BANKING-

High-yield CDs reel in EGP 565 bn: Savers have so far put away EGP 565 bn into the high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) introduced last month by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Banque Misr, Youm 7 reported on Thursday. NBE has racked up some EGP 365 bn, while Banque Misr has attracted EGP 200 bn from the 12-month CDs that offer either a one-time return of 27% upon maturation or monthly payouts at a 23.5% annualized rate.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

EFG Hermes to trim back global operations: Our friends at EFG Hermes will reportedly shutter its frontier operations, close its Singapore office, and fully exit Pakistan, according to an internal memo cited by Bloomberg. The lender is also considering exiting its UK operations and is reassessing its businesses in Nigeria and Kenya, which will operate on an execution-only basis for the time being, the outlet added. EFG Holding declined to comment when Enterprise reached out.

STARTUPS

Flat6Labs backs Estonian AI portfolio company in USD 1 mn round: Cairo-headquartered regional VC firm Flat6Labs participated in a USD 1.05 mn funding round for Estonia-based AI visual analysis startup and Flat6Labs portfolio company CognitiweAI OÜ, according to a statement (pdf). TechOne Venture Capital, Eleven Ventures, Domino Ventures and Caucasus Ventures also participated in the round, the statement added.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

More from Azimut: Asset manager Azimut aims to set up a new metals investment fund and “other investment products” in the coming period, Al Borsa quotes CEO Ahmed Abou El Saad as saying. The company, alongside Evolve Holdings, founded Egypt’s first gold investmentfund last summer, whose first tranche was over 15x oversubscribed.

AVIATION-

EgyptAir sells Airbuses to support fleet transformation: US-based aircraft leasing company Azorra has purchased 12 Airbus A220-300 planes from national flag carrier EgyptAir, a statement (pdf) from Azzora’s legal counsel for the transaction Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy (MBH) said. The transaction will support EgyptAir’s “ongoing fleet transformation,” the statement added.

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