FinMin to announce the names of the qualifying bidders for desalination tender:The Finance Ministry to announce within 10 days the names of the qualifying bidders for desalination projects the government is tendering to the private sector, a senior government source with first-hand knowledge of the process told Enterprise on Tuesday. Some 3-4 plants will be tendered in June, the source said, adding that the ministry is ascertaining the size of the required investment against the backdrop of global inflation and a weaker EGP. Prequalification for the plants closed in December.

AND- The gov’t is mulling fresh PPP projects: The government is currently reviewing a fresh package of public-private-partnership projects to be presented to the higher committee for partnerships in sectors of water, sewage, industrial drainage, and electricity distribution stations, the source told us. This will be followed by another package of projects in the health, transport, youth and sports sectors, the source added.

How many desalination plants? Sovereign Fund of Egypt boss Ayman Soliman said in December that he expects the government to sign contracts for 21 plants in 2023. The plants will process a combined 3.3 mn cubic meters of water per day, and make up the initial phase of the wider program which is expected to add 8.8 mn cbm/d of capacity. Four plants of the first phase would likely be located on the Marsa Matrouh and Alamein coasts, Atter Hannoura, director of the Finance Ministry’s PPP unit, told Enterprise back in December.

Who could be involved? Our friends at Hassan Allam Holding are participating, as are reportedly Al Nowais, Schneider Electric, and a consortium made up of Metito Holdings, Scatec, and Orascom Construction. Acwa Power, which is backed by Saudi sovereign wealth fund Public Investment Fund (PIF), has shown interest in the plants and Bloomberg Asharq last year quoted sources close to the matter as saying that Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, and the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) were also interested.

REMEMBER- The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) will work with the SFE to provide advice on how to structure and implement four public-private partnership desalination projects.

ALEX METRO WINNERS IN T-MINUS 2 WEEKS-

We’re two weeks away from knowing who will be awarded the Alexandria metro project, unnamed sources reportedly told Al Borsa. Three consortiums have submitted bids for the EUR 1.6 bn project to convert Alexandria’s Abu Qir railway into an underground metro.

Who’s in?

  • The first consortium includes the French rail manufacturer Alstom, Hassan Allam Holding, Arab Contractors and Concord.
  • The second is made up of France’s Thales and Orascom Construction.
  • The third offer came from China Road and Bridge Corporation, China Railway Signal & Communication Co., Concrete Plus, El Soadaa Group, and Adler.

And we’ll know who will supply the rolling stock in July, the source reportedly said. The interested companies include the Korean Hyundai Rotem, Spain’s CAF, China’s Norinco, Italy’s Hitachi Rail, and Russia’s Metrowagonmash.

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