Orascam Pyramids Entertainment is seeking arbitration against Supreme Council of Antiquities over alleged breach of contract

Orascom Pyramids Entertainment (OPE) will seek arbitration against the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) over what it says is a breach of its exclusive contract to manage, operate, and develop services at the Giza Pyramids, Al Arabiya reports, citing Executive Chairman Amr Gazarin. OPE will also suspend new investments at the site until the dispute is resolved, including planned additions to its bus fleet and new construction.

What’s the dispute? The dispute stems from a tethered-balloon project being implemented by Tashereef for Tourist Marketing with France’s Aerophile, which OPE says falls within the geographic scope of its exclusive agreement and threatens its commercial rights and exclusive-sponsor agreements. However, an SCA official told Al Arabiya that the balloon project is outside OPE’s contractual coordinates and does not affect its legal rights.

IN CONTEXT- OPE operates visitor services at the Giza Plateau under a 15-year agreement signed with the SCA in 2018. The SCA retains authority over the archaeological site and all ticket revenue, while OPE earns from commercial leases, restaurants, VIP visits, sponsorships, and events; the state is also entitled to 50% of project revenue.

Venture debt’s pilot names

Aman Holding, Bokra, and Erada Finance have been selected to pilot venture debt solutions as part of the Scale It Forward program, co-developed by the German development agency GIZ and Enpact, according to a press release (pdf). The program aims to provide 30 Egyptian scaleups in high-demand sectors, including fintech, agriculture, and healthtech, with non-repayable EUR 5k de-risking support and capacity training.

More details: The Scale It Forward program was introduced in January this year and will run through December 2026. It aims to strengthen the Egyptian entrepreneurial ecosystem, expanding engagement to include financial institutions while introducing alternative growth-financing instruments such as venture debt, Enpact’s Country Manager Rawan Bassam told us back in April. Each selected financial institution will invest in six scaleups after they select the businesses that will participate in the venture debt pilot.

Looking forward: The program’s posted timeline plans for five financial institutions to be selected by August, so two are still outstanding. The program is targeting October to select the 30 scaleups, with funding to follow.

El Sayed sells more Odin

State-Owned Companies Unit CEO Hashem El Sayed sold 3 mn shares in EGX-listed Odin Investments at an average of EGP 3.26 apiece for EGP 9.79 mn, cutting his direct holding to 77.9% from 78.4%, according to an EGX filing (pdf). Counting related parties, the stake fell to 78.2% from 78.7%. Sigma Capital executed the trade.

El Sayed remains Odin’s principal shareholder. He resigned from the chairmanship in April of this year, handing the chair to Ibrahim Fawzy Abdel Wahed and the CEO seat to his son Karim Hashem El Sayed (who appears in the filing’s related-party schedule holding 0.104%), but kept the stake, which stood at 82% before the April sales. REFRESHER- El Sayed was appointed assistant to the prime minister and full-time CEO of the unit last October under a four-year mandate, but stayed on Odin’s board for another six months. He stepped down weeks after MP Hussein Haridy filed a request for information with Madbouly in March over a suspected conflict of interest, arguing that EGX disclosures showed the official’s name still across the boards and ownership structures of several listed companies and funds.

More on our radar:

• Elsewedy Technical Academy and Mansour Automotive Group’s MAC have partnered to train young technicians in electrical and mechanical fields for potential employment with MAC, under a hands-on training-for-employment program tailored to the manufacturer’s operational needs. The tie-up comes as MAC prepares to start operations at its New 6th of October vehicle assembly plant in 1Q 2027, with an initial capacity of up to 50k vehicles a year. (Company statement)