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ENERGY-
New Israel-Egypt-Europe electricity link-up in the works? Israel plans to build a 150-km subsea electric cable along its Mediterranean coast that could link its electricity grid to Europe, the country’s energy ministry said yesterday. Officials are also considering connecting the country’s grid to Egypt via a land link transiting North Sinai, as well as an interconnector with Jordan, according to the ministry.
Sound smart: Electricity interconnectors are high-voltage direct current cables that carry surplus electricity from one territory to another, allowing countries to share and trade energy. You can read more about these link-ups in our explainer here.
HEALTHCARE-
The cost of the first phase of the universal health ins. system: The government is spending more than EGP 53 bn on the rollout of the first phase of the universal health ins. system, Daily News Egypt reports, citing the head of the General Authority for Healthcare Ahmed El Sobky. More than EGP 34 bn is being spent on the development of more than 350 healthcare facilities included in the initial phase, which covers Port Said, Luxor, Ismailia, South Sinai, Aswan, and Suez governorates.
The EGP 53 bn figure suggests the project is largely coming in on-budget: The state said in 2020 that the first phase would cost about EGP 51.1 bn.
STARTUPS-
Customers will be able to purchase ins. policies from Al Wataniya via online ins. directory Estafsar under a partnership between the two companies, according to an Estafsar statement(pdf). Joining the insurtech startup’s network will enable Al Wataniya to expand its reach across a range of digital platforms.
About Estafsar: Established in 2020, Estafsar helps ins. Companies digitize their operations. Its platform connects ins. firms with brokers and customers and offers auxiliary tools such as automatic policy pricing, lead management, and after-sales service.
INDUSTRY-
Egypt is working with China to get its nascent space industry off the ground: The Egyptian Space Agency last week received two Chinese-funded prototypes for the MisrSat-2 satellite, which it will assemble and test at a facility also financed by Beijing, South China Morning Post reports. Egyptian and Chinese scientists have over the past three months been conducting tests of the satellite, which is expected to launch from China in October. Egypt is the first African country to be able to assemble and test satellites and is the first country China has worked with on a satellite project outside its borders, Chinese ambassador to Egypt Liao Liqiang said.
