MSC added its weekly Himalaya services at Damietta, its second new call there in recent months

Damietta Container and Cargo Handling Company (DCHC) has added MSC’s weekly Himalaya service to its schedule, with the first call made by the MSC Siena on Thursday, 8 October, according to a DCHC statement. The service links India to the Eastern Mediterranean through Damietta Container Terminal before continuing to ports in Spain and Portugal. It’s MSC’s second new service at the terminal recently, after its Mediterranean-US East Coast (EMUSA) service, and should add to the volumes the terminal handles.

The expansion shows the terminal can handle larger vessels and services, DCHC Executive Managing Director Rafik Galal said, describing it as part of the Transport Ministry’s push to make Egypt a regional hub for maritime transport, logistics, and transit trade.

IN CONTEXT- Damietta Port is in the middle of a multi-phase expansion that includes the Damietta Alliance container terminal, which should lift container capacity and draw more Eastern Mediterranean feeder traffic. The India-Europe loop runs through the Suez Canal, adding to signs that carriers are returning to the route.

NREA eyes EGP 2 bn

The New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) is in talks with local banks for EGP 2 bn in credit facilities to accelerate this year’s renewable energy targets, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM, without naming the banks or facility structure. The push comes as NREA looks to increase its own build-out target from roughly 13 GW to 20.8 GW, adding new wind (12.1 GW), solar (8.7 GW), and battery storage (13.9 GWh) capacity on top of its current operational fleet.

IN CONTEXT- In August, we flagged that the government’s 45% by 2028 renewables target had been raised without a published demand forecast needed to verify it. Additionally, hitting an installed capacity target doesn’t guarantee hitting a generation-share target if plants don’t run as often as assumed.

ALSO- The Electricity Ministry inked a EUR 32.3 mn contract with Indian firm Bajel Projects for two Suez Canal Economic Zone interconnection projects, alongside an EGP 1.2 bn contract with a consortium for a separate grid project, ministry officials tell us.

An African credit rating agency

The African Credit Rating Agency was launched on Wednesday. CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla joined the launch event in Port Louis, Mauritius, alongside heads of state and government and leaders of African and international financial institutions, according to a CBE statement. Abdalla called the agency a step toward helping African economies reach capital markets and investment through assessments that account for the continent’s unique economic and institutional circumstances.

BACKGROUND- The CBE has backed the idea since 2017, working with the UN Economic Commission for Africa. The case rested on structural problems that weigh on African sovereign ratings: limited data availability and quality, information gaps between African economies and both investors and international rating agencies, and thin institutional and statistical capacity.

REMEMBER- CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla proposed directing 10% of African banking liquidity and 5% of international reserves toward investments within the continent, part of a broader push for structural reforms to unlock intra-African investment and retain domestic capital continent-wide. The CBE has also signed at least 15 MoUs with African central banks covering training and governance.

Drawing a brighter line

Gold-linked ins. is getting a tighter sales rulebook, with ins.ers required to make clear that customers are buying an ins. product — not a deposit, savings account, or standalone investment, according to a statement from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The regulator says it had received customer complaints and identified bank-channel sales practices that blurred the line between investment-linked ins. and other banking, savings, and investment products.

Ins.ers will have to spell out what sits behind the policy. Before contracting, they must disclose a policy’s benefits, risks, and material terms, how any gold component is managed, and whether customers can take delivery of the asset or redeem their investment. They also cannot imply they own or manage the asset when they don’t, or market the policy like a deposit, and must document a customer acknowledgment — which doesn’t relieve the ins.er of its disclosure duties.

What’s next: Ins.ers must review the materials, forms, and sales practices they use to distribute investment-linked products through banks. They have one month to send the FRA both the measures they have taken and the customer acknowledgment form they plan to use.

REMEMBER- The FRA allowed life ins.ers to put part of investment-linked premiums into gold and other precious metals for the first time last November, subject to regulatory approval.

A fresh batch

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved 12 new companies and entities, according to a statement — including a health maintenance organization (HMO) with a temporary license, a venture capital company that can take stakes in special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), an open-ended agricultural fund, and three more debt collectors. Here’s the rundown:

#1- Care Plus became the second company to receive a temporary HMO license, following MedRight Health Solutions’ license in July. Specialized medical insurers — also known as HMOs — underwrite coverage themselves, unlike third-party administrators, which manage healthcare programs without carrying ins. risk.

#2- The FRA approved El Manzalawi Venture Capital, a company set up to acquire stakes in entities or SPACs. It joins Catalyst Partners Middle East, Egypt’s first SPAC. The regulator has been tweaking the framework to encourage more vehicles to come to market.

#3- Al Ahly Green Agricultural Investment Fund received its license to operate as an open-ended agricultural fund, after securing FRA approval in March.

#4- Three more debt collectors joined the FRA’s registry: Trusty for Debt Collection and Field Inquiry, Prime Solutions Middle East for Debt Collection, and Taswiya for Consultancy and Debt Collection. This brings the total number of approved debt-collection firms to 11, after the FRA began registering the first companies in June.

Euro charter focus

Egyptian private carrier Sky Vision Airlines aims to expand its fleet from eight to 20 aircraft by 2027, Deputy CEO Omar Ghreib told Asharq Business. The charter operator will introduce a low-cost carrier (LCC) model for domestic routes, offering unbundled base airfares where passengers pay separately for meals and checked baggage. As part of its international expansion, the airline plans to launch direct charter routes from Germany and Italy to Sharm El Sheikh and Hurghada in 2027 to capture rising European inbound tourism, Ghreib added.

IN CONTEXT- The fleet expansion aligns with the Civil Aviation Ministry’s broader effort to expand domestic fleet capacity and boost total annual passenger traffic across Egyptian airports. Founded in 2022, Sky Vision currently operates Airbus narrow-body passenger jets and freighters serving regional charter, cargo, and tour routes. As we’ve previously covered, private domestic carriers have been ramping up fleet expansion and route additions to accommodate rising tourist arrival targets and increase airport throughput capacity, in line with the Civil Aviation Ministry’s strategy to scale airport passenger capacity and 30 mn arrival target by 2030.

Smooth operator

Over at the national flag carrier, EgyptAir inked a technical cooperation protocol with Lufthansa Systems to modernize its aircraft crew management systems, according to a statement. Under the agreement, EgyptAir will integrate Lufthansa’s digital operational planning software to automate crew scheduling, streamline flight rosters, and manage turnarounds. The tech contract comes as the airline works to control labor overhead and address scheduling bottlenecks amid ongoing fleet operational scaling.

Riyadh trips deferred

EgyptAir has suspended flights from Cairo and Alexandria to Riyadh until operations resume at King Khalid International Airport, according to a press release. Air Cairo, an EgyptAir subsidiary, has also suspended its 11 and 12 October flights between Riyadh and both Cairo and Sohag, the company said in a statement.

IN CONTEXT- Riyadh’s main airport was attacked again yesterday, a missile hitting the complex housing King Khalid International Airport’s domestic terminals 3 and 4 and wounding several people, a regional official told AP News. The attack killed 12 people, including an Egyptian national, injured 309, and caused material damage that is still being assessed, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement.The attack comes amid ongoing clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.

Also on our radar:

• The Irrigation Ministry is linking a digital crop-forecasting tool to its irrigation rotation system so it can measure crop water needs more accurately and distribute water through canals more precisely. It’s also upgrading its rotation app to give farmers more accurate timing on when water will reach their canals. The push ties into the Agriculture Ministry’s plan to modernize irrigation and lift farm productivity by up to 20%. (Statement)
• The Egypt Forum 2026 website is now live, ahead of the event’s 19-24 October run. The website allows citizens, experts, and specialists to weigh in on the issues up for discussion. The site drew more than 7 mn views and over 250k unique visitors in its first three days. (Statement)
• Arclyn Developments is launching in Egypt through an Egyptian-Emirati partnership, targeting an initial EGP 20 bn investment portfolio across three projects in the New Capital. Backed by partner Sheikh Omar Al Marzouqi and chairman Yasser Al-Prince, its first project, Metrova — a mixed-use development in the MU23 area — is already underway, with over 80% of the land value paid. (Press release)
• The Cabinet approved a Finance Ministry evaluation handing over the Port Said Hotel (formerly Helnan) to Pickalbatros Hotel Management on a 30-year usufruct license. (Statement)