DEVELOPMENT FINANCE-

A new support package from the AfDB: The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed off on a USD 131 mn support package for Egypt that will “promote private-sector development, support economic diversification and green transition,” the lender said this week. The program has a wide range of targets, including increasing private investment, raising the amount of state land available to renewable energy projects, boosting the value of manufacturing, and reducing the time taken to process business licenses. No details of how the program will be carried out or how the finance will be used were provided.

ENERGY-

That’s a wrap on EEHC’s solar tender: Three consortiums have submitted financial and technical bids in response to the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company’s (EEHC) tender to establish five concentrated solar power (CSP) stations in the North Coast to power desalination plants, Al Mal reported. The three consortiums include an alliance between Egypt’s Platform and an unnamed Chinese company, Smart Engineering Solutions (SES) and Germany’s Frenell, and Orascom Construction and an unnamed foreign partner. The company will evaluate the bids over the coming two months before announcing the tender winner.

About the project: The plants will power desalination plants on the north coast and will have a combined capacity of 250 MW, helping desalinate over 400k cubic meters of water per day. The plants are expected to require USD 270 mn of investment and will be established under 25-year build-own-operate contracts.

A little leeway: The financial offers submitted can be revisited and adjusted in response to exchange rate fluctuations and changes in raw material prices.

DIVESTMENT-

South African fund offloads a portion of its stake in Macro Group: South Africa’s CoronationAfrica Frontiers Fund has sold a 3.6% stake in Macro Group for EGP 55 mn — EGP 2.63 a share — reducing its ownership in the cosmeceuticals player to 1.9%, according to a filing to the EGX (pdf).

MANUFACTURING-

Techno Frame wants to set up a factory in Tenth of Ramadan City: Egyptian-Saudi aluminum manufacturer Techno Frame is planning to establish an EGP 200 mn factory in the Tenth of Ramadan City, CEO Ahmed Hamdy told Al Borsa. The factory will produce aluminum, glass and steel and have an annual production capacity of 50k sqm. Construction is expected to finish in 4Q 2024.

CLIMATE-

We’re documenting the carbon footprint of our crop production: The Agriculture Ministry has begun documenting the carbon footprint of its crop production in a new project supported by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), FAO Representative in Egypt Nasr Al Din Haj Al Amin told Attaqa. The project — funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Environment Fund — will assess the size of the emissions for each step of the production process including irrigation, fertilization, and harvest. The move is part of larger efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change in Egypt, Al Amin added.

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