The gov’t is considering routing idle public-business-sector property to Mostakbal Misr

Good morning, ladies and gents. It’s a very busy news morning, with Banque du Caire’s upcoming IPO dominating headlines, 18 years after the state first tried to sell it. Hot on the heels of MNT-Halan’s offering, the state-owned lender filed its intention to float yesterday for 30% of the company, a stake worth about EGP 24 bn (c. USD 460 mn) at the fair value we reported in September, with a November trading debut. We flesh out all the details and how the market is gearing up below as our lead story.

Two other stories about getting things moving: Scaleups are too risky for banks and too costly for venture capital, which leaves a gap that venture debt wants to fill. Three non-bank lenders, Aman Holding, Bokra, and Erada Finance, have signed on to pilot it, and 30 scaleups are set to be picked this month. We asked the program’s backers and one of the lenders what it would take to turn a small pilot into a real market.

Alexandria’s first dry port opens tomorrow, giving the city’s seaports room to breathe as transit cargo surges; container traffic jumped 74% last year alone. El Amreya will move customs clearance inland and ship data through Nafeza from day one. What we will be watching: whether containers start spending less time on the quay and whether trucks stop showing up for boxes that haven’t actually cleared.

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MNT-Halan’s IPO has been the talk of the market for a few weeks.

So on this episode of Making It, Mounir Nakhla, the founder and CEO of MNT-Halan, joins Patrick to talk about why his company is going public, and why now is the right time. He makes the case for returning FDIs, that the so-called Egypt discount is over, and he tells us what it would take for this IPO to “pop.”

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A new home for idle state assets

The government is considering routing idle public-business-sector property to Mostakbal Misr after a new law turned the authority into a standalone entity reporting to the presidency, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. The plan would be limited to unused land and real estate belonging to companies that are not headed into the EGX offering pipeline, as part of the authority’s efforts to diversify its portfolio. Mostakbal Misr would then bring in local and international investors to develop the assets through partnership structures.

The pool of unused land and property exceeds 2 mn sqm, according to the official, who says the aim is to raise the value generated from assets currently sitting idle. The sector’s total asset base stood at EGP 2.9 tn across 161 companies in FY 2024/25, according to recent Capmas data seen by EnterpriseAM.

REMEMBER- The law reorganizing Mostakbal Misr came into force in July, after the House passed it and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi ratified it, moving the authority from the Defense Ministry to the presidency. The government was already inventorying unused state assets and idle factories last year ahead of bringing in private investors through usufruct and profitsharing structures. We reported last month that the authority was using its own land bank for Red Sea tourism and hotel partnerships.

MEANWHILE- A separate plan to move around 40 state companies under the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) remains on the table, although the final roster has yet to be settled, the official says. Another senior government official previously told us the government has been studying the transfers on a sector-by-sector basis, including potentially putting the full telecoms portfolio — including Telecom Egypt — as well as textiles, fertilizers, and metals under SFE management.

That sits inside a much broader reset of the state-company portfolio. The updated inventory has pushed the number of state-owned companies above 800 from a previous count of 709 and could ultimately approach 1k as additional holdings are mapped, a government official previously told us. The six state holding companies and their subsidiaries are being restructured, while companies earmarked for the bourse are moving through temporary listings ahead of offerings expected to begin this quarter.

End of Asia tour

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi concluded his Asia tour in Jakarta yesterday, where he and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto agreed to target USD 5 bn in bilateral trade by 2030, accelerate negotiations toward an Economic Partnership Agreement, and establish a joint investment fund between Indonesia’s BPI Danantara and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, according to Indonesia’s national newspaper Kompas. MoUs were signed on diplomatic visa exemptions, statistical and fisheries cooperation, and a joint action plan to deepen the strategic partnership.

IN CONTEXT- The Indonesia leg capped a three-country tour that began in South Korea, where Egypt upgraded ties to a strategic partnership, launched CEPA negotiations with a first formal round targeted for 1H 2027, and signed 12 cooperation documents spanning shipbuilding, clean energy, ICT, and defense. From Seoul, El Sisi visited Malaysia for the first time since taking office, signing four MoUs and agreeing to convene a joint committee in 1Q 2027, before arriving in Jakarta.

Data point

14.1% — that’s where annual core inflation settled in September, easing from 14.9% in August, according to a Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) statement. Earlier, core inflation, which strips out volatile items like food and government-set prices, jumped from 12.7% in February to 14.0% in March after the Iran war triggered fuel hikes. It stabilized at 13.8% through April and May, then began creeping up through summer — 14.3% in June, 14.7% in July, and 14.9% in August — before declining in September. Monthly core inflation logged 0.8% in September, up from 0.3% in August.

REMEMBER- Annual headline urban inflation eased to 13.9% in September, down from 14.5% in August, with monthly prices rising 1.3% on a 14.7% jump in fresh vegetable prices.

The gas crunch gave Egypt every reason to speed up its energy transition, and the question now is who builds it and who pays for it.

Power Trip, our four-part signature series, turns this week to the transition and the private developers now building much of Egypt’s new power.

Issue II looks at how the deals behind these projects work, who is lending to them, and why the country is building a nuclear plant at El Dabaa alongside its solar and wind farms. We also look at whether the regional crisis has finally pushed industry toward renewables, and at the factories Egypt is counting on to build its own panels, batteries, and turbines.

Coming straight to your inbox on Wednesday, 14 October.

PSA-

WEATHER- Cairo is holding steady today, with a high of 30°C and a low of 19°C — a touch cooler overnight than yesterday, according to our favorite weather app. Some morning fog around and a slight chance of light rain through the day.

It’s kicking up a few notches on the coast in Alexandria, with a high of 30°C and a low of 20°C.

The big story abroad

US President Donald Trump has announced an immediate Russia-Ukraine “energy ceasefire,” saying that both sides have agreed to it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was still awaiting the ceasefire’s specifics. The announcement follows days of pressure from Washington on Kyiv to halt its attacks on Russian oil refineries. Moscow has not confirmed the ceasefire.

US Central Command (Centcom) forces disabled a commercial cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman for allegedly trying to run the US naval blockade on Iran, the first such attack in more than a month. The Panama-flagged vessel attempted to cross regional waters after departing an Iranian port and was fired upon after receiving warnings, Centcom said.

E-commerce giant Amazon is negotiating an acquisition of startup Decart AI in a transaction that could be worth roughly USD 7 bn. Decart AI — whose software simplifies switching between different AI chips for developers — raised more than USD 400 mn in venture capital funds and was valued at USD 4 bn in May.

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed.

In today’s issue: We look at Saxony Egypt University (SEU), Egypt’s third rendition of German-style technical training, and dive into who it is training technicians for.