Good morning, friends. We kick off today’s issue and workweek with news that the Madbouly cabinet is moving to eliminate the long-standing friction in government lending with a planned EGP 250 bn centralized fund for concessional financing. The initiative aims to bypass much of the bureaucracy many of our readers know only too well and has historically stalled credit disbursement for the industrial and tourism sectors.

Yesterday also marked a milestone morning for the local ecosystem as the government officially unveiled its Startup Charter, which laid out a roadmap targeting USD 5 bn in VC funding and the creation of five unicorns by 2031. This comes as fresh data from Briter highlights Cairo’s evolution beyond the traditional equity model, with mature players increasingly leveraging sophisticated debt instruments to scale.

Also in today’s issue is news that Elsewedy Electric and CIB take Egyptian capital and expertise to Hungary for a massive power plant project, plans for a sodium-ion battery component production, Exxon Mobil and Qatar Energy exiting their North Marakia block, talk of the Fund’s Executive Board to greenlight USD 2.3 bn tranche in February, and much, much more.

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Watch this space

The Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship is looking to attract USD 5 bn in VC investment over the next five years under its long-awaited Egypt Startup Charter (pdf) that was released yesterday. The charter has also set its sights on helping create five unicorns (a privately-held startup valued at over USD 1 bn) by 2031.

But the charter is more than a list of goals, with the document introducing a c. USD 1 bn financing initiative to help centralize and scale startup funding that consolidates various state-led funding channels into a single window. Also part of the state’s transition from being a mostly passive cheerleader to an active market maker is its new focus on growth-stage companies through a new program aimed at scaling up startups.

** Want the full rundown? We will be diving deep into the report to find out what’s new and what’s important in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM. Stay tuned.

The IMF’s Executive Board is scheduled to meet at the end of the month to hopefully greenlight the combined fifth and sixth reviews of the country’s USD 8 bn extended fund facility program (EFF), Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told Sky News Arabia.

Provided the board gives the final sign-off, the Fund will release USD 2.3 bn to Egypt — split between USD 2 bn from the EFF and another USD 300 mn from the resilience and sustainability fund — according to Georgieva, who cited the government’s “seriousness” and progress on reforms despite political and economic difficulties.

Poll watch

Headline urban inflation is expected to ease 0.6 percentage points to 11.7% y-o-y in January, driven by a favorable base effect, softer food prices, and a stronger EGP, according to a Reuters poll of 18 analysts. Core inflation is also seen edging down 0.3 percentage points to 11.5%, according to a poll of five analysts by the newswire.

The official numbers expected Tuesday will come just two days ahead of the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Thursday, setting the tone as they decide on whether to push ahead with the easing cycle. With a growing consensus that inflation is now firmly on a downward path, a reading in line with analysts’ expectations will embolden calls for the bank to maintain its easing momentum.

Project update

Draschem’s planned sodium cyanide production plant could double its production capacity and even produce battery components, according to a statement from the General Authority for Investment and Freezones. The project — now estimated at USD 200 mn, up from the USD 180 mn estimate we last heard — will study doubling production capacity and producing other derivatives as part of a second stage, followed by the production of sodium-ion battery components in a third phase.

Why it matters: The move to produce sodium-ion batteries could have a big knock-on effect for our renewables ambitions, helping us move away from the more expensive lithium batteries that currently dominate battery energy storage systems globally. Sodium-ion batteries are an emerging technology that is not only cheaper, but also requires only salt as the main material input, instead of relying on the very limited — and imported — lithium supply that’s in the ground.

Largest ever

The country’s four mobile operators inked a USD 3.5 bn agreement yesterday to secure a total of 410 MHz of new frequency spectrum from the government. The pact — billed as the largest in Egypt’s telecom sector — will double the total frequency capacity made available to operators over the last 30 years.

The move builds on the government’s issuance of 5G licenses in 2024, whose rollout officially began in June 2025.

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Data point

EUR 1.3 bn — that’s how much the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development invested in Egypt in 2025, making the country the largest investment target in the SEMED region, according to a statement from the lender. The deployment of funds shows a disciplined focus on the private sector, which received about 70% of the funding.

Why it matters: The bank is putting its weight behind two specific structural shifts — the energy transition and digital infrastructure. Some 60% of the Egypt pot was funneled through green finance instruments — including EUR 200 mn to make the national grid renewables-ready under the NWFE initiative. A EUR 68 mn syndicated loan for Orange Egypt’s 5G license also highlights that high-speed connectivity is among development capital priorities.

PSA-

WEATHER- It looks like winter is officially over in Cairo today, with a high of 30°C and a low of 19°C, according to our favorite weather app.

You can say goodbye to your jumpers and jackets too in Alexandria, with a high of 28°C and a low of 16°C.

The big story abroad

Global headlines this morning are focused on the resignation of Washington Post CEO Will Lewis, which came just days after the organization laid off one-third of its staff. Lewis took over in January 2024 and presided over a rather unstable period in the paper’s lifetime, which saw mass layoffs and the resignation of one of its top editors. The paper’s CFO Jeff D’Onofrio will take the lead as publisher and CEO.

MEANWHILE, IN MARKETS- BTC has officially lost all its gains since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, as thin liquidity and price volatility push investors away from the cryptocurrency. The slump is likely to persist “for some time,” research analyst at Kaiko Thomas Probst told Reuters. BTC is now trading at around the USD 69k mark, down 20.7% YTD.

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