Good morning, all. We have a packed issue for you this morning diving into the FRA’s decision to block the Emirati Sagasse from putting in a bid to acquire Elsewedy Electric, the new mechanism for calculating solidarity contribution, and fresh Chinese investments.

ALSO IN TODAY’S ISSUE- We discuss the future of payments with Tareq Muhmood, Visa’s new regional president for CEMEA, and break down an Entlaq report on the untapped potential of our agritech sector.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another sunny day in Cairo, with a high of 32°C and a low of 20°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s more or less the same in Alexandria, with a high of 31°C and a low of 19°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Turkish textile and apparel company Eroglu Holding is in talks with the Public Enterprises Ministry over operating some of its affiliated spinning and weaving plants, company chairman Nurettin Eroglu said during a meeting with the Public Enterprise Minister Mohamed El Shimi. The move comes as part of Egypt’s plans to modernize its textile industry.

The company is already carrying out technical evaluations of the factories: A technical delegation from the Turkish company — which is not stranger to the local market, most recently inaugurating a USD 40 mn ready-made garment plant in the Qantara West Industrial Zone — recently visited Misr Spinning & Weaving’s factory in Mahalla and has plans to visit more factories in the coming days.

HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s day three of the Arab-African Investment & International Cooperation summit. The four-day event, organized by the Arab Women Investors Union in Cairo, focuses on sustainable development, international partnerships, and capital pathways for this year’s edition.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will land in Brussels tomorrow for the first-ever EU-Egypt Summit, according to an EU Council statement. El Sisi will be joined by European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss strengthening political and economic ties under the EU-Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership and build on Egypt’s role as a key stabilizing force in the region.

REMEMBER- Last year, the EU pledged a EUR 7.4 bn package of loans, grants, and investments through to 2027 and inked a joint strategic and comprehensive partnership with Egypt. The package included a EUR 1.8 bn investmentprotectionmechanism, EUR 5 bn in concessional loans to provide macro-financial assistance, and EUR 600 mn in grants.

Egyptian and European leaders in the public and private sectors will also be taking part in a day of discussions under the theme Implementing the EU-Egypt Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership: Accelerating Strategic Investment, Industrial Transformation and Innovation. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and investment Minister Hassan El Khatib will be among those taking to the stage, according to the draft agenda (pdf).

DATA POINT- The EU was Egypt's top trading partner in 2024, accounting for 22% of total trade. The year saw EUR 32.5 bn worth of goods exchanged between the two, split between EUR 19.9 bn of imports from the EU and EUR 12.6 bn worth of exports to the EU.

GDP WATCH-

A Reuters poll sees the economy growing 4.6% this fiscal year, with those surveyed citing falling inflation and interest rates, as well as a weaker EGP boosting exports. The survey of 16 economists expects GDP to accelerate to 4.9% in the following fiscal year and to 5.3% in the fiscal year 2027-2028.

REMEMBER- The Madbouly government expects the economy to grow at a 4.5% clip this fiscal year.

Average inflation is expected to drop to 12.3% in FY 2025-26, then to 10.2% in FY 2026-27, and to 7.5% in FY 2027-2028. The CBE wants to see inflation at 7% (± 2 percentage points) by 4Q 2026.

As for interest rates, economists expect the Central Bank of Egypt’s overnight lending rate to decline to 16.00% by June, down from the current 22.0%, and forecast another drop to 13.00% the following year, and to 11.25% in June 2028.

The EGP is projected to decline to 49.85 against the USD by the end of the fiscal year, down from its current rate of 47.50. It is expected to weaken further to 52.00 by June 2027, and reach 54.00 by June 2028, according to the poll.

SUKUK WATCH-

Weekly sukuk roundup: The yield to maturity on our sovereign sukuk fell to 6.25% last Friday, down from 6.27% the week before, according to the Egyptian Financial Company for Sovereign Taskeek’s weekly report (pdf). Egyptian sovereign sukuk prices fell to USD 101.58, compared to USD 101.67 a week earlier — the highest price in almost a month.

DATA POINT-

Egypt has overtaken Kuwait to become the Middle East’s biggest importer of liquified natural gas (LNG), bringing in 6.46 mn tons so far this year, compared to Kuwait’s 6.44 mn tons, Bloomberg reports, citing ship-tracking data.

ALSO- Oil production fell to its lowest level in 47 years, coming in at 507k barrels a day during 1H 2025, Asharq Business reports citing data from the US Energy Information Administration.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Topping business headlines internationally this morning is Amazon Web Services’ outage yesterday, which lasted about 15 hours before operations were restored to normal. The outage — which was caused by a database malfunction — impacted thousands of websites and applications, including Venmo, Snapchat, and Zoom. It was the largest internet crash since CrowdStrike’s last year, and the largest for AWS since a previous crash in 2021. (Bloomberg | Reuters | Wall Street Journal | AP)

ALSO- Stock markets across the world are getting attention amid several stock rallies:

  • The S&P 500 rose 1% as earnings season rolls in, boosted by Apple’s shares hitting an all-time high on the back of strong sales momentum for its iPhone 17. (Bloomberg | Reuters)
  • Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose more than 1% to an all-time high, as the country awaits a parliamentary vote which is likely to see Sanae Takaichi become the country’s next prime minister (and its first female PM). (CNBC)

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We dive into the country’s agriculture sector, the challenges facing it, and what it is doing to overcome them.

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