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ENERGY-
Chevron to drill USD 150 mn gas well next month: US gas giant Chevron will begin drilling its Singer exploratory gas well in the Mediterranean next month with investments of USD 150 mn, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed government official. The project is part of a broader plan to develop gas reserves in the Narges field, which is estimated to contain 2.5 tn cbf of extractable gas.
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It looks like the Oil Ministry’s efforts are bringing home the goods: After a costly fewmonths of energy imports, the Oil Ministry is upping its efforts to boost local production starting 2025 by offering new incentives to energy players that include increasing production sharing ratios with foreign companies in exchange for new investments, enhancing exploration efforts, and increasing extraction rates. Alongside this are efforts to proactively clear arrears, which has seen the state pay out over USD 2.8 bn since the float of the EGP in March, with many more to come, a government source told us at the end of last month.
BANKING-
Trimming returns on USD CDs: State-owned Banque Misr and National Bank of Egypt (pdf) reduced interest rates on their high-interest USD certificates of deposit by 0.5 percentage points, the lenders announced yesterday. NBE’s Al Ahly Fawran and Al Ahly Plus USD certificates now offer annual returns of 8.5% and 6.5%, respectively. Similarly, Banque Misr’s Al Qema and Elite certificates now offer annual returns of 8.5% and 6.5%, respectively.
Remember: The lenders rolled out high-interest three-year USD certificates last year designed to attract FX especially from remittances.
AND- Both lenders were among the top 10 African banks of 2024: The African BusinessMagazine ranking put NBE in second place and Banque Misr in sixth. The Arab African International Bank, CIB, and QNB Al Ahli made it to the top 20.
DEBT-
Raya IT secured EGP 1.2 bn worth of credit facilities from Suez Canal Bank, under a cooperation protocol inked between the two sides, according to a statement from the lender. The fund will support Raya IT’s operations and expansion plans.
