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Monday, 28 Sep 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
The Big Story Today
Logistics
Energy
Last Night’s Talk Shows
A Message From Auc Onsi Sawiris School Of Business Executive Education
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Calendar

Egypt’s first hedge fund framework gets the green light

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Today at a glance

1

The Big Story Today

Egypt’s first hedge fund framework just went live.
2

Logistics

Ain Sokhna’s new truck yard is already linking with Nafeza.
3

Energy

Egypt’s upstream dealmaking picks up as BP courts Energean, and Genel outbids DNO for Capricorn.
4

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Egypt, Russia discuss simplifying trade procedures and advancing a bilateral free trade agreement.
5

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Egypt signs MoU with Libya Reconstruction and Development Fund for energy collaboration.
6

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

EGM of Misr Life Ins. votes today on share split ahead of EGX debut.
7

Also on our Radar

Hassan Allam Construction receives two Best Projects recognitions in the 2026 ENR Global Best Projects Awards.
8

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Users struggle with “difficult” real estate tax app, demand more time.
9

PLANET FINANCE

Family offices pile into public equities as inflation overtakes tariffs as top concern.
10

BLACKBOARD

KfW details EUR 170 mn German technical and vocational education and training portfolio in Egypt.

Monday, 28 Sep 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
The Big Story Today
Logistics
Energy
Last Night’s Talk Shows
A Message From Auc Onsi Sawiris School Of Business Executive Education
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Egypt, Russia discuss simplifying trade procedures and advancing a bilateral free trade agreement

Good morning, wonderful people. A nearly final draft of the agenda is live for our upcoming EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum. We’ll be discussing what AI means for your company, your team, the economy, and your family. Some of the nation’s most senior business leaders will join us on stage to help us all think through this AI moment we’re all living through.

Let’s start with hedge funds. Our first framework for hedge funds has been cleared, and the FRA’s rules are flexible: each fund sets its own leverage, concentration, and liquidity limits. The FRA signs off on one prospectus at a time, giving it space to feel its way into an asset class it hasn’t handled before. CI Capital is already building what would be the country’s first equity hedge fund, and whether there’s enough market appetite is something we’re keeping a close eye on.

Egypt’s truck yards are getting a digital upgrade. A new EGP 1 bn digital yard at Ain Sokhna is already integrating with Nafeza, which means truckers can only request entry passes for cargo that’s already cleared. That means fewer wasted trips and faster turnaround. If the gains hold, this could be a model for replication across the country.

Egypt’s upstream dealmaking is picking up. BP is drilling and selling at the same time, and the wells are a clear tell for what assets it plans to keep. Energean is planning to pick up what BP is offloading, and it has four weeks to turn its indicative offer into a binding bid. And in a separate corner of the Western Desert, Genel has outbid DNO to win back Capricorn’s board recommendation.

***

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.

***

We’re happy to welcome Ahmed Mohsen as a guest speaker at the 2026 EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum — the AI edition.

Ahmed Mohsen is the co-founder and CTO of MNT-Halan, one of the fastest-growing fintech platforms in the Middle East and Africa, serving over 8 mn customers across Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, and the UAE. He leads the company’s technology strategy and architected Neuron, MNT-Halan’s proprietary core banking system, overseeing a team of more than 90 engineers building the company’s digital infrastructure. A serial entrepreneur with deep roots in cybersecurity, Mohsen also co-founded SecureMisr, one of Egypt’s pioneering cybersecurity firms, acquired by Cysiv in 2020.

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Attendance is by invitation only, and we’ve reached full capacity.

Request your invitation here to join the waitlist.

Fast-tracking the paper trail

Egypt and Russia are in talks to simplify bilateral trade procedures and advance a free trade agreement, Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry said in a statement. Discussions also covered introducing electronic document management for cross-border transactions and developing new logistics routes.

Russia’s Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Roman Chekushov says the first Russian resident companies have been lined up to set up shop at the Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) — a dedicated Russian manufacturing plot inside Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone — although none were publicly named. Chekushov also laid out the site’s priority sectors, including construction materials, insulation, powder coatings, electrical equipment (transformers and panel gear), climate control systems, machine tools, medical and pharma products, and agricultural machinery. Russian exports to Egypt hit USD 5.9 bn between January and July, up 15.6% y-o-y, according to the statement.

IN CONTEXT- As we’ve previously reported, the RIZ could draw USD 5 bn in investment by 2028, with some 30 Russian firms scoping it out and construction set to kick off this year under a 49-year tax and customs incentive package. The original intergovernmental agreement for a RIZ dates back to 2018, initially planned for East Port Said before shifting to Ain Sokhna.

Powering the rebuild

Egypt signed an MoU with the Libya Reconstruction and Development Fund to collaborate on electricity and renewable energy, the fund said in a statement. The agreement covers grid development and capacity upgrades, renewable energy project implementation, and technical integration to support Libya’s urban expansion and reconstruction. It was signed during Electricity Minister Mahmoud Esmat’s visit to Benghazi, where he met with the fund’s Director General Belqasem Haftar.

IN CONTEXT- Egypt and Libya are deepening their ties in energy and construction. Talks resumed in January on scaling the electricity interconnection from a capacity of 150 MW to 2 GW, a link needed to unlock bns of USD in Egyptian-led reconstruction work in Benghazi and Derna, where projects have been stalled by a fragmented grid. A cascading blackout knocked 1.35 GW offline in July, triggering 70 MW of emergency exports. Export capacity has since risen 43% to 100 MW. Meanwhile, Egyptian contractors, such as Arab Contractors and Orascom Construction, are scaling into Libya’s estimated USD 200 bn reconstruction market. This MoU and the Tobruk-Alexandria oil pipeline’s renewables track are expanding the play from construction into energy infrastructure.

Happening today

An extraordinary general assembly of Misr Life Ins. votes today on the share split that prepares the state-owned insurer for its EGX debut. The vote would cut the nominal value of the company’s share to EGP 1 from EGP 10, leaving its issued capital unchanged, Mubasher reports, citing an EGX disclosure filed with the bourse yesterday. The outcome is all but certain, given that Misr Ins. Holding Company, itself wholly owned by the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, holds 100% of the shares being voted. The company is temporarily listed on the main market but not yet trading.

REFRESHER- Misr Life Ins.’s board approved the 10-for-1 split last week, which would take the register to 5 bn shares from 500 mn while holding issued capital at EGP 5 bn, half the EGP 10 bn authorized ceiling set by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) in February. The split precedes a planned sale of up to 20% of the company on the EGX, with EFG Hermes mandated as sole global coordinator and bookrunner. Investment Minister Mohamed Farid said in July that the IPO was on track to close by year-end. The fair value study was due by end-September, with FRA sign-off up next before the government decides on the final stake size and timetable.

Why it matters: Misr Life shares the same 4Q window with Banque du Caire, now slated for November with 30-40% on offer. That puts two of the biggest names left in this leg of the state privatization program on the market within weeks of each other.

The Egyptian government locked in enough LNG and crude to carry the country through peak demand this summer, and the real question now is who pays for it and for the rebuild ahead.

PowerTrip, our new four-part signature series, follows the money behind an energy sector that went from exporting gas to importing it in just five years.

Over the four issues this autumn, we’ll look at how the lights stayed on and what that cost, who will own the next generation of power, how fast renewables can really scale, and whether Egypt’s claim to be the region’s energy hub still holds.

Issue I lands Wednesday, 30 September, and looks at how Egypt avoided rationing this summer, how the country went from gas exporter to importer in a decade, and what keeping the lights on actually cost us.

Coming straight to your inbox — Wednesday, 30 September.

PSA-

WEATHER- We are back to nicer summer weather in Cairo today, with a high of 32°C and a low of 22°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s even nicer in Alexandria, with a high of 29°C and a low of 21°C.

The big story abroad

A security development has cropped up on an unexpected front. UK authorities arrested five men suspected of planning a “major incident” near RAF Fairford, a Gloucestershire base used by the US Air Force in its strikes against Iran. US President Donald Trump said Washington collaborated with the UK to avert this attack on the base, which Iran’s Revolutionary Guard declared a legitimate target last July.

AI in the hot seat: Australian senators have called the CEOs of OpenAI and Anthropic to answer questions at an upcoming AI inquiry, triggered by the recent hack of the country’s health database by an autonomous OpenAI agent. Meanwhile, OpenAI admitted its AI models accessed public data from US government websites such as those of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Census Bureau.

Safety is one thing — cost, another: Surging IT costs are driving US corporates toward “open” AI models they can customize and run in-house, instead of paying for premium versions of ChatGPT and Claude. Executives mentioned “open weight” or “open source” AI models six times as often in earnings calls and investor conferences in August and September compared with the same period last year, according to research platform AlphaSense.

*** 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 follow the EUR 170 mn KfW has committed to Egypt’s technical education, as the first German-backed “Centres of Competence” get ready to open.

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Where ideas, industries and perspectives come together.

This October, Somabay welcomes leading voices from Egypt, the region and beyond, as the Narrative Summit marks its milestone tenth edition.Narrative sits at the intersection of private-sector ambition, government policy, investment, culture, media and tourism — bringing together the people and perspectives influencing Egypt’s growth, identity and global positioning.

Set against the backdrop of Somabay, the summit creates a space for meaningful dialogue, fresh perspectives and connections that can translate ideas into impact. Ten editions. One destination. Conversations that shape a decade.

2

The Big Story Today

Our first hedge fund rulebook now in effect

Egypt’s first hedge fund framework cleared the Official Gazette on 23 September, giving the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) the green light to license funds that can short stocks, trade derivatives, and borrow to invest, with each fund sets its own risk limits, signed off by the FRA one prospectus at a time. The framework covers equities, debt, futures and forwards, exchange-traded options, and borrowed stock for short selling on the EGX. Managers can now set up a new vehicle or convert an existing one into a “multi-issue fund” targeting EGX-listed instruments — converting funds requires board or supervisory committee sign-off on the amended prospectus. The FRA first floated the framework early last month and said it would take effect a day after publication.

Licensing works fund by fund, not by formula. Each hedge fund sets its own risk ceilings — on leverage, counterparty exposure, liquidity, and concentration — in its prospectus or information memorandum, and the FRA signs off on those limits one at a time. Securities lending, borrowing, and derivatives get particular attention alongside stress testing and stop-loss mechanisms.

There are two hard boundaries: geographic and regulatory. First, investments are limited to EGX-listed securities, open-ended or listed fund units, exchange-traded futures and options, and other instruments the FRA board approves. No offshore positions, no unlisted units, no bespoke OTC derivatives. Second, the asset allocation must still comply with the capital market law’s Chapter 12 limits.

One area where they do fall away: borrowing. The decision explicitly waives the Article 160 borrowing limits of the executive regulations for hedge funds. Regular funds operate under a statutory borrowing ceiling — hedge funds set their own in the prospectus.

What goes in the prospectus: The prospectus has to spell out the fund’s entire game plan. That includes target investment areas, asset allocation with min-max limits per asset class, and each investment strategy with its objectives, attached risks, and usage limits. If the manager plans to use derivatives, short borrowed stock, buy on margin, or any other specialized trading mechanism, the prospectus has to explain how those tools work — and how they fit into the fund’s overall structure. It also must state the fund’s borrowing limits, its liquidity management policy, how redemptions work, and the cases where the fund can suspend or delay them.

The fund also has to define who it wants as investors, and the distribution channel (brokerages, banks, or fund marketers) is on the hook for verifying that each buyer fits that profile. Performance measurement goes in too, including which risk-adjusted return metrics and benchmarks the fund will use.

Investment manager duties: The manager must have specialized expertise and the technical systems to run hedge fund strategies, with daily monitoring of positions and risks. They have to manage leverage and limits within the prospectus — and any change requires unitholder approval, not just board sign-off. They also need to maintain a formal risk management model reviewed periodically, run stress tests and scenario analysis regularly, verify collateral adequacy with continuous valuation monitoring, and disclose periodically to the FRA and unitholders on leverage use, stress results, limit breaches, and material strategy or risk-model changes.

Procedures: The FRA has 15 days from the date the complete documents are submitted to approve or reject the prospectus. The fund must then carry out disclosure procedures for unitholders. Where this framework does not have a specific provision, standard investment fund rules under the capital market law’s executive regulations apply. That means hedge funds are not operating in a regulatory vacuum — the existing fund framework fills the gaps.

Why it matters

There’s already a fund in the pipeline. CI Capital Asset Management is building what would be Egypt’s first equity hedge fund, targeting EGP 250 mn in AUM in its first year and a launch before year-end. Those plans were drawn up while the framework was still only an FRA board decision. Now that it has regulatory force, the next step will likely be licensing.

And it gives some of the EGX’s newest products a natural buyer. EGX30 futures launched in March and single-stock contracts on CIB and TMG followed in June, but volumes have stayed thin. Hany Genena, Al Ahly Pharos’ head of research, told us in March that the constraint was less about appetite and more about who could actually trade these products. Most existing fund mandates don’t allow leveraged instruments, he added, leaving a gap that hedge funds are built to fill.

OUR TAKE- Leverage set fund by fund lets the FRA feel its way into an asset class it has not regulated before. The trade-off: no blanket ceiling to benchmark against. We will find out how much risk the FRA is comfortable with one prospectus at a time. The Article 160 carveout is worth watching — it gives hedge funds borrowing flexibility no other fund type has, and the market has yet to see what the FRA will approve.

Demand is the other unknown. Sameh Gharib of Tycoon Securities told us last month that short selling tends to find its use in sustained downtrends — in a rising market, most investors would rather own the stock than borrow it to sell. That doesn’t tell us how much demand there will be for hedge funds more broadly, but it does matter for one of the core tools they are being built to use. For now, CI Capital’s EGP 250 mn target is the first real number we have for how big this market could get.

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3

Logistics

Ain Sokhna’s new truck yard is already linking with Nafeza

The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) signed a contract to develop and operate an EGP 1 bn digital truck-management yard at Ain Sokhna Port — and its link to Nafeza, Egypt’s national single window for foreign trade, is already live, according to a statement and Abir Leheta, group co-CEO of Egytrans Nosco and chairman of Nafith Egypt. The 167k sqm yard will handle up to 1.1k trucks a day at full operation, using real-time planning and digital yard management to regulate truck flow. The Nafeza integration is “live in production” and already receiving cargo clearance and release status, Leheta tells EnterpriseAM.

Where one system ends, and the other begins: “Nafith’s system manages the truck side: entry passes, driver and vehicle verification, gate processing, and flow into the terminals and yard,” Leheta says. “The integration is the handover point. Once Nafeza confirms cargo is cleared and ready for pickup, our system uses that status to admit the right truck, with the right driver, to the right terminal location at the right time.” The two systems complement each other rather than duplicate functions, she adds.

The practical payoff is fewer wasted trips. A trucker can request an entry pass only for cargo Nafeza already shows as cleared and ready for pickup, so trips sent to collect containers that aren’t ready — and the queues they create — disappear, Leheta says. That leaves less idle time for drivers and faster turnaround for terminals, she adds.

Why the integration matters: The gains will hold only if the yard actually cuts truck turnaround times rather than becoming a new place to wait, as drivers are paid on a per-trip basis. “Just because [Nafeza] reduces time at the ports doesn’t mean we should increase waiting time in the yards,” Reliance Operations & Maintenance Services Managing Director Omar Ragheb tells EnterpriseAM. That’s what AI-driven planning is for, he says. Integrating the systems is becoming “an essential approach to ensure proper planning, reduce inefficiencies at the ports or yards, and maintain transparency and complete visibility over the trucks,” he explains.

One cluster, not the whole market. Egypt’s national fleet totals around 1.3 mn trucks, of which heavy vehicles make up just 10-15%, and only a slice of those pass through Ain Sokhna, Ragheb says. The yard “won't integrate them, but it will have data with the truck numbers,” consolidating a small cluster of that fleet in one location, not solving fragmentation nationally.

IN CONTEXT- Road transport handles more than 90% of Egypt’s domestic freight, and that volume is projected to grow 1.8% to 97.1 mn tons by 2030. The fleet moving it is highly fragmented: around 90% of the country’s trucks are individually owned.

Fragmentation needs replication: The yard “could be a stepping stone to overcome fragmentation if it is replicated across the entire country,” Ragheb says. Scaled nationally, the model would force common standards on payments, safety, and accounting, “and this is what’s going to make the sector much, much more efficient,” he adds. Ragheb argues the state has to drive that shift for the business model to become the norm.

The architecture is built to scale. Nafith runs its yards, including the 114k sqm West Port Said site, on one unified platform, Leheta says, so an integration built once, such as the Nafeza interface, can extend to other sites instead of being rebuilt each time. That gives SCZone’s ports a foundation that can plug into a future national system without starting over, she adds.

Built for owner-drivers: “An owner-driver doesn’t need fleet software, just simple access to our platform,” Leheta says. Nafith’s on-ground team trained and registered drivers and trucks prior to launch, following a pilot phase that tested the workflow with real operators, she says. On-site registration desks and a dedicated support hotline were also established to assist drivers less accustomed to digital tools, she adds. “Bringing users on before launch made adoption part of the solution rather than a new source of delay.”

ICYMI- The government is separately moving to bring overland freight into Nafeza for the first time. The Finance Ministry has begun surveying road freight firms to register and link them electronically to the single window, starting at Red Sea ports such as Nuweiba and Safaga, three officials told us this month. That would fold truck-borne cargo into the same electronic system governing sea and air freight.

WATCH THIS SPACE- Ain Sokhna proves the model works at one gateway — the open question is whether it becomes the national standard. Ragheb’s benchmark is Saudi Arabia, where a single registration-and-yard system governs the whole sector, and the shared architecture behind Nafith’s yards means the technical path to get there is already laid.

And in the Egytrans Nosco world…

Egytrans Nosco stalled the shareholder vote on its EGX delisting ahead of a potential takeover by MSC’s pan-African logistics arm Africa Global Logistics (AGL). The board voted unanimously on Thursday to hold off on calling the EGM that was meant to approve its voluntary delisting, according to a bourse filing (pdf). Whatever the board decides next will still need the Financial Regulatory Authority’s (FRA) sign-off.

REFRESHER- The FRA gave AGL until 21 December to submit its mandatory tender offer, granting a 60-working-day extension from 27 September after the group asked for extra time earlier this month. AGL offered EGP 11.25-12.25 a share in late June for up to 100% of Egytrans Nosco with a 75% floor — valuing the company at EGP 2.76 bn at the top end, an 18.4% premium to the pre-news close. It still needs clearance from Egypt’s Competition Authority, Comesa, and Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition.

Inside the NBFI firestorm with Hazem Moussa: For a few months, alarms have sounded across the board, cautioning of an impending credit bubble. Are they warranted?

On this episode of Making It, Hazem Moussa, co-founder of Contact Financial Holding, joins Patrick to break down how a bubble in the credit industry actually forms, what regulators should watch out for, the risks on both sides, and the responsibility that lies on the client side — us, the consumers.

Listen to the episode on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anghami | YouTube

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4

Energy

Egypt’s upstream dealmaking picks up as BP courts Energean and Genel outbids DNO for Capricorn

BP is pushing ahead with its USD 700 mn, four-well drilling program in Egypt as it negotiates the sale of roughly USD 1 bn of its local assets to Med-focused Energean. The wells fall on both sides of that dividing line: the first is in a field Energean is lined up to buy, and two of the next three go to Arcius Energy, the joint venture BP is keeping. EVP for Production and Operations Gordon Birrell walked Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi through the program on Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.

On the selling side: Fayoum-4 is already producing in the West Nile Delta, two years ahead of schedule, pumping around 80 mmcf / d to the national grid, according to the ministry. The package Energean is eyeing covers BP’s West Nile Delta stakes (held with London-listed Harbour Energy) and its 50% contractor interest in the Temsah concession, Reuters reports. That’s where Italian partner Eni made the c. 2 tcf Denise West discovery earlier this year.

On the keeping side: After Fayoum-4, the rig moved to the Gharab exploration well. Next, it will drill two deepwater exploration wells back-to-back for Arcius, BP’s 51-49 joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s XRG, the ministry said. Arcius also holds BP’s interest in Zohr, the Eastern Mediterranean’s largest gas field at around 30 tcf, which BP plans to keep.

Why it matters: The drilling plan shows where BP intends to stay in Egypt once the sale closes. Its new deepwater exploration is going to the JV that holds Zohr, while the assets headed to Energean get a producing well on the way out.

Energean leads the race for the rest: Energean entered exclusive talks with BP in late August, and the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) reported it has four weeks to firm up its offer. That puts it ahead of UAE-based Dragon Oil, US private equity firm Carlyle, and London-based Artemis Energy, the bidders we reported were circling in July.

What’s next: Energean needs to turn its indicative offer into a binding bid. Separately, the Temsah partners and the Egyptian state are aiming for a final investment decision on Denise West within the next few months, Eni said in late August.

Upstream M&A is heating up

MEANWHILE- Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy raised its offer for Edinburgh-based Capricorn Energy to USD 436 mn, outbidding Norwegian producer DNO and regaining Capricorn’s board recommendation, according to a statement (pdf). That works out to USD 5.74 per share, about 10% above the USD 396 mn (pdf) DNO put forward earlier this month.

A takeover tug-of-war: Genel first agreed to buy Capricorn for USD 360 mn in July. Capricorn’s board has since pulled its backing for DNO, and investors holding about 39% of Capricorn’s share capital have committed to support Genel, the statement reads.

The assets: The company holds a 50% non-operated interest across the eight concessions it merged into a single license across the Western Desert, including the Badr El Din Merged Concession, North East Abu Gharadig, and Alam El Shawish West. State-linked operator BAPETCo runs the fields — Egyptian independent Cheiron is Capricorn’s 50% partner. The portfolio produced roughly 20k barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, generating USD 81 mn in net income.

Cooler weather reopens Idku

Shell and Petronas will resume exporting LNG from the Idku liquefaction plant in October, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed Shell official. The companies are finalizing the export schedule, including the number of cargoes and volumes. Each cargo is expected to carry about 150k cbm of LNG.

REMEMBER- Shell and Petronas got the green light to export two LNG cargoes during October and November last year. By March 2026, the state pressed pause on LNG shipments flowing out of Idku. Shell and Petronas usually receive some 350 mmcf / d of LNG for export from the facility — the last shipment sailed back in late February. Shell and Petronas jointly hold 71% of Idku, while the EGPC and Egas together own 24%, and France’s Engie controls the remaining 5%.

Why it matters: The country is importing gas to cover a domestic shortfall while keeping some exports flowing to preserve commercial relationships linked to its LNG infrastructure. “Importing and exporting — this would be the end game for Egypt,” VP and Country Chair of Shell Egypt Dalia El Gabry said at an AmCham gathering back in April.

By the numbers: Annual gas exports fell from around 5.6 bn cbm in 2023 to 1.4 bn cbm in 2024 and 1.1 bn cbm in 2025 as declining domestic production forced more gas into the local market. However, exports dropped from 906 mn cbm in 1Q 2024 to 90 mn cbm in 1Q 2025, before recovering to 377 mn cbm in 1Q 2026 — a fourfold rebound.

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5

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Complaints mount over “difficult” real estate tax app as taxpayers press for deadline extension

Last night’s talk shows focused on the Finance Ministry’s recently launched property tax app, which El Sora’s Lamees El Hadidi described as “complicated.” Regarding the upcoming deadline for the ministry’s tax break package, El Hadidi said that many users — who are looking to benefit from the 25% tax rebate for those who file on time — are asking for a one-month extension.

Technical difficulties: El Hadidi described the app as “difficult and complicated” and said users “need time” to use it smoothly. She added that officials are already looking into extending the tax return deadline, though it’s still unclear if the grace period for the tax relief package will also be pushed back. (watch, runtime: 2:38)

The Finance Ministry is tracking user issues with the app, and an extension is under review, Deputy Finance Minister and acting chief of the Real Estate Tax Authority Ramy Youssef said in a phone-in interview with Amr Adib on El Hekaya. Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk is aware of the glitches and aims to give users “the full time allowed,” Youssef added. The glitches were caused by heavy user traffic — with some 1.2 mn users logging into the app so far. Total registrations are expected to reach 10 mn (watch, runtime: 18:23).

REMEMBER- The mobile app was launched to allow users to submit tax returns, make advance payments, and request exemptions digitally. This initiative is part of a broader package of tax and customs reforms designed to boost tax revenues by 1–2% of GDP over three years by broadening the tax base rather than raising tax rates.

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6

A MESSAGE FROM AUC ONSI SAWIRIS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

The mechanics behind venture capital

VC work has to hold across sourcing, structure, valuation, and portfolio management. The Venture Capital program covers the core of venture capital, from fund structure and sourcing to investment strategy, documentation, and portfolio management. Participants learn how investments are structured and valued, how to examine ESG considerations in investment decisions, and how to build a full set of documentation. The 10-session blended program runs live online and on campus, with the next cohort beginning 7 November 2026.

Applications close on 18 October 2026. Apply here.

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7

Also on our Radar

Hassan Allam Construction receives two Best Projects recognitions in the 2026 ENR Global Best Projects Awards

Two Hassan Allam Construction projects were named Best Projects in the 2026 ENR Global Best Projects Awards, according to a company statement (pdf). The 6th of October Purification Plant, phases 1 and 3, claimed the award in the Water/Wastewater category (Phase 3 alone carries a capacity of 400k cbm / day). The second recognition — Hassan Allam’s turnkey Kaust Coral Reef Initiative — was earned in the Education/Research category. The project includes the primary coral nursery facility, boat jetty and marina, and a specialized life-support system backing coral propagation and reef restoration.

REMEMBER- Hassan Allam landed the Kaust coral-restoration contract in 2024, when the wider initiative was targeting the restoration of 100 hectares of Red Sea coral. The latest recognition marks the project’s move from contract award to delivered work.

FRA wants a live feed

Consumer finance companies will have to plug their databases directly into the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), according to a regulator statement. The regulator has six months to issue the technical rules for the connection, with no deadline disclosed yet for companies to complete the integration.

The FRA is asking for a wider view than borrower credit alone. The link will feed it customer data once financing is approved, purchases of goods and services in real time, classifications of financed products and customers by repayment behavior, and indicators on the financing company’s own solvency. This aims to give the regulator a more current view of both lending activity and lender risk.

IN CONTEXT- The new link complements the real-time reporting architecture rolled out earlier this month, which requires consumer- and MSME-finance providers to report financing events throughout the credit lifecycle directly to I-Score and sits alongside OTP-based customer verification and behavioral credit scoring. The real-time architecture updates the borrower’s credit record, while the latest measure gives the FRA its own direct supervisory data feed.

More on our radar:

  • Industrial SMEs will get access to locally developed ERP systems on monthly subscriptions under a new cooperation agreement between the Industry Ministry’s technical arm — the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) — and digital consulting firm Corporate Stack Solutions. Neither side disclosed pricing, factory targets, or a rollout date. (IMC statement)
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8

PLANET FINANCE

Family offices pile into public equities as inflation overtakes tariffs as top concern

The world’s wealthiest families are leaning further into public markets — without abandoning private ones. Listed stocks emerged as the preferred destination for future allocations in Citi’s 2026 Global Family Office Report (pdf) as inflation replaced tariffs as family offices’ biggest financial concern. The survey drew responses from 351 family offices across more than 40 countries in June and July.

REMEMBER- The global picture looked rather different a year ago: Citi’s 2025 survey found private equity had the strongest allocation momentum, with 36% of family offices increasing their exposure and just 10% cutting it, as we reported at the time. Back then, trade disputes and tariffs were the biggest concern for respondents.

Inflation is changing the calculus: Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the 2026 survey named inflation as their top concern, followed by interest rates (44%) and the stability of the global financial system (38%). The Middle East conflict came in at 32%, while tariffs fell to 18%. But portfolios are holding up: some 89% of respondents reported positive returns so far this year, up from 84% in 2025, and 41% continue to target annual returns of 7-10%.

And investors are reaching for liquidity: Some 46% of respondents increased their public-equity exposure over the past year, against 12% who reduced it. That momentum looks set to continue: 37% plan to increase allocations to global developed equities over the next 12 months, compared with just 5% looking to cut. Family offices are also more likely to cut private credit than add to it, with the report pointing to default rates at a record 6%.

Gold is getting another look too: Nearly every client conversation now involves gold, Citi Wealth head Andy Sieg told Bloomberg. He said that wasn’t the case two years ago, and the bank is expanding its vault capacity to meet demand.

But private markets aren’t being shown the door: Around 26% of respondents plan to increase allocations to both direct private equity and private equity funds over the next year. Growth equity has the strongest pull within private equity, followed by VC, then secondaries, and finally buyouts.

Family offices in our region are among the most active private equity investors — but global family money isn’t flowing in: Respondents in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa led the increase in private equity allocations over the past year, with 43% raising their exposure against 30% in North America, and direct private equity tops their list of planned increases. Yet more than half of all respondents have no current or planned exposure to the Middle East, and just 3% plan to raise allocations to the region. Middle East-based family offices account for almost half of active private-capital investors in the region, according to BlackRock data we covered last week.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets were mixed in early trading, with Japan’s Nikkei rising around 0.2% and South Korea’s Kospi dipping 1.5%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares excluding Japan eased 0.2%. Wall Street was also mixed amid climbing oil prices and uncertainty around the regional war.

EGX30

53,032

-1.4% (YTD: +26.8%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 51.65

Sell 51.79

USD (CIB)

Buy 51.66

Sell 51.76

Interest rates (CBE)

19.00% deposit

20.00% lending

Tadawul

10,682

+0.8% (YTD: +1.8%)

ADX

10,201

-0.1% (YTD: -1.1%)

DFM

5,980

-0.1% (YTD: -2.1%)

S&P 500

7,743

+0.5% (YTD: +13.1%)

FTSE 100

10,695

+0.1% (YTD: +7.7%)

Euro Stoxx 50

6,302

+0.5% (YTD: +8.7%)

Brent crude

USD 106.31

+1.9%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.05

-4.7%

Gold

USD 4,299

-0.5%

BTC

USD 84,370

-0.1% (YTD: -3.7%)

S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index

1,120

+0.1% (YTD: +12.8%)

S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk

147.61

-0.3% (YTD: -2.8%)

VIX (Volatility Index)

14.87

-5.1% (YTD: -0.5%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.4% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 7.7 bn (34.4% below the 90-day average). International investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 26.8% YTD.

In the green: ADIB (+1.8%), CIB (+0.4%), and Valmore Holding -EGP (+0.2%).

In the red: Raya Holding (-7.5%), Rameda (-6.2%), and Misr Cement (-5.1%).

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

Published every Monday in EnterpriseAM.

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KfW details EUR 170 mn German technical and vocational education and training portfolio in Egypt

The first of Egypt’s German-backed Centers of Competence — which pairs a three-year apprenticeship with two years of technical study — will open in Belbeis, Sharqia this year. By our count, up to EUR 215 mn is committed or in the pipeline for Egypt’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system through German development bank KfW, most of it in grants, and the centers are one part of it. Here’s what the money is building, and what comes next.

KfW has EUR 170 mn in committed funds — EUR 109 mn in grants, EUR 41 mn in debt-swap funds, and EUR 20 mn in concessional loans, KfW’s Cairo Office Director Christoph Schaefer tells EnterpriseAM. The bank also manages a EUR 13 mn EU grant for the sector and is “mandated by the German Federal Government to prepare — with the Egyptian partners — further support to the TVET sector, worth up to another EUR 32 mn,” with signing scheduled for 2027, he adds.

The German government funds the portfolio, and KfW channels the contribution into programs implemented by the Egyptian government, Schaefer says. The Central Bank of Egypt represents the state in its contracts with KfW. The debt-swap funds come from Germany waiving repayments on earlier loans, with Egypt relocating the released capital toward TVET or other agreed-upon sectors. The Education Ministry leads the national programs, while the General Authority for Educational Buildings and, in part, the Misr El Kheir Foundation carry out the work on the ground.

Energy skills lead the biggest program: The Promotion of Technical and Vocational Education and Training program totals EUR 51 mn, Schaefer adds. Germany put in a EUR 18 mn grant and a EUR 20 mn concessional loan, with the EU adding its EUR 13 mn grant. The program is planned to run from June 2020 to December 2027. The three Centers of Competence fall under this program — and the funds have gone there first — targeting renewable energy and energy efficiency training in Minya, Aswan, and Sharqia.

The EU grant is funding the rehabilitation of 16 technical secondary schools and the installation of solar panels on more than 110 primary schools, Schaefer says. The Education Ministry and the Misr El Kheir Foundation have signed contracts for procurement support on the architectural design of the Minya and Aswan centers, according to a ministry statement. The program’s first institute “was ready in 2025,” and the next ones “will be able to start operating in the coming months,” he adds.

A big system, a young workforce: Some 1.98 mn students were enrolled in Egypt’s nearly 3.5k technical secondary schools in 2025/26, according to the Education Ministry’s statistical yearbook (pdf). Each year, around 850k young people join the labor market, KfW estimated in 2024. Roughly 500k of them find work in the informal sector and some 220k in private companies or the government, leaving about 130k without work.

Informal work is particularly common among young people, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found in a 2024 working paper (pdf). Nationally, unemployment stood at 5.8% in 2Q 2026, according to Capmas. KfW also cites estimates that renewable energy could add up to 65k new jobs in Egypt by 2030.

Work comes with the classroom: Centers of Competence train students in fields including energy efficiency, woodwork, automotive, and construction, Schaefer says. Students spend three years in a work-focused apprenticeship with private sector partners, followed by two years in technical education, which opens a path to higher education. KfW also supports the TVET Teachers Academy.

These centers are co-financed by the Egyptian government, the EU, and Germany through KfW, according to implementing partner GOPA, with the Belbeis center serving the Delta and more planned across the country. On 24 June 2025, the ministry signed an MoU with the Elsewedy Electric Foundation to manage and operate the energy-focused centers, according to a ministry statement. At the same signing, an EU Delegation official noted that EU-backed centers using the same model have graduated more than 3.5k students so far, with employment rates above 80%.

Then there are the debt swaps: The EUR 41 mn in swap funds now being implemented supports the TVET Digitalisation Fund, which helps develop and scale up digital solutions for technical schools, Schaefer says. A separate EUR 40 mn debt swap financed the Integrated Technical Education Cluster in Assiut, which he says is “designed to enhance workforce skills and employability in mechanics, electronics, and IT.” KfW backed the Assiut project from 2012 until its completion in 2020.

TVET is one of three areas Germany and Egypt agreed to deepen cooperation on at their last round of government negotiations, held in Berlin in November 2025. It sits under sustainable economic development. “It is up to the governments of the two countries to decide on the priorities for bilateral development cooperation between Germany and Egypt,” Schaefer tells us. “The public KfW Development Bank only plays an advisory role.”

Once those priorities are set, KfW prepares projects with Egyptian authorities and delivers the German contribution. The bank also helps “jointly monitor the implementation” of the programs and, later, their impact, Schaefer explains. In KfW’s view, TVET support “directly addresses an important challenge for sustainable development: employability and productivity of the workforce, and youth resilience.”

KfW handles Germany’s financing, but it isn’t the only German channel into the sector. The German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) provides technical support to the ministry’s Egyptian-German Technical Schools, in partnership with the EU. That work covers school upgrades, quality assurance and assessment, digital learning, and financial resource management.

The ministry has signed agreements with GIZ to develop, establish, and operate 38 Egyptian-German technical schools starting in 2026/27, Education Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif told President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in July. That same month, the ministry signed agreements for eight Egyptian-German applied technology schools with the Elsewedy Electric Foundation and 10 with the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development.

Other donors are active in the sector as well. KfW is “in close contact with all German and international development partners in Egypt,” including the EU Delegation and the wider Team Europe group, Schaefer tells us. The EU’s deputy head of delegation reaffirmed the bloc’s commitment to Egyptian TVET at the EduTech fair in 2024.

ALSO- Italy has been building its own track through applied technology schools. Its development agency signed agreements in February 2025 linking those schools with Italy’s higher technical institutes. In November 2025, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the signing of 18 agreements with Italian academies to establish 89 applied technology schools. The initial cohort, which includes seven steel-focused schools developed with Italy’s Danieli and 26 agricultural schools, is among those scheduled to open for the 2026/27 academic year.

The Italian agreements brought Egypt’s applied technology school network to 204 schools, according to the Education Ministry. In July, Abdel Latif said new agreements would expand the network to nearly 225 schools by the start of the 2026/27 academic year, which began on 12 September.

The government is raising its own spending on the sector too. Its development plan for FY 2026/27 raises pre-university education allocations by 11.5%, with technical education among the priorities, and includes rehabilitating 1k technical schools in partnership with the private sector, Planning Minister Ahmed Rostom told the House of Representatives in April.

Looking ahead, any new German funding for TVET is decided by the German government in consultation with the Egyptian government, Schaefer says. “At present, the KfW Development Bank has no specific mandate in this regard” beyond the programs already underway, he tells us.

Germany is already paying for part of the government’s technical education reform. It signed a EUR 32 mn grant in December 2024 for the second phase of the Comprehensive Technical Education Initiative, a three-phase program the government says will set up 25 centers of excellence, according to its 2024 annual report (pdf). That’s a separate grant from the one referenced earlier by Schaefer, which comprises up to EUR 32 mn and is due to be signed in 2027.

German-Egyptian cooperation also extends to a new EUR 100 mn tranche of the two countries’ debt-swap program, announced by the International Cooperation Ministry in July 2025. It covers several sectors and is due to be activated in two stages through June 2026. “I cannot confirm a new financing agreement with us to support TVET to the tune of EUR 100 mn,” Schaefer told us when asked whether KfW has a separate agreement of that size specifically for TVET.

REFRESHER- Abdel Latif met a KfW delegation led by Schaefer on 7 April 2026 to discuss strengthening cooperation in technical education and expanding applied technology schools.

The bottom line: The financing and timelines are mapped out. KfW says it will help monitor the programs “in terms of impact,” and we’ll be keeping an eye on how graduates of the new centers fare in the job market after they open.

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CALENDAR

SEPTEMBER

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

28-29 September (Monday-Tuesday): Egypt Mining Forum, St. Regis Hotel New Capital.

OCTOBER

5 October (Monday): The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum.

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.

NOVEMBER

6-8 November (Friday-Sunday) : Global Entrepreneurship Festival, JW Marriott Hotel, New Cairo.

8-11 November (Sunday-Wednesday): Cairo ICT Forum.

10 November (Tuesday): Cityscape Egypt Forum, Cairo.

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

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

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

1-3 February (Monday-Wednesday): Agri Expo, Cairo International Convention Center.

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

29 September - 2 October (Wednesday-Saturday): Cityscape Egypt Exhibition, Cairo.

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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