Revenues of Egypt’s Suez Canal grew 11% Year-on-Year during the first eight months of 2021
For our top talks today, first, Revenues of Egypt’s Suez Canal grew 11% Year-on-Year (YoY) during the first eight months of 2021, reaching 4.09 billion USD, compared to 3.66 billion USD in the same period of 2020. In August, revenues of the canal stood at $563 million, compared to $468 million in August 2020. The number of ships transiting the waterway increased by 24.6% YoY by the end of August 2021.
- Second, the Egyptian real estate market continues to attract more new players, coinciding with the state's launch of several national projects and new urban cities, in a phenomenon that indicates the strength of the market and the emergence of more promising investment opportunities.
Several real estate development companies showed their desire to expand strongly in the East Cairo area, and launch various residential projects in Mostakbal City and the New Administrative Capital, armed with the high demand for units. We strongly believe that the Egyptian economic structure currently enjoys an atmosphere and incentives that encourage investment, in light of the state's interest in attracting capital and creating a suitable climate for the private sector, which has become a key partner for the state in achieving economic and national goal.
- With this in mind, the Ava Mina Real Estate Group intends to invest 220 million EGP to establish the In Mall in the New Administrative Capital, and has contracted with a group of companies operating in the market in the field of management and operation.
The project is being implemented in one phase, and is scheduled to be completed in 2023, and the delivery of the fully finished medical and administrative units. The group headed to invest in the Administrative Capital because it is the future of urbanization in Egypt, and it will be the most important gathering point in the Middle East.
- Moreover, the Indian company, TCI Sanmar, intends to establish a power plant, and another for loading and unloading, to serve its factories in Port Said.
The investment cost of the two projects is estimated at about 400 million USD, and they are scheduled to be implemented within a period of time ranging from 3 to 4 years.
- Moving to our M&As and companies talks, the Moroccan Al-Wafa Insurance Group aims to expand the banking insurance activity in Egypt, through its local arm, Al-Wafa Life Insurance Company.
It is worth noting that the group works in the banking insurance activity in Morocco, Tunisia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Senegal. We believe that the great efforts made by the state and the Financial Supervisory Authority to support the Egyptian insurance market cannot be overlooked, which actually encourages the contribution to the success of this system and the advancement of the sector as a whole.
- In addition, the alliance of Hitachi ABB and El Sewedy Electric won the tender to inaugurate a regional energy control center affiliated with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company in the Delta in Mansoura.
The total cost of establishing the control center amounts to about 860 million EGP, financed through a credit facility from the French Development Agency worth 50 million EUR. The offer of the "Hitachi and El-Sewedy" alliance was the highest technically, while the financial offer of the American "General Electric" company amounted to 825 million EGP, while the Chinese company "Nari" withdrew from the competition.
- Besides, the Information Technology Industry Development Agency “ITIDA” signs a cooperation agreement with Plug and Play to empower startups in Egypt.
Under the cooperation, a headquarters for the global company will be established in the Digital Egypt Creativity Center at Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace in Cairo; In addition to joint work to enhance Egypt's position as a leading center in the field of innovation-driven entrepreneurship in the Middle East and Africa region.
- Equally important, Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Vodafone Egypt deal is back after being disrupted in December 2020, after a year of negotiations.
STC is looking for securing a soft loan worth 1.1 billion USD, with intentions to finance the deal using its available liquidity and the rest will be financed through global debt markets. Obtaining the loan is subject to negotiations with the parent company, with possibilities that the ongoing negotiations will eventually falter. Also, Cairo for Investment and Real Estate Development (CIRA) announced that its board of directors has approved to obtain a loan worth EGP 260 million from one of the Egyptian banks. Noting that earlier this month, CIRA announced its partnership with Orcas to develop an online distance learning platform that offers first-of-its-kind blended learning programs.
- Likewise, the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) announced the launch of two new credit cards for the VIP segment under the name “Visa Infinite and Visa Signature” in cooperation with VISA.
The two cards are among the latest credit cards provided by the bank to its customers, as they provide customers with a comprehensive package of exclusive benefits and services, which comes in line with the bank’s strategy in developing banking products and services to meet the needs of all customer segments. In addition, the Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) has signed a five-term commercial agreement with the multinational financial services cooperation Visa Inc. It is worth noting that CIB recently launched CIB Growth with the aim of easing the banking processes for SMEs that achieve total annual sales of less than EGP 50 million, in line with Egypt Vision 2030.
- Finally, regarding our EGX talks, the Egyptian Chemical Industries (KIMA) (EGCH) has exported nearly 157,000 tons of urea since the beginning of fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022 to date.
This comes in line with the company’s strategy that targets boosting sales, mainly exports. The company has entered new growing markets such as Eastern Africa, Romania, and Portugal. This will help the company to record revenues in foreign currency, which will contribute to settling liabilities and achieving a surplus in the near-term.
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