The IFC is weighing a USD 120 mn debt investment for Alcazar Energy’s acquisition of 580 MW Gabal El Zeit wind farm

Good morning, friends. Today we have three stories about decisions in progress — a draft union law under review, a potential EU ban, and a vote on our emerging market status.

The most important read is about the draft union law. It suggests some big changes — union membership is compulsory, every project needs its own escrow account, and the Real Estate Development Chamber is getting dissolved. But other important questions are left unanswered, like how developers are classified and whether classification decides land allocation and project size. We spoke with industry insiders to understand what the new rules (and gaps) mean for developers.

And over in industry, the EU is proposing to cut Egypt off from European steel scrap, which is bad news since we’re the third-largest importer of EU scrap metal globally. The ban isn’t final yet — we might be able to lobby our way into a better position — but industry sources say they are already doing the math on what substitution might cost.

Our emerging market status goes to vote next week — FTSE Russell rules on 6 October on whether to drop the EGX to frontier status, and the read from analysts is that it won’t, since the bourse has already met the key criteria.

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We’re excited to welcome Karim Awad as a guest speaker at the 2026 EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum.

Karim Awad is group CEO, chairman of the executive committee, and a member of the board of directors of EFG Holding S.A.E., a financial institution with a universal bank in Egypt and the leading investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa. With over 25 years at EFG Hermes, Awad rose from the Investment Banking division to CEO of the Investment Bank in 2012, then group CEO in 2013.

Under his leadership, EFG Holding has transformed into a MENA-focused financial solutions house, expanding across Egypt, the UAE, KSA, and Kuwait, building out structured products and non-bank financial services through EFG Finance, and completing its shift into a universal banking platform with the 2021 acquisition of Bank NXT. The firm’s revenues reached EGP 26.0 bn and income EGP 4.1 bn in 2025.

Awad has been ranked among the Forbes Middle East Top 100 CEOs for five consecutive years and serves on both the Egyptian President’s Economic Council and the Prime Minister’s Macroeconomy Advisory Committee.

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Attendance is by invitation only, and we’ve reached full capacity.

Request your invitation here to join the waitlist.

IFC joins the breeze

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering a USD 120 mn debt investment to fund Alcazar Energy’s acquisition of the 580 MW Gabal El Zeit wind farm in the Red Sea Governorate, according to an IFC project disclosure.

But wait, didn’t the agreement already close? The USD 420 mn agreement Alcazar signed in June with the New and Renewable Energy Authority and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company locked in the commercial terms and the 25-year PPA. The IFC’s debt is a separate piece of financing — one of several layers Alcazar is assembling to fund the acquisition and the USD 250 mn in operational upgrades it committed to.

How the financing stacks up: Alcazar is raising Gabal El Zeit through its third fund, Alcazar Energy Partners III — a EUR 900 mn closed-end infrastructure vehicle targeting renewables across MENA, Turkey, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The fund has already secured equity commitments from the IFC (EUR 100 mn, approved), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EUR 150 mn, board-approved), and the European Investment Bank (EUR 75 mn, under appraisal). On top of that fund-level equity, the IFC’s USD 120 mn is a project-level debt facility — a loan to three borrowers the IFC did not name.

Splitting the bill: The wind farm is split into three subprojects (GEZ 1, 2, and 3), each with its own borrower and its own separate IFC debt facility. The structure mirrors the farm’s original construction phases between 2014 and 2018, financed by Germany’s KfW and the EIB (GEZ 1, 240 MW), Japan’s Jica (GEZ 2, 220 MW), and Spain’s FIEM (GEZ 3, 120 MW). The overhead transmission lines and substation are not part of the acquisition but will require post-construction fatality monitoring within Alcazar’s concession area, the lender said. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy currently runs the farm and is expected to remain involved in O&M under Alcazar’s management, though the precise scope and contractual structure are still being negotiated.

Orange is the new tech

Our friends at Orange Group allocated EUR 25 mn to back Egyptian AI and deep-tech startups alongside digital training grants and internationally accredited professional certifications for 200k young people, CEO Christel Heydemann said during a meeting with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, according to a Presidency statement. The telecom giant will also equip Egyptian universities with modern tech labs to bolster practical skills in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. Heydemann noted that Orange’s Egyptian operations serve as a regional template for its broader African expansion.

ALSO- The President said he looks forward to exploring cooperation with Orange on the second phase of the National Digital Health Project, drawing on its expertise in digital infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and systems integration. The push aligns with ongoing government programs to upskill young Egyptians through specialized training and internationally recognized professional certifications in partnership with global technology vendors.

Elsewedy wires in El Dabaa

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company signed two contracts with Elsewedy Electric for Trading and Distribution to connect the El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant to the national grid at 500 kV, according to a company statement. The statement didn’t disclose the value of the contracts.

The details: Elsewedey will take on the project for the Alexandria and West Delta electricity region, opening the double-circuit, quad-conductor 500 kV “Borg El Arab 500 / Wadi El Natrun” overhead line to loop it in and out of the El Dabaa substation and carry the line through to the connection point. Execution runs for 15 months from the signing date.

REMEMBER- Egypt tendered a 128 km, 500 kV line to link El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant to the grid in June at an estimated EGP 4.5 bn (c. USD 86.5 mn). The new line was described as the final piece of the plant’s off-site transmission package, alongside two 220 kV lines that were scheduled to be finished in June.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s pleasant and mild in Cairo today, with a high of 31°C and a low of 21°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s cooler and more breezy in Alexandria, with a high of 28°C and a low of 22°C.

The big story abroad

A landmark Wall Street play is taking up space on the front pages. Nvidia raised its share buyback ‌authorization by a record USD 150 bn, surpassing Apple’s USD 110 bn move two years ago. The tech company expects to use its expanded USD 235 bn buyback authority through fiscal year 2028, wagering heavily on its own stock amid intense AI-chip competition.

Elsewhere in the AI world: Major global semiconductor and hardware player AMD will acquire AI startup World Labs for USD 8.2 bn in an all-stock transaction, taking over the San Francisco-based firm established by computer scientist and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li. World Labs specializes in spatial-intelligence models that build and simulate interactive 3D environments directly from text, image, or video prompts.

AI safety fears have consequences: OpenAI has nixed the launch of the GPT-6.1 Astra model due to safety worries raised during internal testing, following months of widespread reports of AI systems going rogue. The model regressed in human alignment compared to its predecessor and deceived users by failing to accurately report its own actions.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We go back to KarmSolar and Engazaat to see what Egypt’s EGP 37 bn grid upgrade means for their business.