Egypt Edition 
MENA+ Edition 
UAE Edition 
Saudi Edition 
AI + Innovation (MENA) 
Infrastructure 
Industries
Agriculture
Linah Farms invests in solar startup NoorNation as it closes USD 1.05 mn seed round
The agribusiness group is going from client to shareholder after three solar pilots across its…
Grova hands Hassan Allam Construction a second USD 500 mn EastHills contract
Egypt lifts the wheat procurement price 6% and backs 1 mn smallholder feddans
Part 2: Local agritech is building the tools to double Egypt’s farm yields
Rising costs and tighter water are pushing farms to get more out of every square…
Fertiglobe weighs a USD 1.5 bn-plus phosphate fertilizer complex in Ain Sokhna
The Adnoc-controlled producer is eyeing 1.3 mn tons a year of DAP by 2031, adding…
Automotive
My Morning Routine: Mohamed El Naggar, CEO of Raya Auto
“Stay teachable as your responsibilities grow”
Nearly 19k EVs on Egypt’s roads, and for city drivers the switch is getting easier to justify
Running costs are a fraction of those for petrol, but intercity chargers are few and…
The country’s first locally assembled EV rolls off the line at El Nasr
Good morning, friends. The interest rate hike is three days old by now, and you’ve…
August auto sales slow to 5.6% as trucks stall and imports pull ahead
Passenger cars carried the month while trucks fell and imported cars stretched their lead over…
Banking
Mabany Edris taps NBE for EGP 975 mn to speed up Koun construction in Ras El Hekma
PLUS: EGX suspends Digitize a day after giving it two weeks to file overdue statements…
The government is weighing a large EgyptAlum stake sale on the EGX before year-end
Good morning, friends, and happy hump day. You will see the word “gas” a lot…
CBE lets banks hire outside agents to sign up customers beyond their branch networks
PLUS: MTS is in talks to build a USD 100 mn data-center hardware plant in…
Banque du Caire lands on EGX, the treasury to take up to half the proceeds
BdC gave up an early rally to close up just 0.19% at EGP 5.31 a…
Basic Materials
Moody’s raises Egypt’s local and foreign currency ratings to B3 and kept a positive outlook
Good morning, nice people. Before getting into the news of the day, we have an…
Billet-duty dispute heads to court as rolling mills sue to scrap anti-dumping duties
The Administrative Court will hear the rolling-mills lawsuit against Egypt’s billet anti-dumping duties on 14…
ONE launches new weekly container service linking Poland and northern Europe to Alexandria
PLUS: Movingfert plans to begin construction on a USD 5 bn phosphate fertilizer complex in…
The EU is proposing to cut Egypt off from its steel scrap
Brussels’ draft waste rules would strip Egypt of a core mill feedstock just as EU…
Capital Markets
EGX30 sheds 4.43% in October to post its first back-to-back monthly loss of 2026
The benchmark fell 4.43% and the small caps twice as hard; foreign investors kept selling;…
Five EGX-listed companies are buying back their own shares after the sell-off
Here are the stories driving the day, both at home and abroad. Five EGX-listed companies…
What the markets are doing on 5 November
The EGX30 rose 1.0% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 10.2 bn (7.8% below…
EGX is still waiting for its share of the fund boom
A half-tn-EGP industry is still built around products designed for saving rather than investing, and…
Climate
The last issue of Power Trip
Hello, wonderful people, and welcome to the fourth and final issue of our signature series,…
EBRD takes 40% of Scatec’s new Egypt renewables platform
The up to USD 221 mn commitment buys into four of Scatec’s local projects, and…
Egypt wants private developers to build most of its new power. Here’s how that business works
Inside the IPP renaissance
Is the gas crunch making solar a business decision in Egypt?
The war has businesses looking to the roof
Commodities
Egypt is set to export its first LNG cargo in months from Idku while lining up 10 import cargoes for November
The cargo, a winter window for Idku’s foreign partners, could fetch more than USD 60…
Regional war expected to wipe 150 bn cbm off LNG supply through 2030, keeping the market tight into 2027
Global LNG supply is set to fall 3% this year, its steepest annual decline on…
Petrojet will build the USD 170 mn pipeline carrying Cypriot gas to Damietta for export
Good morning, lovely people. The biggest IPO the EGX has seen in at least a…
Commodity prices are set to rise 23% this year, and the World Bank sees relief for energy in 2027, but not for food
Energy leads with a 32% jump, food adds 10%, and metals go to a record.…
Construction
Companies paying for NUCA land in USD from abroad will skip the line and the bidding from November
Good morning, folks. You will read below about three things the government is doing at…
Gov’t nears trial runs at three strategic warehouses, eyes four more with private partners
The Fayoum, Suez, and Luxor warehouses add 225k pallets of storage at a cost of…
Egyptian contractors eye Jordan’s grid upgrade as Cairo and Amman plan to quadruple their power link
A USD 45 mn Aqaba substation is first in line, as contractors look abroad from…
Hassan Allam becomes latest Egyptian developer to enter Oman with USD 115 mn Madinat Al Irfan deal
Hassan Allam’s Grova signed two agreements with state-owned Omran to build the first residential phase…
Development Finance
The Tahya Misr Fund is planning to partner with The Marq to revive a North Coast project that’s been stalled since 2016
PLUS: EGPC buys six fuel oil cargoes for November and December as LNG costs climb
Egypt’s two biggest solar-storage projects made big progress this week
Dandara’s USD 650 mn term sheet lands as Nefer Minya starts full construction on its…
EIB check takes TCV’s second fund to a USD 130 mn close
The mid-cap fund closed above its USD 120 mn target, but every investor in it…
Gov’t and World Bank commit to raise minerals’ contribution to GDP to 6% by 2030 and mineral exports to USD 9.8 bn by 2040
Plus: The state clears PPP tenders for two large desalination plants in Suez and Port…
E-commerce
Homegrown brands are running on Shopify because local alternatives cannot yet be trusted to survive
Scaled businesses are on Shopify because the risk of switching outweighs the USD cost
Turuq takes its first outside investment from Den VC
The fulfillment startup is already eyeing a larger funding round around mid-2027 to fund more…
Agentic commerce could move USD 3-5 tn globally by 2030 — Egypt’s merchants are interested but largely unfamiliar with what it means
The next phase of e-commerce doesn’t involve you — an AI agent handles the search,…
Valu has become Noon Minutes’ exclusive payments partner in Egypt
PLUS: The Hague dismissed a USD 34 bn claim against Egypt by Saudi investor Hashem…
Education
Al Ahly Capital signs to buy El Sewedy’s 40% of CIRA’s Damietta university venture
Plus: Rameda board greenlights plan for an all-share acquisition of Art Pharma subject to independent…
Al Ahly Capital is buying out El Sewedy from CIRA’s Damietta university venture
Good morning, lovely people. The long weekend is almost here, but before you log off,…
CIRA Education’s net enrollment rises to 84k students, surpassing target
PLUS: AI subsidiary Raya Nexus launched with an issued capital of EGP 250 mn
How to choose the right education track for your child
Your complete guide to Egypt’s national and international secondary systems — what they teach, what they…
Energy
TAQA Arabia wants half its revenues from outside Egypt within five years, CEO Pakinam Kafafi says
Part two of our conversation with TAQA Arabia CEO Pakinam Kafafi
How do you get households to go green? Put the savings first
Large-scale renewables have moved quickly, and everyday habits may need a financial reason to follow
Electricity Ministry studies changing how your electricity bill gets calculated
The plan is still under study, and neither of the two sources we spoke to…
Qalaa shareholders approve EGP 3.87 bn raise for 27.1% ERC stake
PLUS: The FRA is giving Arab Energy Fund 30 more days to submit a tender…
Finance
Can AI promise Egypt’s lenders more borrowers and fewer bad loans?
Banks are cautious about letting AI judge a borrower. Local fintechs are not.
Inside the financing of Egypt’s IPP boom
The contracts and the resources are proven, so the open question is who absorbs the…
Banks threaten to look beyond London as windfall tax talk grows
International lenders say more tax could tip the balance as Greece and Turkey join the…
Granite is about to test whether Egypt’s funds still need administrators
The asset manager and blockchain builder Tarmiiz have entered the FRA’s regulatory sandbox to run…
Fintech
MNT-Halan’s parent completes its EGP 4 bn injection into the Egyptian arm
Good morning, lovely people. The theme in today’s issue is money that isn’t where it…
DPI closes Egypt-born fintech fund Nclude at USD 112 mn
The final close adds roughly USD 7 mn to a fund that was already at…
MNT-Halan’s EGP 4 bn capital increase all paid up
Here are the stories driving the day, both at home and abroad. MNT-Halan’s planned EGP…
BdC’s Hussein Abaza on why the bank is listing now and what comes next
The CEO says investors are buying a finished turnaround, funded by rural deposits and built…
Food
Downtown’s Tchaï Teahouse pairs light bites with a distinctive, art-filled ambiance
Tchaï Teahouse possesses all the ingredients of an appealing dining spot for anyone seeking a…
Sal & Sol has the rooftop and the view, but the food doesn’t deliver
Great bread, a solid soup, but lumpy risotto and undercooked chicken made the evening turn…
Mad Shrimp in Heliopolis isn’t afraid to experiment
If you’re craving something new and aren’t afraid to experiment, you don’t want to miss…
New Cairo’s Whispering Brew is all about laid-back rendezvous and classic dishes
🍴 Sometimes you just grow tired of the usual breakfast spots — it’s human nature. On…
Healthcare
BHI is eyeing another fertility center in Egypt
PLUS: Cairo Governorate to begin trial runs of Magra El Oyoun heritage events
AfDB and Italy’s CDP commit USD 35 mn to RMBV’s North Africa Fund III
Plus: Target Holding is awaiting FRA approval to acquire debt collector Taswia to expand its…
Roche Diagnostics names Carlos Justiniani Ugarte as general manager for Egypt
The 27-year Roche veteran steps into the role following four years of building the company’s…
CIRA lines up EGP 2 bn expansion across education, healthcare, and vocational training
The group’s healthcare arm is targeting a 4Q 2026 EGX debut, while one of CIRA’s…
Infrastructure
Sudan scraps import ban on 44 goods, zeroes duties on eight food staples
Plus: EBank signs MoU with GOEIC to link export finance with export inspections
Egypt’s emergency oil storage faces USD 2.5 bn funding gap
A funding shortfall exposes the limits of Egypt’s energy safety net
Egypt’s power links are starting to trade both ways
Being connected to several neighbours is a long way from trading with them
Egypt opens first phase of Ismailia Vaccines and Biotechnology City tomorrow
Good morning, friends. Tomorrow’s pricing of the state’s biggest share sale in years will tell…
Hospitality + Tourism
What’s inside Downtown’s restored La Viennoise
La Viennoise now hosts a hotel, a rooftop restaurant, and nine independent Egyptian businesses around…
ADD Properties secures USD 265 mn syndicated loan led by the EBRD for its Giza hotel
The EBRD has arranged the USD 265 mn syndicated loan for ADD Properties’ new Grand…
Beltone’s new B-Torohat fund aims to ride Egypt’s busiest IPO run in years
Plus: Egypt’s SPAC pipeline grows as four companies eye blank-check listings
Pickalbatros closes USD 250 mn sustainability-linked package from IFC, Attijariwafa for Morocco expansion
The Egyptian group now runs nine hotels and more than 2.7k rooms in Morocco
Law
Gafi and FRA seize control of PHG general assembly after audit uncovers “serious violations”
State regulators nullified PGH’s upcoming assembly and assumed calling powers after an inspection flagged severe…
Former Deputy PM Ziad Bahaa-Eldin joins Adsero to head new regulatory practice
Plus: Former International Cooperation and Planning Minister Rania Al Mashat was officially sworn in as…
Cairo Economic Court backs Juhayna blocking Baladna board representation
The court cited a “violation of competition standards and anti-monopoly regulations” in its ruling
Chambers and Partners is out with its 2026 list of Egypt’s top arbitration litigators
Youssef + Partners’ Karim Youssef was awarded the top title of Star Individual
Manufacturing
Gov’t waives the 5% development fee for zone-based phone makers selling locally
FinMin agreed to drop the 5% development fee for factories in the economic and private…
Egyptian granular urea at USD 535 as gas supplies to fertilizer plants cut 20%
November contracts cleared at about USD 535 a ton, 17% above September and the top…
Egypt asks Brussels for preferential treatment as EU’s carbon border levy nears
What the gov’t wants is a phased timetable, and the one route that keeps carbon…
Maersk tells the SCA it hopes to have all its services back on the Suez Canal by March 2027
Good morning, friends. All that glitters isn’t gold on the consumer finance front. The FRA…
Media
The one-dimensional portrayal of Iran and its impact on the war
“Iranian civil society has always found ways of reasserting itself and manifesting its ingenuity, but…
How AI is rewriting the rules of production in Egypt
The real conflict isn’t man vs. machine, it’s a clash between two eras
Revamp of entertainment tax to spare cinema, theater from tax increases
Not everyone in the entertainment sector will be spared, with tax increases for certain types…
Meet Peace Cake’s Marwan Imam
Peace Cake is one of Egypt’s leading digital production agencies — and then some
Microfinance
The Oil Ministry and Chevron initial the fiscal agreement for developing Cyprus’ Aphrodite gas field
Good morning, ladies and gents. Egypt’s biggest listed developer just signed its most ambitious agreement…
Egypt, Turkey, and India proposed safe passage for grain ships at Ukrainian and Russian ports, but Russia refused, Zelenskyy says
Good morning, friends. It’s an IPO morning at the EGX. MNT-Halan takes its first bow,…
Four foreign funds line up USD 256 mn for Banque du Caire
London’s Redwheel is among the backers, nearly two weeks after anchoring MNT-Halan’s IPO
Mounir Nakhla on his blockbuster IPO and why the first person he talks to each morning is someone named Apollo
Soon after MNT-Halan announced that it was heading to the EGX, in what is now…
Mining
Consumer lenders can no longer finance gold, and analysts weigh what that says about how Egyptians save
Analysts say borrowing to buy gold turns a hedge into a leveraged trade, while deposit…
> Why European central banks are relocating gold reserves out of North America
The Dutch and French central banks have tapped London to take on their goal as…
Sawiris bids for more gold blocks, Ankh starts Phase 2, Xcalibur survey awaits green light at Egypt Mining Forum
Naguib Sawiris’ AKH Gold bids five new blocks and targets c. 1 mn oz at…
Open-sector delivers: Shalateen and Saudi Gold Refinery reveal Eastern Desert roadmaps
The first awards under the new open-sector mining system were confirmed at this week’s forum,…
NBFS
Egypt, Russia discuss starting work on Russian Industrial Zone at Ain Sokhna
Plus: Egy Stone’s board approved a fair value of EGP 9.06 a share and is…
Orange eyes consumer finance entry as it doubles down on IT exports
The telco is considering whether to buy a consumer finance company, partner with one, or…
The FRA’s consumer finance guide covers everything from OTP verification to debt collection registries — here’s everything you need to know before signing a contract
After a summer of warnings, crackdowns, and an EGP 319 mn fraud scandal, the FRA…
FRA mandates event-by-event credit reporting for non-bank lenders
Two new decisions extend event-by-event reporting across the full financing lifecycle
Outsourcing
Ex-e& group CEO Hatem Dowidar takes stake in Cairo AI startup Tactful
Plus: Transport Ministry presses for faster rail work on the Arish–Taba corridor
Vietnamese tech giant FPT opens first Africa office in Cairo
Good morning, ladies and gents, and happy Thursday. The IPO everyone has been talking about…
ITIDA’s Ahmed El Zaher on the jobs question hanging over Egypt’s outsourcing boom
As Egypt targets USD 6.4 bn in outsourcing exports, the man running the sector makes…
Modon is looking for an EGP 35 bn syndicated loan to fund infrastructure in Wadi Yamm
PLUS: Outsourcing in Egypt continues to pick up speed as US-based firm InteLogix plans to…
Private Equity
Ezdehar eyes USD 200 mn Fund III, with EGX exits back in play
Ezdehar buys Consolidated Group to merge with DalyDress, and lines up a USD 200 mn…
USD 2.1 tn in capex from GCC is going to self-reliance + resilience -BlackRock
BlackRock estimates the GCC will invest between USD 1.6-2.5 tn in capex through 2030
RMBV’s North Africa Fund III has closed six deals, with more in the pipeline
RMBV’s Ahmed Badreldin tells us the fund has deployed USD 300 mn across six closed…
Spain’s Konecta is investing USD 100 mn to build its AI hub out of Cairo
PLUS: B Investments neither confirms nor denies reports that a consortium it leads may raise…
Real Estate
Innovo Group appoints Emaar Misr’s Mostafa El Kady to lead its real estate development arm
El Kady ran Emaar Misr from 2019 through May 2026 and now takes over Innovo’s…
ACUD plans incentive program for developers as costs and interest rates climb
Here are the stories driving the day, both at home and abroad. Administrative Capital for…
TMG signs four state partnership deals worth some EGP 11 tn across Madinaty, Alexandria, Abu Qir, and North Coast
The four mixed-use projects would cost roughly six times the amount paid for Ras El…
Electricity Ministry taps Giza Cable Industries for EGP 237.3 mn Saudi interconnection work
PLUS: Emaar Misr hired BDO Keys to value its own and Skytower’s shares and set…
SMEs
How homegrown fashion brands are building design capacity
From the Italian Fashion Academy to self-taught illustration via skateboarding — two homegrown brands show…
Egyptian scaleups are getting a structured shot at venture debt
The program provides 30 Egyptian scaleups with non-repayable EUR 5k de-risking support and capacity training,…
Meet our Founder of the Month: Olimi AI’s Shaden El Olimi
🤖 OUR FOUNDER OF THE MONTH — Every month, Founder of the Month looks at…
Meet Egyptian 3D concrete printing company Layn’s Zeyad Zein
🏗️ OUR FOUNDER OF THE MONTH — Every month, Founder of the Month looks at…
Sports
Zamalek, Ahly, and Pyramids all play in the Egypt Cup Round of 32 this weekend
Como equaled the biggest W in Champions League history, and Fenerbahçe ended Liverpool’s perfect start:…
Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool play in the Champions League tonight
Arsenal are unbeaten in a club-record 18 Champions League games, and Liverpool arrive in Istanbul…
An Atlético-Bayern clash leads a big night for Barca, PSG, and Man United
Atlético Madrid-Bayern Munich headline tonight’s European action, while Zamalek falter and Al Ahly grab a…
Zamalek, Al Ahly, and a Newcastle-Everton rematch headline tonight
Wadi Degla and Zamalek go head-to-head tonight, followed by Al Ahly taking on Al Mokawloon
Tech
Black October: Behind the global wave of cyberattacks that shook Egypt’s highways
A Giza billboard and Europe’s supermarket freezers showed how exposed old internet-connected systems are, and…
Tactful AI targets USD 5-10 mn Series A after USD 1 mn pre-Series A
The Cairo- and Cambridge-based CX startup says Dstny’s R&D spending left it with a product…
Tactful AI’s Mohamed Elmasry on how a smart home idea became a customer experience business
“We built wonders thousands of years ago, and I believe we can do it again”
Deloitte adds USD 40 mn to its Cairo innovation hub, completing a USD 110 mn plan
Plus: Egypt signs agreement to host World Economic Forum’s dedicated business meeting on 16-17 November
Telecoms
The IFC is weighing a USD 120 mn debt investment for Alcazar Energy’s acquisition of 580 MW Gabal El Zeit wind farm
Good morning, friends. Today we have three stories about decisions in progress — a draft…
Egypt wants Austria to set up logistics zone in SCZone as an export base into Arab and African markets
PLUS: Orange Egypt is powering four Marakez developments: Ramla, District 5, and Aeon Towers and…
HSBC boosts Swvl’s working capital facility by 110% to USD 1.4 mn
Plus: Modon awards EGP 12 bn infrastructure and residential contract for Ras El Hekma’s first…
MNT-Halan’s local arm is heading to the EGX
Good morning, friends. Stories in today’s issue circle the same questions: where is Egypt putting…
Trade + Logistics
Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan discuss new Red Sea, Med outlets for Iraqi crude
Titan Egypt nearly doubles expected solar capacity at its Beni Suef cement plant to 21.45…
ShipBlu and Mylerz are building the sector infrastructure Egyptian DTC has been running without
Cash-on-delivery still runs the sector, and success rates determine which fulfillment partner wins the brand
Importers say FX is flowing, but a weaker EGP, bank fees, and port charges are lifting costs
Importers call for emergency customs measures to cut port costs, while traders mark up food…
Welcome to the third issue of Power Trip
Hello, wonderful people, and welcome to the third issue of our signature series, Power Trip.…
Transport
The USD makes jump to EGP 55
Here are the stories driving the day both at home and abroad. The USD crossed…
EAEF continues Fawry exit as its congressional mandate nears its end
PLUS: The gov’t is planning to launch an industrial investment fund with CI Capital within…
Gov’t halts external borrowing for transport projects unless debt committee approves
New Cabinet committee approval required for transport borrowing as sector debt nears USD 14 bn
Five years into RISE, safety metric frozen as World Bank ratchets up fiduciary risk on Egypt’s railway loan
Fiduciary risk on the World Bank’s c. USD 421 mn RISE loan has been raised…