AUTOMOTIVE-

GB Auto, Military Production Ministry to manufacture Bajaj vehicle locally: GB Auto subsidiary Itamco and the Military Production Ministry’s Helwan Company for Machinery and Equipment will assemble and manufacture the Indian Bajaj’s “eco-friendly, fuel efficient and economically competitive” Qute model, under an agreement inked between GB Corp and the ministry, GB Corp said in a press release(pdf).

EDUCATION-

The comeback of the PPP education program? The state will offer 24 land plots for private sector players to set up 24 schools, within the coming six weeks, under the public-private partnership (PPP) education program, Atter Hannoura, director of the Finance Ministry’s PPP unit, told Asharq Business. The schools should see combined investments of EGP 1 bn.

PPP education program? The program was introduced back in 2016 to boost private sector involvement in the education sector. Under the framework, the government will provide private sector operators with land and licenses, while the operators will build and operate the schools. The government signed public-private partnership pacts with five consortiums in 2019 to build and operate 24 schools with a total of 910 classrooms as part of the first phase of the program and we heard in 2020 that the state was getting ready for phase two of the program to build 70 new schools.

Want more? We followed up with the PPP program last summer.

BANKING-

CBE continues to soak liquidity from the market: The Central Bank of Egypt yesterday accepted bids for EGP 929.8 bn in fixed-rate deposits with 14-day maturities at a rate of 27.75% during its weekly fixed-rate auction, according to data on its website. This is the CBE’s third biggest single withdrawal of surplus liquidity from the domestic banking system.

Remember: The CBE earlier this year introduced a new mechanism for its weekly fixed-rate auctions, switching to a full allotment system that ensures all the bids submitted by commercial banks are accepted. Previously, the CBE only accepted a portion of the bids based on criteria outlined by the bank.

LABOR-

Greek online platform to hire Egyptians for seasonal agricultural work is live: Greek employers can now submit requests to hire Egyptian farm workers for seasonal work through the Greek Migration Ministry’s website, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini reports. Greece plans to employ over 5k Egyptian farmers this year and some 2.4k workers are currently listed on the platform.

Remember: There’s also early-stage plans to roll out the plan to Greece’s construction and tourism sectors, the Greek Migration Ministry said last month.

FINANCE-

FABMisr, Cayesh line up EGP 1 bn for MSME lending: FABMisr and homegrown fintech startup Cayesh will launch an MSME finance program that will see EGP 1 bn allocated to small businesses in the first year and potentially increase the funding to EGP 3-4 bn in the second year, FABMisr said in a statement (pdf).

M&A WATCH-

City Lab’s unnamed buyer comes to light: Premium Diagnostics UAE has uppied its ownership in the City Lab to 25.0%, the local medical diagnostic services provider said in an EGX disclosure (pdf) yesterday. The transaction comes nearly two weeks after the Emirati company acquired an initial 9.38% stake in City Lab.

ICYMI: City Lab earlier this week announced that it had sold some 88 mn shares to an unnamed buyer in an EGP 51 mn block trade transaction on the EGX.

REMITTANCES-

Fawry looks to offer remittance services for Egyptian expats in the Gulf: Fawry has resumed talks with foreign exchange bureaus in the Gulf to offer remittance services to Egyptian expats there after the fintech giant had shelved initial plans to launch the services due to exchange rate uncertainty, AlMal reports, citing sources in the telecom sector. Fawry is reportedly in talks with remittance companies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and UAE — including the Emirati Al Ansari Exchange.

Why now? Egyptians abroad have started sending more of their remittances through official channels after the float of the EGP. Remittances from Egyptians abroad surged 43.8% y-o-y in April to USD 2.2 bn.

Fawry is likely to start with KSA, seeing as it already has existing partnerships there with payment services provider Enjaz and Al Rajhi Bank, the sources suggested.

HEALTHCARE-

SFE to help B Investments boost healthcare subsidiary’s capital: Private equity firm B Investments and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) are reportedly planning to attract local institutions to buy into a planned capital increase up to EGP 1 bn for B Investments’ healthcare arm B Healthcare Investments, writes Al Borsa, unnamed anonymous sources. Egypt’s sovereign fund and B investments could also buy into the capital increase themselves, the source elaborated, adding that the capital increase could take place “within months”.

Where’s the money going: The source said that the funds will be used to hop on new acquisitions in the fertility and reproductive healthcare sector, expecting the fund and B Investments to wrap up “two [acquisitions] of major centers” before the end of the year.

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