The Madbouly cabinet yesterday greenlit a slew of debt and green energy decisions, including renewing its approval of the upcoming issuance of Samurai bonds, a grant from the French Development Agency, and a renewable energy MoU between the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and Belgian Jan de Nul, the cabinet said in a statement following its weekly meeting.

#1- Samurai bonds will hit the market for a second time: The cabinet agreed to renew its approval of a second USD 500 mn issuance of JPY-denominated bonds. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait recently said that we should expect the issuance some time next month.

This isn’t our first samurai bond rodeo: Egypt closed its maiden issuance in March 2022, when it sold USD 500 mn (c. JPY 60 bn) of the bonds.

Remember: Egypt closed last week its first-ever issuance of CNY-denominated “panda bonds,” selling CNY 3.5 bn (USD 478.7 mn) of the securities to Chinese investors.

#2- ِAFD wheat grant approved: Cabinet approved a EUR 56.7 mn grant from the French Development Agency (AFD) to expand the country’s wheat storage capacity, the statement said. The agreement is part of EUR 100 mn in funding from the EU and AFD to expand silo capacity.

#3- EETC to study sending green energy over the Mediterranean: Cabinet approved an MoU between the EETC and Belgian maritime builder Jan De Nul to study exporting renewable energy of at least 2 GW from Egypt to Europe via a Mediterranean link.

Remember: There are a number of proposed Egypt-Europe interconnection projects in the pipeline. Read more about them here.

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