S&P holds Egypt’s Emerging Markets ranking + banks can now verify you without a branch visit

☀️ Good morning, friends, and happy long weekend. We’re feeling a little nostalgic today, so we’re taking you along on a trip down memory lane. We’re tracing a thousand years of El Moulid El Nabawy sweets and the economy behind them. We also revisited Spectra, Cairo’s beloved early 2000s family dining hotspot, to see how it holds up in 2026. And for anyone counting down to GTA VI, we went back to Vice City to see how the original still fares.

Elsewhere in today’s issue: a new Insidious film if you’re in the mood to be scared, and a tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton.

But first, your weekly recap…

🗞️ LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS-

ECONOMY-

S&P Dow Jones Indices has decided not to downgrade Egypt, confirming the country will keep its Emerging Markets status. The announcement, dated 20 August, closed out a review that started in June, when S&P proposed downgrading Egypt to Frontier Market status, a lower tier with less global investment money tracking it.

BANKING-

The Central Bank of Egypt’s board has approved rules governing the eKYC identity system, which electronically identifies and verifies bank customers, letting banks verify customer identities digitally rather than in person. Governor Hassan Abdalla said the system lets customers open accounts and access banking products entirely through digital channels — no branch visit required.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

The EGX’s listing committee fined roughly 50 companies a combined EGP 1.04 mn last week for missing financial statement deadlines. This marks the latest in a run of decisions this summer that have penalized the same names, session after session, without any of them producing their numbers.

INDUSTRY-

The government has broken ground on the USD 658 mn Abu Tartour phosphoric acid complex in New Valley governorate, moving the long-delayed project from contractor selection to construction. The ministry describes the project as the country’s first industrial complex to produce phosphoric acid from local phosphate ore.

INVESTMENT-

In a bid on a government tender, tech giant Huawei is offering to export roughly 1.4k of its newest Ascend 950-series chips for an AI training cloud in Egypt, plus 600 more (either 950s or the earlier 910B) to run two inference clusters. The end users are government, spanning military, security, and surveillance functions — the documents lay out a 12-month build. US government officials called Silicon Valley to mount a rival bid. The State Department is said to have approached Nvidia, AMD, and Microsoft about putting together an American consortium to bid against Huawei after officials saw the Chinese offer.

This comes as the Communications Ministry targets EGP 115.4 bn in private and foreign investment in the ICT sector in FY 2026/27, accounting for 83.1% of the EGP 138.9 bn in total investment targeted for the sector. The focus on private capital follows a sharp cut in public ICT investment, which fell to EGP 13 bn in FY 2025/26 from EGP 85 bn a year earlier.

AND- Nasdaq-listed, Dubai-based mobility startup Swvl Holdings has entered into a definitive agreement for a USD 13 mn private placement priced at the market under Nasdaq rules. The round is led by Coefficient LP, a Houston-based investment firm backed by the Sawiris family, which is putting in USD 10 mn and will become Swvl's largest institutional shareholder upon closing. An existing shareholder is contributing the remaining USD 3 mn.

ALSO- Saudi Gold Refinery has applied directly under its own name for exploration licenses in the 260 blocks the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry opened for bidding in the Eastern Desert. The company plans to self-finance exploration and aims to secure the mining license and start gold production before 2030, targeting over five blocks near Al Baramiya, south of Marsa Alam, where geological surveys show high gold concentrations.

ENERGY-

The Julius Nyerere hydropower dam, a USD 2.9-3 bn project on Tanzania’s Rufiji River, was formally inaugurated this week. Built for Tanesco, Tanzania’s state electricity utility, by a consortium of Elsewedy Electric and Arab Contractors, the dam holds back a 34 bn cbm reservoir and generates roughly 2.1 GW, enough to supply more than 60 mn Tanzanians.

AND- The Oil Ministry is stepping up its upstream push, with Minister Karim Badawi holding separate talks with Greece’s Energean and UAE’s Adnoc Drilling on expanding gas investment and launching a broader drilling program.

The Chinese takeover with Ankush Arora: When Chinese cars first appeared in Egypt around a decade ago, they were met with backlash. Now, they’re everywhere. Why? And how?

On this episode of Making It, Ankush Arora, CEO of Al Mansour Automotive Group, joins Patrick to break down how this happened, and why the pace of adoption is accelerating.

Listen to the episode on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anghami | YouTube

Sign up to our newsletter to get Making It in your inbox.

🌍 AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS-

This week’s headlines were dominated by Washington’s pivot from bombing Iran to strangling it — a sweeping new sanctions package targeting 60-plus entities globally, secondary sanctions threatening Iran’s trade partners with expulsion from the USD system, and a simultaneous trade war with Canada that went from threat to reality overnight. Here’s the rundown.

With direct negotiations abandoned, the US launched Operation Economic Outcast — sanctioning more than 60 entities, individuals, and vessels globally and warning Iran’s trade partners to sever ties or be cut off from the USD-based financial system. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called it “economic D-Day.” Iran’s Economy Minister said Tehran was fully prepared for the measures; the IRGC warned it would strike US vital interests and energy chokepoints if Iranian infrastructure is threatened. China called the sanctions a move that would further intensify tensions. Pakistan, meanwhile, said it had made “significant progress” in talks with Tehran on the war and wider regional tensions — the only diplomatic signal pointing in a different direction.

CLOSER TO HOME- The US removed Syria from its state sponsors of terrorism list after 47 years — lifting what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the final major barrier to private investment and Syria’s reintegration into the global economy. Washington simultaneously removed Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, formerly Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, from its global terrorist organizations list.

ON TRADE- The US-Canada trade war escalated sharply after last-minute talks collapsed over last weekend, triggering a new round of 50% US tariffs on USD 20 bn worth of Canadian goods — roughly 5% of Canada’s total exports to the US. Ottawa fired back with retaliatory tariffs on US steel, electronics, and other products. Trump separately threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars to 50% by 1 January and lock existing steel levies at the same rate.

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS- The cost of AI infrastructure keeps climbing: soaring memory chip prices are driving up server costs by more than 15% for systems powered by Nvidia’s flagship processors, with increases set to hit clients shipping early next year. Alibaba is looking to raise up to USD 10.2 bn via share placement to fund AI investment, capitalizing on a Chinese tech market surge that has pushed valuations to record highs.

IN TECH NEWS- Anthropic is expected to inform investors that its total addressable market exceeds USD 30 tn, surpassing the USD 28.5 tn projection set by Elon Musk’s rocketmaker.

The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum is back — and we’re devoting the full day to the singular set of questions on everyone’s mind: What does AI actually mean for your company, your people, your economy, your own job — and your kids’ future?

Every session on stage answers one question: “So, what do I actually do about it?”

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only.

Request your invitation here.

☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND-

This weekend brings the heat. Today brings a high of 39°C and a warm low of 26°C in Cairo. On Friday, things cool down with temperatures set to peak at a sunny 37°C before dropping to a cloudy 26°C overnight. Saturday brings another sunny high of 36°C and a low of 24°C.

If you’re still having fun on the North Coast, expect humid conditions today and on Friday, with highs of 33°C and overnight lows of 25°C on both days. Saturday will peak at 32°C before dropping to 25°C overnight, according to our favorite weather app.

🎤 HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND-

Jordanian Arab-rock band Jadal is heading to Alexandria as part of Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s 23rd International Summer Festival. The band will take the stage at the BA’s Open Air Theater tonight for an evening of its beloved blend of Arabic rock and indie sounds. The concert begins at 8:30pm — tickets are available through Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s website.

Haven’t had enough of the Sahel concerts? Pop mainstay Hamaki is making his way to the North Coast tomorrow, taking the stage at Porto Grande in New Alamein for a big season-ending night. Gates open at 7pm, with the concert kicking off at 10:30pm — Book your tickets through TicketsMarché.

Egyptian pop icon Ehab Tawfik is bringing a dose of ‘90s nostalgia to the North Coast. The singer will take the stage at Premiere Show at North Coast Square, Porto Golf tomorrow, for a late-night trip down memory lane packed with the unmistakable sounds many of us grew up listening to. The concert begins at 11:30pm — tickets are available through TicketsMarché.

🎤 HAPPENING LATER-

Movie lovers, it’s your lucky day. Touring international film festival MedFest Egypt is returning to AUC Tahrir Square for a five-day run from Thursday, 10 September to Monday, 14 September. This year’s program, themed “Beyond the Scene,” packs in film screenings, conversations, and workshops. You can choose between the Full Pass, which includes workshop registration, or the Festival Supporter Platinum or Gold Badge, all available through TicketsMarché. Workshop spots are limited, so hurry and secure your spot.

Lebanese comedy sensation John Achkar is landing in Egypt on Saturday, 26 September as part of his ongoing global tour: Feena Nehke?. The stand-up comedian is taking the stage at Theatro Arkan with a more personal Arabic-language special. Tickets are available on TicketsMarché — you can get tickets for the early show kicking off at 6:30pm here and the late show at 9:30pm here.