PayTabs has launched Paymes, the leading social commerce platform in Eurasia

Newsletter

15 May 2022

For our top talks today, PayTabs has launched Paymes, the leading social commerce platform in Eurasia. Paymes will act as the social commerce platform of PayTabs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This strategic partnership will enable many freelancers, artisans, consultants, home-based business owners, personal trainers, food truck vendors, as well as members of the gig economy to receive payments over social media platforms for the services they provide within seconds. Egypt will be the first market in the MENA region to benefit from Paymes via PayTabs Egypt, a joint venture between PayTabs and EFG Hermes Holding (HRHO). (Arab Finance)

Moreover, Paymes will allow micro-merchants based in Egypt to create their digital store window on the platform to offer products or services and ensure secure payment links over different social media platforms.
The online platform will also enable shoppers to seamlessly add products to their cart and check out. Contactless payments can be carried out through the generation of static QR codes. Founded by Saudi Arabian entrepreneur Abdulaziz Al Jouf, PayTabs is MENA’s award-winning B2B payment solutions powerhouse. (Arab Finance)
Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris has stepped down from his position as Chairman of the Switzerland-based Orascom Development Holding (ODH), handing over his role to his son Naguib Samih Sawiris.
Naguib Samih Sawiris has been officially appointed as the new Chairman of ODH as of May 11th during the annual general meeting (AGM) which was held on May 10th. It is worth noting that Samih Sawiris was leading the group for 30 years, contributing to projects in more than 10 countries. (Arab Finance)
Building material company Lafarge Egypt, a member of Switzerland’s Holcim Group, has signed a $93 million long-term agreement with Lumika Renewables Egypt, a subsidiary of AP Moller Egypt, to produce 140 gigawatts-hour annually of solar energy.
The agreement is planned to be effective by the first quarter (Q1) of 2024. As per the agreement, the two companies will establish a new 50-megawatt power plant, representing the first plant owned by Lumika in Egypt. Lefarge aims to secure clean energy by 50% of its cement plant's total daily energy consumption throughout the day. (Arab Finance)
Egypt-based parcel delivery company Mylerz has raised 9.6 million USD in a funding round. The round was led by Lorax Capital, with the participation of Fawry for Banking Technology and Electronic Payment (FWRY).
The company will use the funding to expand its operations in North Africa as well as to support its cash collection services for merchants. “We plan on taking our experiences from Egypt to begin operations in Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco by the third quarter (Q3) of 2022,” Mylerz’s Founder and CEO Samer Gharaibeh commented. For his part, Ashraf Zaki, Managing Partner at Lorax Capital Partners, said that Lorax supports Mylerz to become Africa’s first fully integrated e-commerce logistics player by offering premium customer and delivery services to both regional businesses and consumers. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Egyptian Satellites (NileSat) (EGSA) has reported a 52.48% year-on-year (YoY) decline in net profits from ongoing operations during the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, recording 7.275 million USD according to financial statements filed to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) on Wednesday.
The company’s operating revenue also decreased by 19.07% YoY in the three-month period ended March 31st 2022. NileSat is an Egypt-based public shareholding company that offers services related to satellite radio and television broadcasting, in addition to the broadband internet. The company has a booking center that provides a range of services including satellite newsgathering as well as feed and turnaround services, in addition to a training center. (EGX)
Alexandria Spinning and Weaving Company (Spinalex) (SPIN) has turned to profitability in the first nine months of fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022, according to the company’s unaudited financial indicators filed to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).
The company achieved a net profit after tax of 16.75 million EGP in the first nine months of FY 2021/2022, versus a net loss of 19.40 million EGP in the same period of FY 2020/2021. Revenues grew by 51% to 122.39 million EGP in the nine-month period ended March 31st 2022 from 81.05 million EGP in the FY-ago period. Spinalex is an Egypt-based public shareholding company engaged in the cotton and textile industries through manufacturing, trading, and exporting cotton flowers, yarn, thread, cotton fibres, and related textile products. (EGX)
On the other hand, Al Tawfeek Leasing Company (AT LEASE) (ATLC) reported a 64.51% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit attributable to the parent company for the first quarter (Q1) of 2022.
The company recorded a consolidated net profit excluding minority interest of 26.17 million EGP in Q1 2022, compared to a profit of 73.75 million EGP in the year-ago period. Total consolidated operating revenue amounted to 165.68 million EGP in the three-month period ended March 31st, down from 129.60 million EGP in Q1 2021. Similarly, the company’s standalone net profit after tax fell to 26.18 million EGP in Q1 2022 from 73.73 million EGP in the same quarter of 2021, according to the company’s standalone financial statement. In 2021, AT LEASE had achieved a consolidated net profit attributable to the parent company of 134.06 million EGP, up from 74.13 million EGP in 2020. (EGX)
Egypt has ranked fifth among the world’s top recipients of remittances in 2021 after India, Mexico, China, and the Philippines, with Egyptian expats transferring 32 billion USD to the country last year, according to the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief published on May 11^th.
Remittance flows to Egypt are expected to grow by 8% in 2022, which is a higher growth rate in remittances to the North African country compared to 6.4% in 2021, but less than the 10.5% recorded in 2020, the World Bank’s data showed. Egypt topped recipients of remittances in the Middle East. The region garnered $61 billion in remittances in 2021. “Remittance flows are of great importance to Egypt in offsetting persistent shortfalls in external and fiscal accounts,” the report said. (Arab Finance)
The Egyptian Cabinet has approved a request by the Ministry of Finance to extend its green financing framework to include sustainability bonds.
This step will enable the government to commence the necessary executive regulations to issue sustainability bonds. The decision comes in line with the finance ministry’s efforts to diversify debt instruments and cut debt servicing costs amid the current economic global situation and the impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is worth noting that the Cabinet also approved the draft law on amendments to some provisions of Act No. 141 of 2014 regulating the financing of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) and the Consumer Finance Regulation Act issued under Act No. 18 of 2020. (Mubasher)
The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC), and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with France’s TotalEnergies and Egypt’s Enara Capital for the establishment of a green ammonia project in Ain Sokhna.
The project is set to produce 300,000 tons of green ammonia annually in the first phase, to reach 1.5 million tons annually in next phases, SCZONE’s Chairman Yehia Zaki commented. Zaki revealed that the new project will be supplied by green hydrogen produced through clean and renewable energy sources. Egypt is working hard to support transformation towards green economy using clean energy, through provision of facilities and incentives to attract green investments and capitalize on green financing, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said. (Ahram Online)
International Company for Leasing’s (Incolease) (ICLE) has reported a 156.8% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in net profit after tax, reaching 41.317 million EGP during the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, up from 16.085 million EGP in the same period a year earlier.
The company’s operating revenue grew to 103.503 million EGP in Q1-2022, from 100.404 million EGP in the comparative period last year. Incolease is an Egypt-based company engaged in the provision of customer service and personalized financial solutions. The company leases a range of assets, including commercial vehicles, machinery, information technology equipment, production lines, real estate, and other tangible and intangible long-term assets. (EGX)