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Monday, 15 Jun 2026

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Also On Our Radar
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Today at a glance

1

The Big Story Today

Rox ESI to manufacture Egypt’s first luxury passenger EV.
2

Energy

Pegasus and Glaucus join Cypriot gas fields pumping our way.
3

Trade

China extends Egypt’s local-currency swap line for three more years.
4

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Transport Ministry to reject AD Ports’ sweetened MTO for Alex Containers.
5

Also on our Radar

Hassan Allam launches B2C East Cairo community.
6

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

US, Iran to sign peace agreement on Friday.
7

PLANET FINANCE

Adobe’s 9% Friday collapse confirms the Halo rotation.
8

BLACKBOARD

Grade 11 students are learning how to trade — on simulators.

Monday, 15 Jun 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
The Big Story Today
Energy
Trade
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Blackboard
Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Transport Ministry to say no to AD Ports’ MTO

Good morning, ladies and gents. In our big story today we look at the latest win for our automotive localization efforts — Chinese luxury EV maker Rox Global will start manufacturing what is set to be the first locally-made luxury EV under an equity shareholder with Ezz El Arab Elsewedy Investments.

Egypt is cementing its status as the East Med’s premier energy middleman, striking a new agreement with ExxonMobil and QatarEnergy to receive, process, and re-export gas from Cyprus’s Pegasus and Glaucus fields.

From the Med to China: We take a deep dive into China’s recent extension of its local-currency swap line with us for three more years, lifting the ceiling to CNY 30 bn. This gives us a buffer, but won't fix our massive trade deficit with Beijing.

BUT FIRST- A tip of the hat this morning to the Egyptian chief marketing officers who made Forbes Middle East’s 2026 list of most influential CMOs. Longtime friends of EnterpriseAM are peppered across the list, including some of our favourite people: May El Gammal (EFG Holding), Romany Hafez (CIB), Hassan El Sada (Beltone), and Ghada Hammouda (Qalaa Holdings). Among our friends from the UAE represented are Muna Al Ghurair (Mashreq) and Suad Merchant (GEMS Education).

Also making the list from Omm El Donia: Abdelazim Osman (Nawy), Ahmed Imbabi (E& Egypt), Ahmed Negm (Elsewedy Electric), Ayman Zahran (TMG), Dina Abou Taleb (National Bank of Egypt), Dina Atallah (Al Ahly Sabbour Developments), Fatma El Goully (Banque Misr), Gehan ElGoly (HDB), Mohamed Eid Soliman (Pickalbatros Hotels & Resorts), Nour Elzeny (Suez Canal Bank), Passant Fouad Ismail (Valmore Holding). Yosra Ebeidy (El Gouna / ODE)

You can tap or click here to explore the full list.

***

ARE YOU MORE OF A LISTENER?Morning Drive is a 10-minute summary of today’s issue crafted for you to enjoy with your morning coffee, while getting the kids ready for school, or driving through the morning rush. And if you like it, tell your friends to tell their friends. They can find us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever they get their podcasts.

***

Holding tight

EXCLUSIVE- The Transport Ministry is set to reject AD Port’s mandatory tender offer to acquire up to 90% of Alexandria Container and Cargo Handling (ALCN), a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. The Emirati port operator — bidding through its subsidiary Black Caspian Logistics — offered EGP 27.47 per share last week to consolidate its control over the local maritime operator. The newly submitted offer will be presented at an upcoming ALCN board meeting, pending the receipt of an official decision from the state-owned Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport, the official says.

The state is holding the line: The Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ-owned AD Ports has recently sweetened its bid by 19.5% from an initial EGP 22.99 per share offer submitted late last year, attempting to consolidate the 51.33% indirect majority it has built in the company since 2022. But the government — which controls a combined 42.9% blocking stake of ALCN through the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport (35.3%) and the Alexandria Port Authority (7.6%) — is refusing to hand over the keys of its lucrative Mediterranean gateway asset.

FRA gives teeth to court rulings

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) launched a new system to enforce final court and arbitration rulings on unlisted securities held at the central depository, the authority said in a statement. The decision is meant to fix a long-running market bottleneck where mandatory orders forcing the sale or transfer of these financial instruments stalled out due to the lack of a clear execution pipeline.

How it works: The prevailing party hands their final ruling or arbitration award to Misr for Central Clearing, Depository, and Registry (MCDR), alongside proof of notification to the losing party, evidence of payment (if required), and all necessary regulatory approvals. MCDR reviews the paperwork, gives the EGX one week to flag any issues, and finally moves the securities and settles the funds where required.

SOUND SMART- Unlisted securities are shares or other papers that do not trade on the main stock exchange but still need an official system to change hands. This includes shares of companies that left the EGX but kept their records at MCDR or other private shares that rely on official market infrastructure. Because they are not publicly listed, these shares do not have daily price limits, index tracking, or regular opening and closing bells.

Why it matters: The decision finally adds teeth to the specialized dispute-resolution system the FRA has been building for non-bank financial markets. Last year, former FRA head Mohamed Farid argued that Egypt doesn’t need new capital-market courts — it can utilize existing economic courts and the Egyptian Center for Arbitration and Settlement of Non-Banking Financial Disputes (ECAS). ECAS offers a fast-track arbitration route for financial disputes, Executive Director Marian Kaldas explained to us in 2024. Now, current FRA boss Islam Azzam is closing the loop, ensuring those hard-won judicial rulings actually result in shares changing hands.

No more waiting

The Mineral Resources and Mining Industries Authority (MRMIA) launched its first-ever open-sector mining exploration bid round on 10 June, replacing the old single-deadline system with a rolling application window for various minerals, the authority said in a statement last week.

Here’s how it works:

  • No more waiting: Companies can now apply for an exploration block whenever they are ready;
  • The 30-day clock: Once an initial bid is submitted for a specific block, a 30-day window automatically opens for competitors to make a counter-offer;
  • Always available: Blocks that attract no bids remain on the open market.

IN CONTEXT- We broke the news back in February that the Oil Ministry was developing this new digital platform to move away from the traditional, area-specific bidding process. The open-sector system eliminates the bureaucratic friction of periodic auctions — which historically required companies to buy expensive booklets, pay exorbitant ins. fees, and wait years for a tender window. This should help the government achieve its target of raising the mining sector’s GDP contribution to5-6%by 2030, up from less than 1% currently.

Happening today

Sisi, Trump set to meet amid regional war wind-down: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is slated to meet with US President Donald Trump at the G7 Summit in France, which kicks off today, Bloomberg reports, citing White House officials. The ongoing US-Iran conflict is expected to weigh heavily on the proceedings, though Trump noted a resolution could be signed imminently. France has invited Egypt — a key mediator — in addition to other nations affected by the war, namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. The summit will wrap up on Wednesday.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another sunny day in Cairo, with the capital looking at a high of 34°C and a low of 23°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s nicer in Alexandria, with a high of 28°C and a low of 20°C.

You can survive a bad investment, but you cannot undo a severance package you never negotiated.

You're at the stage where the questions have shifted: who gets what, whether your estate survives you intact or gets tied up in courts, whether you exit on your terms or let timing decide for you.

Retirement isn't a finish line but a structure problem, and most people get it wrong. It's not because they ran out of money but because they never asked the right questions at the right time.

In the final issue of EnterpriseAM Money Matters, we cover the decisions that define how you exit: estate planning under Egyptian law, what to actually ask your lawyer before you step back, how to read a severance package, when phased retirement makes financial sense — and when cashing out your options is the smartest move you'll make this decade.

Coming straight to your inbox — Wednesday, June 17.

The big story abroad

Mark your calendars for Friday: The US and Iran will ink an agreement to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz on Friday — the agreement is “now complete,” according to US President Donald Trump.

While the details of the agreement remain unclear, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said it includes the “permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon.” And contrary to Trump’s statement, the Iranian side said the agreement calls for the reopening of Hormuz within 30 days.

The UK, France, Germany, and Italy said they’re ready to lift sanctions on Iran in light of its efforts addressing its nuclear program. “Iran ‌must ⁠never acquire a nuclear weapon. We stand ready to work with ⁠the US, Iran and the IAEA to this ⁠end,” they said in a joint statement.

Markets reacted as expected: After Trump’s call for the ships of the world to start their engines and “let the oil flow,” Brent fell almost 4% to USD 83.86. One LNG tanker is on its way to the strait after being stuck in the Gulf for months now, we’ll be closely watching to see if it makes the trip safely.

Asian markets and US futures celebrated the news: Asia-Pacific equities jumped in early trading, with Japan’s Nikkei and South Korea’s Kospi hitting fresh highs on the back of the news and a semiconductor-led rally. Over in the US, stocks are set to open up, with futures in the green.

*** 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 unpack the government’s new play to educate the next generation of retail investors by injecting financial literacy and simulated EGX trading directly into the Grade 11 curriculum.

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2

The Big Story Today

Our first luxury passenger EV is officially in the works

Chinese luxury EV maker Rox Global is expanding in the local market through an equity shareholder with Ezz El Arab Elsewedy Investments (ESI), named Rox ESI Egypt. The news was unveiled at a launch event attended by EnterpriseAM last night.

The new company will produce what its backers say is the first luxury electric vehicle manufactured in the country. The new alliance aims to leverage the significant investment and manufacturing capabilities of Elsewedy and Ezz El Arab, and positions Egypt as the primary strategic platform and the leading production and logistics hub for Rox in the Middle East and Africa.

What we know: Production is scheduled to kick off in mid-2027 at ESI's 100k sqm complex in Sixth of October — its capacity is being doubled to 80k through a second car plant. “We’ll start at roughly 3k cars and reach 5k within three years. In June 2027, the first Egyptian made Rox will roll off the production line,” ESI Chairman Hisham Ezz El Arab tells us. The local component ratio will sit within the Industrial Development Authority's 45% requirement.

Why it matters: Parent carmakers rarely take equity in Egypt — the market runs on importers and badge-assembly deals. Ezz El Arab framed the JV as exactly the type of foreign direct investment the country has been chasing. “It's very rare for parent companies to come here themselves,” he tells EnterpriseAM. He is also betting on supply stability as a selling point: locally-built cars don't seize up when “the USD stops” and imports stall. “And we’ll give the market the same Chinese quality vehicle at a better price,” he adds.

For Rox, Egypt is the gateway to Africa. Founder and CEO Jarvis Yan told us that the venture will serve Nigeria, Angola, and Ghana as a start, and a plant focused on right-hand-drive variants is planned to open East and Southern Africa.

Rox entered the Egyptian market in 2025 with its luxury SUV the Rox 01 (a range extended electric vehicle). It quickly became a favorite among Egyptian CEO’s. The vehicle, which resembles the Land Rover Defender, sells for roughly EGP 3.5 mn which sits in comparison to the Defender’s EGP 10 mn price tag. Through distributor Nour El Din El Sherif Rox has three showrooms in both Cairo and Alexandria, and counts the UAE as its single biggest market globally.

“The MENA region in general has been a huge growth market for us,” said Yan. The company currently serves over 20k Rox owners across MENA. “I think the interesting thing about Rox is that it is made for a global market rather than the domestic Chinese market. It is made to appeal to international tastes,” said Ezz El Arab. “It’s already selling well and we think the Rox ESI Egypt will sell even better.”

What is ESI? It’s a 50-50 partnership between Elsewedy Industries and the Ezz El Arab Automotive Group established in 2023. “We created an automotive manufacturing entity that takes the industrial know-how and the network of Elsewedy Group and combines it with the automotive expertise and brand equity of Ezz El Arab. Within this holding company structure we have a manufacturing company that owns two factories in Sixth of October and a commercial entity that sells and distributes,” Ezz El Arab tells us.

ESI started manufacturing the Proton, a Malaysian economy vehicle in 2025. At an EGP 650k price tag it doesn’t exactly fit the Ezz El Arab portfolio which in addition to Mercedes, Jeep, and Volvo includes Ferrari, Maybach, and Aston Martin but it gives the company scale. ESI also manufactures for third parties like the Chinese Jinbei trucks.

What's next: The first made-in-Egypt Rox will include localized tweaks — heavier-duty air-conditioning, chassis tuning for local roads, and Arabic voice control adapted to the Egyptian dialect. Distribution will stay with Nour El Din El Sherif. The venture will be chasing a small but growing segment of new-energy vehicles on the Egyptian market, which Ezz El Arab calls a tsunami.

The bigger picture

IN CONTEXT- The move aligns with the government’s Automotive Industry Development Program, which targets 100k vehicles annually with 60% local content.

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3

Energy

More Cypriot gas

Egypt agreed with QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil to receive and re-export gas from Cyprus’s Pegasus and Glaucus fields through Egyptian pipeline networks, processing plants, and liquefaction facilities at Idku and Damietta. The framework would see Egypt collect transit and processing fees, the Arabic press reports, citing an unnamed government official. The arrangement follows an MoU signed in late May to explore how to link Cypriot gas discoveries to the country’s energy infrastructure.

The two fields — part of a block operated by ExxonMobil (60%) and QatarEnergy (40%) — are targeting production of 1 bcf/d by 2030, with recoverable reserves estimated at 7 tcf. Gas will first travel via subsea pipelines to Egypt, then be processed at facilities that could include Zohr or Burullus, liquefied at Idku and Damietta, and finally re-exported to global markets.

Egyptian infrastructure prevailed over two alternative options, including dedicated production/liquefaction facilities inside Cyprus and floating production units near the concession area. The fields’ proximity to Egyptian territorial waters gave the country a competitive edge, as did ExxonMobil’s existing concession blocks in Egypt. Egypt’s gas network can handle c. 9 bcf/d, with surplus processing capacity on the Mediterranean coast exceeding 2 bcf/d and combined LNG export capacity at Idku and Damietta reaching c. 1.9 bcf/d, according to the official.

Why it matters: Egypt remains home to the Eastern Mediterranean’s only large-scale LNG export facilities through the Idku and Damietta liquefaction plants, with a combined nameplate capacity of roughly 16.7 bcm per year, PM Mostafa Madbouly said on Saturday (watch, runtime: 2:25). To replicate a single liquefaction plant like Idku would take competitors five to seven years and more than USD 10 bn, Madbouly added.

IN CONTEXT- Pegasus and Glaucus would become the third Cypriot gas development routed through Egyptian infrastructure. Egypt and Cyprus signed agreements in October to move gas from the Eni-operated Cronos field (3.1 tcf estimated reserves) to Egyptian processing and liquefaction facilities, with initial deliveries expected in 2027 at c. 500 mmcf/d. Two months ago, Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company signed a 15-year gas sales agreement to purchase the entirety of Cyprus’s 3.7 tcf Aphrodite field output, underpinned by a USD 2 bn+ subsea pipeline. Total Cypriot gas inflows heading our way are expected to reach c. 1.3 bcf/d by end-2028 from Cronos and Aphrodite gas fields.

What’s next? Watch out for a gas sales agreement and host government agreement that lock in the fee structure and pipeline routing. Egypt is targeting a return to gas exports by 2027, backed by expectations that domestic production will rise to 6.6 bcf/d — Pegasus and Glaucus add volume behind that target, though they are slated to arrive later, in 2030.

Upping our own LNG

The government is aiming to add 120 mmcf/d of natural gas before the end of June by connecting nine new wells across the Mediterranean, Nile Delta, and Western Desert at a cost of c. USD 100 mn, the Arabic press reports, citing an unnamed government official.

The breakdown: Apache leads with 45 mmcf/d from three new wells at the Jumanah field in the Western Desert; Eni adds 40 mmcf/d from the deepwater Nidoco-2 well in the Mediterranean; and Cheiron Petroleum brings 20 mmcf/d online from Badr-15 in its Western Desert concession. Dana Gas, Capricorn Energy, and HBS will add 15 mmcf/d from three new onshore wells within their respective concession areas.

Why it matters:Although not a huge volume, this new output helps offset the country’s natural depletion rate of roughly 100 mmcf/d per month, keeping production from slipping further below the 4 bcf/d mark.

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4

Trade

Plumbing or strategy?

China extended its local-currency swap line with Egypt for three more years and lifted the ceiling 67% to CNY 30 bn (c. USD 4.43 bn) from CNY 18 bn. The sheer scale of the increase poses a sharper question to Cairo than the renewal itself: is this simply trade plumbing with a partner we run a large and widening trade deficit with, or is Cairo being drawn into Beijing’s drive to internationalize the CNY and loosen the USD’s grip on emerging markets?

The expansion — renewable on expiry — is coinciding with deepening commercial ties. As of November 2025, 2.8k Chinese companies have been active in Egypt, with over USD 8 bn invested. Egyptian exports to China grew 41.9% in 2025 to roughly USD 819 mn, up from USD 577 mn, driven by non-oil goods, Khaled Milad, head of Egypt’s Commercial Office in Beijing, said last month. Imports from China rose 18.8% last year to USD 19.97 bn from USD 16.8 bn, widening China’s trade surplus with Egypt 18% to USD 19.151 bn.

The scale of the increase points to a structural shift, rather than a mere housekeeping renewal, Ahmed Shawky, banking analyst and member of the Egyptian Society for Political Economy, Statistics, and Legislation, tells EnterpriseAM. “Raising the ceiling by this magnitude reflects the significant development in economic and financial relations between Egypt and China over recent years,” he says. Since the original 2016 agreement, trade and investment have expanded, Egypt has joined Brics, and the search for alternatives to a volatile USD system has hardened — so both sides want the facility to do more, he adds.

By the numbers: Outstanding drawdowns across the People’s Bank of China’s swap lines hit CNY 111.6 bn (USD 16.4 bn) at end-March 2026, the highest since March 2024, Bloomberg reported last month. The quarterly jump of roughly CNY 17.4 bn was the largest since 2023. By end-2025, China had signed swap agreements with 32 countries and regions, with total authorized facilities of CNY 4.52 tn (roughly USD 667 bn) — a measure of how far the CNY-internationalization push now reaches.

The expansion answers a real commercial need while advancing Beijing’s currency strategy, Shawky says. “On one hand, there are genuine needs stemming from the expansion of Chinese trade and investment in Egypt. On the other hand, the move fits within a long-standing Chinese strategy aimed at strengthening the CNY's role and reducing dependence on the USD.” Egypt matters to China in both Africa and the Middle East, which gives the agreement weight on both sides, he adds.

The facility is a balance-sheet buffer, giving Cairo an FX source beyond bond issuance and external borrowing, EFG Hermes Head of Macroeconomic Analysis Mohamed Abou Basha tells us. “Instead of relying entirely on bond issuances or external borrowing, this mechanism offers an alternative source of foreign-currency liquidity, helping diversify the state’s available financing tools.” China’s operational footprint has also created onshore demand for the EGP: Egypt has begun issuing CNY-denominated bonds backed by Chineseguarantees, and Chinese firms operating locally need our currency to cover wages, inputs and obligations, Abou Basha says.

But it is not a USD substitute. The greenback stays dominant, so the swap line is complementary, Shawky says. Like most swap lines, it functions largely as a precautionary liquidity backstop, with utilization rising only as CNY trade financing becomes a corporate norm. “We should not exaggerate its effect,” he notes. It would also ease commercial USD demand, enabling direct CNY settlement while supporting exchange-rate stability and preserving reserves, banking analyst Mohamed Abdel Moneim tells us.

Who benefits most? Heavy industries that import machinery and inputs from China, plus large infrastructure, energy, and renewables projects run by Chinese contractors, Shawky says. Firms inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone and Egyptian companies dealing directly with Chinese suppliers stand to gain the most operationally. Businesses reliant on Chinese intermediate goods would pick up a pricing edge, Abdel Moneim adds. Secretary-General of the Egypt-China Chamber of Commerce Diaa Helmy sees scope to extend the mechanism to tourism over time, having previously proposed allowing Chinese visitors to pay in CNY or EGP.

Core limitation: the deficit. The structural catch is Egypt’s lopsided trade gap with Beijing. Because Egypt imports far more than it exports, the facility’s near-term use will concentrate on financing Chinese imports. “The agreement itself does not address the trade deficit. It may simply make import transactions easier and more flexible,” Shawky says. To turn the line into a net gain, Egypt would have to push exports to China, attract export-oriented Chinese investment, and raise the value-added content of what it makes, he adds — without that, the upside stays monetary, not structural.

Egyptian exports are getting a boost from the zero-tariff initiative, as Beijing fully implements its non-reciprocal “zero-tariff” initiative for all 53 African nations with which it maintains diplomatic relations, effective 1 May 2026. The exemptions include the complete removal of customs duties on agricultural and food products as well as construction materials, enhancing the competitiveness of Egyptian exports in the Chinese market.

The bottom line: The bigger swap line gives Egypt real flexibility on external liquidity and financing. Its ultimate macroeconomic impact, however, will depend on whether the corporate sector translates this liquidity into higher industrial production and exports rather than simply facilitating imports.

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5

Also on our Radar

Hassan Allam launches B2C East Cairo community

Our friends at Hassan Allam Holding are pushing into the B2C real estate market, launching Phase 1 of their first mixed-use, single-family community in East Cairo through its real estate arm Grova Developments, according to a statement. Construction is already underway, backed by a USD 550 mn turnkey contract awarded to Hassan Allam Construction back in October 2025.

Why it matters: Hassan Allam is leveraging its 90 years of infrastructure experience to directly enter the consumer real estate market.

A mutual fund in your pocket

Our friends at Beltone Asset Management partnered with fintech platform Telda to allow users to buy into Beltone’s investment products and mutual funds directly through the app — with redeemed proceeds paid straight to the Telda card, Beltone said in a statement. The arrangement carries zero subscription or commission fees, except for the precious metals funds. Telda users can open an investment account using their national ID, with no branch visit or paperwork.

SPE Capital back for pharma

Africa-focused private equity firm SPE Capital led a consortium to acquire a stake in local ophthalmic drug maker Orchidia Pharma Industries. The move was backed by a USD 20 mn equity ticket from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development alongside co-investors Proparco and the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries, according to a project profile from the lender. The fresh capital will help the company expand its product offering and boost its export footprint across the Middle East and Africa.

REMEMBER- This is SPE Capital’s second investment in Orchidia, having previously backed the company from 2013 to 2017 through another managed vehicle.

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6

PLANET FINANCE

What Halo cost in June

Adobe shares collapsed 9% to USD 198 on Friday, June 12 — down 37% YTD and 47% over the pasttwelve months — despite posting a record USD 6.62 bn in quarterly revenue. Multiple analyst downgrades followed the announcement that CFO Dan Durn would depart today, citing the leadership shuffle and a strategic shift toward ‘freemium’ offerings that Wall Street read as defensive.

What’s happening at Adobe isn’t an outlier. The market is repricing every asset where AI replacement is a credible thesis — and doing so even when revenue is at record levels, AI products are growing fast, and management is executing moves the analyst community spent two years asking for.

A month ago, we argued that the global equity market was splitting along AI-disruption lines, with the smart money rotating into heavy-asset, low-obsolescence (Halo) companies and away from the software, payments, and consumer platforms most vulnerable to AI replacement. Friday’s session was Halo arriving in real time. For GCC sovereign capital, the implications are immediate and quantifiable. The PIF 1Q 13F filing — which showed the fund had cut its US-listed book to four positions — looks increasingly like the smartest single capital allocation decision in the GCC complex this year.

Visa, Mastercard, and Amazon, the three names PIF exited ahead of Berkshire’s 1Q sale, were all priced as durable compounders six months ago. They are now priced as AI-disruption candidates. Mubadala, Adia, ADQ, and QIA still carry meaningful exposure across the software and payments cohort that Friday repriced. Every position in that cohort just took a real hit.

The Halo thesis argued that the rotation favored heavy assets — utilities, freight, energy, industrials — that AI cannot quickly replace. The May 19 NextEra-Dominion merger validated the heavy-asset side of the trade at the corporate-action level, while Friday’s Adobe selloff validates the disruptable side at the equity-market level. Both sides of the Halo split are now operating in real time, and the gap is widening every week.

EGX30

51,995

+2.3% (YTD: +24.3%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 51.19

Sell 51.05

USD (CIB)

Buy 51.02

Sell 51.12

Interest rates (CBE)

19.00% deposit

20.00% lending

Tadawul

11,104

+0.6% (YTD: +5.9%)

ADX

9,805

+2.7% (YTD: -1.9%)

DFM

5,954

+3.8% (YTD: -1.5%)

S&P 500

7,431

+0.5% (YTD: +8.6%)

FTSE 100

10,472

+1.6% (YTD: +5.4%)

Euro Stoxx 50

6,188

+2.2% (YTD: +6.8%)

Brent crude

USD 87.3

-3.4%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.12

+1.1%

Gold

USD 4,239

+3.0%

BTC

USD 65,202

+1.2% (YTD: -25.6%)

S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index

1,059

+0.1% (YTD: +6.7%)

S&P MENA bond & sukuk

152.01

+0.3% (YTD: +0.1%)

VIX (Volatility Index)

17.68

-9.1% (YTD: +18.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 2.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 10.3 bn (21.7% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were the sole net sellers. The index is up 24.3% YTD.

In the green: Palm Hills Developments (+8.3%), Emaar Misr (+7.1%), and Orascom Development (+5.2%).

In the red: Abu Qir Fertilizers (-4.9%), Kima (-3.1%), and AMOC (-0.6%).

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Our weekly deep dive into education in Egypt, from K-12 to post-secondary.

Published every Monday in EnterpriseAM.

Read Blackboard
7

BLACKBOARD

Demo accounts at the EGX

The Education Ministry is adding financial literacy to the Grade11 curriculum, with top-performing students given access to simulated EGX trading and a deferred EGP 500 portfolio that activates only after graduation. The Madbouly government’s choice to make the announcement at EGX headquarters rather than the Education Ministry sent a clear sign that this push doubles as a play to develop capital markets involvement from younger generations — even if the live-trading part is years away.

Simulation, not live trading — for now. “Students will not actually trade on the EGX while still in school,” assistant to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) chairman Mohamed Abdel Aziz tells EnterpriseAM, clarifying how the program will work in practice. The setup has four guardrails:

  • Demo trading only: Students will use simulation apps to apply what they have learned in theory and won't enter the market at this stage. Simulation tools are already available and widely used, according to the official, who added that the FRA's role will be to identify the most suitable models for student training;
  • Top performers only: The simulation program will not be available to all students, but only to those who demonstrate competence and strong performance in the theoretical material being added to the curriculum;
  • Funded portfolios come later: Students won't be exposed to any risk during training. The funded portfolios will only become available for real trading after reaching the ageof 15 and graduating high school, when they can trade on the EGX under special conditions — including a portfolio cap of EGP 40,000 and a restriction to buying and selling only, with no margin trading or securities borrowing;
  • Roles are split: The FRA designed the core theoretical curriculum, while the Education Ministry will teach it to students.

The government is rolling out a model built around practice and real-world participation. “Financial literacy will be taught as an interactive activity on the programming and AI platform — not as a pass-fail subject in the traditional sense,” Education Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif said during the press event. Successful students will be officially registered on the EGX, he said, with the EGP 500 portfolio opened in each student's name for activation after graduation.

A structural shift: The Education Ministry is moving “from teaching students about the economy to letting them learn inside the economy itself,” Abdel Latif added. Understanding how value is created cannot come from memorization alone, but through “decision making, risk taking, and a sense of responsibility,” he said.

From a financial services standpoint, this program comes as a response to a demographic shift in our capital markets — one accelerated by the rise of fintech. Figures from FRA chairman Islam Azzam point to a clear surge in youth participation: investors aged 18-40 have recently risen to around 79% of EGX investors, while young investors account for roughly 80% of those interested in newer products such as gold funds. This level of appetite makes investor education more necessary, helping younger market participants make more informed decisions and reduce potential risks.

The aim is not just to bring more people into the market, but to “prepare an informed investor who makes decisions based on knowledge,” EGX chairman Omar Radwan said at the event. The number of new investors on the EGX climbed 215% in 1Q 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier — with the exchange attracting around 160k new investors in the quarter, Radwan noted.

With backing from Japan: The ceremony saw Abdel Latif sign an MoU with Hiroshima University President Mitsuo Ochi and Japanese edtech firm Sprix Education Foundation chairman Hiroyuki Tsuneshi. The MoU will introduce the Test of Fundamental Academic Skills for financial literacy (TOFAS) — an international assessment framework to measure outcomes. Under the framework:

  • The Education Ministry will implement TOFAS within the national education system and provide the required coordination and institutional support;
  • Sprix will provide the digital platforms and assessment tools, as well as training programs for teachers and school principals on how to use the system;
  • Hiroshima University, as the academic partner, will review the scientific foundations of the test and ensure its quality and alignment with standards. The university will also issue accredited certificates to students under the ministry’s supervision.

Plugging into broader economic policy: “Embedding financial literacy into the school system should help accelerate Egypt Vision 2030 targets,” Planning Minister Ahmed Rostom said. Egypt has already made strides on human development and financial inclusion, approaching 80%. He also pointed to the expansion of financial inclusion services in coordination with the CBE, with some 2.6 mn new bank accounts, prepaid cards, and e-wallets in villages covered by the first phase of the Hayah Karima initiative — helping lift Egypt's financial inclusion rate by 21 percentage points to 76% of the population aged 15 and above.

An expansion beyond high school: The FRA is working with the Education Ministry to bring students into the financial sector through the I Invest initiative, Abdel Aziz said during a meeting between the FRA chair and the Higher Education Minister in late April. The initiative introduces financial skills gradually based on age group and education level, relying on financial balances provided by supporting entities so students can practice simulated trading — while temporarily barring them from using the funds.

The cost of poor financial literacy: Differences in financial literacy account for 30-40% of wealth gaps between individuals, Abdel Aziz added. The FRA has been working with various government bodies to spread financial literacy, through a 2022- protocol with the Higher Education Ministry that has seen 12k university students participate and 66 certified financial awareness trainers graduate.

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CALENDAR

JUNE

16-18 June (Tuesday-Thursday) AFA International Annual Fertilizer Conference & Exhibition, Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): Watrex Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

30 June (Tuesday): June 30 Revolution.

JULY

9 July (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fourth meeting of 2026.

23 July (Thursday): Revolution Day (TBC).

AUGUST

19 August (Wednesday): Connected Banking Summit, Fairmont Nile City Hotel

20 August (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fifth meeting of 2026.

26 August (Wednesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

SEPTEMBER

8-10 September (Tuesday-Thursday) El Alamein International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport

10-12 September (Thursday-Saturday): Egyptian Entrepreneurship Sector Diagnostics Report Summit, El Gouna.

15 September (Tuesday): IMF to hold its eighth review of Egypt’s USD 8 bn EFF arrangement.

24 September (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s sixth meeting of 2026.

27-29 September (Sunday-Tuesday): Global Conference on Population, Health, and Human Development.

OCTOBER

6 October (Tuesday): Armed Forces Day.

10-11 October (Saturday-Sunday): Egypt Women's Health Summit (EWHS), Cairo Marriott Hotel

26-28 October (Monday-Wednesday): IEX Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

29 October (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s seventh meeting of 2026.

DECEMBER

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Food Africa, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

17 December (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s eighth meeting of 2026.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

1Q 2026: Trial operations for the Ain Sokhna-Sixth of October section of Egypt’s first high-speed rail line scheduled to begin.

May 2026: End of extension for developers on 15% interest rates for land installment payments.

July 2026: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to visit Egypt.

2H 2026: Operations at Deli Glass Co’s new USD 70 mn glassware factory kick off.

2026: The Egyptian-American Economic Forum.

4Q 2026: Banque du Caire IPO

2027

16-18 January (Saturday-Monday): Agri Expo, Cairo International Convention Center.

20 January-7 February: Egypt to host the African Games.

April 2027: Tenth of Ramadan dry port and logistics hub to begin operations.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2027: Egypt to host EBRD’s annual meetings.

2027: Egypt-EU Summit 2027.

End of 2027: Trial operations at the Dabaa nuclear power plant expected to take place.

September 2028: First unit of the Dabaa nuclear power plant begins operations.

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