PHARMA-

More meds price hikes in the pipeline: Some 1.6k pharma products will be subject to price hikes between September and end of 2025, Ali Auf, head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s pharma division told Al Arabiya. Companies could receive the greenlight to hike the prices of some 600 types of meds before the end of the year.

We saw this coming: Auf previously told us that the Egyptian Drug Authority has been approving price hikes for various types of meds in response to companies’ requests. Meds for chronic conditions will see smaller increases within the range of 10-30%, while those for non-chronic diseases will be subject to sharper 30-50% increases. Pharma players have been calling for further price hikes, most recently in response to rising fuel prices.

Hot on the heels of July’s price hike: Some med prices were hiked an average of 25% in July as per requests from local pharma companies in response to the EGP exchange rate against the greenback moving from 31 pre float to close to 50 post float.

RETAIL-

A Saudi-Egyptian partnership will bring a EGP 1 bn mall to New Cairo: Egypt’s HomeGroup Development has partnered with Saudi Saleh Almudayfer Son’s Holding ’s subsidiary Aseel Group to build a EGP 1 bn mall in New Cairo, Al Mal reported. The mall will have commercial, administrative, and medical facilities.

MANUFACTURING-

A second Dream Agro factory? Fertilizer producer Dream Agro Egypt wants to set up a second factory in Fayoum early next year with initial investments of EGP 100 mn, chairman Mahmoud El Masry told Al Mal. The new factory will have a production capacity of 1k tons a month and will produce no less than 30 different types of fertilizers. The company also plans to increase the production capacity of its existing factory in Fayoum to 500 tons per month starting next year from 100 mn tons at the moment.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

GOEIC eyes carbon credit verification license: The General Organization for Export andImport Control (GOEIC) has applied for a license to operate as a verification and certification body within the country’s newly-launched carbon market, GOEIC Chairman Essam El Naggar told Al Borsa. The authority, which awaits the Financial Regulatory Authority’s approval, is looking to secure a license to help local companies ramp up their exports, he added.

Remember: Egypt last week launched its voluntary carbon trading market — the first in the country and in Africa. The market allows companies to issue and trade voluntary carbon certificates in Egypt and Africa, which can be bought by other companies wanting to offset their emissions.

The players on the market: There are currently three licensed carbon credit verifiers in the country — the Center Of Organic Agriculture in Egypt, TUV NORD Egypt, and TUV NORD Cert — according to Al Borsa.

DEVELOPMENT FINANCE-

Egypt becomes member of global fund for financing biodiversity projects: Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad has been selected as a member of the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund ’s executive board, according to a statement from the ministry. Egypt was one of fifteen developing countries invited to join the board, which stands as the decision-making body and manager of the fund. The decision came on the sidelines of the minister’s visit to Canada to prepare for the 16th round of COP16 to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which will convene in Colombia from October 21 to November 1.

GCC EXPANSION-

Wfrley wants to head to the GCC: SaaS solutions startup Wfrley wants to set up an office in Saudi Arabia during the last quarter of the year to serve the Gulf region, co-founder and CEO Mohammed Korshom told Al Mal, adding that the company plans to to step foot in Nigeria by 2026. The company provides AI-driven SaaS solutions that enable merchants in the food and beverage sector to integrate “inventory management, POS systems, e-commerce, and logistics into a single, seamless platform.”

HEALTHCARE-

Digitizing health records: The Egypt Healthcare Authority (EHA) has created about 4.5 mn electronic health records for citizens residing in governorates covered by the Universal Health Ins. system, it said in a statement. The authority also introduced an electronic referral system — a service which allows for the seamless transfer of patient information from one medical practitioner to the other. The EHA’s digitization efforts has also seen the issuing of 42 mn electronic prescriptions.

But that’s not all: The EHA has successfully integrated the ICD-11 coding system — a global standard for diagnostic health information — into the country’s healthcare system, making Egypt the first country in the North and East Mediterranean region to adopt this healthcare coding standard.

LOGISTICS-

Egypt, Kuwait to collab on industry, transport, and logistics: Industry and Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir met with Kuwait’s ambassador to Egypt Ghanem Saqr Al Ghanem to explore and boost cooperation between the two countries on industry, transport, and logistics projects, according to a Transport Ministry statement.

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