Nevin Jameh, Minister of Trade and Industry, issued two ministerial decisions to stop the work of Resolution No. 907 of 2019 and 168 of 2021

Newsletter

15 Nov 2021

For our top talks today, first, Nevin Jameh, Minister of Trade and Industry, issued two ministerial decisions to stop the work of Resolution No. 907 of 2019 and 168 of 2021, which are related to imposing preventive measures on imports of billet, rebar and aluminum products, and these two decisions start working as of the day following the date of their publication in the Egyptian Gazette. The minister said that these two decisions came as a result of the significant rise witnessed by the global economy due to the high rates of inflation and energy prices, as well as the rise in the prices of production materials and inputs, which negatively affects the Egyptian production and export sectors. She affirmed the ministry’s keenness to support all industrial sectors, especially since the industrial sector represents a major locomotive for the national economy. (Al-Mal)

Second, Jamal Yaqout, head of the Real Estate Registration Authority, confirmed that the latest amendment and the new facilities provided for the transfer of ownership in case of possession of any property for a period of 5 years in good faith,
stressing that there is complete independence between the registration procedures and the real estate transaction tax. The new amendments eliminated all obstacles, the most important of which are time, cost, and procedures. The period of requesting legalization of the property in the real estate registry was a year or two, compared to after the amendment became only a month, which was one of the most difficult things going on in the real estate registry. It was a year, and it may be extended for another period of two years. (Al-Mal)
In addition, the Egyptian government will pay 13% more per ardib of locally grown wheat in 2022 according to the purchase prices that have been set by the supply,
agriculture and finance ministries before planting for the new season begins. The government would pay EGP 800-820 per ardib next year, up from EGP 705-725 in 2021. Global wheat prices hit the highest level in 10 years as a combination of poor weather, surging fertilizer prices and export tariffs squeeze supply. Egypt, the world’s biggest importer of wheat, is facing a steeper import bill as its international tenders deliver the steepest prices in at least five years. The government is preparing to start reducing bread subsidies to soften the impact on the state budget, and is looking to prevent further damage with hedging contracts. (Arab Finance)
Moreover, Egypt food industry exports rise to 3.136 million USD in 9 months achieving a growth rate of 18% compared to the exports of the same period in 2020,
which amounted to 2.663 million USD, an increase of 472 million USD. March 2021 exports have the highest value of exports for the period from January to September of 2021, with a value of 386 million USD. Exports to Arab countries topped the list of the most important international groups importing Egyptian processed foods during the period from January to September of 2021, with a value of 1,686 million USD, representing 54% of the total food exports, achieving a growth rate of 17% and a growth value of 239 million USD. (Egypt Food Export Council)
Moving to our green economy latest talks, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) could soon sign off on a 100 million USD facility to state-owned Banque Misr to finance local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) working on green projects.
Banque Misr will allocate the new green finance to support small businesses in manufacturing as well as the retail, transport and agricultural sectors that use “climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies.” This will promote the transition to environmentally sustainable, low carbon and climate-resilient economies. (EBRD)
Most importantly, Egypt has been officially selected to host the COP27 climate summit that will take place in November 2022.
The summit will be hosted in sharm El Sheikh. The decision was announced at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, which concluded on November 13th. 2022’s summit will give more focus to Africa. The conference must be hosted by an African country in 2022, based on a regional rotation system. It is worth noting that the Egyptian government is aiming to increase our renewable energy capacity to cover 42% of electricity needs by 2030, shortening the timeline for our clean energy transition by five years. (Mubasher)
Also, assigning Egypt and Sweden to prepare a list of green finance for developing countries to reduce the effects of climate change, after winning the hosting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention COP27.
Egypt plays a pivotal role in conveying the voice of developing countries to developed countries to support green projects and reduce the effects of climate change. the impact of climate change includes all countries, and there is no other option but to join forces to support climate issues, especially among the major industrialized countries, explaining that this appeared recently after the spread of fire rates in forests and the increase in the severity of hurricanes, floods and droughts during the past few periods. (Al-Mal)
And for our EGX & companies talks, Tatweer Misr will borrow a total of 3.5 billion EGP from the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Arab African International Bank (AAIB).
The transition is expected to be completed by January 2022. Around 1.8 billion EGP of the loan will be allocated for Monte Galala project and 1.7 billion EGP will go to its Bloomfields project. Final contracts of the loan will be signed in December or January. (Amwal Al Ghad)
The latest consolidated business results of the Commercial International Bank (CIB) showed that its net profit increased to 9.8 billion EGP during the nine months ended last September,
compared to a net profit of 7.3 billion EGP during the comparative period of 2020. The results revealed an increase in CIB returns from loans and similar revenues to 32.6 billion EGP during the mentioned period, compared to 31.5 billion EGP during the comparable period of 2020. (EGX)
In the same fashion, Ora Developers plans to pump around 1 billion USD investments in Africa over the coming five years.
The company’s investment is planning to build a seven-star hotel and develop resorts in several African markets. Congo, Ghana and Zaire are among other African markets in which Ora is interested in investing. Ora is also considering plans to expand its presence in Pakistan, where it is developing a large residential project in the capital, Islamabad, that includes commercial facilities and a golf course. The company is also building three big mixed-used projects, or "urban destinations", in Egypt. The combined value of the developments is 10 billion USD to 11 billion USD. (Arab Finance)
However, Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris revealed intentions to invest in battery metals and reduce his exposure to gold.
Sawiris’ La Mancha gold fund will offload its controlling stake in Canadian miner Golden Star Resources and reinvest the proceeds into metals used to make batteries looking at nickel and zinc and titanium and lithium, raw materials that investors expect to experience a boom in the coming years as the global auto industry transitions away from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. His gold fund has agreed to sell its controlling stake in Golden Star Resources Ltd, one of three gold companies under its control, to China's Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co Ltd. The Chinese company said on Nov. 1 it had agreed to buy Golden Star for 291 million USD. Sawiris, one of Egypt's richest men, changed the structure of his gold mining company La Mancha this summer to bring other investors into the 1.4 billion USD fund. (Reuters)
On the other hand, Edita Food Industries, revealed that it plans to enter two new countries to manufacture its products within five year.
Edita started the operational and production operations of its new factory in Morocco a few days ago, with investments amounting to about 200 million EGP. The volume of liquidity that his company currently possesses amounts to 750 million pounds, and that the lending rates are very low, which qualifies it to find the necessary resources to seize any future acquisition deal. Editas is aggressively studying all growth factors represented in the horizontal expansion of the current production lines, in addition to seizing new opportunities. (Al-Mal)
Furthermore, for our investments talks, the Saudi Export-Import Bank announced its desire to increase its investments and activities during the coming period in the Egyptian market.
The Saudi Bank expressed its quest to communicate with financing bodies from local banks and others, in addition to Egyptian investors, especially companies working in import activity from Saudi Arabia. The bank targets different sectors, with the agricultural sector accounting for more than 30%, along with the industrial and petrochemical sector. (Arab Finance)
Dabur Amla plans to establish a new factory on an area of 21 thousand square meters, in the industrial zone of the 10th of Ramadan, with investments of 500 million EGP.
Egypt owns the largest market share of the company's products, including oils, cream baths, and hair care products. "Dabur Amla" and "Dabur Vatika" are the main umbrella for the company's products, as they acquire 75% of the oil market locally, produce 150 products in Egypt, and export to Africa to benefit from the COMESA agreement, and also cover the needs of the markets of the Maghreb and Gulf countries through a Dubai branch. It is worth mentioning that the turnover of Dabur Amla Company is more than 1 billion USD, and the market value is 4 billion USD. (Al-Mal)
And finally, the UAE Minister of Finance and Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed, announced that the UAE has adopted a plan to list the traffic tariff company “Salik” in the Dubai Financial Market,
noting that the aim of the listing is to diversify the government companies that they list in the market to achieve the best return to investors within their markets. Salik is the second out of ten government-related companies that announced a plan last month to include it in plans to boost stock market activity. The first was the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA). Salik has eight gates and three million registered vehicles, of which 1.8 million are registered in Dubai. The listing plans aim to increase Dubai's ability to compete with the Saudi and Abu Dhabi bourses, which are attracting larger listings and strong liquidity. (Al-Mal)