DEVELOPMENT FINANCE-

Egypt is now a member of the BRICS’ development bank:President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has signed off on a multilateral agreement for Egypt to become a member of the BRICS’ USD 100 bn multilateral lender New Development Bank (NDB), according to a Foreign Ministry decision published in the Official Gazette on Thursday. The president signed the decision into law on 2 February, just a few days after MPs approved the move.

About the NDB:The NDB is a multilateral development bank set up in 2014 by the BRICS — a group of high-profile EM including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — to fund infrastructure projects in its member countries.

Why this matters: Membership will allow Egypt to access finance from the bank for development projects. “Egypt joining the BRICS Group's New Development Bank will also help reduce demand for USD as bank members can use their national currencies in exchange of trade," Deputy Chairman of the House Economic Committee Mohamed Abdel Hamid said in January.

After the big five, Egypt will be the bank’s largest shareholder:Egypt is set to contribute around USD 1.2 bn to the lender’s capital, giving it ownership of c.2.3% of its shares, according to the lender’s website. Egypt will have the option to up its share of the lender’s capital and ultimately its share ownership and voting rights within the next few years, according to a government document seen by Enterprise. The two other shareholders — the UAE and Bangladesh — currently each own less than 2% of the bank’s shares.

TRADE FINANCE-

Indian official confirms: Egypt is interested in using the INR for trade. Egypt is among several countries to have shown interest in using the Indian currency for trade, an Indian government official told reporters last week, Bloomberg reports. This came shortly after the country’s commerce secretary said that New Delhi would allow nations experiencing a USD crunch to use the INR. Adopting INR trade would help countries “disaster proof” themselves against currency risk caused by the Federal Reserve’s hawkish monetary policy, Sunil Barthwal said Friday.

El Moselhy said as much last month: “Egypt is currently studying exchanging trade with China and India in local currencies in the same way we are working to adopt the RUB and the EGP,” Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said last month.

Egypt and Russia have in recent months been working to increase the use of the EGP and the RUB in bilateral trade: The Russian central bank in January approved the EGP as a trade currency, opening the door to the two countries cutting out the USD in bilateral trade. The countries are also exploring swapping goods, allowing Egypt to import Russian wheat in return for exporting oranges, Moselhy said last month.

FOOD SECURITY-

EU food security funds on their way: The Italian Agency for Development andCooperation (AICS) is getting EUR 40 mn from the EU to help the Egyptian ministries of agriculture and supply grow more resilient wheat and upgrade storage capacity, the International Cooperation Ministry said in astatement. This is the first tranche of the EUR 100 mn in funding announced last year from the EU to improve food security in Egypt.

Where’s the money going? Some EUR 25 mn will support the Agriculture Ministry to buy better seeds, while the Supply Ministry will spend the remaining EUR 15 mn to build new siloes and complete the information system geared for controlling the movement of wheat in Egypt, according to the statement. The parties are currently discussing the allocation of the remaining EUR 60 mn.

PUBLIC RELATIONS-

Nominations are open for the Egypt Entrepreneur Awards, with 14 categories now open. You have until 20 April to apply online and can expect to hear about the short list of nominees by May, according to apress release (pdf).

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