Egypt witnessed the establishment of 1,122 new FDI projects, representing 8.3% of such projects in the region

Newsletter

30 Sep 2021

For our top talks today, first, Egypt witnessed the establishment of 1,122 new foreign direct investment projects, representing 8.3% of such projects in the region, according to a recent report by the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman). Egypt ranked first as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment projects at an investment cost of 241 billion USD, representing about 21% of the total investment cost of foreign projects in the region during the same period. Also, The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency has allocated a total of EGP 1 billion for innovative businesses, the Middle East News Agency cited Deputy Chairman Tarek Shash. He added that the agency secure 50 million USD under a 200 million USD deal with the World Bank (WB) to fund innovative businesses. He pointed out that the agency offered 250 million EGP from its own resources, bringing the total funding to 1 billion EGP.

Second, the 2Africa consortium will add a new segment, the 2Africa PEARLS branch, to its subsea cable network, extending to the Arabian Gulf, India, and Pakistan, Daily News reported.
The new 2Africa branch joins extensions to the Canary Islands, the Seychelles, Comoros Islands, Angola, and a new landing to south-east Nigeria. Through the new extensions, 2Africa cable will contribute to supporting the digital economy and enhancing the ability of many communities to provide more and more efficient internet-based services, such as education, healthcare, and business services. This extension will bring the total length of the 2Africa cable system to over 45,000 km, making it the longest subsea cable system ever deployed.
Equally important, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received today, Mr. Hamilton Mourao, Vice-President of the Federative Republic of Brazil.
They discussed strengthening bilateral relations in security and trade, encouraging Brazilian investment and tourism to Egypt. They also touched on regional issues including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, developments in Libya and Tunisia, and the ongoing dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Turning to Egypt’s sectors talks, Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, discusses with the Ambassador of Cyprus the latest electrical connection procedures between the two countries.
The minister stressed that the historic project is of great importance to Egypt's strategic plan in order to achieve economic development, and is one of the projects that help connect Egypt to the European electrical network, and thus Egypt will be an important carrier of energy for the continent. We believe that these electrical interconnection projects will position Egypt as a regional center for energy exchange with Europe, Arab and African countries.
Tarek Eid, head of the commercial sector of the Jumeirah Egypt Group, during his participation in the Africa 2021 Investment and Sustainability Conference stated that private real estate funds are the gateway to export Egyptian real estate.
He added that Egypt is now witnessing an unprecedented real estate boom, and the real estate product varies between residential, beach, hotel and administrative. He called for activating the role of private real estate funds, because they had no role in addressing global investment funds that deal with institutions and not individuals that represent them with legal protection, property management and collection of returns, as well as tax exemptions for funds for the first buyer, as is the case in all real estate exporting countries. Also, TBK Real Estate Development Company plans to implement integrated urban projects in the local market, which means adopting an ambitious expansion strategy to penetrate the areas of East and West Cairo, despite its recent establishment in the past few weeks.
The supply of car tires of all kinds from owners and commercial in the local market decreased by up to 50% during the last period
due to the increases in the prices of sea freight through various shipping lines, especially those coming from Southeast Asia, which rose from 3,500 USD per container to 10 thousand USD, which affected manufacturing rates, and the movement of trade for all kinds of spare parts, especially tires. There is a shortage of all types of spare parts in the local market by up to 20%, especially European origin of mechanical parts and the computer unit due to the surge in demand during the recent period, contrary to expectations that were referring to the continuation of global closures. to control the epidemic.
Moving to our M&As and companies talks, first, Porto Group Holding (PORT) revealed the future investment plan of Asmak Co, which holds a 15.03% stake in the company,
in accordance with Article 29 of the listing rules, according to a statement filed to the EGX. Asmak plans to acquire over 25% of Porto Group’s capital through the EGX’s open market, the statement highlighted. Asmak aims at increasing the number of its representatives in Porto Group’s board of directors, in order to strengthen its position and participate in taking decisions. These decisions include the suggestions of changing Porto Group’s name and some of its activities as per the latest updates occurred to the economic fields and raising the group’s capital.
Second, GlobalCorp could have the first tranche of an EGP 3-3.5 billion securitized bond issuance ready by the end of 2021, Al Mal News cited CEO and managing director, Hatem Samir.
He added that the company plans to sell 1.1 billion EGP of securities in the fourth quarter of 2021. The issuance would come as part of a larger securitized bond program worth an estimated 3 – 3.5 billion EGP set to be completed by 2023.
Furthermore, Al-Ahly Bank obtains the approval of the “Saudi Central Bank” to open its branch in the Kingdom.
All connections and needs will be identified by the Central Bank of Saudi Arabia to continue their implementation. Also, Tatweer Misr Real Estate signed a partnership agreement with Huawei Technologies Egypt for Communication Solutions with the aim of providing sustainable and smart solutions in all Tatweer Misr projects with the aim of improving the quality of life for customers. Under this agreement, Huawei Technologies Egypt will provide sustainable and smart city solutions to enable the development of Egypt to benefit from Huawei's smart networks that rely on the Internet of Things (IoT) in all its projects.
Finally, for our EGX talks, first, the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved to publish the disclosure on Beltone Financial Holding’s (BTFH) decision to raise its issued and paid-up capital to 926.957 million EGP from 891.305 million EGP.
The capital increase amounts to 35.652 million EGP distributed over 17.826 million shares at a par value of 2 EGP per share. On the other hand, the FRA has approved to publish the disclosure on Cairo Oils and Soap’s (COSG) board decision to reduce its issued and paid-up capital to 39 million EGP from 195 million EGP, according to a statement filed to the EGX. The capital decrease will be carried out through cutting the nominal value of the company’s stock to 0.10 EGP from 0.50 EGP.
Second, Abu Auf’s parent company, AUF, plans to make its EGX debut in the second quarter of 2022, the company said in a statement.
The company has appointed EFG Hermes to quarterback the transaction. The company could offer up to 49% of its shares on the EGX. It also plans to use the proceeds to finance regional growth.