money at yearly interest rate of 7% to 8%.

The bank is studying the possibility of allocating 2 billion Egyptian pounds to fund units in Dar Misr middle-income residential flagship.

He also added that the bank's personal loans portfolio varies between 45 billion Egyptian pounds to 46 billion pounds.

The National Bank of Egypt is the oldest and largest bank in Egypt. It has 338 branches within the country, assets of 366,6 Egyptian billion pounds., total deposits of 312,7 billion pounds., and total loans and advances of 114,7 billion Pounds

As of 2007, the National Bank of Egypt accounted for 23% of the Egyptian banking system's total assets, 25% of total deposits and 25% of total loans and advances. NBE also financed about 24% of Egypt's foreign trade during the year. NBE also accounts for 74% of the credit card market and 40% of the debit cards in Egypt.

May 24, 2018

Egypt and Russia are set to sign an bilateral agreement on Wednesday that paves the way for the development and operation of an industrial zone in Port Said, aiming to attract $7 billion in investments.

Russia's Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov and his Egyptian counterpart Tarek Kabil will sign the agreement during the 11th meeting of the joint Egyptian-Russian commission.

The Russian Industrial Zone in Egypt, located in East Port Said and built on a 5.25 million square-meter plot of land over three phases, has been under negotiation between the two countries since 2014.

The Russian Trade Ministry described the upcoming signing as a "historic milestone in the development of bilateral ties between Rusia and Egypt."

The industrial zone, which will serve as an international hub for producers aiming to export to the Middle East, Europe and Africa, is expected to generate 35,000 jobs.

Both sides will also discuss boosting ties in several fields, including energy development, delivery of agricultural products, railway engineering and the aviation industry.

The statement specified that the talks would cover Egypt's first-ever nuclear power plant at Dabaa, which is being built in cooperation with Russia on Egypt's North Coast.

The two countries have been aiming to bolster economic ties along their shared interests within the framework of their strategic relationship.

Last year, trade between Cairo and Moscow reached a total of $6.712 billion.

As of January 2018, current Russian investments in Egypt were estimated at $66.49 million from 424 companies in the fields of tourism, construction, industry, communications, information technology, and agriculture.

May 22, 2018




Business News Centamin, operator of Egypt’s only commercial gold mine, says it paid about $195.1 million in profit-sharing with the government during the period from October 2016 until April 2018.

Gold production at Sukari mine recorded 106.7 tonnes of gold from Sukari at the end of April since 2010, Youssef El-Raghy, General Manager of the Egyptian Operations, told Amwal Al Ghad.

Raghy clarified that Sukari mine’s total production in April reached 1.2 tonnes.

The company’s profit-sharing arrangement with the Egyptian government for its Sukari mine began in the third quarter of 2016.

Two companies are operating in Egypt to produce gold the Australian Pharaonic Company (Centamin) that operates in the Sukari mine and Cyprus-based Mats Holdings, which operates in the Hamsh mine.

For exploration and drilling for gold, other two gold companies are operating in the North African country; Canadian Aton Mining and UAE ’s Thani Dubai.

Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek el-Molla said in late December that the Sukari mine had contributed a total of $250 million in revenues to the government since the start of production in 2010.

May 22, 2018

Egypt’s Holding Company for Chemical Industries (CIHC) will name next month an investment bank to help manage Eastern Company's anticipated offering.

Eastern Company, Egypt’s top cigarette maker and a CIHC subsidiary, intends to increase the percentage of the free trading shares by 4 percent, as part the government’s initial public offering (IPO) programme.

CIHC holds a 55 percent stake in Eastern Company, and the remaining 45 percent stake is distributed over retail and institutional shareholders.

“By early July, the board of the Holding Company for Chemical Industries will hold its general assembly meeting to choose one of the investment banks for Eastern Company’s IPO,” CIHC chairman Emad Eldin Mostafa told Amwal Al Ghad on Monday.

May 22, 2018

India-based Dhunseri Petrochem on Tuesday announced it has purchased Egyptian Petrochemical Holding Company ’s (ECHEM) 23% stake in their joint venture Egyptian Indian Polyester (EIPET).

The Indian firm will purchase the share over seven tranches until 2023, Dhunseri said in a statement.

Dhunseri Petrochem has paid off the first two tranches, accounting for 43,700 shares of EIPET’s total shares, the company added.

The company has not revealed any further details regarding the value of the deal.

In January 2018, ECHEM said it was conducting preliminary studies for three projects with $1.842 billion in investments.

May 22, 2018




Business News The consolidated financial statements of Egypt Free Shops on Tuesday showed an 8.8% year-on-year decline in its profits in the nine-month period ended March 2018.

The company generated a profit of EGP 76.33 million from July 2017 to March 2018, down from EGP 83.65 million in the same period a year before, according to a statement to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Egypt Free Shops’ total revenue rose to EGP 358.8 million in July to March, from EGP 301.3 million in the year-ago period.

The EGX-listed firm posted a standalone profit of EGP 76.5 million in the July-March period, compared to EGP 83.7 million in the comparative period of 2017.

Sales increased to EGP 198.9 million during the first half of the current fiscal year, from EGP 185.19 million in the corresponding period in the year before.

May 22, 2018

Telecom Egypt (TE) has signed a $200 million short-term facility with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for capital financing and investments in infrastructure.

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt (ADIB) was the financial advisor for the deal, TE said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Tuesday.

This facility aims to provide cash buffers for working capital and finance investments, TE’s managing director and CEO Ahmed El Beheiry.

Earlier this month, the board of TE had approved to obtain long-term facilities worth $900 million.

On Monday, TE announced that its subsidiary Egyptian International Submarine Cables Co (EISCC) has implemented an agreement to buy Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding’s (OTMT) share in its subsidiary MENA Cable at a value of $90 million.

May 22, 2018

Egyptian exports to the United Kingdom increased by 28.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, according to the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce.

Exports to Britain reached GBP 202 million ($270 million) in the first three months of 2018, compared with GBP 175 million ($234 million) for the same period last year, the Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Thursday.

On the other hand, Egyptian imports from the UK decreased by 4.8% to GBP 245 million from GBP 257 million in Q1-17.

Egypt ranked fourth in African exporters to the UK.

May 27, 2018




Business News Egyptian bourse is expected to end its correction during the last week of May on new market-boosting catalysts, analysts told Mubasher.

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) has maintained its correction at the end of last week amid lower trading volume, analyst Michael Mamdouh Naguib commented, noting that the benchmark EGX30 index could carry on with the correction and target 16,500 points if it tests 16,900 points.

The index has support at 16,570 points, followed by 16,500 and 16,445 points, he indicated, adding the index will see resistance at 16,900 and 17,000 points.

Naguib recommended that investors to trade on stocks when the index is near 16,500 points, particularly the housing sector’s stocks, keeping that level as a stop-loss standstill.

For his part, head of capital market committee at the African Economic Council Ayman Fouda said that the EGX ’s correction may end on Sunday on the back of new catalysts.

The EGX30 has a short-term resistance at 16,750 and 16,900 points, and has support at 16,600 and 16,525, Fouda remarked.

Meanwhile, the small- and mid-cap index EGX70 has a short-term resistance at 862 and 870 points, and support at 850 and 840 points, he added.

Fouda advised traders to observe stocks carefully and get ready to create new purchases near support levels in operative stocks, whose results have been positive.

May 27, 2018

The electricity sector has finished 7 projects with total cost of 353 million Egyptian pounds Qena Governor General Abd El-Hameed El-Haggan stated.

The projects include Connecting and feeding electricity to residential, industrial and agricultural areas.

on the other hand, five other projects are being implemented connecting power supply for residential buildings, industrial zones projects and health units with total cost of 57 million Egyptian pounds.

The government has allocated 741.8 million pounds for water projects, 1.9 billion pounds for waste water treatment projects and 24.3 million pounds for paving 27 km of roads, according to Haggan.

Concerning housing, 5 villages of the Egyptian Desert Hinterland Plan in five cities of Qena, which cost 152 million pounds, were constructed. In addition, 11 projects are running at a cost of 283 million pounds, and 329,5 million pounds for constructing 2,544 housing units, El Haggan added.

May 27, 2018

Egypt-based real estate developer firm Memaar Al Morshedy has launched its residential building Skyline in El Katameya district in New Cairo, chief executive Hassan Morshedy said Thursday.

“Skyline, which is being carried out on a total space of 200,000 square metres, is set to include various spaces ranging between 59 and 132 square metres,” Morshedy stated, adding that the first phase will be delivered within 2022.

Every massive metropolis needs the balance and contrast of a vibrant park space. Once again, Skyline surprises and captivates the client ’s senses with a sprawling park that rivals even Manhattan's Central Park.

May 27, 2018




Business News In an inaugural ceremony on Wednesday, Egypt launched drilling operations on the third phase of the Cairo metro's heavily-commuted third line, which will extend more than 17 km and include 15 stations.

The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Transport Minister Hesham Arafat, Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker and other officials.

According to state-run MENA agency, the metro line's third phase will include eight underground stations, five elevated stations and two at-grade stations.

Drilling commenced at Gamal Abdel Nasser Station following the completion of previous construction work there.

Drilling will also start from Attaba Station and pass underneath 26 July Street and the Nile to Zamalek, Imbaba and finally Boulaq El-Dakrour.

In a statement during the ceremony, chairman of the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) Tarek Gamal El-Din said that the third phase, which will be completed in 72 months, is being executed at a combined cost of 1.53 billion euros and EGP 10.5 billion.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the French Development Agency (AFD) are co-financing the phase three building project with a soft loan of 900 million euros, or about 60 percent of its execution cost, while the rest of the cost is being provided by Egypt's state budget.

The new phase will aim to provide service to three million additional passengers daily.

The Cairo metro, which operates throughout the capital city and surrounding areas and runs both above and below ground at a top speed of 80 kilometres an hour, is one of the area's fastest means of transportation.

First launched in 1987, the metro accomodates more than four million passengers per day.

At a former cost of 1 EGP per ride, it was also the cheapest method of transportation in the greater Cairo area prior to price increases in recent years.

On 11 May, the flat-rate of EGP 2 per ticket was increased to EGP 3, 5, or 7 depending on the number of stops a passenger travels.

According to the Egyptian Transport Ministry, higher fares are necessary to keep the service operating and to finance extensions for the metro.

Cairo's first metro line is now 30 years old and in dire need of EGP 30 billion in renovations, according to the ministry.

May 27, 2018

Highly seen Eng. Moataz Raslan, Head of the Egyptian Canadian Business Council among other similar business groupings expressing strong hopes on the development of economic relations with both Slovakia & Poland. Trade with Poland showed some promising chances in fields related to tourism, mining, technology & furniture. The executive revealed that trade relations between Egypt & Poland has doubled in 2016 to reach $ 1 billion up from $ 500 million in 2015 & projections are promising and worth capitalizing on. As regards Poland, Mr. Raslan noted that bilateral trade exchange with Egypt does not reflect the distinguished relations between both countries, still it reached in 2016 $ 299 million only.

May 27, 2018




Business News Financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt has ramped up to reach EGP 8.5 billion at the end of March 2018, compared to EGP 4.9 billion in 2017; a rise of 91.5 percent.

The country’s Financial Regulatory Authority said that financing for SMEs increased following a decision by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to incentivise banks to finance the booming sector in 2016 in order to create job opportunities and combat poverty.

In 2016, the Central Bank of Egypt explained its plan to motivate banks to participate in a “comprehensive programme” to help finance SMEs to create jobs and support the economy.

The programme involves offering interest rates that do not exceed 5 percent on loans for SMEs.

The SME programme aimed to finance 350,000 companies and create 4 million new job opportunities over a period of four years, according to the CBE.

The loan balances of the SMEs rose to EGP 3.3 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2018, up from EGP 1.2 billion in the same period last year; a rise of 96.7 percent.

The number of enterprise clients also experienced a hike, increasing to 643,000 clients at the end of the first quarter of 2018 from 339,000 at the end of the first quarter of 2017.

The ‘Category A’ loans granted to the enterprises jumped to EGP 4 billion by the end of March 2018, up from EGP 2.8 billion at end of March 2017. Category ‘B’ loans rose to EGP 572 million in end March 2018, from EGP 438 million last year.

According to Al-Ahram, the Egyptian Microfinance Federation expects that financing for SMEs will continue its fast pace in 2018 and 2019, with predictions that the financing in the enterprises will reach EGP 16 billion at a minimum with 4 million clients.

The announcement by the Egyptian Financial Regulatory Authority comes a few weeks after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi promised a five-year tax exemption for SMEs that register their business in the formal economy.

El-Sisi stressed that the informal economy has helped many Egyptians sustain their basic needs.

In 2016, El-Sisi introduced an initiative to provide EGP 200 billion in loans for SMEs through the central bank over four years.

The Egyptian cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, has been discussing legislation focused on offering tax incentives upon registration with the state's tax system.

May 29, 2018




Business News Bahrain lifted on Sunday a ban on imports of fresh guava from Egypt, and will resume imports starting next export season (2018/19), Egypt’s agriculture ministry announced.

Egyptian Agriculture Minister Abdel-Moneim El-Banna said that Bahrain’s Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning has officially informed Egypt that its agriculture affairs committee, which falls under the ministry’s Agriculture and Marine Resources agency, recommended in a meeting last week that the ban be lifted.

El-Banna said that Bahrain’s decision came following talks between Cairo and Manama, where Egypt presented its new regulations and inspection measures to ensure the quality of its agricultural exports.

The Egyptian minister described the lifting of the ban as “a new success for Egypt,” adding that his ministry is continuing to demonstrate to different countries Egypt’s more stringent inspection regulations.

Bahrain is the second Gulf country in recent months, after Saudi Arabia, to announce that it has lifted a ban on specific Egyptian agricultural products.

Egypt has been imposing stricter regulations on agricultural exports, introducing a new system under which crops are inspected several times while in the fields, after harvest, and finally after they are prepared for export.

In April, Saudi Arabia lifted a temporary ban on imports of fresh and frozen guava from Egypt, nearly 75 days after the ban was implemented in January 2018.

The ban on guavas was implemented over what the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) said was the presence of pesticide residue that was higher than the global limit.

Egypt is still in talks with Saudi Arabia to lift a ban on Egyptian strawberries, which was implemented in July 2017.

Around 50 percent of Egyptian agricultural exports are to Arab countries, amounting to 1.8 million tonnes of product worth $1 billion annually.

Egypt recorded a 13.9 percent increase in its exports of agricultural products during the first nine months of 2017, with the total amount of exports reaching 4.1 million tonnes compared to 3.6 million the year before, according to official data

May 29, 2018

Egypt’s property developer Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMGH) plans to start developing a project in the state's New Administrative Capital City, 40km (24.8 miles) east of Cairo after Eid al-Fitr, its chief executive Hisham Talaat Moustafa said Monday. The Cairo-based real estate development company attained around 500 feddans in the new capital, at a total value worth 4.4 billion Egyptian pounds ($245.2 million), Moustafa further added.

The company is currently studying the new project with the Egyptian government and is set to reveal it within the next five and six months, according to the business tycoon.

"TMG’s total investments are estimated at 35 billion pounds in the new capital," Moustafa noted.

Moreover, the Egyptian property giant has denied suspending negotiations with the Saudi housing ministry over a housing project in the Kingdom.

May 29, 2018




Business News Credit Agricole Egypt said that the volume of mortgage funding has increased to 250 million Egyptian pounds by the end of the first quarter of 2018 compared to 150 million pounds in the same period last year.

A source with knowledge told Amwal Al Ghad that the bank is studying the possibility of participating in the central bank of Egypt mortgage initiative after signing an agreement with Mortgage Finance Fund to finance the social housing units.

On the other hand, the total value banks' funds as part of CBE initiative has registered 13 billion Egyptian pounds, with target to reach 20 billion Egyptian pounds

The personal loans portfolio has posted 7 billion Egyptian pounds by the end if the first quarter compared to 6.4 billion pounds by the end of 2017.

May 29, 2018

EFG Hermes plans to take over more than 30 schools over the next five years, Karim Moussa, head of Asset Management and Private Equity at EFG Hermes, has said.

The leading Egyptian investment bank is also looking to invest about $300 million in Egypt’s education sector in the coming five years, Moussa added on the sidelines of a press conference on Monday.

The first phase will include managing and operating four schools, three schools are located in Madinaty and a school in El Rehab.

On a side note, Managing director of TMG Holding Hisham Talaat Moustafa has noted that the partnership with EFG Hermes and the Emirati provider of education services GEMS Education aims at developing education in Egypt.

Earlier on Monday, EFG Hermes announced signing a deal with TMG Holding to purchase a portfolio of elementary schools in Madinaty and El Rehab with nearly EGP 1 billion in investments.

May 29, 2018

Suez Canal revenues increasing during April 2018 to reach 479.3 million. That compares with was reported by Reuter indicating the figure compares with $ 463.9 million reached in March 2018. Reuter now considers the sea freight via the Suez Canal if the fastest mean to transport goods between Europe & Asia and as such a major source of foreign currency to the Egyptian currency together with Egyptian expatriates transfers & Egyptian Exports.

May 23, 2018

Egypt's external debt recorded $82.9 billion at the end of 2017, up from $80.8 billion in the third quarter of the year, which ended in September 2017, the Central Bank said in a statement on Wednesday.Debt owed to foreign institutions rose by 10 percent to $26 billion by end of the 2017, compared to $23.4 billion in September.

External debt per capita rose by 2.5 percent to $790.8, up from $771.2 in September.

Paris Club debt rose to $4.1 billion in December 2017, up from $3.8 billion in September, the CBE said.

External debt mainly consists of medium-term and long-term debt, which rose by 4.4 percent to $71.8 billion at the end of 2017, compared to $68.8 billion September.

It is worth noting that medium-term and long-term debt represented 86.6 percent of external debt at the end of 2017, up from 85.1 percent in September.

As for short-term debt, it decreased to $11.1 billion, down from $12.1 billion in September 2017.

Short-term debt represented 30.1 percent of net international reserves by year-end, compared to 33 percent at the end of September.

The CBE had repaid external debt worth $6.4 billion by the end of 2017, compared to $1.2 billion at the end of September.

Egypt's foreign reserves climbed to $44 billion at the end of April, up from $42.6 billion at the end of March.

May 31, 2018




Business News The Egyptian Ministry of Housing signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese state-owned construction company CGCOC Group to plan and develop an industrial zone in New Alamein City, the ministry announced in a statement.

The ministry said that this represents the founding of New Alamein as a new commercial and administrative capital for the North Coast, where residents can live all-year long, the statement said.

"The MoU is a step forward in terms of economic and industrial relations between Egypt and China," said Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The New Alamein industrial zone is set to follow a green, sustainable model by using renewable energy and water desalination plants.

The zone is also set to follow an industrial-agricultural model, as desert will turn into cultivated land, the agricultural products from which will be used in the industrial complex.

The ministry's New Urban Communities Authority has approved the allocation of land plots to investors for the establishment of the industrial zone, according to the statement.

CGCOC is one of the top 100 largest contractors working on international projects, as per the Engineering News Record ranking.

May 31, 2018




Business News Egyptian and British officials have discussed the future growth of trade and investment ties between the two countries in the wake of Brexit, the British embassy said on Wednesday.

According to an embassy press release, Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Tarek Kabil met with the UK’s Minister of Investment Stuart to discuss avoiding any disruption of the trade between both countries when the UK leaves the EU in 2019.

The two ministers also discussed the Egyptian economy and UK investments in Egypt.

Kabil and Graham praised the agreement reached between the EU and UK at the March European Council by which the UK is to be treated as a member state for the purposes of international agreements during the EU-UK Implementation Period (1 April 2019 to 31 December 2020).

The agreement provides further certainty to both British and Egyptian traders that there will be no disruption to the existing trading relationship during the implementation period, the statement said.

Both ministers welcomed the significant progress made so far in discussions to ensure continuity of the EU-Egyptian Association Agreement, which facilities almost £3 billion in trade between the two countries.

"We appreciate the efforts and cooperation of UK officials with their Egyptian counterparts, to ensure not only continuity and certainty on current Egypt-UK trade arrangements, but that those principles form the basis of a future bilateral Egypt-UK economic relationship under a new, independent UK trade policy," Kabil said.

He added that Egypt will "thrive for tighter relationship with the UK while maintaining its excellent relations with the EU and its member states."

Stuart said he was delighted to discuss the economic partnership between the UK and Egypt, adding that the trade relationship continues to go from strength to strength, with the total trade between the two countries growing by nearly 6 percent between 2015 and 2016.

"As we leave the EU and create a new independent UK trade policy, we will build further on our £3 billion of annual trade with Egypt, and continue to work closely together to champion free trade," he said.

The UK is the largest foreign investor in Egypt, with British investments in the country amounting to $30.5 billion since 2011, according to Egypt's State Information Service website.

Last week, Kabil said the UK has investments of $5.6 billion through 1,450 companies operating in Egypt.

May 31, 2018

The deputy chairman of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) has negated reports of receiving $200 million from the African Export–Import Bank to finance small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Yehia Aboul Fotouh told Mubasher on Wednesday that the bank is not looking forward to any finances or agreements with the African bank.

It was reported on Sunday that NBE received a three-year $200 million loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afrexinbank).

May 31, 2018

The Egyptian government has approved a loan from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) to enhance the electric grid, according to the minister of electricity Mohamed Shaker.

The KWD 60 million ($198 million) loan has a grace period of four years, and will be repaid over a period of 26 years.

The minister noted that plans to improve the national grid include investments of up to EGP 25 billion over the next two years.

May 31, 2018




Business News Egypt’s exports of building materials jumped 10 percent in the first four months of 2018, recording $2.05 billion, compared to $1.8 billion in the same period of 2017, according to the Export Council for Building Materials (ECBM).

The council said in its monthly report that metal exports jumped 11 percent from January to April, recording $1.6 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in 2017.

The report said that iron exports rose 17 percent to reach $370 million in the first four months of the current year.

Cement exports also climbed 13 percent to record $35 million, compared to $31 million in the first four months of 2017.

According to the report, ceramic exports recorded $55 million in the first four of 2018, up from $43 million in the same period of 2017 – an increase of 26 percent.

Exports of jewelry and precious stones fell to $909 million, compared to $915 million in the same period last year.

In the first quarter of 2018, Egypt’s exports of building materials increased 7 percent, recording $1.5 billion, compared to $1.4 billion in the same period of 2017.

In 2017, building materials’ exports recorded $5.08 billion, and the council is targeting to raise this amount to $5.6 billion in 2018, with a 10-percent increase.

Generally, Egyptian goods became attractive to foreign markets after the flotation of the state’s currency in November 2016, losing 50 percent of its value, which is reflected on the increased exports.

Egypt also benefits from the trade agreement that came into action lately, reflecting the rising volume of its exports. The state is involved in international trade deals such as the Mercosur Agreement, which is a free-trade agreement signed by Egypt and Mercosur countries in 2010, including immediate customs clearance for 63 percent of the exports of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay going to Egypt.

The Mercosur trade deal covers food, cars, auto parts and industrial supplies, and was signed by Egypt and Mercosur members in 2010, but only came into force in 2017.

Another trade agreement that Egypt is attached to is the deal with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which represents a free-trade area with 19 member states, stretching from Libya to Swaziland. COMESA was formed in December 1994 to replace the Preferential Trade Area, which had existed since 1981.

May 31, 2018

The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (MSMEDA) has pumped 1.3 billion Egyptian pounds to execute many projects in first quarter of 2018, representing, head of the authority Nevine Gamea.

She told Amwal Al Ghad that MSMEDA seeks increase its small and medium enterprises funds to more than 5 billion Egyptian pounds by the end of 2018.

She added that MSMEDA has expanded the provision of non-financial services that aims at helping projects’ owners to develop their products and boost production.

The authority has also trained 27,000 youth on various crafts to enable them to join the workforce, Game’ said.

She further noted that the authority is waiting for the law to be modified so as to start in funding SMEs that would result in a significant leap in this leap.

She further said that MSMEDA is giving due concern to developing and supporting the industrial sector, saying that financing industrial SMEs has increased in 2017 by 11 percent for existing projects and by 40 percent for new ones.

Game’ said that the MSMEDA has financed 224,000 micro and small projects with some 4.5 billion pounds in 2017, providing around 305,000 jobs. This is in addition to 321 million pounds to finance community services and infrastructure projects, creating 33,000 job opportunities

May 31, 2018




Business News More than 85 percent of Egypt's ongoing economic reform programme has been put into effect so far, newly-appointed Finance Minister Mohamed Maeet said in an interview with Al-Ahram Arabic newspaper hours before his swearing in to the new cabinet on Thursday.

In the lengthy interview, Minister Maeet spoke about a number of issues including price hikes and his goals to make government subsidies available to those citizens who deserve it.

Asked about the ongoing reforms, Maeet said that the benefits include new job opportunities, increasing production rates, maintaining reserves and reducing the budget deficit and borrowing.

"We aim to create more job opportunities; we also aim to make foreign currency available while decreasing the inflation rates," said Maeet, adding, "We cannot deny that the Egyptian citizens have been suffering from the economic situation."

The minister also pointed out that recent salary raises for government employees were aimed at alleviating the burden of the new price hikes.

"We are aware of the price hikes, which are what urged us to bring in an increase in [government] salaries greater than those introduced last year," said the minister.

Referring to fuel subsidy cuts, Maeet said, "I want Egyptian citizens to think fairly about whether state subsidies should be directed towards education, health and building social housing instead of slums and filling petrol tanks."

"It is not the responsibility of the state to fill car tanks with gasoline," says Maeet.

Maeet explained that the real support should be directed to medical services in hospitals and better salaries for teachers.

During the interview the minister also highlighted the importance of transforming the subsidies system into cash subsidies to be paid directly to citizens who truly deserve them.

"I believe that each citizen should own his or her own personal account where the cash subsidies can be deposited, but this is still being studied by the government. We are still currently in the reform phase," he said.

Concerning pensions in the new fiscal year, Maeet stated that he expected EGP 69 billion to be allocated to pensions.

"Pensions will increase by 15 percent, which will cost the state's budget EGP 28 billion," he explained.

During the interview, the minister said the floation of Egypt's currency in November 2016 will reduce production rates.

He also highlighted that the Egyptian government has been bearing the costs of insurances and pensions for the past 40 years.

Being asked about social security measures that the state will be taking to support those in need, the minister said that most state employees will receive a minimum increase of EGP 265, whereas fifth and sixth-tier employees will receive an increase of EGP 200.

He also noted that pensions are set to increase by 15 percent.

"For pensions, we started with three procedures, starting with the 15 percent increase like last year, but we also raised the minimum from 125 to 150 pounds for the increasing value and raised the minimum pension from 500 to 750," said Maeet.

Jun 20, 2018




Business News Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, agreed to supply Egyptian refineries with crude oil for another six months from July, Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla said on Tuesday.

Aramco would supply 500,000 to one million barrels per month, it said.

The oil giant began supplying Egyptian refineries in January for an initial six months.

Jun 20, 2018

Fresh Electric Company for Home Appliances is looking to list a 20% stake on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in the coming period.

The Egypt-based firm also plans to raise production capacity of semi-automatic washing machines by 25%, in addition to raising output capacity of stoves and washing machines, an official in the company told local newspaper Alborsa.

He further noted that the company is producing 5 million fans, 1.5 million semi-automatic washing machines, and 1 million stoves per year. Fresh plans to increase sales to EGP 7 billion during the current year, the official said.

The Egyptian firm for home appliances is exporting 50% of its products to 52 countries, including 22 Arab nations.

Jun 20, 2018

Egypt will receive the fourth tranche of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme next July, finance minister Mohammed Maait said.

The fourth tranche will be added to the Arab nation's foreign reserves at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) that will provide the equivalent in the Egyptian pound, Al Masry Al Youm reported, citing the minister.

The recently formed Cabinet has not submitted any requests to the IMF regarding the extension of Egypt’s economic reform programme, set to end 2019, or obtaining another loan, according to a reliable source.

The reform programme will be subjected for two reviews scheduled in December 2018 and June 2019, a source at the IMF who declined to mention his name said.

It is worth noting that the IMF’s executive directors will vote on the third review for the Egyptian economic reform programme, upon which the North African nation will get the fourth $2 billion tranche.

Jun 20, 2018

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a loan of EUR 200 million to develop Cairo Metro Line 1, The Assistant Minister of Transport Amr Shaat said.

The ministry of transportation has approached banks and European institutions such as French Development Agency to provide the rest of the targeted funds to upgrade the Metro Line 1

He told Amwal Al Ghad that ERBD is set to explore the decision of extending the targeted funds to upgrade the Metro Line 1 on the 18th of June so as to grant it to the ministry of transportation during the next two months.

Developing infrastructure of Cairo Metro Line 1 will reduce the minimum time between trains, increase capacity by introducing the cutting-edge technology of signalling system, and provide safe, reliable and eco-friendly transport system for more than 2 million passengers per day.

Jun 20, 2018




Business News European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has approved a loan of EUR 200 million to develop Cairo Metro Line 1, The Assistant Minister of Transport Amr Shaat said.

The ministry of transportation has approached banks and European institutions such as French Development Agency to provide the rest of the targeted funds to upgrade the Metro Line 1

He told Amwal Al Ghad that ERBD is set to explore the decision of extending the targeted funds to upgrade the Metro Line 1 on the 18th of June so as to grant it to the ministry of transportation during the next two months.

Developing infrastructure of Cairo Metro Line 1 will reduce the minimum time between trains, increase capacity by introducing the cutting-edge technology of signalling system, and provide safe, reliable and eco-friendly transport system for more than 2 million passengers per day.

Jun 20, 2018

The value of Egypt’s top 20 food exports registered $286 million in April, the General Organisation for Export and Import Control (GOEIC) said in a statement Wednesday.

The Egyptian foodstuff exports during this month were topped by fresh oranges, fresh potatoes, frozen strawberries, and heat-processed cheese.

These foodstuffs have constituted 59.3 percent of the total value of Egypt’s food and agricultural exports during April, which recorded $482 million.

Jun 07, 2018

Trade exchange between Egypt and Russia hiked 75% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2018, registering more than $1.66 billion in the three-month period ended March 2018.

Russian exports to Egypt recorded $1.472 billion in Q1-18, while Egyptian exports to Russia went up $192 million in the same period, acting Russian trade representative in Cairo Nikolai Aslanov told state-run news agency MENA.

Moscow’s wheat exports to Cairo reached $501 million, accounting for 34% of total Russian exports to the North African nation, Aslanov added.

Egypt’s fruit exports to Russia totalled $103 million in January to March peropd of 2018, representing 54% of Egypt’s total exports to Russia, while vegetables reached $60 million.

Jun 07, 2018

The Grand Egyptian Museum is set to open its doors this years, and it is set to become the biggest museum devoted to a single civilization in the world.

Around 5,000 construction workers are working around the clock to finish the huge project near the Giza Pyramids, CNN reports.

"All means of modern technology have been taken into consideration in order to make this an unforgettable experience for the visitor, but at the same time provide the best possible environment for the artifacts,” said director general Tarek Tawfik.

The colossus of Ramses II, and the treasures of Tutankhamun will be displayed in the 5.2-million-square-foot project, which costs more than $1 billion.

A pair of 3,500-year old sandals from Tutankhamun's tomb, stand out among the artifacts that were restored by Egyptian experts, alongside other monuments that the world has never seen before.

Jun 07, 2018

The chairman of EgyptAir, Safwat Musallam, revealed that a total of 19 extra charter flights has been launched to transport 3,000 Egyptians to support the national football team in the 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.

Musallam said on Wednesday that the trips to Russia will begin on 10 June, with the return date set on 28 June, as reported by the Middle East News Agency (MENA).

Flights will be run three times a week on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

Jun 07, 2018




Business News 70 vessels have crossed the Suez Canal on June 6, 2018 from both sides carrying 4.5 million tons of petroleum, containers & cargo. That was reported in the media quoting General Mohab Mamish, Chairman if the SCA - Suez Canal Authority & its Economic Zone. New in the statement of Mr. Mamish was the admission that 7 of the crossing vessels were of 150,000 tons + capacity each.

May 31, 2018

Egypt external foreign indebtedness by the end of 2017 put $ 82.9 billion. That was reported in the media quoting data of the Central Bank of Egypt marking $ 3.9 billion crease (4.9 %) above its level six months ago, or June 30, 2017. The bank has further revealed that foreign debt service during the second half of 2017 reached $ 8.6 billion. The Bank has also noted that foreign debts (by end of the year) represented 36.1 % of the GDP considered on the safe limits according international standards.

May 31, 2018

Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation fell by 11.4 percent in May, down from 13.1 percent in April, the official statistics agency CAPMAS said on Sunday.

Inflation surged in 2017 on the back of economic reforms tied to a $12 billion IMF loan programme Egypt signed in late 2016 that includes deep cuts to energy subsidies and tax hikes.

Jun 10, 2018

Egypt’s main stock index EGX 30 tumbled 3 percent in a week as authorities started last week applying the second stage of stamp duty on bourse transactions.

The second stage of stamp duty has been applied on the Egyptian Exchange’s (EGX) transactions starting June 1.The duty has been raised to 1.5 pounds per 1,000 from 1.25 pounds per 1,000 during the first stage.

In 2017, Egyptian Cabinet also approved a stamp duty on stock exchange transactions for both buyers and sellers set at 1.25 pounds per 1,000 for the first year of the tax’s introduction, rising to 1.5 pounds in the second year and 1.75 pounds in the third.It also imposes a levy of 3 pounds per 1,000 for investors buying or selling more than one third of a company’s stocks.

Market Capitalization:

The country’s stock market recorded weekly losses worth 27.6 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.5 billion), closing at 902.77 billion pounds during the closing session of Thursday, down from 930.397 billion pounds at the end of a week earlier.Indices

In addition, the mid- and small-cap index, the EGX70 also sank by 5.7 percent in a week closing at 795 points during Thursday’s session, compared to 843 points a week earlier.

Turnovers

During the week, the trading volume hit around 774 million securities, compared to 948 million. For the traded value, it fell 41 percent to record around 5 billion pounds against 8.6 billion pounds a week earlier.

The stamp duty law issued by Law No. 111 of 1980 stipulates that “a stamp duty shall be levied on the total value of purchases or sales of securities of all types, whether Egyptian or foreign securities, listed or unlisted on the stock exchange without deduction of any costs.”

The stamp duty was applied in June 2017 after President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi had ratified its draft law.

Jun 10, 2018

Egypt’s state-run Industrial Development and Workers Bank (IDWBE) says it is solely financing the country’s anticipated agricultural-focused commodities trading exchange, the first of its kind in the Middle East.

The bank is securing a financing of up to 132 million Egyptian pounds ($7.4 million) for the new bourse, which will be built over 57 feddans in Badr city of Beheira governorate, IDWBE chairman Maged Fahmy said Thursday.

Egypt announced plans to set up a global commodities center in 2014, but gave few details at the time.

The latest plan envisions a bourse that will begin with two commodities, vegetables and fruits, Fahmy told Amwal Al Ghad, saying it would save 70 percent of the market needs and lower the prices by 50 percent.

Jun 10, 2018




Business News Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD) will repay an EGP 1 billion loan for the Commercial International Bank (CIB) to finance T-Zone in two years and nine months.

The property company will settle the loan from the project’s cash flows after the grace period ends and the completion of the project, MNHD said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Sunday.

Last Wednesday, the real estate developer had signed an EGP 1 billion financing contract with the CIB.

The board of MNHD had approved to obtain a medium-term loan worth EGP 1 billion from the CIB to finance two projects.

MNHD is developing five main projects in Cairo, including over 10,000 residential units of different designs.

Jun 10, 2018

Madinet Nasr Housing and Development (MNHD) on Sunday announced it is considering the securitization of the first phase of Taj City and Taj Sultan.

The idea is still under study as the securitization is deemed as a good source of financing and it costs lower than the bank financing, MNHD said in a filing to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

As for the mutual coordination between MNHD and Sixth of October for Development and Investment (SODIC), the company indicated that a final report to set the optimum choices for both firms has not completed yet, upon which they will announce their partnership.

In a related note, MNHD noted that it aims to deliver around 1,300 units this year, pointing out it has sold over 1,000 units, including 5,200 units in Taj City, 390 in Primera, and 100 units in 6 October.

Jun 10, 2018

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 16 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).






Jun 10, 2018

The Egyptian Exchange (EGX) opened Sunday’s trading session up on the back of Arab buying.

By 10:26 am Cairo time, the benchmark EGX30 index edged up 97.55 points, or 0.61%, to 16,021 points.

The EGX70 index inched up 0.22% to 796.26 points, while the EGX100 index added 0.41% to 2,046 points.

The equal-weighted EGX50 index went up 0.63% to 2,676 points.

The bourse's trading volume reached around 7.5 million shares exchanged at a turnover of EGP 28.3 million through 1,050 transactions.

Arab investors were net buyers with EGP 591,900, while foreign and Egyptian investors were net sellers with EGP 400,600 and EGP 191,300, respectively.

The heavyweight Commercial International Bank (CIB) went up 0.47% to EGP 86.

Jun 10, 2018




Business News Marseilia for Real Estate Investment is planning to execute EGP 20 billion in projects in Cairo and Alexandria within five years, a top official has said.

The Egyptian company has submitted a request to the Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company to acquire 100 feddans to build a residential project, but the request is still pending, Marseilia Group’s chairman Sherif Heliw told Mubasher on the sidelines of the company's sohour event.

Marseilia posted a 72% year-on-year decline in its net profit during the first quarter of 2018, recording EGP 1.03 million.

Jun 12, 2018




Business News Governor of Egypt’s Central Bank (ECB) Tarek Amer conveyed Egypt’s intention to implement serious steps to strengthen cooperation between African states.

Speaking on behalf of Egypt’s government and President during the annual meeting of the African Development Bank on Monday in Busan, South Korea, Amer added that Egypt intented to join in the efforts of funding institutions and regulatory authorities.

Amer said the meeting was an important chance for the African Development Bank to represent the African continent, in cooperation with a major Asian country in possession of remarkable economic experience.

Amer called Egypt’s participation in the meeting a significant chance to broaden economic understanding, and a sign that Africa has already begun to listen and learn from those with leading economic experience to maximize the potential of economic development for all African people and countries.

Amer also signaled the importance of financial technology as an essential measure to achieve financial inclusion, stating that Egypt and the ECB are ready to take strong steps in this direction.

He added that he spoke with President of African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina about ways of implementing structural reform in African countries.

The talks with Adesina focused on good governance as a key component in aiding African institutions to improve their readiness to deal with foreign and domestic investments, and to counter bureaucracy.

Amer also highlighted the importance of combating corruption in Africa to remove obstacles standing in the way of business and the achievement of economic development.

Amer said that improving the business climate requires basic structural reform.

“We in Egypt take this issue very seriously, especially since we were able to accomplish the first phase of our economic reform program and our monetary policy, following the liberalization of the exchange rate by the ECB in November 2016,” Amer said.

Egypt also addressed serious fiscal imbalances in coordination and cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to confirm its commitment to the implementation of the country’s reform program, according to Amer.

”We have taken positive steps to address macro-economic imbalances in Egypt; our economic performance indicators have improved beyond expectations and encouraged Egyptian policymakers to take further steps towards economic reform,” Amer affirmed.

“We’ve made substantial progress to educate our society, and succeeded in demonstrating the importance of action. We are continuing to move the economy and our people on to an unprecedented stance, which would not have been achievable without courageous leadership and political will,” he added.

Amer also said that the decision to liberalize the exchange rate was one of the greatest and most courageous economic decisions taken, leading to the improvement of Egypt’s current account by 64 percent in one year, the increase of foreign exchange reserves to cover nine months of imports, a three percent fall in unemployment, and the easing of inflation from 33 percent to 13 percent.

“These indicators confirm the remarkable progress of the Egyptian economy, with economic growth up to 5.3 percent in the last quarter of 2017′, Amer concluded.

Jun 12, 2018




Business News The volume of currency issuance increased to 75 billion at the end of January 2018, reaching 444 billion pounds from 369 billion pounds in June 2016, according to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

Regarding the issuance of a 500 pounds banknote, banking sources said that there is no intention to issue a 500 pounds banknote, stressing that the issuance of new banknotes is subjected to complex economic equations and strict international security standards.

The sources added that the current situation of the Egyptian economy, which witnessed a remarkable recovery in terms of macro indicators, which include growth rate of more than five percent, and the decrease of inflation rate to 11 percent in May 2018, prevents the issuance of a 500 pounds banknote during the current period.

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said Sunday annual consumer price inflation slipped to 11.4 percent in May 2018, from 13.1 percent in the previous month.

Minister of Planning Hala el-Saeed said earlier that Egypt recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) of 5.4 percent during the third quarter of fiscal year 2017/2018.

200 pounds banknote is the largest cash category issued in Egypt since May 2007.

In January 2017, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) issued 100 million pounds of the one pounds banknote and 100 million pounds of the 50 piasters banknote, with the same specifications currently traded with the currencies through banks.

Local categories of banknotes consist of 25 piasters, 50 piaster, one, five, ten, 20, 50, 100, and 200 Egyptian pounds.

Jun 14, 2018

Around nine Egyptian startups will be attending the London Tech Week, one of Europe’s biggest technology and innovation events, British ambassador to Egypt John Casson announced Tuesday.

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Jun 13, 2018“We’re helping 9 Egyptian startups attend the (London Tech Week) … We aim to connect these inspiring Egyptians with international investors & open doors to new markets.” Casson said in a twitter post.

Next week is London Tech Week 2018 in which the city will host over 200 events and welcome over 50,000 entrepreneurs, investors, and tech leaders. It is Europe’s largest tech festival brings together domestic and international tech specialists and enthusiasts from around the globe to London for a variety of networking, social, learning, and business opportunities.

Jun 14, 2018

Egyptian state-owned Misr Insurance Holding is expected to hold before the end of this year an initial public offering (IPO) for its unit Misr Insurance, minister for public enterprise Khaled Badawi said on Monday.

Listing Misr Insurance comes as part of the government programme to IPO list of state enterprises in coming years to boost public finances and draw more investors to the Cairo stock exchange. The list includes some companies already traded on the exchange and others that will hold an initial public offering.The last time state-owned companies were listed on the exchange was in 2005 when shares of Telecom Egypt, the state’s landline monopoly, and oil companies Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals and AMOC were floated.

Jun 14, 2018




Business News State-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) has completed a $900 million syndicated loan, banking sources close to the matter said.The debt facility, guaranteed by the Ministry of Finance, was coordinated by Credit Suisse and HSBC. It was marketed to other banks at around $700 million but given banks’ oversubscription the size has been raised to $900 million, bankers said.

EEHC, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has offered lenders a margin interest and bank fees of more than 500 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the bankers said.

The debt facility, signed on Tuesday, is one of a few debt transactions currently in the market, demonstrating banks ’ increased interest in Egypt, where business conditions are slowly improving under a three-year IMF loan programme tied to fiscal and economic reforms.

Other deals include a $600 million loan for National Bank of Egypt (NBE), arranged by a group of lenders comprising NBE, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, Emirates NBD, Bank ABC, Rakbank and Commercial Bank of Qatar. The loan is now being syndicated to a larger group of banks.

Banque Misr, the country’s second largest bank, will follow with a $500 million loan coordinated by Citigroup, sources told Reuters.

EEHC is not new to the international loan market. In 2015 it raised a $521 million loan provided by a group of Egyptian banks and National Bank of Abu Dhabi – now First Abu Dhabi Bank.

The following year, the utility borrowed 3.5 billion euros through a debt facility backed by export credit agencies for the construction of three gas-fired power plants.

For those projects, worth 6 billion euros, it also raised a $1.2 billion loan with local banks.

Jun 14, 2018

Egypt has been ranked the 16th safest country out of 135 countries, outranking both the UK and the US, and the safest in Africa during 2017.

Egypt scored 88 out of 100 in the Gallup Global Law and Order’s survey for 2018, which places it on the same level as countries such as Denmark, Slovenia and China, the London-based BBC News reported.

The results of the survey were based on people’s confidence in local police, safety when they walk alone on streets at night, and if they faced cases of theft or assault within the past 12 months.

The top five safest countries were Singapore, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Uzbekistan, while the five least safe countries were Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Gabon, and Liberia, according to the annual Gallup Global Law and Order.

Jun 14, 2018

Egypt's Minister of Trade & Industry reconfirming UK investments in Egypt now put at $ 5.6 million divided on 145 UK companies. That was repeatedly announced by the Egyptian official & reported in the Media stressing Egypt is keen to maintain distinguished bilateral relations with the UK even after departing the EU next year. Meanwhile the Egyptian Minister disclosed that bilateral foreign trade volume between both countries in 2017 reached Stg. 1.86 billion & during the first quarter of 2018 about Stg. 447 million. It is regretted that no mention was given to progress achieved on the tourist front.

May 31, 2018

58 vessels crossing on May 30, 2018 the Suez Canal from both sides with total loads put at 4.8 million tons. That was announced by General Mohab Mamish, President of the Suez Canal Authority, indicated the figure included 12 vessels of 150,000 tons + total load each which crossed the new canal from the north at zero waiting time. According to Mr. Tarek Hassanein, Speaker of the Suez Canal Authority, the data shows the increase of canal crossing vessels & reduced crossing time.

May 31, 2018




Business News The Egyptian government ratified on Wednesday a framework agreement between the National Authority for Military Production and Chinese company GCL to build a solar panels manufacturing complex in Aswan with a manufacturing capacity of 5 GW, according to a cabinet statement.

The project is expected to cost $2-$3 billion, Minister of Military Production Mohamed El-Assar said at a press conference, according to Al-Ahram's agriculture portal.

"The Egyptian sand that will be used in the project is considered to be among the best worldwide," El-Assar said.

Implementation is set to begin this year and production is expected to start by 2019, to reach full capacity in 2022, El-Assar added.

The Egyptian government targets sourcing 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2022.

The project also aims to export panels to Arab and African countries, the minister said.

Egypt is responsible for allocating the land and issuing the necessary permits, while the Chinese side will draft the project's blueprints and offer equipment and technical supervision, the minister said.

Feasibility studies for the project are currently being reviewed, the cabinet statement read.

Solar panels are typically made of sand that has been refined into pure silicon.

Wafers of silicon are then used to convert sunlight into electricity.

Aswan witnessed the inauguration of the first phase of its 1.8 GW Benban solar park in March of this year.

Jun 03, 2018

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail signed off Saturday to raise drinking water and sewage fees starting this month by as much as 50 percent for consumers of all consumption tier, according to the Official Gazette.

The new prices for residential use range between 0.65 Egyptian pounds to 2.25 pounds per cubic metre, depending on consumption.

Sewage fees, which are calculated as a percentage of water prices, hiked to 75 percent of the water price.

Jun 03, 2018

Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group is looking to set up a new project in Egypt for manufacturing and exporting electrical components to major global companies.

This came on the sidelines of a meeting held by Egyptian trade minister Tarek Kabil with a delegation of the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant, headed by its deputy CEO Wei-Shin Chang.

Foxconn Group’s projects in the Egyptian market are coinciding with the ministry’s current strategy to develop the engineering industry sector and turn Egypt into an electronics production and export hub to serve the Middle East and African markets, Amwal Al Ghad reported, citing the minister.

For his part, CEO of Foxconn Group Wei-Shin Chang said the company’s investments in Egypt were based on the positive developments in the Egyptian economy over the past period.

It is worth noting that the Taiwanese group has implemented megaprojects in China, Taiwan, Australia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary, Mexico, Slovakia, Turkey and the US.

Jun 03, 2018




Business News The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will issue treasury bills (T-bills) worth EGP 16 billion on Sunday on behalf of the Ministry of Finance (MOF).






Jun 03, 2018

Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said on Monday that the country’s public treasury will spend over EGP 60 billion to increase pensions and basic salaries for state employees.

In official statements reported by the state-owned MENA news agency, Ismail said the raise came upon orders from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who is focused on improving the conditions of citizens, especially low-income individuals, while expanding the country’s social safety net.

Since Egypt has been introducing economic reforms over the past few years, El-Sisi has directed the government to strengthen social protection for the poor and other vulnerable groups.

The new raise will be implemented starting July with the advent of fiscal year 2018/19, and after the budget is ratified by parliament.

The raise in pensions will cost around EGP 27 billion and will benefit 9 million people, while the additional raise for state employees will include around six million public servants, according to Ismail.

Earlier on Monday, Egypt’s parliament voted in favour of granting an additional increase in pensions and basic salaries for state employees.

The law passed by parliament mandates a 15 percent increase in pensions for state employees to be added to their basic pensions as of 30 June 2018, and an increase of the minimum pension to EGP 750 per month.

The second article stipulates that state employees at the government's administrative apparatus who are subject to the Civil Service Law of 2016 are to receive a 7 percent annual raise and an additional irregular raise of 10 percent on their basic salary.

Jun 05, 2018




Business News Cairo said on Sunday that US oil company Apache has expressed interest in expanding its activities and investments in Egypt, "breaking new ground" for cooperation with the Egyptian petroleum sector.

In an official statement, Egypt’s petroleum and mineral resources ministry said minister Tarek El-Molla met with a delegation from the American company, where they discussed work underway at the company’s concessions in the Western Desert.

Both sides discussed the company’s intensive work pursuing oil discoveries in the West Kalabsha and West Kanayes concessions, after a trial of advanced seismic surveys in the areas succeeded.

The drilling programme in eastern Bahariya in the Western Desert, where drilling will start during the third quarter of the current year, was also discussed.

According to the statement, production from eastern Bahariya is predicted to start six months after drilling operations.

Apache also expressed their interest in Egypt’s international major tender for oil and gas exploration, specifically in bidding on 11 blocs, including five in the Western Desert.

In May Egypt announced it will launch two international bid rounds for oil and gas exploration in 2018.

One bid round will cover 16 concession areas, mostly in the Mediterranean Sea, under state buyer EGAS, in its largest ever bid round.

The other auction will cover 11 concession areas under the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC).

Egypt has been seeking to speed up production from recently discovered fields, with an eye to halting imports by the end of 2018 and achieving self-sufficiency.

The Zohr field, discovered by Italian giant Eni and deemed the largest natural gas discovery ever made in the Mediterranean Sea, is located off Egypt's northern coast, within the Shorouk block, some 190 km north of Port Said.

The field was discovered in August 2015; production began in December 2017 with a time-to-market of 2.3 years.

The mammoth gas field is set to transform Egypt's liquid natural gas (LNG) industry, ending Egypt's importation of the product.

In May, Eni announced the start-up of the third production unit (T-2) of the Zohr field project, increasing its functional capacity to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d).

Jun 05, 2018

Egypt’s state-owned Misr Insurance Holding is expected to hold next year an initial public offering for a stake of 15-30 percent of its life unit Misr Life.

Although no final decision on the amount of the anticipated share sale has been taken, the company is expected to complete the assessment process soon, Misr Life ’s chief executive Ahmed Abdel Aziz said.

Misr Insurance Holding’s general assembly voted late May to list its life and non-life insurance units Misr Insurance Company and Misr Life Insurance Company on Cairo stock exchange.

Jun 05, 2018

Egypt’s net foreign reserves surged to $44.139 billion at the end of May from $44.029 billion at the end of April, the central bank announced Monday.

Egypt’s foreign reserves have been climbing since it secured a $12 billion, three-year International Monetary Fund loan programme in November 2016 as part of efforts to woo foreign investors and revive its ailing economy.

Since then, the surge in reserves was coupled with growth in Egypt’s external debt, as the country borrowed from international bond markets, friendly nations and international financial institutions. Officials have pointed to the rebound in tourism revenue, remittances from Egyptians abroad and a decline in the trade deficit to signal that economic reforms are bearing fruit

Jun 05, 2018




Business News Saudi-based Construction Products Holding Company (CPC), the Industrial arm of Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), is set to establish the second phase of the small and medium enterprises complex in its industrial zone in Sadat City in September.

The company’s general manager Mohamed El Yafi told Amwal Al Ghad that the second phase include establishing 30 plants for SMEs with total cost of 100 million Egyptian pounds.

He added that it will offer the new phase up for investors in order to sign the new plants’ contracts in conjunction with the construction operations of the project, noting that the project comes on top of a group of projects that the company is implementing during the coming period.

Jun 05, 2018

Al Gioshy Steel plans to offer a stake of its share on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) next year.

The company aims to establish a new production line at its factory in the 6th of October city with EGP 500 million in investments by the end of 2018 as the company seeks to boost its production capacity to 500,000 tonnes from 240,000 tonnes now, chairman Tarek Al Gioshy told Al Masry Al Youm.

The company export nearly 30% to 40% of its production and aims to expand in the African markets, he added.

Last April, Al Gioshy said that its company was in talks with a number of local banks over financing a part of its expansion plans.

Al Gioshy Steel plans to establish a new production line in the second half of 2018 with a production capacity of 350,000 tonnes and over EGP 250 million in investments.

Jun 05, 2018

Readymade garments exports during the first four months of 2018 increased to $ 511 million marking 14 % growth compared with $ 447 million reached during the same period of 2017. That was reported in the Media quoting Mr. Mohamed El Sayyad, Head of the Garments Exports Council Mr. El Sayyed was quoted in the media indicating he has plans to increase the said exports to $ 1.8 billion by the end of 2018. Days later Minister of Industry & Trade was quoted in the media he would endorse a relevant increase in the production of short staple yarn to support the above.

Jun 02, 2018

Loans & GrantsParliamentary Education Committee endorsing $ 168 million soft loan for the construction of Japanese schools in Egypt despite critics of its members to its high cost. The loan is for repayment over 20 years after 10 years of grace period. On his side, Minister of Education announced the project targets the construction of 212 schools including 45 to be completed for the new school year.

Jun 26, 2018

A new strategy for cooperation potential with the Islamic Bank Group reviewed recently with the Bank's executives by Egypt's Minister of Economy & Investment indicates the Bank to allocate Egypt over the years 2018/ 2020 some $ 3 billion apart from earlier announced final allocations to other relevant projects. That extended to supporting water desalination projects in Sinai, opening a regional office for the bank in Egypt to serve Jordan, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq & Syria, launching a new $ 500 million fund to support science, innovation & technology solutions in projects undertaken by youth. The meeting was held in Tunisia, and honored by Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the IDB Group. It was further shared by Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, head of the Islamic Trade Finance Est., Egypt' Ambassador to Tunisia, Mr. Nabil Habashi, also Dr. Shebab Merzaban, Chief Advisor of the Minister for economic affairs.

Apr 06, 2018

$ 100 million loan extended by the N.B.E. to finance services & utilities at Assuit Refinery Co. to revamp the companies' laboratories and support its expansions & completion of the CCR project among other advanced technology utilities. That was reported in the media quoting Eng. Mustafa El Molla, Minister of Petroleum & Mining, announcing the project is important to activate all aspects of the strategy of the Egyptian Petroleum Sector in revamping Upper Egypt & in reaching self-sufficiency in coping with its petroleum & petrochemical requirements both at present & in future, particularly of high octane benzene. P. 9

Apr 15, 2018

IFC - International Finance Corp. of the World Bank extending Egypt's Construction Sector $ 15 million soft loan most of which in local currency. That was formally financed by the IFC indicating the loan will mainly support the doubling of production of main basic chemicals required to produce major paints and adhesives demanded by a large variety of industrial & commercial projects. That was announced the IFC Director for the Middle East & North Africa.

May 10, 2018

IDA - Italian Development Agency in agreement with the Egyptian Ministry of Supply to finance the construction of 15 vertical type silos for wheat storage worth L.E. 250 million. It was further upon the Egyptian side with cover the construction works with the Italian side to finance the electromechanical works.

May 09, 2018

AFESD - Arab Fund for Economic & Social Development has extended Egypt $ 200 million soft loan (KD 60 million) to revamp expand Egypt power transmission & transformation network. An agreement on the above was signed recently between Mr. Abdellatif Al Hamad, Chairman of AFESD Board of Directors & Dr. Sahar Nasr, Egypt's Minister of Investment & International Cooperation.

Apr 25, 2018




Loans & GrantsEarlier extended soft loan from Kuwait valued KD 60 million to build three transformers was endorsed by the Government. That was reported in the media indicating the loan is for repayment over 26 years including 4 years grace & bears 2.5 % annual interest. Egypt's Minister of Electricity indicated above loan is part for L.E. 25 million allocated to build 26 transformers stations over the next 3 years.

May 31, 2018

Projects Awards General Mohab Mamish, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority & its Economic Zone with Deputy President & CEO of the Kuwait based Agility Co. agreed to cooperate in building & operation of a (unique) logistic center at East Port Said one of the most strategic locations on the Mediterranean. Agreement provides for the development of a logistic axe in the backbone of the extensions of East Port Said Port hosting a unique industrial & logistic infrastructure to support the import & warehousing of raw materials, also the export of & distribution of intermediate commodities & end-user goods all to go via the world famous Suez Canal.

Jun 27, 2018

Petrojet declared winner of L.E. 592 million contract for the consolidation and revamping of its containers docks extending for about 1,500 meters length. That was reported in the media indicating that 5 local & international offshore dredging companies were competing for the job. Client is Egypt's Holding Co. for Maritime & Land Transport & he announced that the contract is for completion in 22 months.

Jun 04, 2018

Projects in Pre-Tendering PhaseEgypt's Ministry of Housing & Utilities endorsing 5 sea water desalination projects in Southern Sinai during the 2018/ 2022 five years plan involving L.E. 2 billion investments for completion over two stages. That was announced by Eng. Gamal Abdel Sabour, Head of the Potable Water Division in South Sinai, to be located in Ras Sidr City of 20,000 M3/ day capacity, in Abu Redeis City of 15,000 M3/ day capacity, in Sharm El Sheikh City of 30,000 M3/ day capacity, in Nabq Bay of 6,000 M3/ day capacity & and a fifth in Taba of 5,000 M3/ day capacity to be later increased to 10,000 M3/ day.

Apr 01, 2018

An L.E. 3 billion contract signed between Port Said Governorate & Amer Group on an integrated touristic project extending on about 90 feddans on & offshore area to the west of Port Said City. According to Mr. Mansour Amer, President of Amer Group, the project would create almost 6,000 permanent employment opportunities apart from 4 million employment opportunities in the construction time. Project is expected to host unprecedented tourist & recreational services & facilities. Project will host a number of hotels, malls, chalets complexes and a yacht marina.

Apr 18, 2018

An alliance of nine Egyptian businessmen intending to establish a factory in Minya to produce sodium bicarbonate widely used in the production of detergents & other kitchen cleaners under L.E. 300 million initial investments. The factory will be located in Minya & Mr. Reda Said was nominated as the financial & tax consultant of the project. He was quoted announcing the consortium intends to apply for a 25,000 M2 land lot in New Minya Industrial City to establish the project with machines to import from India.

Apr 18, 2018

World Bank has extended Egypt $ 500 million soft loan for five years to support Education reform including teaching & learning at government schools. That provides, uniquely, for applying quality standards at Kinder Gardens for almost 500,000 children, also training about 500,000 teachers & executives at both the general & technical education divisions. It further provides for digital education resources to almost 1.5 million students & teachers, obviously including hardware, not to overview resources for male & female students to benefit from bot students and exams. Contract was signed by Dr. Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment & International Cooperation & by Dr. Assaad Aalem, Regional World Bank Director in charge of Yemen, Egypt & Jibouti. This is the largest loan Egypt has ever received to revamp its general & technical education.

Apr 23, 2018

ACWA Power of Saudi Arabia to start works on El Marashda $ 2.2 billion 1,300 MW power station in Qena soon. That was reported in the media quoting a source of the Ministry of Electricity indicating the project is pending the receipt of the Government Guarantee of the contractor's dues. The project is scheduled to enter operation by the end on 2018. It is the first station to go under the B.O.O. formula. Station's productive age ranges 20 to 25 years.

Apr 11, 2018

Egypt's Ministry of Military Production signing an agreement with GCL of China on the development & integration of solar energy plates & boards to produce annually solar energy cells of up to 5 billion megawatt capacity made of glass sand to go under $ 2 billion investments. Product will go over 5 stages starting from the extraction of the pure Egyptian quartz to the production of the metallic silicon & the pure silicon till ending with the production of the solar energy cells & plates. The Chinese party will be responsible to settle the industry in Egypt including the minimize import of requisites from abroad, train employees on production lines including their repair & maintenance, and contribute towards producing environment friendly energy.

May 10, 2018

$ 251 million silica sand based glass project was discussed recently between General Mohab Mamish, Chairman of SCA - Suez Canal Authority & its annexed Economic Zone with Dr. Salah Saleh, Chairman of Amel Group of Canada. Fact is that both local & international media have repeatedly confirmed that Egypt embarks on huge reserves of pretty high quality silica sand to produce all types of glass. Meanwhile Egypt embarks at present on a reasonably strong glass & crystal industry.

Apr 20, 2018




Projects in Pre-Tendering PhaseEnara Co. for Solar Energy Lighting of Dr. Sherif El Gabaly allocating $ 300 million investments for relevant solar energy projects in Benban, in Southern Egypt (in Asswan Governorate). Media reports have quoted Dr. El Gabaly revealing the development goes in partnership with different investment funds, partners and foreign investors. Dr. El Gebali believes that Benban is the largest solar energy project capable to generate electricity equivalent to 90 % of the High Dam power station

May 16, 2018

Abu Qir Co. for Fertilizers SAE seems progressing on the phosphoric acid & nitrates project awarded in April last to the alliance of Thyssen Krupp alliance of Germany under Euro 133,6 million investments upon approval of Banks. In January 2018 last Abu Qir Co. said it is negotiating with banks on $ 198 million loan (worth L.E. 3.5 billion) for the project. Meanwhile media reports revealed lately that Abu Qir Co. has awarded a consortium grouping NBE - National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr & Qatar National Bank a contract to arrange a loan valued Euro 105 million required for the project.

May 17, 2018

El Maadi Tourist Tower Project, a first project promoted by the Egyptians' Real Estate Fund, seems started attracting Gulf investors toward booking units at the said tower. That was reported in Al Mal News indicating the project is backed by L.E. 1.5 billion estimated investments & is managed by Emerald Co. for Real Estate Projects. Works on the project are expected to start by July 2018 next. It is part of the Egyptians' Abroad Group. Meanwhile President of the Fund & the Group is Mr. Hashem El Sayyed & he revealed that the said tower project occupies 80,000 M2 area directly on the Nile including an administrative sector & another part hosting the hotel's suites & flats. Mr. El Sahhed indicated the first phase of the project including the preparation of the soil for construction very expensive. He further revealed that the project is scheduled for completion in three years.

May 17, 2018

Upper Egypt Co. for Electricity Generation announcing works are progressing on its L.E. 800 million first energy control center in Sohag, deemed the first energy control center to build in Upper Egypt. On his side, Chairman of the Company, Mr. Raafat Shamaa, indicated that concrete foundations of the Control & Training Building and two distributors No. 1 & 8.

May 26, 2018

EDITA Food Industries Co. SAE announcing it will pump in 2018 about L.E. 180 million fresh investments & will penetrate strongly both the Saudi & the Emirati Markets. That was announced by Ms. Menna Shams El Din, Edita's Investors Relations Officer, indicating the fresh investments will also support existing export markets in Palestine, Jordan, Iraq & Lebanon, also Morocco recently penetrated. In Morocco Edita plans also to soon produce light food in cooperation with Desloog Group, deemed leader on the market with fast dissolving products.

May 20, 2018

Larson & Turbo of India declared winner of the 90 Km long electric interlink extending Toshki ll substation in Egypt till Arqin substation in Sudan. That was reported in the media indicating estimated project costs would reach about $ 90 million (about L.E. 1.5 billion) inside Egyptian territory. Project is financed by the E.E.T. Co. Egyptian Electricity transmission company. The Project is scheduled for completion in 6 months

Jun 07, 2018

Egypt's Minister of Military Production announcing the executive measures for the project to produce solar cells from Aswan glass sand have been already taken by both the Ministry & the Chinese Company. That was reported in the media indicating that project costs range $ 2 to $ 3 billion to have annual capacity to integrate solar cells of 5,000 MW volume. Meanwhile the Minister noted that works on the project would start this year to enable full production (and possible export) by 2019. Worth indicating that an earlier annexed issue on Energy & Transport of Al Alam Al Yom of 5/23/2018 claimed that Egypt reserves of glass sand in the Golden Triangle Area (Qena/ Safaga/ Al Qosseir) reach 5 billion tons.

May 31, 2018

Unionaire Group announcing to soon inaugurate three new factories one for air conditioners & other two for electric & household appliances in 6th October city backed by $ 100 million estimated investments. Media reports indicated the inauguration event will be attended by the Minister of Trade & Industry to produce washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, TV screens & butagas stoves. Unionaire Chairman announced the group is on its way to lay the ground stone for a new complex to host production lines allocated for export. Estimated investments of that new complex, still in the planning phase, are said to be close to L.E. 1.5 billion

Jun 05, 2018

ARABCO - Arab Contractors - the Southern Valley branch was awarded three new contracts in Upper Egypt valued L. E. 640 million. Jun 04, 2018

An alliance formed between EFG Hermes Group & Talaat Mustafa Group with Saint James Group for educational projects in both Al Rehab & Madinaty to start with 4 school in one shot involving L.E. 1 billion investments. That was revealed in the media estimating the Group's residential projects to now host about 650,000 citizens & to reach 1 to 1.2 billion over the 7 years if not more. Further announced by the Group EEO, Mr. Hesham Talaat Mustafa, were serious intentions of the Group to build a huge hospital comprising almost 130 buildings as an integrated unit.

May 29, 2018

Penta Med Co. announcing plans to invest L.E. 2 billion in 1,200 beds hospital to occupy 12,600 M2 lot bought in Al Shorouk City for L.E. 75 million. The company grouping physicians & businessmen owns now a 42 beds hospital & 9 intensive care room in Heliopolis & claims it has obtained the required approvals from both the ministry of Housing & that of Health for the project. It further claims it has contracted further a French company to build, design and equip the hospital.

May 30, 2018



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