Author Archives: enterpriseam admin

A “flood of new issuance is offsetting foreign-investor demand for Egyptian debt, keeping yields among the highest in emerging markets,” Ahmed Namatalla writes for Bloomberg. The Finance Ministry says offshore investors increased their holdings of Egyptian treasuries to EGP 79 bn at the March, Namatalla writes, adding that government borrowing is already 11% higher than […]

Foreign currency inflows to the banking system have reached USD 19.2 bn since the EGP was floated in November, the central bank announced, according to Reuters. The central bank also said it provided USD 24 bn since the flotation to finance international trade as well as USD 6.34 bn in trade finance for fuel product […]

The International Monetary Fund is projecting Egypt’s real GDP growth will reach 3.5% in 2017, and rise to 4.5% in 2018 according to the first chapter (pdf) of the World Economic Outlook April 2017 report which is out now. It attributes this rise to Egypt’s comprehensive reforms. Bloomberg’s Tarek El Tablawy is noting that this […]

Pharos Holding is looking to close four mergers and acquisition agreements this year, Head of Investment Banking Sherif Abdel Aal told Al Mal. The transactions will include advisory on the acquisition of a private university, a school, and two retail players, including Abraaj’s exit from Spinneys, he says. The total value of the transactions could […]

With tomorrow’s deadline for the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA)’s bid round for gold and associated minerals approaching, Centamin’s Chairman Josef El-Raghy penned an op-ed in Al Shorouk criticizing EMRA’s insistence on maintaining its production sharing agreement model. El-Raghy says the system has proved its failure in expanding exploration efforts and attracting new investors and […]

Norway’s Scatec Solar signed a 25-year power purchasing agreement with the Electricity Ministry to supply energy from six solar power plants with a combined production capacity of 400 MW, reNEWS reports. Scatec will provide equity of USD 50-70 mn for the USD 450 mn project. Unnamed local developers and KLP Norfund Investments are also expected […]

Layoffs, assembly slowdown in auto industry? The auto industry is apparently going through a spate of layoffs, with 10-15% of employees having been let go from January to April, according to Egyptian Automotive Manufacturing Association head Hassan Suleiman. He tells Al Mal that the job cuts have been primarily targeting sales managers and other mid-level […]

Mubasher gets financial advisory license, seeks status as nominated advisor for Nilex: The Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) has granted Mubasher Advisory a license to operate to operate as an independent financial advisor, Daily News Egypt reports. The license allows Mubasher “to produce research reports for securities-brokerage companies, as well as offer financial advisory services […]

BNP Paribas’ Assiut and West Damietta power conversion loan facility won Euromoney Trade Finance’s Transaction of the Year Award. The USD 470 facility was to finance conversion of Assiut and West Damietta power stations into combined-cycle, the bank says, noting that “loan proceeds will be used to part-finance a commercial contract between EEHC and Orascom […]

EARNINGS WATCH- Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt has announced a bottom line of EGP 439.8 mn compared to EGP 274.8 mn a year ago, and revenues of EGP 1.61 bn versus EGP 1.30 bn for the same period last year, according to a regulatory filing.