Qatar’s Al Mana Group plans to invest at least around 60 million USD in Egypt in 2024

Newsletter

15 Nov 2023

Qatar’s Al Mana Group plans to invest at least around 60 million USD in Egypt in 2024. The investments will likely be earmarked for an automotive assembly plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, with the company still considering which automotive brand it intends to set up the plant with. Al Mana’s remarks come on the sidelines of the Egyptian-Qatari Investment Forum earlier yesterday, during which Egyptian and Qatari companies signed a number of unspecified MoUs, according to a Trade and Industry Ministry statement. (Asharq Business)

Moreover, 6 agreements of cooperation have been signed between the Egyptian private sector and its Qatari counterpart.
Engineer Ahmed Samir, Minister of Trade and Industry, and his Qatari counterpart, Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani, witnessed the signing of 6 cooperation agreements between the Egyptian private sector and its Qatari counterpart in the fields of real estate, food industries, and automobiles, on the sidelines of the Qatari-Egyptian Investment Forum. (Al Borsa News)
"Sera Holding" from Saudi Arabia aims to invest 5.5 billion EGP in a hotel project in Egypt.
"Sera Holding," the Saudi Arabian conglomerate, is seeking to invest 5.5 billion Egyptian pounds in a commercial tourism project along the Nile in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, during the second half of the upcoming year." "Sera Holding" acquired two pieces of land in Cairo overlooking the Nile in 2002 with an area of 9.5 thousand square meters through a global auction, paying 73 million pounds. However, the company faced delays in implementing the project, leading the Cairo Governorate to refuse to hand over the land to the company. (Asharq Business)
Cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris has hiked the price of smokes by up to 20% in the wake of the cigarette tax hike signed into law last week.
The price of a pack of Merit has risen 15% to EGP 74 while the cheaper L&M brand will now go for EGP 50 a pack, up 19%. Marlboro prices have increased 17-20%, with a standard pack priced at EGP 69 and a pack of Crafted at EGP 59. State-owned tobacco manufacturer Eastern Company also increased its prices last week, but this hasn’t done much to squeeze the black market, where cigarette prices have risen for local and foreign brands by EGP 5 and EGP 10 respectively, according to Eastern CEO Hany Aman. (Al Borsa News)
Egypt expects the return of Israeli gas imports to their levels before the "war on Gaza" on Thursday.
An Egyptian government official expects the return of natural gas imports from Israel to pre-"Gaza War" levels on Thursday, reaching 650 million cubic feet per day initially and later increasing to 800 million cubic feet per day. This statement follows Chevron's announcement on Monday that it has resumed flows to local and international customers from the Tamar field, which it operates, after it was closed last month due to security concerns following the events of October 7th. (Asharq Business)
Gas flows to Egypt have been gradually picking up this month after falling following the closure of the Tamar field.
The Madbouly cabinet said at the end of October that gas imports had fallen to zero. An industry insider we spoke to at the time said gas imports had never dropped below 100 million cubic feet per day — a fraction of the pre-war volume. Chevron and Delek Drilling have offered to compensate Egypt for the reduced gas shipments “once the situation stabilizes”. (Asharq Business)
Emirati state-owned port operator DP World will break ground on its 80 million USD logistics zone at Ain Sokhna port this month.
The company inked the construction agreement with the Suez Canal Economic Zone’s Main Development Company (MDC) back in August 2022 and the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and is expected to create 6k jobs. The company has so far deployed 1.3 billion USD in the country. DP World is also the main operator of the Ain Sokhna port and has investments including a 520 million USD expansion; it is currently adding another 500K TEUs of capacity at the facility. (Hapi Journal)
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has agreed to extend 3 billion USD of credit facilities to Egyptian companies to help support their infrastructure projects across Africa.
The African multilateral lender signed the agreements at this week’s Intra-African Trade Fair in Cairo: Hassan Allam Holding will take out a 200 million USD credit facility to help funds in at least six African countries; Elsewedy Electric signed an agreement for a 300 million USD facility; Arab Contractors will receive a 200 million USD facility; The recipients of the remaining 2.3 million USD have not been publicly disclosed. (Al Masdar)
Egypt and India are exploring settling payments between them using the Egyptian pound and the Indian rupee.
Mohamed Maait, the Minister of Finance, discussed with the Indian Ambassador to Cairo, Ajit Gupte, ways to encourage the use of national currencies for settlements between Egypt and India. The two sides also explored enhancing the benefit of Indian companies from the incentives and advantages provided by Egypt to the private sector to expand its participation in economic activities. The Minister of Finance emphasized Egypt's keenness to diversify sources of financing and enter new financial markets through innovative, diverse, and more sustainable instruments. (Al Borsa News)
Elsewedy Electric, Arab Contractors securing 500 million USD credit facility from Afreximbank.
Afreximbank has raised the existing Global Facility limits for Elsewedy Electric Group to 300 million USD. This increase will enable the group to issue contracting guarantees and fulfill other working capital needs for its projects across Africa. Elsewedy Electric Group and Afreximbank have established a robust partnership spanning several years. They have collaborated on diverse projects in Africa, contributing to the development of energy solutions and trade-facilitating infrastructure. (Daily News)
Saudi pharmaceutical company SPIMACO has acquired 68% of the Swiss company OSMOPHARM.
The Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corporation (SPIMACO) announced the signing of purchase and sale agreements yesterday with some shareholders of the Swiss company OSMOPHARM. This aims to acquire 68% of its shares, and at the same time, divest 76.4% of SPIMACO Egypt through a share exchange and a cash amount. In a statement sent to the Saudi Stock Exchange on Tuesday, SPIMACO Pharmaceutical stated that, under the sale and purchase agreements, the company has agreed to acquire a total of 68 shares in OZMOPHARM, representing 68% of OZMOPHARM's capital, with a total value of 16.1 million SAR. (Hapi Journal)
"SODIC" signs a credit facilitation contract with "CIB" worth 1.2 billion
The Sixth of October Development and Investment Company, has signed a revolving credit facility agreement with Commercial International Bank (CIB) worth 1.2 billion EGP. The company explained that the credit facility has a term of up to 7 years, backed by receivables representing future installments for units delivered in various SODIC projects. The company affirmed that the credit facility provides more flexibility for SODIC to securitize a portion of its growing receivables portfolio to finance ongoing operational activities for its various projects. (Al Borsa News)
Emirates NBD Bank - Egypt reported a 200% growth in profits during the first 9 months.
NBD Bank - Egypt has revealed record-breaking financial results during the first 9 months of 2023. The bank's net profits surged by 200%, reaching 2.55 billion EGP during the first 9 months of 2023, compared to EGP 852.6 million during the same period in 2022. This marks the fastest quarterly growth in net profits since its entry into the Egyptian market in 2013. (Arab Finance)