Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, stated that Egypt eyes expansion in exporting real estate

Newsletter

12 Oct 2022

Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, stated that Egypt eyes expansion in exporting real estate. There would be a dedicated session for the real state sector at the conference scheduled for 23-25 October. The government is particularly interested in proposals to attract foreign and Egyptian expat property buyers. Developers called on the government to help diversify financing options for would-be homebuyers, and asked for permission to sell to foreign buyers in USD. (Hapi Journal)

In addition, Madbouly discusses ways for tourism development with developers, investors.
Madbouly confirmed that the Economic Conference, scheduled to be hosted within days, would cover a full session on elevating the tourism sector in Egypt. Egypt is ready to support any aspect that would contribute to improving the tourism sector despite the several obstacles facing it such as the competitiveness with other countries, along with the operation of distressed hotels and the development of existing hotels. Furthermore, developers and investors discussed some suggestions that target raising the number of tourist arrivals in Egypt to around 30 million people. (Hapi Journal)
How serious is Egypt towards localizing auto industry?
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly chaired on September 28th the first meeting of the Supreme Committee for Automotive Industry, along with industry experts to ratify the necessary policies, plans, and strategies to develop the automotive industry. the objective behind the kick off of this strategy is to attract the biggest investments in order for Egypt to turn from being a collective manufacturer of vehicles, which means that it collects imported components and then manufacture, to an integrated manufacturer, led by experts in local car manufacturing. (Zawya)
The strategy is built upon four axes: reinforcing the local industry, encouraging investors, increasing the local components, and incentivizing eco-friendly vehicles.
Vehicles assembled under this strategy will include all types as a first phase, but then will gradually focus on electric vehicles. The auto committee meeting discussed a series of key requirements to implement the strategy, including offering customs duty cuts on imported inputs and postponing the payment of customs tax for companies for three months from the date of customs release. We believe that if we are capable to locally produce cars’ batteries, which account for 60% of car manufacturing, I think it will position us as experts in the field. Producing the battery means that you have guaranteed a complete and integrated local production. (Zilla Capital)
Egypt’s annual core inflation rate records 18% in September.
Egypt’s annual core inflation rate rose to 18% in September 2022, compared to 16.7% in August 2022. The monthly core consumer price index (CPI) inflation recorded 1.6% last September, compared to 0.4% in the same month of 2021 and 0.6% in August 2022. It is worth noting that the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that Egypt's annual headline inflation rate rose to 15.3% in September 2022, compared to 8% in the same month of 2021. (CBE)Rising inflation, the weakening local currency and the global monetary tightening wave all add up to pressure on the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to resume rate hike.
Rising inflation, the weakening local currency and the global monetary tightening wave all add up to pressure on the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to resume rate hike.
It is worth noting that the EGP has lost around a quarter of its value against the greenback this year, thanks to a toxic mix of domestic economic pressure, the global economic fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the strengthening of the USD against just about every major global currency. The central bank went for a snap 15.9% devaluation in March, with the rest of the slide happening in gentle but steady increments since then. (Zilla Capital)
Haya Karima targets 700 billion EGP investments in 4,500 villages in Egypt.
The presidential initiative of Decent Life (Haya Karima) targets the development of more than 4,500 villages across Egypt at a total cost of over 700 billion EGP. Decent Life also offers jobs in local communities to ensure sustainable development as well as provide a permanent source of income for villages’ residents. Under the initiative, investments are injected into human capital through education projects including the construction of new schools and the development of existing schools. (Arab Finance)
Mastercard invests in Nclude to support Egypt’s fintech ecosystem.
Mastercard will strategically invest in the fintech-focused venture capital (VC) investment platform, Nclude, to support Egypt’s fintech ecosystem and accelerate digital transformation in the country. This move will support financial inclusion in Egypt through investing in rising early-and-growth stage fintech and fintech-enabled companies. The partnership marks Mastercard’s dedication to supporte the government’s efforts and regulations that help the process of digital transformation in Egypt. (Arab Finance)
Misr Capital, CI Capital likely to merge soon.
The merger of Misr Capital, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, and CI Capital Holding for Financial Investments (CICH) is at its final stages and will be announced soon. On October 10th, CI Capital announced that its subsidiary CI Asset Management launched Misr Equity, an investment fund for shares with a cumulative return. (Al-Ahram Gate)
The two co-founders of B2B e-commerce startup Capiter have filed a lawsuit with the public prosecutor’s office against the company’s board of directors over their recent firing.
The pair were dismissed by the board in September amid accusations of financial impropriety at the crisis-stricken firm. The Nouh brothers were dismissed last month by the company’s board, which in a statement said they had failed to attend board meetings or to fulfill their fiduciary duties. The firing came amid a storm of allegations on social media accusing the two brothers of financial impropriety at the high-profile company, which last year raised 33 million USD from regional and global investors. (Bloomberg Asharq)