MANUFACTURING-

MDP to ramp up payment card production: Local e-payments firm and payment cards manufacturer Masria Digital Payments (MDP) is adding three production lines to its factory in Tenth of Ramadan City this year, with investments of USD 2 mn financed by a bank loan, CEO Ahmed Nafie told Enterprise. The new production lines will increase MDP’s annual production capacity by 20% to 36 mn payment cards.

Also in the pipeline: The company is looking into expanding into the Gulf, East Asia, and Europe, Nafie added.

DEBT-

Al Ahly CIRA seeks financing for Saxony Egypt University: Al Ahly CIRA — an education investment company set up by CIRA Education and Al Ahly Capital Holding in 2021 — is in talks with the National Bank of Egypt to secure loans worth EGP 500-600 mn to partially fund the c. EGP 1 bn first phase of the Saxony Egypt University of Applied Sciences and Technology (SEU), CIRA CEO Mohamed El Kalla told Al Borsa. Al Ahly CIRA and Al Ahly Capital Holding have already financed almost half of the first phase’s costs, El Kalla added.

Phase one: Al Ahly CIRA will commence operations at SEU in September, with a four-program first phase, including nursing and public health, automotive technology, artificial intelligence, and logistics, El Kalla said.

The endgame: The university’s full development is set for completion within seven years, according to El Kalla.

REAL ESTATE-

Inversion in talks to manage USD 3 bn real estate projects with Emirati investors: Egyptian project management firm Inversion is negotiating with Emirati investors to manage two major real estate projects in Egypt worth a combined USD 3 bn, Chief Development Officer Kamel Ibrahim told Al Borsa.

The projects: Inversion wants to manage a USD 1.5 bn integrated development in New Cairo that will have residential, commercial, and medical components. Negotiations to acquire the land from the New Urban Communities Authority are in their final stages and the project hopes to commence construction by the end of this year or early 2025, according to Ibrahim. Inversion is also in discussions with another Emirati investor to manage a second integrated development project with an investment exceeding USD 1.5 bn in a still undecided location.

An office in Dubai: Ibrahim also revealed to the news outlet that his company is planning to open a new office in Dubai by the end of the year.

MINING-

Shalateen’s four-times-extended gold tender comes to a close: Three firms from Russia, UK, and Saudi Arabia have been awarded gold exploration licenses by state-owned Shalateen Mineral Resources, a source from the company told Al Borsa without revealing the names of the company. The tender had been live for over a year and was extended four times due to a lack of bidders after it was launched in April 2023. The official announcement of the winning companies will be made in the coming days, the source added.

FINANCIAL SERVICES-

BHM Capital plans to expand to Egypt: The UAE’s BHM Capital is set to enter the Egyptian market before the end of this year, the company’s CEO Abdel Hadi Al Sadi told CNBC Arabic. The financial services firm will enter Egypt through a joint venture and it is currently in negotiations with “more than one party” to do this.

Why now? The firm with an asset portfolio under management of over USD 10 bn had been waiting for the country to float the EGP before expanding into Egypt, Al Sadi added.

INVESTMENT-

Investment area up for grabs in Sharm El Sheikh International Airport: The Egyptian Airports Company (EAC) has launched an international closed-envelope tender for the development and operation of a 450k sqm investment zone at the Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, using the build-operate-transfer system, Al Borsa reports. The project will involve the construction, management, operation, marketing, and maintenance of the investment area, located on Al Salam Road, Sharm’s main thoroughfare.

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