Good morning, wonderful people. It’s looking more and more like the Madbouly government is serious about kickstarting the privatization program, with news we could see the first transaction out of the pipeline as early as next month.

The kicker: It could be a military-owned company that’s first to market, we’re told.

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FROM THE DEPT. OF SMART POLICY- Officials are mulling new measures to lure tier-one real estate developers away from the capital city, studying a range of measures that would relieve pressure on Cairo by building new communities in more remote areas.

And also in real estate: We have news this morning that Palm Hills Developments has inked an agreement to extend its iconic October community.

MEANWHILE- Your regular reminder the private equity is a different animal in emerging markets. RMBV and our friends at Alta Semper have landed substantial tickets for their latest funds from the European Investment Banks and the International Finance Corporation. That’s good news for operators of midcaps as well as healthcare and consumer companies who might be looking to monetize a piece of their hard work.

PSA- Our fellow photo nerds in the UAE will want to circle 29 January to 4 February on their calendars. This year’s Xposure, the global celebration of visual storytelling, features a who’s who of talented photographers — including our friend Romany Hafez, whose haunting analog work explores memory, presence, and sacred spaces. Romany will be giving a talk on Saturday, 31 January headlined Between Memory and Light. Don’t miss it if you love black and white photography as much as we do.

WEATHER- Expect a foggy morning and overcast skies in Cairo today. As for the weather, the capital is in for a high of 18°C and a low of 11°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s official: Gourmet is EGX-bound

The board of B Investments has green-lit the IPO of Gourmet, the high-profile grocer and food brand, according to a bourse disclosure (pdf). This comes after last week’s reports that the PE-backed grocer had filed for approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority to push ahead with the initial public offering.

Advisors: Our friends at EFG Hermes are reportedly quarterbacking the transaction, with White & Case acting as counsel.

Watch this space

PRIVATIZATION — The Madbouly government is looking to net as much as USD 6 bn in proceeds as it reboots the privatization program, with the first transactions heading to market as early as next month, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM.

At least two of these companies could come to market as early as February, with both stake sales and EGX listings in the cards, the official said.

Military companies could be at the head of the pack: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is finalizing a timeline for five companies affiliated with the National Service Projects Organization. The reboot will focus on the most market-ready assets in the military-affiliated firm’s portfolio, including fuel retailers Wataniya and Chill Out, bottled water company Safi, food processor Silo Foods, and Chill Out-parent company National Company for Roads.

The move is the first step in a much larger consolidation that could see 60 more state-owned companies transferred to the SFE for restructuring and eventual sale, the official said.

The one to which we’re really looking forward? That would be the spring sale on the EGX of a stake in Banque du Caire. CEO Hussein Abaza, a perennial favorite of international institutional investors, has been on the road for an early look on the transaction.

CAPITAL MARKETS — A revamped derivatives market is on track for a 1Q 2026 launch, EGX Chairman Islam Azzam confirmed on Monday at an event attended by EnterpriseAM. The launch is contingent on the conclusion of ongoing trials of the short-selling and market maker mechanisms, which are slated to wrap up by the end of January.

The hope: That a fully functional derivatives market will burnish our attractiveness to major global asset managers as the exchange looks to get foreign institutions back into the market. They’re not wrong, but the thing investors want most: Lots of new, high-quality names coming into the market with transactions big enough (and interesting enough) to take a look.

Why size matters: It costs your average institutional investor investor as much time in DD and other paperwork to kick the tires on a USD 100k ticket as it does a USD 7 mn investment — there’s a minimum size to make any worth her while to consider.

SOVEREIGN DEBT — The European Union will send EUR 1 bn our way this Thursday, but there’s plenty of structural benchmarks to clear before we secure the remaining EUR 3 bn. The tranche — the second in the EUR 5 bn macro-financial assistance package pledged in 2024 — comes after we implemented 38 economic and structural measures under the program, Planning and International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat said at a press conference yesterday.

But 38 is just the start — there are 100 other measures in the implementation pipeline, she said. The reforms “enhance economic and financial stability, improve the business environment, and bolster the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy,” she added.

The remaining EUR 3 bn could arrive sooner than we thought, with the amount split between two tranches in 2026, ending the package a year earlier than we expected.

REAL ESTATE — Palm Hills Development and Egyptian Kuwaiti Company will set up a 1.4 mn sqm residential project in West Cairo, adjacent to the current Palm Hills October project, according to a statement. The project is expected to launch in 1H 2026 and generate some EGP 177 bn in sales, the company said.

GDP watch

The World Bank now sees the Egyptian economy growing 4.3% this fiscal year, up 0.1 percentage points from its June 2025 estimates, the lender said in its latest Global Economic Prospects (pdf). It also revised upward the next fiscal year’s forecast by 0.2 percentage points to 4.8%, citing “robust next exports…softening price pressures and easing global financial conditions [supporting] private consumption.”

The bank sees private-sector investment and private consumption both picking up as inflation cools.

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Happening today

The Pharaohs face Senegal tonight at 7pm in the 2025 Afcon semi-finals. Egypt secured its spot in the semis with a 3-2 victory against defending champions Côte d’Ivoire earlier this week.

The big story abroad

There are two big business stories making the rounds this morning: US-based luxury retailer Saks plans to file for bankruptcy, but is finalizing a USD 1.75 bn financing agreement that would keep its stores open. Plus: Netflix is considering turning its takeover bid for Warner Bros into an all-cash offer, a move that would help solidify it as the stronger suitor after Paramount Skydance (along with Gulf investors and Larry Ellison) made an all-cash, USD 108.4 bn hostile takeover bid for the company.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has ramped up his threats of US interference in Iran, telling protesters that “help is on its way” on Truth Social. White House officials have been meeting to discuss the situation in Iran, where the death toll has reached 2k, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: We dive into why the real estate boom is yet to reach the EGX.

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