HOSPITALITY-

Arab International Company for Hotels and Tourism could be bringing one of its hotels to market: A syndicate of five banks is holding negotiations with the Arab International Company for Hotels and Tourism to restructure USD 200 mn of debts currently owed by the company, according to Al Shorouk, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter. The company wants to sell part of its assets to help pay off some of its debts, the local outlet reported.

ICYMI: Unconfirmed media reports in 2023 said that the company had received a USD 320 mnoffer from a Qatari group to acquire the Ramses Hilton hotel — one of six hotels that the company currently owns in the country.

AUTOMOTIVE-

Al Nasr to roll out cars jointly produced with Chinese company by 2025: State-owned automaker El NasrAutomotive and an undisclosed Chinese company will jointly produce a new car next year, the company chairman Khaled Shedid said at a conference organized by Akhbar Al Youm.

Remember: State-owned El Nasr Automotive has been looking for an international partner to form a joint venture for locally-made electric vehicles for the past couple of years. After talks with Chinese firm Dongfeng fell through in 2021, the government began discussing a partnership with Ashok Leyland, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group.

ENERGY-

Egypt has stayed the course on paying off its debt to energy companies, despitethe ongoing economic difficulties ramping up pressures on state coffers and an acute FX shortage made worse by a drop in FX revenues from the Suez Canal following Red Sea disruptions, the CEO of Italian oil giant Claudio Descalzi told analysts in a call, according to Reuters. There is a small, marginal build up, but they [Egypt] are paying … maybe little installments, but they are paying… there is the willingness to protect investors,” Descalzi reportedly said.

More LNG exports to come? “We have seen three [LNG] cargoes in December and we are foreseeing eight to ten cargoes in the coming months,” Eni’s natural resources COO Guido Brusco also said in the call, according to the newswire.

LOGISTICS-

The world’s largest shipping company eyes more investments in Egypt’s logistics sector: Multinational shipping giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) plans to funnel more investments into Egypt’s logistics sector, the company’s CEO Soren Toft said during a virtual meeting with Suez Canal Authority head Osama Rabie, according to a statement from the authority. MSC suspended navigation through the Red Sea back in December, but “will immediately return to transit through the Suez Canal as soon as the security situation stabilizes in the Red Sea region,” Toft added.

TAX-

Real Estate Tax Authority, E-Tax link up: E-Tax will provide the Real Estate Tax Authority with the needed services for the first two phases of the authority’s electronic tax transformation, after the cabinet approved the contract between the two. The three-year contract can be renewed for another two years if needed.

Refresher: E-Tax is a EGP 100 mn JV between state-owned e-payments firm e-Finance, theEgyptian International Trade Point Sector, and the Finance Ministry. Approved by the cabinet in 2020, the platform provides services and tech solutions to companies and authorities as Egypt transitions to an electronic tax system.

SMES-

Introducing Banque Misr Express: Egypt’s second largest state-owned bank, Banque Misr, has launched a new platform — dubbed Banque Misr Express — to provide Egyptian SMEs with financial and non-financial support, the bank said in a statement (pdf). Through the platform, SME founders can apply for loans of up to EGP 2 mn with minimal documentation required. The platform also offers founders training programs and a series of other services.

KUDOS-

Mental health support for entrepreneurs: Flat6Labs’ StartMashreq — an initiative aimed atsupporting underprivileged and marginalized entrepreneurs — has teamed up with online mental health platform Arab Therapy, to launch an initiative prioritizing “the mental health of entrepreneurs in Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, helping them face the challenges and obstacles imposed by the current economic and political climate,” StartMashreq said in statement.

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