Madbouly addresses power cuts and a number of key topics: Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly held a presser (watch, runtime: 22:44) yesterday following his cabinet’s weekly meeting. Here are the main takeaways from the presser:

We could get eight whole weeks without blackouts: The government will halt the rolling blackouts starting next Sunday and until mid-September, Madbouly said, adding that the state is still trying to fulfill its promise of fully hitting the brakes on its plan to reduce the electrical load by 2025.

Don’t get too excited: The PM cautioned that with scorching temperatures, power generators may malfunction in some areas, which may lead to temporary power cuts. If and when that happens, Madbouly assured that the issue will be tackled swiftly.

Thanks LNG shipments: State gas firm EGAS has so far received five shipments — of the 21 shipments secured — carrying 155k cubic meters of LNG. The shipments are to be regasified on one of the floating storage and regasification units Egypt has access to then fed into the national grid. The remaining 16 shipments will be arriving according to a set timeframe, the Oil Ministry said earlier this week.

“Electricity consumption over the past period rose at an unprecedented rate,” Madbouly said. Daily consumption now sits at 37.5 GW, up 12% from a year ago.

ENTER AMBITIOUS RENEWABLES GOALS-

Renewables to fill the supply gap? The prime minister wants to see 3-4 GW-worth of renewable energy projects go live and start feeding the national grid by next summer to fill the energy supply gap. “We — alongside the private players carrying out these projects — will expedite the implementation of these projects,” he added.

We have an idea where these projects may be coming from: “The Egyptian and Emirati sides are working to introduce some 4 GW of renewable energy into the national grid by next summer,” Madbouly said earlier this week during a renewables-centered meeting with Emirati officials.

To help achieve this goal: Madbouly tasked the cabinet’s Industrial Development Group to speed up the process of localizing the manufacturing of the components needed for the establishment of solar and wind plants.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

#1- Keeping inflation in check: One of the government’s top priorities is taming inflation, especially when it comes to basic commodities, according to Madbouly, who stressed that the ultimate objective is to bring down prices over the next period.

#2- To help bring in more investors: The cabinet will hold several meetings over the next few weeks to address issues facing private investors, particularly the state’s tax policy, to help attract more investments.

#3- An end to the meds crisis in sight? The Madbouly cabinet plans to overcome the current medicine shortage over the coming three months and is currently working to develop a plan to source 3k types of meds. The local market has seen shortages of meds and medical supplies recently, which coincide with calls from the pharma players requesting new med pricing schemes that could raise prices up to 50%.

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