ENERGY-

#1- TAQA Arabia launches its first CGN station in Tanzania: Qalaa Holdings’ TAQA Arabia has inaugurated its first compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station and conversion center in Tanzania — under its Master Gas brand — the company said in astatement(pdf). The station will fuel up to 800 vehicles a day. TAQA Arabia and holding group Janus Continental have partnered on TAQA Dalbit, which aims to build 12 stations in Tanzania at a cost of USD 10 mn over the next few years.

#2- Capricorn Energy wants better terms for its Egypt contracts: British oil and gas firm Capricorn Energy is in talks with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) over better terms, Reuters reported, without providing any details. The company will be publishing its operational update in early 2024, instead of 30 November, as originally planned “due to a number of factors including completing the required technical and commercial work to provide a comprehensive and detailed portfolio update,” the company told Reuters.

Remember: Capricorn’s new leadership is scaling back the company’s operations to focus only on Egypt and putting a new focus on dividend payouts. Its former board was ousted earlier this year by activist investors who weren’t happy with plans for a merger with Israel’s NewMed Energy. The company will pay out USD 575 mn to shareholders this year despite a rise in receivables outstanding from Egypt.

M&A WATCH-

Gulf investors want in on local rebar steel manufacturer: A Saudi-Emirati investment fund will acquire a 50% stake in local rebar steel manufacturer Al Refaey Steel in a USD 200 mn transaction, chairman Hisham El Refaey told Al Borsa on Thursday. The fresh investment will go towards expanding the company’s production capacity and setting up a plant for billet production in the Suez Canal Economic Zone — the production from both will go towards exports. The two sides have inked an initial agreement, with the final contract to be signed mid-November.

MANUFACTURING-

#1- Gov’t looks at Russian, Chinese firms to locally manufacture railcars: The National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC), a joint-venture between the state and the private sector, is negotiating with Russia’s Transmashholding and China Railway Construction Corporation (CCRC) to produce 500 railway cars in NERIC’s Port Said factory, sources reportedly told Al Borsa. The Transport Ministry was going to award the contract to Hungarian firm Ganz Motor, but it held off on finalizing the agreement until it received more offers that meet its new requirement of a 70% minimum local component quota.

Both companies are familiar with the local market: Transmashholding has previouslysupplied Egypt with a number of railcars, as part of an EGP 22 bn contract. The company is also providing technical support and spare parts for the delivered railcars. Meanwhile, CCRC is reportedlypart of a consortium bidding for the first phase of the USD 23 bn high-speed electric rail network.

A lot of railway news: The news comes shortly after the TransMEA 2023 transport expo wrapped up. The expo saw Egypt ink a long list of agreements on maritime, logistics, and land transport.

#2- Updates on IDG’s upcoming projects: Samcrete Holding’s industrial arm, Industrial Development Group (IDG), will submit financial and technical offers for the new Beni Suef dry port it is developing and operating in cooperation with Alexandria-based logistics company Star Shine Shipping & Logistics (SSSC) during 1Q 2024, Samcrete’s Chief Investment Officer Refky Kamel told AlMal. IDG will invest some USD 160 mn developing the 61-feddan port, Kamel said, saying earlier reports the facility would cost USD 500 mn were untrue. IDG will also work with SSSC on a planned 2-mn square meter industrial complex in New October City. The company was awarded the land for the complex in March.

FINTECH-

Local fintech platform Cashcall plans to step into new markets, including the UAE and Pakistan, having already inked strategic partnerships with fintech players there, cofounder and CEO Ahmed Mahrous told Al Mal. Mahrous didn’t provide any details on the planned expansion.

About Cashcall: The fintech platform started operation in 2018. It offers a range of e-payment services, including Cashless — a service catered for gated communities — and Open Finance — a platform that allows the unbanked access NBFS.

FINANCE-

Future cooperation between the Egyptian and Saudi FinMins?The Egyptian and Saudi Finance Ministries inked an MoU to boost cooperation, that includes launching a high-level dialogue between the two sides and exploring areas of cooperation, according to a Finance Ministry statement.

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