Good morning, wonderful people. In our last issue before most of us take the whole of next week off — EnterpriseAM Egypt included — we’ve got news more port investment news than you can shake a stick at, the World Bank’s first growth forecast for Egypt in the fiscal year ending 2026, a rundown of everything you need to know about the EGX’s new shariah-compliant index, and much more. So one last time before the Eid El Adha break, let’s jump right into it.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Egypt to become an electronic chip and solar cell manufacturing hub? The Madbouly government will launch a tender to select an international consultant who will be tasked with developing a strategy to localize the manufacturing of chips and PV cells, according to a cabinet statement. While the statement didn’t give a date of when we can expect the consultant to be selected, the cabinet received the greenlight to begin the procedures to launch the tender.

Read more: Earlier this week, we published a Going Green diving into why Egypt should double down on manufacturing solar panels.

PSA-

WEATHER- The temperature is creeping up to the 40s again in Cairo, with a high of 40°C and a low of 27°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s more bearable in Alexandria, with a high of 35°C and a low of 24°C.

And expect a scorching weekend, with highs reaching 42-43°C in the capital and 35-36°C in Alexandria and Sahel, before cooling throughout the week.

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DEBT WATCH-

Returning trapped funds to airlines: The Madbouly government has paid back some USD 400 mn worth of funds blocked from repatriation to airlines operating across Egyptian airports, AlMal quotes International Air Transport Association (IATA) Regional Vice President of MEA Kamil Al Awadhi as saying. The float of the EGP put airports under pressure and made them unable to give airlines their revenues from ticket sales and other activities.

The bigger picture: The association reported a global 28% dip in the amount of funds blocked from repatriation by governments between December 2023 to April 2024 to USD 1.8 bn, driven by “significant clearance of funds blocked” in Nigeria and Egypt.

DATA POINT-

#1- FDI rose at its quickest pace in 15 years this fiscal year, increasing 12.3% y-o-y to USD 10.0 bn, General Authority for Investment and Freezones Hossam Heiba said at the New Development Bank seminar at the new capital this week.

#2- Foreign investment in local debt jumped by USD 23 bn in the month of the EGP float, with Egyptian debt held by foreigners reaching EGP 1.5 tn by the end of the month, up form EGP 421 bn, Asharq Business reports, citing data from the Central Bank of Egypt.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Another gold fund to hit the market in under two weeks: Al Ahly FinancialInvestments Management is launching its new gold investment fund on Monday 24 June, after securing the Financial Regulatory Authority’s approval, Head of Business Development Hanan Wagdy told Al Borsa. The fund will issue a total of 100k investment certificates, each priced at up to EGP 100, Wagdy added.

Railway station connecting Upper Egypt and the capital to launch in July: The new EGP 3.5 bn Upper Egypt Railway Station in Giza’s Bashteel will begin operations next month, Asharq Business writes, citing Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

CORRECTION: In yesterday’s issue we incorrectly said that GB Auto subsidiary Itamco is already assembling Indian Bajaj’s Qutes in Egypt. Itamco has an agreement with Bajaj, but it does not involve assembly. The story has since been amended on our website.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Steady as she goes says the Fed, who yesterday kept interest rates unchanged and forecasted only one cut to come this year in the ongoing will they, won’t they interest rate cut saga occupying central banks across the globe. Despite encouraging inflation data (pdf) for May also released yesterday being “a step in the right direction … you don’t want to be too motivated by any single data point,” said Fed chief Jerome Powell (watch, runtime: 1:02:04).

It seems that Wall Street didn’t get the Fed’s hawkish memo, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both hitting all-time highs, while the Dow slipped 0.1%. With inflation falling faster than forecasts, many traders aren’t buying the Fed’s hawkish tone and are pricing two cuts by the end of the year.

WHILE IN OUR PART OF THE WORLD- Hamas has rejected US claims it has obstructed its ceasefire plan with proposed changes, with officials from the organization taking to the airwaves to argue that Israel has instead been the one refusing to agree to an end to hostilities. Despite claims by US State Secretary Antony Blinken that Israel has accepted the ceasefire plan “as it was, as it is,” Israeli PM Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that he will not end the war before destroying Hamas.

IN ENERGY MARKETS- We’re going to have a “staggering” glut of oil by 2030 say the International Energy Agency that will make it a whole lot harder for Opec+ to control prices when there’s 8 mn bdp in spare capacity sloshing around.

AND IN TARIFF NEWS- Chinese EVs are getting hit by a fresh raft of tariffs from the EU as the bloc adds more fuel to a trade war with China by imposing tariffs of up to 38.1% — depending on the maker — on imports of Chinese EVs on top of a pre-existing 10% levy.

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