ENERGY-

#1- Infinity Power to set up battery storage system in Senegal:Infinity Power — a joint venture between our friends at Infinity and UAE renewables player Masdar — has signed a 20-year agreement with Senegalese national utility Senelec to supply 40 MW of clean energy to the country’s grid through a battery energy storage system, it said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. The system will be supplied with energy generated by Infinity’s 158.7 MW Taiba N’Diaye wind farm and will help Senelec stabilize the country’s electrical grid. The value of the agreement was not disclosed.

^^ We have the full details in this morning’s Enterprise Climate.

#2- We’re getting more oil from Kuwait: The Madbouly government wants to increase its imports of Kuwaiti crude oil by 33% to 3 mn barrels per month starting the new year, Asharq Business citing an unnamed government official. Under the current contract, Egypt imports some 2.25 mn barrels of Kuwaiti crude a month, it also gives Egypt a 9-month grace period on payments. The move to boost Kuwaiti oil imports comes on the back of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation’s plan to increase the country’s crude imports by 40% starting in FY 2024-2025. By bringing monthly crude imports to 7 mn barrels from 5 mn currently, the government hopes to start refining more petroleum products locally to reduce our import bill from refined oil products.

DEBT-

CBE auctions fresh t-bills to refinance FX debt: The Central Bank of Egypt raised USD 1.61 bn in a t-bill auction yesterday to refinance existing debt, according to data on its website. The bills were sold at an interest rate of 5.149%, 55 bps higher than the maturing bills sold in November 2022.

FINTECH-

#1- More e-payment platforms hitting the market: Banque du Caire’s digital paymentssubsidiary Taly plans to launch two e-payment platforms next month — one targeting individuals and another targeting businesses — Taly CEO Magdy Hassan told Al Borsa. The platforms will offer businesses digital payment acceptance, collections, and finance, meanwhile individuals will have access to Taly-issued prepaid cards and invoicing. Last month, Tally started offering merchants payment services, between points of sale and e-commerce payment systems. It’s aiming to have 1 mn clients on board by the end of 1Q 2024 and to record transactions worth some EGP 1 bn during the same period.

A capital increase down the line: The company wants to double its capital to EGP 1 bn, Hassan said, without providing a timeline. The additional capital will help the company move forward with any potential investment plans. The company kicked off operations in March 2023 with a capital of EGP 500 mn.

#2- QNB wants to set up a digital bank: QNB Al Ahli has submitted an application for a digital banking license to the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), CEO Mohamed Bedeir told Al Borsa. The bank is working to fulfill the recently-amended digital banking regulations, requiring digital banks to possess a minimum of EGP 2 bn in capital.

AVIATION-

EgyptAir is adding more aircraft to its fleet: National flag carrier EgyptAir has placed an order for 18 new aircraft from Boeing to be delivered between early 2025 and 2026, according to a press release. American outfit Air Lease Corp is providing the aircraft on a long-term lease.

Other regional carriers are doing the same: Mideast airlines made purchases of over 100 aircraft on day one of the Dubai Air Show, reflecting confidence in a tourism bounce-back even as regional tensions flare, the Financial Times reports. State-owned Emirates and sister airline FlyDubai are among those making the sales team at Boeing very, very happy.

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