The Egyptian government has set 8.4 billion EGP budget for New and Renewable Energy Authority for the fiscal year 2022/2023

Newsletter

09 Mar 2022

For our top talks today, the Egyptian government has set 8.4 billion EGP budget for New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) for the fiscal year (FY) 2022/2023. The amount allocated to NREA includes a current budget of around 2.54 billion EGP and an investment budget of about 5.9 billion EGP. NREA’s investments comprise a 250 megawatts (MW) wind power plant in Suez Gulf and a 50 MW solar power plant in Zafarana. Egypt is planning to launch wind power projects in Gulf Suez with total capacity of 3,000 MW, Egyptian electricity minister Mohamed Shaker revealed. (Amwal Al Ghad)

Egypt is seeking 150 billion USD worth of financing to address energy issues, according to the Egyptian environment minister Yasmine Fouad.
At first, the most populous Arab country will need up to 15 billion USD to accelerate the shift towards new and renewable energy. The meeting discussed securing finance from the GCF for six projects in Egypt to support the country’s endeavors to tackle climate change. Furthermore, the meeting also explored collaboration between Egypt and the GCF in the fields of water, agriculture, and food security. (Arab Finance)
Egyptian banks announced initiative allowing people to open bank accounts without paying administrative fees or a minimum balance, effective Tuesday and until the end of March.
The free accounts initiative was launched in the context of the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) financial inclusion initiative. Under the initiative, Egyptians and foreigners, or minors under guardianship, can open accounts without a minimum balance and with only identity cards, passports, or birth certificates (for minors). Bank current accounts allow people to use online banking services and debit cards for money withdrawal and buying. (Amwal Al Ghad)
Egypt’s strategic wheat reserve will be sufficient for eight months after the supply of locally-produced wheat in April, according to the Egyptian finance minister Mohamed Maait.
Egypt is keen on securing wheat supplies from alternative markets amid the exceptional circumstances facing the global economy. The minister stressed that the government is doing its best to absorb much of the global economic shocks on the heels of the Russia-Ukraine conflict which doubled inflation rates caused by a troubled supply chain. He announced that the new budget draft will be presented to the House of Representatives with adjusted figures to cope with the jump in global prices of energy and commodities. (Al Mal)
Prices of unsubsidized bread soared in Egypt on the heels of the conflict between Russian and Ukraine.
Egyptian bakers attributed the hike in bread prices to the increase in flour prices to 12,300 EGP per ton, from 9,000 EGP a week earlier. Member of the Bakeries Division at Egypt’s Chamber of Commerce Khaled Sabri revealed that the price for five bread loaves in Greater Cairo reached 7.5 EGP. Egyptian finance minister Mohamed Maait said that the increase in global wheat prices will raise the cost of Egypt’s imports of wheat by 12 billion EGP to 15 billion EGP in the state’s budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022. (Bloomberg)
Egypt’s exports of copper and copper products soared around 134% to 409 million USD in 2021, from 175 million USD in 2020, according to the Export Council for Building Materials, Refractory, and Metallurgy Industries’s report (ECBM)
The report also showed that Egypt exported 428 million USD worth of glass and glass products in 2021, up 3% from 414 million USD in 2020. Moreover, ceramic exports surged 48% to 228 million USD in 2021, from 154 million USD in 2020. Meanwhile, exports of jewelry and gems dropped 62% to 1.13 billion USD in 2021, from 2.98 billion USD the year before. Egypt’s building material exports increased to 6.538 billion USD in 2021, up 5% from 6.25 billion USD in 2020. It is worth noting that Egyptian non-oil exports grew to 32.34 billion USD in 2021, from 25 billion USD a year earlier. (Al Mal)
More than 1 billion electronic transactions have been carried out through the Egyptian banking system in 2021 at a total value of 2.8 trillion EGP, according to the Sub-Governor for Payment Systems and Business Technology at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Ayman Hussein.
Investments into Egypt’s fintech sector grew to 195 million USD in 2021, as compared to around 1 million USD in 2014. Moreover, the number of fintech companies rose to 122 last year from two companies in 2014. Total number of banking cards stood at 54 million, including 22 million Meeza cards, he pointed out, noting that the current number of points of sale (PoS) in the market is 740,000. (Hapi Journal)
Turning to our investments talks, UAE-based Dubai Link Travel and Tours is dedicating $5 million worth of investments to expand in the Egyptian market, according to the company’s Managing Director Nassry Bedran.
The value of the dedicated investments will depend on the development of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and its impact on the sector of travel and tourism. Also, the company is set to launch a new product in May that allow clients to book hotel rooms through a mobile app. The new product will be available in Egypt and the GCC first and then will be introduced in other countries. (Al-Mal)
Egypt’s digital financial services platform Paynas and Dubai-based ride-sharing company Swvl entered into a partnership for financial services on a revenue-sharing model.
Under their agreement, Paynas will issue Visa-powered Paynas cards to Swvl’s registered captains, in collaboration with Banque Misr. Paynas will also give Swvl’s captains access to financial and non-financial benefits including earned compensation payouts, buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, and insurance. (EGX)
East Delta Electricity Production Company (EDEPC) is planning to build 125 megawatts (MW) combined cycle power unit at El-Arish plant, with over 2 billion EGP worth of investments, according to the Egyptian electricity ministry.
EDEPC is in negotiations with North Sinai Governorate for the allocation of a piece of land to build the new plant in the next fiscal year. The company is testing the performance of two power units in Damietta plant with a collective capacity of 250 MW, before transferring them to El-Arish plant, to avoid building new units, Chairman of EDEPC Mohamed Abu Senna revealed. The top official noted that transferring units from Damietta to North Sinai will cost 379 million EGP. (Al-Mal)
And for our EGX and companies talks, valU, a subsidiary of Egyptian Financial Group Hermes Holding (EFG Hermes) (HRHO), has entered a partnership with Dubai-based Noon.
Under the signed partnership, users of both platforms will benefit from valU’s flexible instalment plans via Noon. The partnership will enable customers to use customizable payment plans for purchases over 500 EGP across several fields from fashion, electronics, beauty, home, and baby care to groceries. This will help making products more “accessible” to a wider segment of customers. (Arab Finance)
The Holding Company for Pharmaceuticals (HoldiPharma) is set to sign an agreement with Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) for 1 billion EGP loan, to fund the development of a subsidiary.
The agreement will be signed in the next few days, noting that the loan will be dedicated to the investment plan of HoldiPharma for the fulfilment of the EU’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements. The ministry has paid around 300 million EGP to settle a debt owed by a subsidiary. It is worth mentioning that HoldiPharma and its subsidiary generated around 346 million EGP in sales during the fiscal year (FY) 2020/2021, up from 322 million EGP in FY 2019/2020. (Al-Mal)
Palm Hills Development Company (PHDC) has acquired a 7.97% stake in International Company for Leasing (Incolease) (ICLE).
As per the acquisition transaction, Plam Hills has purchased around 1.59 million shares in Incolease at a total value of 65.35 million EGP, equivalent to an average price of 41 EGP per share. Palm Hills is an Egypt-based company that focuses on real estate investment in the new cities and urban communities, land reclamation and cultivation, and other activities associated with the Company’s operations. (EGX)
Tenth of Ramadan for Pharmaceuticals Industries and Diagnostic Reagents (Rameda) (RMDA) announced that Equinox Pharma Holding Limited, along with a GCC-based institutional investor and an executive board member of Rameda, have collectively acquired a 6.4% stake in Rameda.
The transaction has been carried out through a block-trade with a number of pre-initial public offering (IPO) shareholders at a total value of 128.6 million EGP. Accordingly, Equinox’s stake in Rameda increased by 1.8% to 17.5%, marking a 4.9% increase in shareholding in less than eight months and a 38% growth since the date of Rameda’s IPO. (EGX)