Hassan Abdalla reappointed as acting CBE governor for fifth consecutive year

Good morning, friends. Today’s issue is about the next phase of the country’s growth story — and the practical constraints that will determine how quickly it arrives.

Leading today’s issue: The government will open talks with Russia’s Rosatom on adding at least two reactors to El Dabaa, potentially taking the plant well beyond its planned 4.8 GW capacity. There are no investment decision, price tag, or timetable yet, but it is a clear signal that the government is thinking beyond the project’s current 2030 completion target.

We also have fresh signs of where the local auto market is — and isn’t — finding momentum. June headline growth was driven almost entirely by buses, while passenger-car sales were essentially flat, and dealers raised fresh alarms about shipping pressure out of Asia.

AND- Egyptian contractors are getting ready to test the waters in Syria’s reconstruction push, beginning with two major investment gatherings in the coming weeks. The commercial prospect is vast, but moving from interest to contracts will depend on security clearances and whether the financial system can actually let capital move.

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CBE governor stays on

Hassan Abdalla will lead the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for a fifth consecutive one-year mandate. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued a presidential decree renewing Abdalla’s assignment as acting CBE governor for one year, effective from 18 August 2026 to 17 August 2027, according to the Federation of Egyptian Banks. Abdalla first took office on 18 August 2022, one day after Tarek Amer resigned, more than a year before the scheduled end of his second term. His assignment has been renewed annually since.

The mandate covers what is arguably the most difficult phase of Abdalla’s tenure. The country’s IMF program expires on 15 December 2026. Around USD 18.3 bn in GCC official deposits at the CBE are assured to remain in place until the program ends, subject to an exception for conversion into equity purchases. The renewal also comes two days before the Monetary Policy Committee’s scheduled 20 August meeting, with July’s roughly 12% household electricity tariff increase yet to show up in the inflation data.

Old plan, new push

The regulatory framework for the New Capital’s financial district could move closer to passage in the coming parliamentary session, a parliamentary source tells EnterpriseAM. The government is expected to submit the Central Financial and Business Zones Bill to the House of Representatives at its next session.

Why it matters: The proposed bill would give the New Capital’s financial and business district the institutional and incentive framework it has lacked, including a limited-registration track for firms using Egypt as a base for operations abroad. That track is intended to cover banking and non-bank financial services, alongside other qualifying activities, while a separate open-registration route would serve domestic-market businesses.

ACUD’s IPO remains on the table: A senior government official tells us that Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) is continuing preparations for a limited EGX offering, with a decision expected by the end of 2026 or in 2027. The company originally targeted a 5-10% EGX sale in 2Q 2024, before its expected debut was deferred to 2025. In January 2025, Chairman Khaled Abbas said ACUD was studying a 1-5% offering as it reassessed its valuation. Assistant Prime Minister Hashem El Sayed narrowed it further, saying in April that the government was planning to take up to 1% of ACUD to market.

The operating model is also under review: The Housing Ministry is studying a proposal involving the Cairo International Financial Center (CIFC) to participate in managing and promoting the New Capital’s financial and business district, according to a statement. A government source says officials want an investment-management model capable of drawing major global companies.

Not a new conversation: In July 2024, an international consortium submitted a proposal to manage CIFC, a planned financial center area in the New Capital, and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly requested a detailed proposal. The latest ministry review therefore signals renewed movement on the management question, though no final operator or decision date has been publicly announced.

Back to the pricing table

Medical-supply prices are back under review after the Unified Procurement Authority (UPA) agreed to examine requested adjustments for certain products, according to a statement from the Cairo Chamber of Commerce’s Medical Supplies Division seen by EnterpriseAM. This comes after suppliers expressed concerns over higher raw-material, shipping, transport, wage, and FX costs. The review is intended to help manufacturers and traders continue supplying public providers.

Have prices changed? Not yet. The UPA just opened the door to a review. However, it proposed splitting suppliers into two cohorts that would each deliver once every two months and cap the period between issuing a purchase order and completing delivery at 35 days. Division members proposed alternatives, including issuing orders by groups of governorates or centralizing deliveries through health directorates, instead of requiring separate deliveries to every hospital and medical center across the country.

REMEMBER- The repricing push was still awaiting action earlier this month, when division head Mohamed Ismail Abdo told us that arrears owed to medical-supply firms had fallen to EGP 7 bn as of April, from around EGP 50 bn last year. The UPA was making two payment batches each month to clear the balance without accumulating fresh arrears. That followed the government’s EGP 14 bn first payment to medical-supply companies. Separately, UPA head Hisham Stait had pledged last year to pay pharma companies within 90 days of delivery.

MTO is a go

Al Baraka Bank Egypt’s mandatory tender offer (MTO) for AT Lease (FKA Al Tawfeek Leasing) will take effect during today’s stock market session, Al Borsa reports. The offer period will last 20 days starting today until 16 September. Al Baraka seeks up to 90% of AT Lease, with a floor of 51%, all through a share swap with nocash option.

The latest: Al Baraka had until yesterday to publish the MTO, after getting the Financial Regulatory Authority’s sign-off on the offer. The acquisition will see Al Baraka issue up to 63.2 mn new shares to AT Lease shareholders.

Happening tomorrow

#1- It’s almost interest-rate decision time again: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its fifth meeting of the year tomorrow, after keeping rates unchanged for three straight meetings at 19.00% on deposits and 20.00% on lending, following a 100-bps cut in February. July’s data support a cautious stance: annual urban inflation rose to 14.9% from 14.3% in June, while monthly core inflation was flat. A roughly 12% electricity-tariff increase introduced in late July has yet to be fully reflected in inflation data, with its main impact expected in August’s reading.

#2- Tomorrow is the last day for companies to pull the tender documents for the Industrial Development Authority’s eight new billet-production licenses, which would add a combined 2.8 mn tons of annual capacity. Technical and financial bids are due by noon on 9 September. The tender opened last week, with four 500k-ton licenses and four 200k-ton licenses up for grabs.

PSA-

#1- A long weekend is coming our way: Public and private sector workers will get Thursday, 27 August off as a paid holiday in observance of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, according to a cabinet statement. The holiday has been moved from Tuesday, 25 August. We’ll be on the lookout for the Central Bank and the bourse to follow suit.

#2- WEATHER- Weather is a little bit kinder to us in Cairo today, with a high of 34°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a couple of degrees cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 32°C and a low of 24°C.

The big story abroad

In the absence of a major development in the regional war, the global press has set its sights on a number of stories. Here are the most notable headlines.

A bond yield problem: Sovereign borrowing rates are surging across the globe, with yields on 30-year US Treasuries reaching their highest levels since 2007 this week — rates in France, Germany, the UK, and Japan have also risen dramatically in recent days. A confluence of factors — largely Washington’s Iran offensive and tariff campaign — is pushing debt in developed countries to unsustainable levels.

Ottawa in the tariff target: Canada is bracing for a salvo of US tariffs on USD 20 bn worth of exports, while US President Donald Trump is reportedly mulling a last-minute agreement to avert the duties. After rounds of talks, the White House called on Canada to scrap its retaliatory auto tariffs and provincial liquor bans, while Ottawa angled to lower duties on automobiles. The tariffs are due to come into effect at midnight Eastern Daylight Time.

And in the AI world: Anthropic’s pre-IPO revolving credit facility is set to rise above its roughly USD 10 bn target, as Wall Street banks line up to lend massive sums to signal confidence and clinch a slice of one of the largest tech IPOs in history. The terms are still under negotiation, and the company could choose to cap or reduce the credit line.

*** 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 how Egypt’s new financing mechanisms are reshaping access to housing, and why private developers still aren’t building for the buyers left behind.