CI Capital Asset Management plans to launch Egypt’s first equity hedge fund

CI Capital Asset Management plans to launch an equity-focused hedge fund targeting EGP 250 mn in assets-under-management within its first year, Asharq reports, citing Managing Director Amr Abol Enein. The fund is slated to come alive before year-end, with the firm anticipating growing appetite from retail and institutional investors for new investment products.

REMEMBER- The Financial Regulatory Authority only opened the door to hedge funds last month. The new framework gives hedge funds access to a broader toolkit than traditional mutual funds, including derivatives, margin trading, and — once the mechanism is fully operational — short selling.

ACE exits Bosta

Avanz Capital Egypt (ACE) sold Manara’s stake in last mile logistics player Bosta to Lorax Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, the Al Borsa reports. The asset management and private equity firm booked a 4.1x return on invested capital and a 92% IRR over a roughly two-year hold. It went in denominated in EGP and came out in USD, converting the investment into hard currency for Manara’s investors, which include National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and Misr Ins. Holding. The exit comes less than a year after Manara’s investment period closed in June 2025.

ICYMI- ACE is in the process of being acquired by advisory group Exits Mena, which will rebrand it Exits Manara. The company most recently bought a secondary LP stake in Algebra Ventures’ second fund last September.

That makes ACE the third Bosta shareholder to sell down since May. Beltone Venture Capital and UAE-based Citadel International Holdings exited their joint stake at a 75% IRR in May, and Saudi’s Khwarizmi Ventures partially exited last month at a net multiple of around 3x. Neither named a buyer. Bosta is working toward a USD 170 mn EGX IPO, which would be the exchange’s first tech-logistics listing.

Buonasera, banking

Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo intends to keep investing and expanding in Egypt, Asharq reports, citing Paola Papanicolaou, chief of the group’s International Banks Division. The group operated for over 20 years in the country through AlexBank, which currently serves roughly 2 mn customers through about 4k employees, with expansion plans centered on digital services, including new apps and platforms, alongside more sophisticated credit, trade finance, and wealth management products for corporates and entrepreneurs.

AlexBank signed two new agreements on the sidelines of the Italy-Egypt Business Forum in Cairo. The first was with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones to support Italian companies looking to invest in Egypt. The second, with Italy’s state development bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), is a EUR 21 mn EU-backed guarantee that unlocks a EUR 30 mn lending facility for small farmers and agribusiness projects in Egypt, with the CDP and EU covering up to 70% of any defaults on those loans, according to a press release. The agreement falls under CDP’s TERRA agribusiness program and ties into Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa and the EU’s Global Gateway strategy.

Where this fits: Italy is angling for a bigger slice of Egypt’s investment pie, and it’s chasing four sectors specifically. GAFI CEO Mohamed Awad told the Asharq separately Egypt is targeting fresh Italian investment in food processing, textiles, green hydrogen, and clean energy — sectors surfaced through direct matchmaking between Egyptian and Italian businesspeople at the same forum. Some 1.4k companies with Italian investor participation currently operate in Egypt, with Italy ranking as the country’s fourth-largest foreign investor at roughly USD 24 bn through the end of FY 2024/25.

Chart a new sea route

Egypt and Oman are working to launch a direct shipping line between Oman’s Duqm and Salalah ports and Egyptian ports, aiming to establish manufacturing value chains, shipbuilding, and maritime tourism, as well as open both countries’ access to African and Asian markets, according to a press release.

IN CONTEXT- Salalah is Oman’s main container transshipment hub near Yemen, while Duqm and Sohar are the sultanate’s flagship deep-water ports, built as gateways to South Asia and East Africa. On our side, Ain Sokhna at the Suez Canal’s southern mouth anchors the country’s zone-based manufacturing push. Investment across the zones overseen by Oman’s Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones reached OMR 22.4 bn by the end of 2025 — a 6.8% increase y-o-y — after securing over OMR 1.4 bn in new investments across 325 agreements, with approximately 97% of those added investments concentrated in the industrial sector.