Finally, aid entered Gaza via Egypt border yesterday

Newsletter

22 Oct 2023

Finally, aid entered Gaza via Egypt border yesterday, hours after US hostages were released by Hamas after mediation from Qatar. Last Thursday, the news shared all over the global press were that Egypt could be on track to open the Rafah border crossing on Friday and allow a limited number of trucks carrying humanitarian aid into Gaza, US President Joe Biden told reporters on Wednesday. Egypt “agreed to … let up to 20 trucks through to begin with,” Biden said following conversations with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Reuters)

Netanyahu had earlier signaled Israel could relent on its total siege: “Israel will not prevent humanitarian assistance from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine … as long as these supplies do not reach Hamas,”
the prime minister’s office said following the meeting with Biden yesterday. Israel has imposed a total blockade on the strip for the past 10 days, triggering a shortage of water and food and leaving hospitals on the verge of collapse. Biden said that the aid would not be able to enter immediately due to damage on the Gaza side of the border. The Israeli military has bombed the border crossing several times over the past week. (Reuters)
Xi says will work with Egypt to help stabilise Middle East.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told Egypt's prime minister on Thursday that their countries should work together to bring "more stability" to the Middle East, as the Israel-Hamas war casts a shadow over the region. The conflict has raged since Palestinian militant group Hamas launched shock raids into Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking around 200 hostages. In response, Israel has laid siege to Gaza, carrying out waves of air strikes in the Palestinian enclave, enforcing a blockade and massing troops on its border ahead of an expected ground assault. The situation in Gaza was dire, with hospitals overwhelmed, more than 3,000 Gazans killed and 12,500 wounded. (Zawya)
Egypt, China sign MoU in debt swapping field.
Egypt has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China to boost cooperation in the field of debt swapping, with the aim of implementing development projects. The MoU was signed by the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al Mashat and Chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) Luo Zhaohui. As per the agreement, several tranches of the Chinese debts will be used to execute joint development projects. (Hapi Journal)
Egypt is looking to borrow 3 billion USD by the end of the fiscal year.
The Madbouly government wants to secure as much as 3 billion USD in fresh debt financing by the end of the fiscal year through bond issuances and international loans. The fresh funds will help bolster the budget and help the country meet any emergency financing needs. The funding is set to come from a mix of bond issuances and international loans and is about twice the amount officials had previously telegraphed was coming. (Enterprise)
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was in Cairo to meet with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Abdullah’s visit comes after Jordan canceled earlier this week its planned four-way summit in Amman that aimed to bring together the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, the US and the Palestinian Authority due to Washington’s stance on the war. (Hapi Journal)
Egypt plans to issue 5G network licenses in December
The Egyptian government is planning to issue licenses on the operation of the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication networks in December. Two sources noted that the license could cost at least 500 million USD. The licenses’ issuance date could be extended from December to early 2024 in case the companies wishing to acquire the licenses asked for so to secure the needed financing. Moreover, the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) could approve the request submitted by telecom operators on increasing the prices of their services soon to encourage them to obtain the 5G licenses. (Asharq Business)
The Education Ministry provides private sector players that qualify to set up vocational schools with old school buildings free of charge, provided that they renovate them at their own expense.
The government plans to set up 100 vocational schools with private sector industrial partners by 2030, Deputy Education Minister for Technical Education Mohamed Megahed told us. The government aims to change the culture for graduates of technical education and has come a long way in fulfilling that goal by increasing applied technology schools of different types in collaboration with the private sector, which has made this system successful. (Al Mal)
A number of real estate developers have begun to set up real estate “schools,” high-school level programs that teach construction,
finishing, landscaping, and other areas of study concerned with real estate development. The push is part of the Education Ministry’s strategy to grow the number of technical and vocational schools in collaboration with the private sector. The country’s first privately-owned real estate school, Amar Applied Technology School, was established last year by real estate developer Amar Developments, and onboarded its inaugural class in the 2022-2023 academic year. (Al Mal)
Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) inked an agreement in January with the Education Ministry to establish the country’s first applied technology school in the field of landscaping.
Named Sonaa El Ghad for Applied Technology, the school opened its doors to technical high school students in the current academic year. The school marks the second academic collaboration between the ministry and TMG, who partnered up with TMG to start the Imam Muhammed Metwally El Shaarawi School of Applied Technology. The school, whose first class graduated in the 2020-2021 academic year, offers a range of subjects including architectural finishes, maintenance, refrigeration, air conditioning, specialized facility networks, and integrated electrical systems. (Enterprise)
UAE’s Al Dahra in talks to acquire land in Egypt’s Toshka.
UAE-based agribusiness firm Al Dahra is in talks with National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) via its subsidiary Al Dahra Egypt to buy an agricultural land in Toshka in southern Egypt. The firm is also considering other areas. If conducted, the deal could reduce Cairo's reliance on imports of staple crops. Yet, it could raise water use concerns. The deal could cover the purchase of 500,000 feddans of land in phases via purchase or long-term lease agreement, while the other noted that the land could be around half of that quantity. (Al Mal)
Elsewedy Electric’s UMC to secure 50 million USD loan from EBRD.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will provide Elsewedy Electric’s subsidiary United Metals Company (UMC) with a 50 million USD loan to finance its working capital. The loan will finance the working capital of UMC, enabling it to import the copper cathodes needed for the production of cables. Established in 1998, UMC is one of the key manufacturers of high-quality copper rods in Egypt and North Africa. (Arab Finance)