Mabany Edris taps NBE for EGP 975 mn to speed up Koun construction in Ras El Hekma

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) is extending a EGP 975 mn, five-year facility to real estate developer Mabany Edris to finance part of its Koun development in Ras El Hekma, Al Mal reports. The facility supports Mabany Edris’s push to speed up construction: the company is racing to finish its existing projects — Koun among them — and aims to begin handovers ahead of schedule, Chairman Mohamed Edris said.

IN CONTEXT- The facility comes as North Coast developers face a cashflow squeeze. Payment plans have stretched to an average of c. 7.8 years, up from c. 4.5 years in 2023-2024, according to Knight Frank. Koun’s own plan runs up to 10 years, according to the developer’s website — leaving construction costs due well before customer payments arrive.

Stock-hold syndrome

The EGX suspended trading in Digitize for Investment and Technology (DGTZ.CA) from yesterday’s session, canceling all orders on the book, citing a letter it sent the company about the minutes of a 3 November board meeting, according to a bourse announcement. This comes a day after the listing committee started the delisting clock. It invoked Article 53 on 3 November, giving Digitize two weeks to file standalone and consolidated statements for FY 2025, 1Q 2026, and 2Q 2026 or appear before the committee for a decision to strike the shares. The same session fined it EGP 5k for not disclosing its shareholder and board structure as of 30 September.

REFRESHER- Digitize moved from the SME board to the main market in 2024. The FRA sanctioned it in November 2025 and warned investors to approach the stock with caution over 11 examination findings, and the listing committee fined it four times over the summer, EGP 110k in six weeks. Insiders sold an estimated 5.46 mn shares through eight months of falling prices, as we reported in August. The shares are down roughly three-quarters over the past year.

Next stop, Menoufia

Sadat City’s dry port in Menoufia is slated to break ground in 1H 2027, with the first phase costing an estimated EGP 3 bn, Asharq Business reports, citing two government officials. The first phase would cover 35 of the site’s 90 feddans, connect to the railway network, and serve Sadat City’s industry and exporters. The Transport Ministry’s Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport will build the port with an unnamed local logistics and storage firm through a self-financed project that will take up to 30 months to complete, with licenses and approvals still required. The plan follows the Cabinet’s approval last week for the holding company to set up a company to build and run the port.

The bigger picture: The project is set to join a pipeline including two operational dry ports, namely the 6th of October dry port and Alexandria’s El Amreya, which went online in mid-October. MSC subsidiary MedLog’s 10th of Ramadan hub is due in 2027, and Sky Ports is developing a site in New Borg El Arab. All fall under the Transport Ministry’s plan for 33 dry ports and logistics zones, which aims to link industrial clusters to Mediterranean and Red Sea ports by rail and road, easing seaport congestion and cutting freight costs for exporters.

Bank in business

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) extended USD 4 bn in financing to three Egyptian banks this year, namely the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and Arab African International Bank, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed bank insider. The financing — up 300% y-o-y — is intended to support foreign trade and SMEs and add liquidity. Across all Egyptian borrowers, the source put Afreximbank’s financing at around USD 9 bn so far this year and said it targets USD 10 bn by year-end, up 67% y-o-y. Recipients included Egyptian banks, infrastructure companies, and state-owned firms, with financing for a single company reaching up to USD 1.5 bn.

The bank is also moving ahead with a gold refinery and a specialized gold bank in Egypt, the source added. The Central Bank of Egypt and Afreximbank signed an MoU in December 2025 to establish a pan-African gold bank in an unnamed Egyptian freezone. Afreximbank’s Ayman Elzoghby said in June that construction of the refinery should start by end-2026 — production is targeted to start in 2027 or 2028.

ALSO- Afreximbank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization launched the Africa Energy Bank in Nigeria, according to a press release. The bank’s inaugural general meeting in Abuja on Saturday established an authorized capital base of USD 5 bn, appointed former HSBC Egypt deputy CEO Helmy Ghazi (LinkedIn) as its first president, and formed its founding board of directors. It aims to finance projects across the energy value chain, from exploration and production to refining and distribution. The release says traditional lenders are pulling back from fossil fuels and puts the continent’s energy investment needs at USD 200 bn.

One more year

More time for Acwa: The National Council for Green Hydrogen greenlit Acwa Power’s request for another year on an MoU covering land for a project in the East Nile area, which targets annual output of 66k tons of green hydrogen and 500k tons of green ammonia, according to a Cabinet statement.

REMEMBER- In December 2023, Egypt signed a USD 4 bn framework agreement with Acwa Power to develop a green hydrogen project targeting an annual production of 600k tons of green ammonia in its first phase. The agreement marked Acwa’s fifth green energy project in Egypt, with others including a 200 MW Kom Ombo solar power plant and a 1.1 GW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez.