The Egyptian payment portal myFawry has been placed in the first position in the list with more than 1.6 million downloads in 2020
For our top talks today, first, we need to spot the light on the region’s 15 top Fintech apps for 2021 by Forbes Middle East latest release, with 9.5 million downloads and 6.9 billion USD worth of transactions in 2020. The Egyptian payment portal myFawry has been placed in the first position in the list with more than 1.6 million downloads in 2020, followed by the UAE-based Al Ansari Exchange Mobile App and Kuwait’s Al Mulla Exchange. The list includes apps from five countries, with six companies headquartered in the UAE, four in Egypt, three in Kuwait, and one each in Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
- Second, Fitch Solutions praised in its August’s report the positive performance of the consumer sector in Egypt, and its regional and international uniqueness in achieving strong performance during and after the Corona virus pandemic in a case of a rare occurrence.
Adding that the real spending of families in the majority of global markets was negatively affected as a natural result of the pandemic and the recovery of this sector in particular takes 2-3 years; While in the Egyptian case, it witnessed resilience during the pandemic, and a strong performance after the pandemic. Household consumer spending during 2021 increased by 15% from its pre-pandemic level during 2019, and it is expected to increase by 21% during 2022 compared to 2019.
- On the other hand, at the global level, the Chinese economy came under increasing pressure during the month of August, with manufacturing activity growing at a slower rate, while the services sector contracted, due to restrictions related to the Corona virus and high prices of raw materials.
The official composite PMI, which includes the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 48.9 in August from 52.4 in July. China's economic growth has recently shown signs of losing momentum due to local COVID-19 hotspots, which have slowed exports, as well as tougher measures to curb property prices and a campaign to cut carbon emissions.
- Back to Egypt’s markets and economy, Egypt's exports of building materials, refractories and metal industries decreased by about 2% during the first half of 2021 to record 2.998 billion USD, compared to 3.4 billion USD during the same period in 2020.
There are 10 countries, including Italy, Spain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Turkey, the United States, Australia, Brazil and the UAE, accounted for the lion's share of the sector's exports, with a total of 1.883 billion USD. We believe that the decline in the sector’s exports is attributed to the halt in gold exports due to the government’s imposition of appraisal fees estimated at about 1% on the total value. These fees negatively affected gold exports due to the weak ability to compete abroad as a result of the high price of gold compared to other countries' products.
- With this in mind, we need to mention that the Institute of International Finance (IIF) expects that the prices of basic metals, especially copper, iron ore, palladium and tin, will rise by about 44% by the end of this year due to the weak supply
of them as a result of the disruption of supply chains due to the numerous closures caused by the spread of the Corona virus and thanks to the increased demand for them from industries whose products depend on energy renewable energy, especially electric and self-driving cars. However, it is expected that the prices of base metals will decline by about 5% over the next year, with increased production and the easing of restrictions on supply chains, after they jumped to record levels during the past few months until now.
- Also, it is important not to neglect mentioning that the opening of the commercial zone in Tanta, with investments of 6 billion EGP, will be before next November. The region provides commercial and recreational services of all kinds.
This zone is being implemented between the Fern Pro Global Investment Company and the Internal Trade Development Authority, on an area of 83 acres, making it mediate between 10 governorates in the central Delta region.
- Another key point, Siemens is looking forward to sign the contract for the fast train construction project within the next two days,
to represent a pivotal addition to the company's projects in Egypt, the latest of which was the signing of the contract for a project to develop the green hydrogen industry.
- Moving to our investments talks, first, the Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), are set to take part in financing the 6th of October dry port at an estimated cost of around 100 million USD.
It’s noteworthy that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will also take part in financing the dry port project by arranging a loan worth 29.6 million USD. The proposed loan is a part of a total investment package worth $60 million to finance the design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of the 6th of October dry port
- Second, Badr El Din Petroleum Company (BAPETCO)’s total investments in FY 2020/2021 hit 317 million USD.
The production rates of BAPETCO amounted to 97,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BoE) a day in FY 2020/2021. Adding that BAPETCO is currently implementing three projects to protect the environment.
- Moving to the EGX talks, Emerald Development and Real Estate Investment Company will offer 10.5% of its shares on the Nile Stock Exchange next September.
The Financial Supervisory Authority agreed last Thursday to register the company in preparation for the start of the offering process, in addition to approving the fair value of the share. About 45 million shares of Emerald Development will be offered, of which 35% will be public and 65% private to individuals and institutions with high net worth, noting that the company's capital is estimated at about 85 million EGP distributed over 425 million shares.
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