MANUFACTURING-

Vivo starts local production: Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has begun manufacturing devices at its Tenth of Ramadan factory, Al Malreports. The company has over the past weeks produced an unspecified quantity of phones ranging in price from EGP 5 – 11k and intends to add more models to its production lines soon, a source in the telecoms sector reportedly told the newspaper.

This makes Vivo the fourth international brand to produce smartphones in Egypt after Nokia phone manufacturer HMD Global, Infinix, and Samsung, which is preparing to build a new factory at its industrial complex in Beni Suef. Vivo has been active in Egypt since 2019, and has a network of customer service centers.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

Giving startups access to the public market: The EGX is considering setting up a sub-market for startup companies to help them raise capital from the public market, Al Mal reports, citing EGX boss Ramy El Dokany. Smaller companies are capable of attracting investment but are unable to comply with the EGX’s listing requirements, he said, clarifying that the plan remains at an early stage. The market would be similar to the UK’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which allows small and early-stage companies to go public.

Beltone to become futures market maker? The EGX is in talks with Beltone Financialto become the market maker for the forthcoming futures exchange, the newspaper reports El Dokany as saying. Beltone is currently the only licensed market maker in Egypt. The EGX is also holding discussions with a number of local and Gulf banks to become members of the exchange’s clearing company, he said. The company aims to recruit an initial 4-5 members, including commercial and investment banks ahead of the exchange’s launch, he added.

Four firms to manage Investor Protection Fund portfolio: The board of the Investor Protection Fund (IPF) has assigned the management of its EGP 320 mn financial portfolio to EFG Holding, Al Ahly Financial Investment Management, Beltone Financial and NI Capital, reports Hapi Journal. Moves to allow the fund to invest up to 10% of its EGP 4 bn funds to stimulate the stock market have been in the works since at least 2020.

FINANCE-

Erada Microfinance has secured a EGP 100 mn loan from the National Bank of Egypt for on-lending to micro firms, according to a statement (pdf) from the state-owned bank. The NBFS company was launched in January by the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) and Etisalat Egypt and aims to improve access to finance for micro and small businesses. Only last month it secured a loan of equal size from Banque du Caire.

LOGISTICS

KSA-based logistics startup OTO plans to expand into Egypt in 2024 after launching operations in Turkey, company co-founder and CEO Mohammad Al Razaz told Enterprise Logistics. “Egypt is our next target, and we aim to launch operations there at the beginning of next year,” Al Razaz said. The company is currently operational in the GCC and Jordan and plans on further expansion in the MENA region, with a focus on North African markets.

**Read the full story in this morning’s edition of Enterprise Logistics.

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