Good morning, friends, and a very happy Christmas Eve to all celebrating today. We have one of those compact “quietly good news” issues for you this morning as you look forward to a day off tomorrow.

Manufacturing is the star of the show this morning as the business community continues to chase export opportunities and look for ways to benefit from export-substitution plays:

  • El Markaby Steel is closing in on contracts for an EGP 1 bn plant;
  • Yet another Turkish garment manufacturer has set up shop in Egypt;
  • EGX-listed fintech player Valu has gotten its final license for its operations in Jordan;
  • And Al Amal will assemble a new Dongfeng automotive brand in Egypt, including a hybrid vehicle that we think falls into a category of cars that’s key to our EV transition. (Go read Egypt’s EV future is here — it just has a backup engine if you haven’t already.)

The Madbouly government also wants in on the action: It inked MoUs yesterday that will see us export natural gas and petroleum products to Syria as our onetime partner in the UAR looks to rebuild. The move helps cement Egypt as the premier hub in the East Med for both conventional and renewable energy.

^^ We have the rundown on all of this and more in this morning’s news well, below.

BUT FIRST- It’s PMI day: S&P Global will release purchasing managers’ index figures measuring non-oil private sector activity for December this morning. Activity jumped back into the green in November, breaking a nine-month stretch in contraction territory.

WEATHER- We’ve got three days of warmer daytime weather heading our way, with the mercury set hit 22°C today, 24°C on Wednesday, and 26°C on Thursday before the daytime high falls back into the teens from Friday, according to our favourite weather app.

PSA- Tomorrow is a national holiday in Egypt in observance of Coptic Christmas. We’re publishing tomorrow morning, but will be off on Thursday to enjoy a three-day weekend. We’ll be back in your inboxes at our customary hour on Sunday, 11 January. A very Merry Christmas to you all, wonderful people.

Watch this space

TAX — The Finance Ministry is preparing a fresh package of tax incentives following a round of consultations with the business community, a senior government source tells EnterpriseAM. The move serves as a bridge toward a total overhaul of the tax code as the government clears legacy files before introducing a new Income Tax Act.

The Tax Authority will extend its seizure-relief mechanism through the end of 2026, according to a document seen by EnterpriseAM. Taxpayers can have seizures lifted by paying 1% of outstanding liabilities on unappealed assessments, or 10% where liabilities stem from committee decisions or enforceable court rulings, with the rest settled in installments. The measure doesn’t apply to companies in liquidation, that have permanently shut down, or certain firms with leased headquarters.

INFRASTRUCTURE — EUR 215 mn 10th of Ramadan railway awarded: A consortium of France’s Alstom and local contractors Concrete Plus and Rowad Modern Engineering has been awarded a EUR 215 mn contract to build the 10th of Ramadan logistics rail line, a source with knowledge of the contract tells us. The contractors will build a 63.5 km corridor linking the 10th of Ramadan dry port to the Suez Canal.

The pattern: This is the second major freight victory for the Alstom-led alliance in two months, following their EUR 540 mn contract for the Cairo-Alexandria bypass. The Madbouly government aims to see rail freight capacity grow from 8 mn tons per year in 2026 to 13 mn tons a year by 2030.

SPORTS

The Pharaohs secured their spot in the 2025 AFCON quarter-finals yesterday after a grueling 3-1 extra-time victory over Benin in Agadir. The team remains in the coastal city of Agadir for their quarter-final clash this Saturday. They will face either Côte d’Ivoire or Burkina Faso.

Data point

42.5% — that’s how much remittances from Egyptians living abroad grew y-o-y during the first 11 months of 2025, reaching a record USD 37.5 bn, according to a statement (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt. The momentum accelerated late in the year, with November inflows jumping nearly 40% y-o-y to USD 3.6 bn.

IN CONTEXT– The surge makes clear that Egyptian expats have confidence in the float of theEGP. Remittances provided a key buffer for our FX reserves last year as Suez Canal revenues fell through the floor amid ongoing harassment of Red Sea shipping by Houthi forces.

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The big story abroad

The chatter about the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has shifted to the US’ energy agenda and what it stands to gain from the move and from dictating policy in the country. US President Donald Trump clearly thinks there’s plenty to gain — saying there’s a “tremendous amount of wealth” up for grabs for American oil firms in Venezuela. He also said in an interview with NBC that the US could start offering subsidies to energy firms in a bid to encourage them to rebuild Venezuela’s oil industry, which has seen production fall to less than 1 mn barrels a day, down from 3.7 mn in 1970 on the back of mismanagement, corruption and sanctions.

Shares of top US refiners have surged since the capture of Maduro on expectations that US Gulf Coast refiners could snap up hefty volumes of Venezuelan crude now that Trump is looking to ease sanctions and revive production.

^^ The must-read on the topic: What is Trump’s plan for Venezuelan oil?

This all comes as Maduro made his first court appearance, pleading not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism, cocaine importation conspiracy and possession of machine guns and destructive devices.

MEANWHILE- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company’s new generation of chips, Rubin, are now in full production. The chips can deliver up to five times the AI computing strength of its predecessor, Blackwell. Huang also touted other software the firm is working on, including networking switches that can link several machines as one, and self-driving car software. (Reuters)

*** 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 look at Egypt’s standing in the Climate Change Performance Index, which measures national progress across emissions, renewables, energy use, and climate policy.

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