FM Abdelatty pitches SCZone to Brazilian and Indian investors

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty is pushing to turn the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) into a global commodities hub on multiple fronts. The minister called on his Brazilian counterpart to take concrete steps toward a proposed logistics zone for grain silos in the SCZone on the sidelines of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi. He separately lobbied the Indian commerce minister to make use of the zone as a manufacturing gateway for Indian exports targeting Arab, African, and European markets.

The pattern: We’ve been tracking the Brazilian hub since 2024, when seven Brazilian investors began feasibility studies for a logistics zone handling corn, soybeans, and sugar for regional re-export. The pitch to Brazil mirrors the playbook Egypt is running with Russia — Cairo and Moscow are exploring a grain and energy hub designed to help Russia work around Western sanctions while locking in Egypt’s access to discounted wheat, following talks between Abdelatty and Putin earlier this year.

Banking on bytes

Commercial International Bank (CIB) plans to launch its digital banking subsidiary, Yomo, in 4Q 2026, CEO Hisham Ezz Al Arab told the Arabic press (watch, runtime: 28:48). The nation’s largest private-sector lender has already secured regulatory approval to set up the digital bank’s holding company in Abu Dhabi — targeting regulatory and tax optimization — and is in the final stretch of obtaining the Central Bank of Egypt’s nod to launch the Cairo-based operating company.

IN CONTEXT- Yomo will join a wave of digital-native banks hitting the market just as interest rates begin to fall. State-owned Banque Misr is already operationalizing its digital arm, Onebank, targeting EGP 40 bn in deposits in its first year. For CIB — which is pouring EGP 300 mn into Yomo over three years — its foray into digital banking is a growth play designed to expand the market, rather than just defend its current footprint against nimble fintechs, Ezz Al Arab told us last month.

Charging up Benban

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is weighing a USD 70 mn senior debt package for the Nubia Benban solar project, with board approval expected mid-June, according to a statement from the lender. The financing will go to Nefer Benban for Renewable Energy — a special purpose vehicle jointly owned by Infinity Power Holding and HAU Energy — to develop a 200 MW solar PV plant and a 120 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) at a total estimated cost of USD 175 mn.

This is one of the most consequential renewable energy financings to watch this year. Utility-scale BESS — which stores solar energy generated during the day for release during peak hours or overnight — is still relatively new in the country, and Benban would be a landmark deployment. The project follows a separate USD 65 mn construction bridge loan the EBRD extended to HAU Energy last month to get early-phase work underway.