Egytrans is preparing for an expansion company for its new subsidiary Egytrans for Logistic Solutions, which will begin operation in H2-2022.

Newsletter

31 Oct 2021

For our top talks today, first, we need to mention that Egyptian Transport and Commercial Services Co (Egytrans) (ETRS) is preparing for an expansion company for its new subsidiary Egytrans for Logistic Solutions, which will begin operation in the second half (H2) of 2022. The new company is fully owned by Egytrans and will be operating in storage activities, while the manufacturing of the complementary parts for the disabled cars will be assigned to specialized parties. The plan includes the establishment of customs warehouses, expansion in importing and storing cars, with the possibility of raising the capital of Egytrans for Logistic Solutions. The new company will be set up in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), with an authorized capital of 1 million USD and an issued capital of 200,000 USD. (Al-Mal)

Second, Flat6 Labs and healthcare company Oragnon have launched an Femtech Accelerator Program to support female-led start-ups operating in the digital healthcare space in MENA.
The partnership was signed in the Expo 2020, USA Pavilion, marking the launch of Organon in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Under the deal, Flat6 Labs will connect the startups to regional partner networks, and will provide training, while Oragnon will provide access to global industry experts. Ten of the best start-ups will join a two-month intensive accelerator program that will provide them support to securing venture funding. (Arab Finance)
Equally important, Abu Dhabi-based Chimera Capital, a subsidiary of Chimera Investment, has marked the second close of its maiden venture capital fund after exceeding the initial target of 50 million USD.
Chimera Global Fund is now looking to target investors for a third and final close it expects to wrap up this quarter. Chimera Global will target 12-15 fintech, edtech, and health-tech startups, across the Middle East and Southeast Asia as well as in the US. Ticket sizes will go up to 5 million USD and will be spread across series A to pre-IPO stages. Alongside investing in Swvl, Chimera Global has also backed US-based online learning platform Coursera, expense management app Divvy, and UAE-based cloud kitchen platform Kitopi in its second close. (The Capital Quest)
Moreover, Dahab Development has launched the Iconic Trinity Complex (ITC) project, its first project in the New Administrative Capital (NAC), With investments of up to 500 million EGP.
ITC spans over 8,000 square metres (sqm) in the NAC’s MU23 area, an integrated services area located between second residential district R2 and the third residential district R3. ITC mall, which is slated to be an environmentally friendly building, is scheduled to be operational in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022. (Mubasher)
In addition, El-Nasr Export & Import Company, in its new form, “Gosoor”, aims to distribute Egyptian products in various markets across the world, Minister of Public Enterprises Sector, Hisham Tawfik said in a recent statement.
Tawfik added that the distribution process will be done under a business model based on two main elements: mediation and marketing, in addition to logistics services, and any other services producers need to export their products or import their inputs. He explained that Gosoor has launched an electronic catalogue to keep pace with the technological progress in the methods used in global trade. (Arab Finance)
Also, Mrsool Egypt has signed a cooperation agreement with Talaat Moustafa Group Holding (TMGH) to provide all of its services directly inside Al Rehab and Madinaty cities.
The company will offer electricity bills’ payment services at the two cities. The services will undergo pilot-testing in November 2021 and will be provided officially starting from 2022. Mrsool is keen on improving the quality of services through upgrading their app, in order to ensure good experiences for customers. (Hapi Journal)
Moving to our economy talks, the Suez Canal revenues grew 12.6% Year on Year (YoY) during the first 10 months of 2021, recording $5.1 billion, Suez Canal Authority boss Osama Rabie said in a statement.
Some 16,600 vessels carrying 8.5% more cargo YoY passed through the canal during the ten-month period between January and October. The authority indicated that the total tonnage of transiting ships increased to 1.29 billion tons during the ten months from 948.4 million tons in the same period of 2020, an increase of 8.5%. (Arab Finance)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will be a limited partner in Ezdehar’s Egypt Mid-Cap Fund II, joining the first close of the fund with a 25 million USD investment.
The Fund has a target size of 150 million USD. The Fund will seek to achieve long-term capital growth by making equity and equity-related investments in Egyptian small and mid-sized companies. The operation is expected to contribute to the resilient transition quality by developing private equity as an alternative funding source. Ezdehar had originally targeted a $200 million fund with two closes of about 100 million USD each. The new fund will focus on manufacturing, pharma, healthcare, consumer goods, F&B and education. (Arab Finance)
More than 11,000 Egyptian importers have registered on Egypt’s Advanced Cargo Information (ACI) customs system which has been progressing at a steady pace since the start of the mandatory application in early October.
The new system contributes to achieving the desired goals by reducing the time of customs release, the cost of the import and export, and the prices of goods and services in local markets. The system will also improve Egypt’s ranking in international competitiveness indicators. (Egypt Ministry of Finance)
With this in mind, the World Bank’s (WB) Board of Executive Directors has approved a 360 million USD Development Policy Financing (DPF) loan for Egypt to support its second wave of economic reforms.
The loan has been approved under the “Egypt Inclusive Growth for Sustainable Recovery” Program the WB launched with the aim of supporting Egypt’s second wave of structural reforms by concentrating on creating jobs and providing an inclusive enabling environment for the private sector to lay the basis for a sustainable recovery. (The World Bank)
And finally, for our green economy watch, first, Qalaa Holdings (CCAP) is aiming at boosting its production capacity from solar power to 400-500 megawatts from 70 megawatts within five years through its subsidiary Taqa Arabia.
The vice president of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently visited Dina Farms to begin the operations of Taqa Arabia’s latest projects to generate clean power. It is worthy to mention that the private sector’s investments in the green projects, as well as the fruitful cooperation with international financing institutions such as EBRD, will contribute to the development and financing of renewable energy projects in Egypt. (Arab Finance)
Second, MPS Infrastructure Inc. has entered into a consortium agreement with the National Authority for Military Production (NOMP) and Aquatech International to implement the first phase of follow-up to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on July 8^th.
Under the deal, the two US firms will create a world-class, Egypt-based, competitive provider of water desalination and waste water treatment solutions utilizing modern technology while fully leveraging Egyptian industrial capacity. The public-private consortium will localize the production of energy-saving technology from Aquatech in a bid to make desalination more affordable to roll out here at scale. (Arab Finance)