The two-day meeting is widely expected to see the Fed confirm that it will make the first in a series of 0.25-percentage-point interest rate hikes in March
For our top story abroad today, the two-day meeting is widely expected to see the Fed confirm that it will make the first in a series of 0.25-percentage-point interest rate hikes in March, as the US central bank looks to curb rising inflation. The Central Bank of Egypt will follow with its own Monetary Policy Committee meeting next Thursday, 3 February. We believe that the Fed needs immediately to stop its asset-purchase program, guide markets towards expecting three and possibly more interest rises this year and bring forward to March the announcement of plans to reduce its balance sheet. It also needs to explain how it has managed to get its inflation call so wrong and why it is so late in reacting properly. Without that, it will struggle to regain the policy narrative and restore its credibility.
- In addition, the Food and Agriculture Agency (FAW) of the United Nations has warned of the continued rise in food prices this year, after the FAO index,
which tracks its prices worldwide, jumped to about 134 points, recording the highest level in more than 10 years, when it reached 132 points in 2011. The FAO believes that the expected rise in food prices during the current year will greatly harm developing and poor countries that depend on importing most of the main foodstuffs such as wheat and rice, especially since prices have been rising during the four months leading up to last December due to the poor grain harvest in many major producing countries. And the demand for it increased compared to the year of the epidemic. (Reuters)
- In the same context, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that oil prices rose by more than 10% since the beginning of this year until the beginning of this week, to exceed 88 USD a barrel, to record the highest level in 7 years,
after increasing by more than 50% during the past year, and it is expected that it will approach 100 USD barrier this year. Oil prices rose last week for the fifth week in a row and recorded the highest level since October 2014 due to geopolitical fears that will lead to supply shortages after the Yemeni Houthi group attacked the United Arab Emirates, the third largest producer in OPEC, while Russia, the second largest oil producer in the world, mobilized Worldwide, troops in large numbers near Ukraine's borders, raising fears of a possible invasion. (Bloomberg)
- And for Egypt talks, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has granted German development bank KfW’s Green for Growth Fund (GGF) a license to act as a “tier-two” lender in Egypt.
The license will see GGF provide loans to Egyptian banks to help finance energy efficiency, resource efficiency and renewable energy projects. The GGF is a public-private partnership fund initiated by the European Investment Bank and KfW that finances green projects in 19 countries, both directly and to financial institutions for on-lending. It has made 99 million EUR in sub-loan investments in Egypt since its founding in 2009. It has previously provided National Bank of Egypt, Alexbank, and Banque du Caire with facilities of 10-30 million USD to finance local green projects. (Arab Finance)
- Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment stressed that Egypt is going through an important stage in building strategic partnerships to support green transformation, during her participation in the American Chamber of Commerce Forum on Climate Action.
The Minister of Environment explained that identifying the greenhouse gas-producing sectors in Egypt, which represent 0.6% of global emissions, will help shed light on opportunities for cooperation with the private sector in these sectors, and raise ambitions in mitigating these emissions and confrontation, as the energy sector occupies the largest proportion. With 64% of national emissions, then the agricultural, industrial and waste sector. (Al-Mal)
- The Minister of Public Business Sector, Hisham Tawfiq, said that the dream of the Jusoor project has begun to turn into reality, as great progressive steps have been taken, and it is targeted to open 5 branches in different countries at the end of next February.
He explained that Jusoor Company's capital structure is divided into 50% for the business sector and banks, and the other percentage for the private sector. It is noteworthy that Jusoor Company was under the name (formerly Al-Nasr Export and Import) affiliated to the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport, one of the companies of the Ministry of Public Business Sector. Jusoor's new business model is based on brokerage, marketing and logistics services, through 14 centers around the world, to reach the markets of about 40 countries. (Al-Mal)
- Turing to our EGX and companies talks, Edita Food Industries (EFID) is planning to implement an expansion plan that includes boosting production capacities in 2022 with up to 400 million EGP in investments.
The company is still carrying out its expansion strategy through adding new production lines and mulling over good investment opportunities after the negotiations with the Egyptian Belgian Company for Industrial Investments have been suspended. On the other hand, Shams Eldin pointed out that Edita has purchased a new production line for bakery in 2021 at a cost of 135 million EGP. The new line is expected to be operational in March or April 2022. Through this line, the company aims at boosting its bakery production to reach 11,000 tons per annum to meet the growing demand on the Molto products range. (Al-Mal)
- Eastern Company (EAST) on Tuesday announced cooperation with SAP Global, the major international company operating in the business and software technology. Under the cooperation, SAP Global will develop an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for Eastern Company.
Applying this program at Eastern Company reflects the vision of its board of directors in boosting the efficiency of the company’s operating system to achieve the best results in terms of operational procedures. This collaboration marks the largest digital transformation project in Egypt due to the interrelated administrative processes in Eastern Company at its all-operational stages starting from the supply and external customers stages, followed by the manufacturing and daily operations, to the output and final sales. (EGX)
- Dsquares is not looking to establish a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), according to the founder and CEO Marwan Kenawy.
“We are looking at possible acquisitions in other countries, but a SPAC or IPO is not in the plan at this point,” Kenawy said. “We are expanding in the Middle East, Africa and Europe,” the CEO added. The company is already present in Egypt, Jordan, UAE, KSA, Romania, Kenya, and Tanzania, and is working with multinational companies including Vodafone and MasterCard. On January 24th, Al Shorouk News reported that Dsquares is looking to establish a SPAC. (Al Shorouk News)
- Evolve Investment Holding plans to launch a gold-backed investment fund that will invest in precious metals, according to the CEO Sameh El Torgoman.
The fund will be set up with 500 million EGP in initial capital and is geared towards investors who want to trade in gold through gold-backed securities that track its price. The company is in talks with three financial institutions over their potential participation in the fund. Exchange-traded gold-backed funds are regulated financial products, where each share corresponds to a specific amount of gold. The company, which opened its doors this year, plans to launch multiple precious-metals-focused funds. Evolve’s physical gold-trading arm, Gold Net Trading, began operations in October 2019. Torgoman said he holds a 51% stake in the company, while eight other “well-known” investors hold the rest. (Al-Mal)
- Orascom Construction PLC (ORAS) on Tuesday announced it has closed the acquisition transaction of a leading equipment importation, distribution, and services business in Egypt.
The ownership in the leading business has been transferred to Orascom Construction. It is worth noting that shareholders at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held on December 27th 2021 approved the acquisition of 100% of Orascom Trading’s, National Equipment Company’s, and Orascom Free Zone – Onsi Sawiris and Partners’ total share capital for a total value of 35 million USD. (Arab Finance)
- The Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) has approved Merck’s antiviral covid-19 pill Molnupiravir for emergency use, making Egypt the first country in the Middle East and Africa to do so, the authority announced in a statement.
According to the statement, five local companies have been licensed to produce the pill in Egypt, while several other companies could be given licenses at a later stage. Local firms have already produced around 25,000 packets of the drug, and have the materials at hand to manufacture 150,000 more. Rameda Pharma has already received EDA approval and begun manufacturing its generic version of the med, Molnupiravir Rameda, which is set to hit the shelves before the end of the first quarter of 2022. Molnupiravir Rameda will retail at 625 EGP per 40 capsules with an initial dose of 200 mg. (Arab Finance)
- iSON Xperiences for outsourcing services intends to inject investments worth 2 million USD this year in the Egyptian market.
Shaleesh Mohan, CEO of the company in Egypt, said that Ezone Experience aims to construct a new building for it in the New Cairo area, accommodating about 500 seats to serve its customers, and it is scheduled to open during the second quarter of this year. It is noteworthy that Egypt ranked first during 2021 in the Middle East and Africa and 15th internationally as a pivotal destination in the field of information technology services, outsourcing and cross-border services worldwide, in the “Global Service Locations” index issued by the Kearney Consulting Corporation. (Al-Mal)
- Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payment (FWRY) has launched Fawry Yawmy money market fund, a fintech-based investment fund co-sponsored by both Fawry and Misr Capital, the investment banking arm of Banque Misr.
The opening of purchase and redemption phase of Fawry Yawmy is scheduled on January 30th, with a minimum initial investment ticket of 500 EGP. The new investment fund depends on Fawry’s modern financial technology and its retail presence to reach the largest number of individual investors. Fawry Yawmy has been launched primarily to serve individual retail investors through over 160 of Fawry Plus branches across Egypt and over 250,000 Fawry points of sale (POS) machines. The services of the new market fund will be available later this year to all consumers via MyFawry app. (Al-Mal)
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