INVESTMENT-

Sokhna Industrial Zone to welcome two new factories worth USD 3 mn — two textile manufacturing and printing factories in the plug and play factory area, according to a statement from the SCZone. The first factory will manufacture prayer mats, velvet fabrics, and woven fabrics with investments of USD 2 mn and an export target worth USD 6 mn in 2025. The second, USD 1 mn factory will also produce fabrics, with the facility targeting USD 4 mn worth in exports this year.

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M&A-

Fintech giant Fawry acquired a majority stake in local hospital and medical institutions manager Code Zone, part of a wider push to snap up stakes in startups that offer complementary services, CEO Ashraf Sabry said during a presser during which the company launched Fawry Business.

Fawry Business? The new platform aims to help local companies with their digital transformation. It offers a system for managing payments and e-receipts, loans for SMEs, and a system for managing salaries, according to a press release (pdf).

EXPANSION-

Mobica eyes expansion to KSA and Oman: Mobica Group is exploring agricultural investments in Saudi Arabia and Oman, with plans to invest USD 50 mn to cultivate 5k feddans in Saudi Arabia, CEO Mohamed Farouk told Asharq Business. The project will be funded through the group’s newly-launched USD 100 mn fund.

AUTOMOTIVE-

Al Mansour Auto eyes Chinese microbus venture: Al Mansour Automotive is considering entering the local microbus market by acquiring local agency rights for an unnamed Chinese automaker, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says are in the know. Al Mansour — which is the exclusive local agent for MG, Chevrolet, and Opel — is reportedly looking to make a foray into the new segment in a bid to capitalize on the production capacity of its planned Sixth October factory as well as to align with the state’s efforts to localize the auto industry.

REMEMBER- Al Mansour Auto and Chinese state-owned SAIC are gearing up to establish a USD 135 mn factory in New October City to locally manufacture MG vehicles.

TECH-

E-Finance + eHealth to help upgrade, digitalize the Universal Health Ins. System: State-owned fintech giant e-Finance and its sister company eHealth will work together to link the Universal Health Ins. System with social protection systems under an MoU they inked with the Social Solidarity Ministry and the Universal Health Ins. Authority (UHIA), according to a statement (pdf). eHealth also signed an agreement with UHIA — its parent company — to provide the system with operational support and digital solutions.

Remember: First announced in 2016, the Universal Health Ins. System is designed to provide comprehensive healthcare to all citizens, regardless of financial capacity to pay, while linking up healthcare providers through a digital backend storing patients’ medical records.

DEBT-

CRC lands EGP 1.8 bn loan agreement with CIB: The Construction & ReconstructionEngineering Company (CRC), a subsidiary of real estate company Dorra, lined up a EGP 1.8 bn loan with the CIB for the construction of Ora Developers’ Solana project in New Zayed, according to a statement (pdf).

FINTECH-

Local fintech player MoneyHash is set to help Saudi ins. provider Tawuniya streamline its payment infrastructure, according to a statement (pdf). The partnership, revealed during the Leap 2025 conference in Riyadh, aims to improve Tawuniya’s payment success rates and reduce processing times. Tawuniya customers will gain access to several payment features such as one-click payments and flexible payment schedules.

STARTUPS-

#1- Nigerian fintech startup Raenest plans to step into the Egyptian and US markets this year after closing a USD 11 mn Series A round, it said in a statement (pdf). The company offers companies and freelancers a platform to “receive international payments, convert between currencies, operate a multi-currency wallet, while managing transactions seamlessly.”

#2- The Egyptian-Dutch Orange Corners program will be expanded to seven governorates, according to a Planning Ministry statement. The startup incubator will now operate in Luxor, Assiut, Alexandria, Menofia, Dakahlia, Kafr El Sheikh, and Beheira. The initiative aims to support 130 companies this year, having recently graduated 15 startups.

About the program: Orange Corners is a partnership between Egypt, the Netherlands, and private sector institutions including AlexBank and Madinet Masr. Since its launch in 2021, it has supported over 115 startups — with 58% being women-led — across sectors like agriculture, waste management, health, education, e-commerce, and fintech.

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