HEALTHCARE-

#1- Alameda plans new hospital in Assiut: Alameda Healthcare will establish a branch of the Al Salam International Hospital in New Assiut as part of the company’s EGP 5 bn expansion plans, Chairman Fahad Khater told Enterprise. The company plans to invest USD 50 mn to build the facility, which is planned to be completed by 1Q 2026, and has begun talks with local contractors.

The healthcare provider has so far spent EGP 1 bn of the EGP 5 bn it had earmarked for expansion over a 3-5 year period, Khater told us. The funds were used to buy new medical equipment and to develop IT and capacity building at Alameda’s facilities, he said. Alameda is also targeting new locations in the new administrative capital, Alamein, Alexandria, and Mansoura, as well as Assiut. 

#2- A new Egyptian-Saudi medical JV in the making: The former chairman of Speed Medical, Mahmoud Lasheen, has partnered with the Saudi King AbdulAziz University to launch a new medical lab company in Saudi Arabia, he told Asharq Business yesterday (watch, runtime: 6:09). The Saudi Egyptian Company for Medical Laboratories (SELC) will invest SAR 80 mn to set up in Saudi and plans to open its first three branches by October this year, he said. “Over the coming five years we are aiming to become the largest or second largest medical labs chain in the kingdom … initially we will launch 30 branches across the Eastern Province, Jeddah, and Riyadh,” he said.

Next up, Egypt: Egypt is the second market on the company’s radar, which it will enter after establishing itself in Saudi Arabia. It has earmarked EGP 300 mn to set up in Egypt, according to Lasheen, who described the local market as “very large and promising.”

BANKING-

NBG sells Egyptian portfolio to aiBank: EFG Hermes’ aiBank has inked an agreement to acquire the National Bank of Greece – Egypt’s (NBG Egypt) letters of guarantee portfolio, aiBank said on Saturday. The bank didn’t disclose the value of the transaction.

NBG exited Egypt in 2021: The bank terminated its activities in Egypt in 2021 and has been divesting its local portfolio, which includes 17 branches.

AUTOMOTIVE-

Star National Automotive and Alexandria National Automotive — the Mercedes-Benz dealerships owned by the National Automotive Company (NATCO) — will introduce five new models of Mercedes-Benz EVs to the local market in 3Q 2023, Al Borsa quotes NATCO CEO Yasser Saleh as saying. The companies are also planning to invest some EGP 650 mn to expand in the local market by 2024, he added.

REMEMBER- NATCO is keen on EVs: The firm acquired a 33% stake in local private sector EV services platform Electrified last year and is setting up the country’s first electric car distributor with El Nasr Automotive. 

Correction: 23 May, 2023: 

A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to NATCO as a state-owned company.

MANUFACTURING-

Tunisian automotive cable manufacturer Coficab wants to spend an initial EUR 25 mn to build a factory in Egypt, the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) said in a statement Thursday following a meeting between IDA head Mohamed Abdel Karim and Coficab Country Director Salah Rabah. The authority said it is assessing the company’s request, which would see it establish a cable factory in Tenth of Ramadan City. Coficab intends to use part of the factory’s production to fulfill local demand and direct the remainder to export.

The start of a car cables manufacturing + export hub? Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo recently announced plans to build the world’s largest auto cables factory in Tenth of Ramadan City. The state’s national automotive strategy — theAutomotive Industry Development Program — seeks to incentivize local component manufacturing and assembly in a bid to localize the industry.

M&A-

German engineering services planning and consultancy player Dorsch Group has acquired a 60% stake in Egypt’s Engineering Consultants Group (ECG), according to a statement (pdf). The partnership between the two companies “[positions] us as leaders in executing mega transformative projects in the Middle East and Africa,” said ECG Chairman Ahmed Elsayed.

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