Investment map leaked in the local press: Al Mal has released copies of what it says are projects up for grabs as part of the investment map drawn up by the Investment and International Cooperation Ministry. The purported copies are extensive and cover a wide range of sectors and geographies including projects in the New Administrative Capital (pdf), national projects (pdf), ports and infrastructure (pdf), real estate (pdf), tourism (pdf), energy, industry, and waste management (pdf). The list details the location of each project, the size in terms of both investment size and land area, the tendering process, the government agency that has jurisdiction over the project, and any specific benefits investors could receive as part of it. We have yet to ascertain if this is the full list of 600 projects the ministry plans to put out there. But, as we noted yesterday, the ministry is still looking for about a month to finalize the list.

Government to sign non-binding agreement on private-sector raises today: Prime Minister Sherif Ismail will ink today a non-binding agreement with business associations on a 10% hardship raise for private-sector workers, the deputy head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Mohamed El Fayoumy said on Monday, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The House of Representatives’ majority Support Egypt Coalition had reached an agreement last week with Labor Minister Mohamed Saafan to give private-sector employees 10% raises of at least EGP 165 and at most EGP 330 a month starting July. Saafan had explained that the raise is non-binding, asking businesses to do it in the spirit of corporate social responsibility. Raises given earlier this year count toward the 10%, El Fayoumy said, but standard annual raises do not. Companies facing financial difficulties will also be “exempt” from the raise, according to MP Gebaly El Maraghy, who heads the House of Representatives’ Manpower Committee. El Maraghy said that the new Labor Act will include clauses to guarantee these rights for private-sector employees and avoid having to jump through the same hoops in the future to decree a raise.

IPO WATCH- Beltone Financial has two IPOs in the pipeline for execution before the end of the year worth a combined EGP 3 bn, CEO Bassem Azab told Al Mal. Both listings are destined for the EGX, one in the pharma sector and the other in real estate. Azab also notes that Beltone will be partnering with emerging and frontier specialists Renaissance Capital to bid mandates to take state-owned companies public. Beltone has as many as eight IPOs in the pipeline for 2017 and 2018, Azab said in an interview with Al Borsa, bringing the total estimated value to EGP 20 bn. Azab noted that Beltone is actively looking to start a leasing business but still deciding on whether to go the greenfield route or to acquire an existing player.

Speaking of IPOs of state-owned companies: The United Kingdom is pulling out the stops to attract listings of government corporations. The UK’s financial regulator has proposed the relaxation of rules to make the listing of state-backed companies easier, Reuters reports. The move comes as the London Stock Exchange continues to push into the Middle East and North Africa in search of new listings. The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposal comes as the UK looks to capitalize on the upcoming IPO of Aramco. Egypt, which is readying its IPO program for state-owned companies, could stand to benefit as its option to list shares in companies such as Enppi and Banque du Caire in the UK gets easier. The Ismail government has yet to say whether a listing on the London Stock Exchange is in the cards. The proposal has received praise from financial lobbyists, as the City looks to cash in by making their advanced trading platforms easier to access for sovereign listings. Other investors and corporate governance groups counter that loosening some of the rules may lower the quality of companies on its stock exchange and leave shareholders with less protection when things go wrong.

INVESTMENT WATCH- Ride-hailing app Careem has invested USD 500k in Swvl, a three-month-old Egyptian bus transportation service, Reuters reports. Careem will take an undisclosed minority stake in Swvl and its CEO and co-founder, Magnus Olsson, will take a board seat. Reuters says Swvl was founded in April by a former Careem executive. “We want them to run and learn and develop at a very high pace and high agility and we believe the best way for them to do that is to stay independent,” Olsson told Reuters. The newswire says Swvl, which uses the passenger's location and destination to find the shortest possible journey time based on the nearest bus station that travels along fixed routes, has 50,000 passengers and 200 buses using the mobile app, CEO and Co-Founder Mostafa Kandil told Reuters. “Swvl will use the Careem investment to increase its workforce, develop new app features, and to expand in Cairo and into other cities, including Egypt's second-largest city Alexandria, and to Middle Eastern and Asian countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan next year.”

Egypt expects to receive the third installment of the IMF loan between December and January following the next review by the international institution, which is scheduled to take place between November and December, Finance Minister Amr El Garhy told Reuters. The third installment will be equivalent to USD 2 bn. The IMF’s executive board approved last week the release of the second installment, worth USD 1.25 bn.

Egypt’s natural gas output is expected to rise 50% in 2018 and 100% by 2020 thanks to recent gas field discoveries, the Oil Ministry said in a statement picked up by Reuters. “The fields of Zohr, North Alexandria and Nooros are among the most important projects that will increase natural gas production … and will contribute to natural gas self-sufficiency by the end of 2018,” Minister Tarek el Molla said. Output in 2017 climbed to c. 5.1 bcf/d from 4.4 bcf/d in 2016 after BP launched phase one of its North Alexandria concession. With domestic output on the rise, Egypt is looking to trim its natural gas imports in 2018 and is already in talks with “suppliers to defer contracted shipments this year,” the newswire adds.

Word on the street is that Egypt may impose new safety standards and quality control measures on domestically assembled cars. These would be supplemental to a set of 10 quality standards that have been in place for domestic assemblers since their 2010; those regulations cover everything from front lights and airbags to car locks. And the industry is not pleased with the prospects of additional regulations: The measures would greatly increased costs of production on domestic vehicles when they were imposed, said Wael Ammar, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ transportation division, suggesting that the move could add further injury to a sector already reeling from weak sales. He added that the government should better focus its efforts on imposing similar measures on imported cars. The Trade and Industry Ministry had previously said that it could not take such actions as it lacked the ability or framework to impose standards on products manufactured abroad.

The government is considering doubling the bread subsidies that qualified beneficiaries receive through the Supply Ministry’s smart card system, two government sources told Reuters’ Arabic service. The increase would give each smart card holder EGP 0.20 for every loaf of bread not bought out of the 150 loaves allocated to each cardholder every month. The points on the card are then tallied and allow the cardholder to buy other commodities using the accumulated balance. The caveat: the ministry will reduce the daily allocation of subsidized bread from five loaves to four. A source said the move is motivated by the government’s desire to reduce system manipulation by bakers, who, the source claims, overcharge the government. Another unnamed source said the government currently spends EGP 375-400 mn each month on the bread points subsidy system — an amount that is set to double if the increase is approved.

…To help us keep track of the new changes to the subsidy system, the Supply Ministry is also considering issuing a price guide for goods along the bread supply chain every month, ministry spokesperson Mohamed Sewed tells Al Borsa. These will include the price of subsidized bread, and the price of wheat the government will sell to flour mills and the price of flour it will sell to bakeries.

On that note, the ministry also announced that it purchased a total 3.75 mn tonnes of wheat from local farmers during this year’s harvest season, which ended on 15 July, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy told the press on Monday. Prices ranged from EGP 555-575 per ardeb.

MOVES- Mohamed Ali Abadi was appointed Chairman of Sidpec, according to a company disclosure. Abadi replaces Osama Mahdi.

The European Union has given Egypt grants totalling EUR 1.3 bn between January 2015 and May 2017 according to the EU’s most recent report on the state of EU-Egypt relations. Around 45% of that figure flows into socioeconomic development and job creation while another 45% goes into renewable energy, water, sanitation, and environmental projects. The remaining 10% fund projects related to governance, human rights, and social administration. As Egypt’s “first and most significant donor,” EU member states and European financial institutions provided the country with more than EUR 11 bn in various forms of funding (grants, loans, debt swaps, etc.) during the same period.

Tourism is stable in Egypt despite the latest killing of two German tourists in Hurghada, Ehab Farouk writes for Reuters. No bookings were canceled in Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh, or Luxor, says Red Sea Tourism Investment Association head Hisham Ali. But it could be too early to judge: The impact could show in new bookings within two weeks, says Red Sea Tour Companies Chamber member Bishoy Shawki. Separately, Russian diplomats are following up on the health situation of Russian citizen Yelena Mikhailenko, who was wounded in the attack in Hurghada, TASS reports. “She was reported to have minor injuries that are not life-threatening,” says the Russian Defense Ministry.

Meanwhile, Red Sea resorts will no longer be allowed to rent rooms on a day-use basis or cater to non-resident guests, after evidence revealed that the assailant had purchased a day pass to enter the beach on the day of the incident, Red Sea Governor Ahmed Abdullah decided on Monday, AMAY says.

In related news, the Chinese embassy issued a warning for tourists in Egypt after the attack, urging them not to travel alone or visit unofficial tourist sites, Times Beijing reports.

The Tourism Ministry has denied issuing a ban on alcohol consumption on North Coast beaches, Tourism Ministry spokesperson Rana Gohar tells Egypt Independent. “Tourism police [would] not follow any such measure without consultations with the Tourism Ministry,” Gohar adds. Talk of an alcohol ban on Sahel beaches had emerged in the local press over the past few days.

Qatari nationals, including diplomats and special passport holders, will no longer be allowed to obtain Egyptian visas on arrival as of next Thursday, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid in a call-in to Massa DMC (runtime: 2:20). They will instead be required to apply for a visa at an Egyptian embassy abroad. Qatari students enrolled at a public university in Egypt, and the wives, husbands, and children of Egyptian nationals, are exempt from the new measure, and will be granted three-month tourist visas. Qatari nationals enjoyed visa-free travel to Egypt prior to the recent break in relations.

This comes as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi insisted that Egypt’s beef with Qatar stands on its interference in domestic affairs of other countries at a meeting yesterday with Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sabah Khalid Al-Sabah in Cairo, according to an Ittihadiya statement.

Meanwhile, Qatar is rolling with the Washington Post’s claims that the UAE orchestrated the alleged hack of Qatar’s news agency that put in motion the ongoing regional crisis, Reuters reports. Doha said the UAE’s alleged involvement is “unfortunate” and in violation of agreements between GCC countries, the Associated Press reports. The UAE has maintained that the Washington Post’s report is false and that it did not play any role in the alleged hacking.

The mufti of Daesh in Iraq reportedly called on Arab militants to head towards Egypt and Palestine, Iraq News reports. The individual had apparently called both countries “the promised land,” said sources in Tel Afar — Daesh’s final stronghold in Nineveh province in northern Iraq. The “fatwa” comes as Daesh has suffered its most glaring defeats since it emerged, losing almost all its territory in Iraq, including Mosul; its de facto capital, Raqqah, is now under siege. Analysts have suggested the defeats are behind the spate of attacks Egypt has suffered of late. Israeli officials are also on high alert these days, with some IDF officials saying it was a matter of time before Daesh in Sinai steps up attacks, writes Roi Kais for Ynet.

From across the pond: Private equity outfit KKR is breaking with industry norms and naming successors to founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts, the Financial Times is reporting (paywall). The news comes as BlackRock continues to benefit from the rise of the robots, with the asset manager having attracted USD 104 bn in new client funds in the second quarter, the salmon-colored paper notes.