MANUFACTURING-

Fresh investment from Schneider: French electrical equipment manufacturer Schneider Electric plans to invest an additional EUR 8 mn in the local market this year, it said in a press release (pdf). Part of the investment will go into its Badr City factory, adding a new production line. The fresh investment falls in line with the company’s strategy to enhance local operations and accelerate its digital transformation.

CORRECTION- Last week we picked up a report from CNN Business Arabic saying that Schneider Electric is investing EUR 30 mn in its Badr City factory expansion until 2025. The report has since been amended to reflect that the EUR 30 mn figure refers to investments the company has made in our local market in 2020. We have since removed the story from our website.

FINANCIAL SERVICES-

Prime mulls three new funds for 2024: Prime Holding’s asset management arm, PrimeInvestments, is looking to launch three funds next year — an EGP 500 mn tourism fund, an EGP 500 mn gold fund, and venture capital with some EGP 1 bn to invest, Chairman Mohamed Ayad told Hapi Journal. Prime will seed 10% of the capital for each of the funds, Ayad said, and hopes to have licenses for each in place by 1Q 2024.

Prime is also looking to raise some EGP 150-200 mn from local investors to finance a capital increase at its fintech unit with the aim of bringing the company’s total capital to EGP 220 mn.

T&Cs apply… Both the new funds and the capital injection for the fintech unit are just “ideas for the future,” the company said in a later EGX disclosure (pdf), adding that no official moves have been made on either fronts.

ENERGY-

#1- It’s business as usual for fertilizer companies: The government has reportedly increased gas supplies earmarked for fertilizer companies, reversing a 30% supply cut introduced last week triggered by a sharp downturn in imports of natural gas from Israel, Asharq Business reports, citing what it says are three government officials. This comes on the back of Israeli natural gas imports picking up again late last week. Fertilizer factories consume a daily 450-500 mn cubic feet of natural gas.

#2- Vestas’ 250 MW Suez wind farm to link up with the grid next month: Danish wind turbine maker Vestas has begun a trial operations at its 250 MW-capacity wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, according to unnamed company officials cited in Al Arabiya yesterday. The wind farm, in the works since 2020, will be handed over to Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) by mid-December. Total investment in the project from Egypt and European development partners amounts to c. EUR 250 mn, according to the Saudi outlet.

DEBT-

Kharafi to borrow EGP 950 mn to fund local projects: Kuwait-based subsidiary of the Saudi Al Kharafi Group Kharafi National is reportedly getting a EGP 950 mn syndicated loan from a banking consortium including: SAIB Bank, Al Baraka Bank, the Arab Investment Bank, the Industrial Development Bank, and Export Development Bank, Al Mal reported, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter. The money will fund the company’s local activities. Kharafi National in August secured a syndicated shariah-compliant loan worth EGP 1.65 bn from local lenders to expand in the Egyptian market.

MANUFACTURING-

Italy’s Cofra wants to set up shop in Egypt: Italian personal protective equipment manufacturer Cofra is looking to establish an EUR 10 mn 50k sqm factory in Egypt, the Trade Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The factory, which could be based in the Roubiki Leather City, would create some 2k new jobs.

An Egyptian-Italian ro-ro line? The Transport Ministry is currently working with the Italian side to establish a roll on, roll off (ro-ro) transport line that would link the ports of Damietta and Alexandria with the Italian Trieste Port, to facilitate the movement of goods between the two sides, the statement said without providing any details.

REAL ESTATE-

Heliopark sale sealed: The National Organization for Social Ins. (NOSI) has acquired 100% of the land allocated to the Heliopark project from the state-owned Heliopolis Housing and Development (HHD) in an EGP 15 bn transaction, according to a statement. HHD’s ordinary general assembly last month approved NOSI’s acquisition offer, put forward after HHD abandoned the project in February.

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