The General Authority for Supply Commodities revealed that the Egyptian ship Wadi Al-Arab has left the Port of Yuzhny in Ukraine and is on the way to Egypt

Newsletter

01 Mar 2022

For our top talks today, the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) revealed that the Egyptian ship Wadi Al-Arab, which was carrying 60,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat, has left the Port of Yuzhny in Ukraine and is on the way to Egypt. On December 29th 2021, the Egyptian government had contracted with the Ukrainian company Inerco Trade over this shipment at a price of 361.25 USD per ton. The shipment comes as part of an international tender to supply a total of 300,000 tons of wheat to Egypt during the period from February 15th to March 3rd 2022, the GASC. It is worth noting that GASC announced plans to buy cargos ranging between 55,000 and 60,000 tons of wheat on February 28th. (Al-Ahram Gate)

The Russian-Ukrainian war will negatively affect the Egyptian economy, as it led to a rise in global oil prices, to more than 100 USD a barrel,
which will lead to a rise in fuel prices in Egypt, and consequently it will negatively affect all local sectors and increase the prices of all commodities, expecting an increase in the inflation rate in Egypt 1% over the next month. It is expected that the most affected sectors are tourism and trade exchange, but it will reduce the bill for Egypt's imports of oil, noting that the rise in the price of oil is mostly accompanied by a rise in the price of natural gas, which supports Egypt's gas export. Russia and Ukraine are among the most exporting countries for tourists in Egypt, as the volume of tourists coming from the two countries is expected to decline during the coming period, pointing out that the decline in tourism revenues will weaken foreign exchange in the Egyptian economy. (Zilla Capital)
In the same context, the Egyptian Ministry of Local Development is following up the cooperation protocol signed with the ministries of finance, military production, and petroleum to convert 2,262 buses from being operated by diesel to be gas-powered at a cost of 1.2 billion EGP starting from fiscal year (FY) 2021/2022.
Under this project, 2,262 buses affiliated to the Public Transport Authority in the governorates of Cario and Alexandria will be run on natural gas, local development minister Mahmoud Shaarawi said. The project will be implemented over six fiscal years starting FY 2021/2022. (Arab Finance)
The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is set to raise tolls for laden and ballast vessels by 5% to 10%. This decision will come into force starting March 1st.
The decision comes in line with the remarkable growth in global trade, improved economics of ships, the SCA’s waterway development and the enhancement of the transit service, according to a series of circulars by the authority. Tolls for crude and refined products will increase by 5%, while tolls for liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers will rise by 7%. Meanwhile, tolls for smaller size tankers of liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and chemicals will grow by 10%. (Reuters)
Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait confirmed that the plan to offer 10 government companies on the Egyptian Stock Exchange during 2022 is still valid, "There is no tendency to postpone the government offering program due to the fluctuation of financial markets globally after the events of Ukraine."
Global, local and Arab markets have witnessed strong declines since last Thursday due to the Russian war. It is worthy to mention that Egypt is close to issuing the first Egyptian sovereign sukuk with an estimated value of one billion dollars before the end of June 2022. Noting that last week, Egypt appointed six international banks, including Citigroup and HSBC Holdings, to manage its first sovereign sukuk offering, as one of the Middle East's most indebted countries seeks to diversify its financing sources and ease the burden on its economy. Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Credit Agricole, Emirates NBD and First Abu Dhabi Bank were also selected to assist in the issuance of the sukuk. (Bloomberg Asharq)
Egypt overall deficit rose during the first 7 months of the current fiscal year 2021-2022 to 4.7% of the gross domestic product, compared to 4.4% for the same period of the last fiscal year, under pressure from increased expenditures, especially debt interest and government support.
It is expected that the total deficit in Egypt will record 7.4% by the end of the current fiscal year without taking into account the Ukrainian crisis so far. In addition, the Egyptian government expects to reduce the total deficit in the budget for the fiscal year 2021-2022 to 6.7% from 7.4% a year ago, and to increase economic growth to 6.3-6.5% compared to 3.3%, and the fiscal year in Egypt begins on the first of July until the end of June. (Egyptian Ministry of Finance)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has provided banks in the Egyptian markets with 900 million USD in financings, Reem El Saady, National Program Manager, Small Business Support at EBRD.
These banks have refunded the financings to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly businesses held by women and youth, as well as to eco-friendly green projects, El Saady said. EBRD is currently working on a number of projects in various sectors, mainly the empowerment of women socially, economically, and culturally, in addition to, projects supporting financial inclusion and digital transformation, she added. Moreover, El Saady noted that Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE) (EXPA) is close to obtaining a loan worth 15 million USD from EBRD. (Al-Mal)
Moving to our investments talks, yesterday, Dr. Mostafa Madbouly met the Prime Minister; Eng. Hassan Allam, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hassan Allam Holding Company, and Eng. Amr Allam, Chief Executive Officer of the company, to discuss and review a number of projects proposed to be implemented in a number of sectors.
Engineer Hassan Allam confirmed the company's interest in implementing green hydrogen projects, pointing out the coordination with a number of international companies working in this field, to establish partnerships to start implementing these projects. In this regard, the Prime Minister noted the state's efforts to support the expansion of such projects, which support the state's orientation towards green economy projects, and referred to the meeting held recently to discuss launching a package of incentives for these projects, which will be announced soon. (Al-Mal)
Moreover, it is worthy to mention that the Egyptian government is targeting to dedicate 30% of the new budget for green investments, as compared to 15% in FY 2021/2022, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said in a statement.
Moreover, the government is planning to raise green investments under the FY 2024/2025 budget to 50%, Maait added. The minister also pointed out that Egypt has obtained its first green financing worth 1.5 billion USD in November 2021 from a group of international banks. The government is getting ready to host the 27th edition of the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP 27) in November, he noted. In September 2020, the country has succeeded in issuing the first five-year sovereign green bonds in the MENA region at a value of 750 million USD. (Arab Finance)
Nearly 11 Arab and International companies are planning to officially submit their offers to bid on desalination projects in Egypt.
These projects are set to be carried out with a total estimated investment of up to 2.8 billion USD. The companies include ACWA Power, Hassan Allam, Al Nowais Group, Schneider Electric, Orascom Construction, and Matito, in addition to, other Chinese, Japanese, American, French, and German companies. Moreover, these companies are allocating huge investments to establish desalination projects in Egypt as per the government’s plan which targets bringing total desalinated water to 2.9 million cubic meters per day in five years. (AL Borsa News)
And for our EGX and companies talks, Careem, the ride-sharing company of Uber International, announced yesterday that it has pumped new investments into the Egyptian food delivery platform Elmenus, without announcing the size of the investment directed to the latter.
Careem's co-founder and CEO, Mudassir Sheikha, said in a statement on Monday that the partnership with Elmenus, which connects customers to more than 12,000 restaurants in five Egyptian cities, "will expand Careem's reach in one of our largest taxi-driven markets”. Sheikha added that while the food delivery market in Egypt is worth 2.8 billion USD, 90% of customers still order food over the phone. She explained that the agreement with Elmenus is another step in expanding its application for orders and payments across the region. (Bloomberg)
Milezmore, an end-to-end (E2E) logistic services provider, has raised 5 million USD in pre-seed funding round from Egypt’s largest social commerce platform Brimore.
The new funding will assist Milezmore to rapidly build on its cloud solutions through state-of-the-art technologies, expandable storage area, and higher delivery capacity. It will also help the startup to double its team, in order to boost its customer base by 50x. Milezmore has witnessed accelerated growth within a year, building an infrastructure with a warehousing area of over 20,000 square meters (sqm). The startup has been extending its footprint across the country through 15 delivery hubs, processing more than 15 million pieces, delivering over 1 million packages, and attracting over 25 new customers in different industries. (Arab Finance)
Sympl, a buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform, is getting ready to for a new funding round in the second quarter (Q2) of 2022, according to the Co-founder Mohamed Elfeki.
Through the anticipated funding round, the company plans to secure financings worth over 12 million USD from several foreign investment funds, Elfeki revealed. The company is currently in talks with a number of global funds in Europe and the US, he said, noting that Sympl is extending its footprint within the services it already offers. Moreover, he highlighted that Sympl is targeting to bring its total transactions to 10,000 per month. He also stressed that the company is self-financing its operations from working capital, seeking geographical expansion. (Al-Mal)
Talaat Mustafa Holding Group revealed that its sales grew by about 95% during 2021.
The company said in a statement to the stock exchange management, that its sales amounted to 32.4 billion EGP in the ending year 2021, compared to 16.6 billion EGP during 2020. The company stated that 2021 sales represent an unprecedented historical figure and the highest sales in Egypt's modern history. he company noted that the unproven sales balance represents 63 billion EGP for a total of 14.5 thousand housing units that will be delivered within 5 years. (Al-Mal)
The real estate and tourism sectors dominated the list of the highest decliners in the Egyptian Stock Exchange at the end of trading yesterday.
Despite the decline in the stock market trend yesterday, the declines in shares were limited, with rates ranging between about 5% and higher than 6%. The list was topped by the subscription right of Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development by 6.37%, closing at 0.853 EGP, followed by New Ismailia for Urban Development and Urban Development - a divided company by 5.67%, closing at 13.47 EGP. The share of Zahraa El Maadi for Investment and Development came in third by 4.97%, closing at a value of 12.040 EGP, then the share of Pioneers of Tourism - Pioneers by 4.96%, closing at 13.98 EGP, and fifthly, Orascom Development Egypt came down by 4.79%, closing at 4.37 EGP. (EGX)