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Monday, 10 Aug 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
Investment Watch
Regulation Watch
Energy
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Blackboard
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A good day for Sahel with Alam El Roum launch

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Today at a glance

1

Investment Watch

Qatari Diar kicks off EGP 220 bn first phase of its Alam El Roum megacity + More Gulf money for Sahel.
2

REGULATION WATCH

FRA opens the door for Egypt’s first hedge funds.
3

Energy

Gov’t maps out EGP 257.7 bn drilling push to lift oil and gas output.
4

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Awqaf offers 41k sqm Rawd El Farag plot for private partnership.
5

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

EGX seeks tax breaks for PE, real estate, and metal funds.
6

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Emaar Misr revives Sky Tower acquisition study after two-year lull.
7

Also on our Radar

Five Indian firms mull market entry as Cairo pitches dedicated SCZone industrial hub.
8

PLANET FINANCE

Moody’s warns bank AI race risks “systemic dependency” on Silicon Valley.
9

BLACKBOARD

Egypt’s Kosen Institute is enrollment-full, factory-short.

Monday, 10 Aug 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
Investment Watch
Regulation Watch
Energy
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Blackboard
Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Awqaf offers 41k sqm Rawd El Farag plot for private partnership

Good morning, ladies and gents. We have news from Sahel, where Qatari Diar kicked off the EGP 220 bn first phase of its USD 29.7 bn Alam El Roum megacity on the North Coast. This launch is accompanied by a newly awarded EGP 135 bn Emirati partnership at Jefaira and an EGP 6.5 bn state grid expansion to handle the massive new utility loads.

And say hello to hedge funds. The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has cleared the way for asset managers to launch or convert mutual funds into Egypt’s first hedge funds. This long-awaited move introduces absolute-return strategies to the EGX and is expected to finally inject some liquidity into our nascent derivatives market.

MEANWHILE- The Oil Ministry is lining up EGP 257.7 bn in investments to expand extraction activities and reverse years of declining gas and oil production — and EGP 103 bn is specifically for natural gas exploration.

***

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***

Upgrading Rawd El Farag

The Awqaf Authority is putting a 41k-sqm plot at the former Rawd El Farag market site in Cairo up for development through a private-sector partnership, a government official tells EnterpriseAM. The prospect has already been opened to investors, with the authority accepting proposals from both local and foreign developers.

The site does not come with a fixed master plan: Hotels, office buildings, and towers are among the potential uses identified for the plot by the authority, according to the official. However, developers will be expected to submit their own development vision, proposed master plan, and feasibility study before the 31 August deadline, they added.

Larger Awqaf pipeline: Government sources told us back in May that the authority was preparing around 20 investment prospects for private-sector partnerships in 2H 2026, spanning land for real estate investment and buildings that could be repurposed into hotels and other commercial uses.

There is plenty more property to put to work: Awqaf’s real estate portfolio is valued at around EGP 137 bn, the official said, citing the latest official figures — although parts of it remain difficult to monetize because of old-rent arrangements, encroachments, and disputes. The Rawd El Farag offering also sits within a wider government push to bring private investors into the redevelopment of underused Cairo properties, including assets being repositioned for hospitality and commercial uses.

Another shot at fund exemptions

The EGX wants the government to broaden tax exemptions for investment funds — including private equity, real estate, and precious-metal funds — under the third tax-facilitation package currently in the works, a government official tells EnterpriseAM. The exchange put the proposal forward at the capital-market tax committee’s first meeting while separately asking for an urgent amendment to the Income Tax Law to explicitly fold precious-metal funds under existing exemptions.

The Tax Authority wants to see the numbers first: Officials asked for a comprehensive assessment of existing fund investments, their growth rates, and future investment targets to weigh the economic benefits against the potential hit to tax revenues, according to the official. No decision has been made on whether the proposed exemptions will make it into the third package.

The proposed fund exemptions have been on the drawing board since last year. The measures were originally studied during 2025 and deferred when the second package moved ahead in December 2025 to focus on stamp taxes and other immediate capital-market measures. They were proposed again in February 2026 as part of a broader capital-market reform package and are now being revived under the committee’s fresh mandate.

Precious-metal funds have grown quickly in the meantime. Gold and silver funds had drawn 329k investors and EGP 9.35 bn in assets by end-June 2026. The wider investment fund market ended 2Q with around EGP 471 bn in net asset value across 224 funds, up 14.7% q-o-q.

A slow swap

Emaar Misr’s board referred a finalized acquisition study for up to 100% of affiliate company Sky Tower to its investment committee, according to a bourse disclosure (pdf). This marks the first sign of forward motion since Sky Tower’s shareholders approved Emaar’s offer in May 2024. Sky Tower for Real Estate Development — in which Emaar Misr holds a stake — has partnered with Saudi Arabia’s Citystars Properties (via its affiliate Golden Coast) to launch Marassi Red Sea, an EGP 900 bn coastal megaproject on the Red Sea.

What we know: The structure, as it was greenlit two years ago, splits the transaction into two parts: an allcash purchase of a 25% stake in Sky Tower and a share swap for the remaining 75% once an independent financial advisor sets the exchange ratio. Whether that structure still holds is unclear. No timeline or reason for the delay was given.

Data point

USD 3.99 bn — that’s where Egypt’s trade deficit stood in May, down just 0.3% from USD 4 bn in the same month a year earlier, according to Capmas data. Exports rose 3.58% y-o-y to USD 4.53 bn during the month, while imports increased 1.72% to USD 8.52 bn, with natural gas imports nearly doubling.

Destination Sahel Issue III drops this week, and we’re diving into how the North Coast is adapting to a changing market.

Developers are recalibrating as buyer behavior shifts, luxury retail is carving out a bigger piece of Sahel’s economy, and the wellness and sports scene has become a summer destination on its own.

In this issue, we get into what’s actually changing on the ground, from how developers are adjusting their pitch to where to shop and how to stay active this season.

Coming straight to your inbox on Wednesday, 12 August.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another hot day in Cairo today, with a high of 37°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a bit nicer in Alexandria, with a high of 33°C and a low of 23°C.

The big story abroad

Today’s front pages are led by geopolitical developments on two fronts rather than corporate news. Here are the latest regional headlines, followed by highlights in the business press:

Hormuz resolution stalls: While Oman and Iran have yet to reach an agreement on transit through Hormuz, US President Donald Trump signaled a patient approach, saying Washington can afford to wait out the conflict as the Islamic Republic faces deepening economic woes. Trump indicated that Iran’s rising inflation and dwindling funds will put pressure on Tehran at the negotiating table.

Tehran reiterated that it will not engage in direct talks with the US, with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi citing Washington’s violations of the interim truce reached in July. Meanwhile, Iran’s top security official, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, has resigned and been replaced by fellow veteran and Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei.

On the Hamas-Israel front: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a 15-point US-backed framework to disarm Hamas, pushing back at the suggestion that the IDF withdraw from Gaza. Hamas offered only conditional approval of the roadmap, tying weapon handovers to Israeli withdrawals and Palestinian statehood.

Asia’s carmakers swoop in on US market: With the conflict with Iran keeping fuel prices elevated, Asian carmakers Toyota and Hyundai have capitalized on surging US demand for hybrid vehicles, recording y-o-y sales increases of 22% and 62% respectively in July, according to data from RBC Capital Markets. Toyota, Hyundai, and Honda account for 86% of the US hybrid market, with Ford pickups making up most of the remainder.

China shifts strategy to fund tech scene: Chinese tech companies raised around USD 217 bn via IPOs and bond sales over the past two years, less than a sixth of the amount secured by US giants like Amazon and Alphabet, according to Bloomberg data. Tapping capital markets instead of relying solely on subsidies marks a shift for Beijing, unlocking USD 25 tn in household savings and providing local firms with low-cost funding.

*** 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 dive into Kosen Institute with its 900 applicants, its 320 seats, and the hard lesson in what’s actually scarce in Egypt’s labor market.

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2

Investment Watch

Qatari Diar kicks off EGP 220 bn first phase of its Alam El Roum megacity + More Gulf money for Sahel

Sahel is changing fast — and it’s challenging to keep pace with the flurry of news from our Northern Coast. While Qatari Diar launches the EGP 220 bn first phase of its USD 29.7 bn Alam El Roum city, an unnamed Emirati investor is finalizing an agreement to develop a mixed-use tourism and urban project in Jefaira. Meanwhile, another group of unnamed Qatari investors is sizing up two North Coast developments worth nearly EGP 6 bn. The state electricity transmission company is deploying EGP 6.5 bn to build out substations to keep pace with the region’s rapidly expanding load demands.

Qatari Diar launched the first phase of its Alam El Roum development, with up to EGP 220 bn going into the 4 mn sqm phase, according to a cabinet statement. The phase will include around 1.4 mn sqm of built-up area, with initial deliveries targeted for 2030. The wider Alam El Roum development on the North Coast carries a total planned investment of USD 29.7 bn.

What the first EGP 220 bn buys: Phase one will include four hotels with more than 1k rooms, a marina with 50 yacht berths, around 195k sqm of artificial swimmable lagoons, and a 2-km beach and waterfront promenade. Around 85% of the phase will be left as open space, with the government expecting it to support around 30k direct and indirect jobs.

The master plan: The full 20.58-mn-sqm development stretches across 7.2 km of Mediterranean coastline and is planned as a year-round mixed-use city spanning residential, hospitality, commercial, healthcare, education, and entertainment uses. The current master plan features more than 3.5k hotel rooms, two marinas — including an international marina with 370 berths — and an 18-hole golf course.

There is more infrastructure in the mix: Qatari Diar CEO Hamad bin Talal Al Thani said the project will include a service freezone and sit near the high-speed electric railway, with US engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) leading the design alongside international partners (watch, runtime: 4:11).

REMEMBER- Alam El Roum was still moving through planning and early execution when we checked in last month. Qatari Diar had taken over the first phase of the land and appointed SOM and SWA Group to prepare the master plan after signing a USD 29.7 bn development agreement last November. Today’s launch puts a concrete investment ticket and delivery milestone on that first phase.

Qatari Diar is planning a much bigger Egypt footprint: The developer currently has around USD 7 bn invested in the country and expects that to rise to around USD 40 bn over the next 15 years, according to Al Thani.

Jefaira takes shape

The government tapped an unnamed Emirati investor to develop the 642-feddan Jefaira plot on the North Coast under a partnership deal valued at around EGP 135 bn, according to four unnamed officials. The investor was selected around two months ago and has already settled an EGP 100 mn reservation payment to secure the northwest North Coast site. The final contracts are still being drafted and are expected to be signed and announced before year-end. While officials declined to name the specific developer, they confirmed the transaction has been awarded and is moving toward execution.

The mechanics: The investor would settle the land value over six years while developing a tourism and hospitality project on the Mediterranean coast. The preliminary agreement is structured under a hybrid public-private partnership (PPP) model. Instead of an outright land exit, the transaction gives the government a 20-30% annual share of future project revenues, alongside a physical, in-kind allocation of completed hotel units once the development is operational.

We’ve heard this before: An official at the National Investment Bank (NIB) told us last January that the state lender was finalizing an agreement with an Emirati investor to develop Jefaira. At the time, the project was expected to generate EGP 275 bn in revenues over its lifespan. NIB took ownership of the 642-feddan parcel in 2023 under a presidential decree to settle outstanding state liabilities. NIB plans to use this partnership as a template for monetizing more of its property portfolio through development partnerships or outright sales.

IN CONTEXT- Jefaira would add another Gulf-backed development partnership to the North Coast. Egypt’s USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement left the government with a 35% share of future project revenues. Meanwhile, its USD 29.7 bn Alam El Roum agreement with Qatari Diar similarly combines land consideration with a 15% revenue share — after the project reaches cost recovery — and in-kind residential allocations.

Qatari investors eye Sahel

Another group of unnamed Qatari investors is sizing up two North Coast developments of nearly EGP 6 bn, Al Borsa reports, citing Fathallah & Co. partner Ramy Fathalla, whose office averages three to four foreign company inquiries monthly to study local investment plays. The investors plan to deploy capital through joint ventures with established Egyptian companies rather than going solo — leveraging local regulatory and execution expertise to accelerate development timelines.

IN CONTEXT- We reported in December that Egypt expected to attract around USD 10 bn in Qatari investment by end-2026, combining sovereign and private capital. While the Qatari state is cutting the largest checks — led by Qatari Diar’s USD 29.7 bn Alam El Roum master concession — the private sector is playing a tactical role by taking smaller, high-velocity positions in mid-sized commercial and sporting assets.

Powering follows the buildout

The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) plans to invest an initial EGP 6.5 bn to build four 220 kV substations on the North Coast over the next two years, according to unnamed government officials. The new stations are meant to secure power for a wave of upcoming tourism and urban projects across the North Coast and New Alamein while improving grid reliability as local electricity demand spikes. The stations will help the grid keep pace with rapid load growth as developers transition the coastal strip from seasonal resorts into fully integrated cities.

More rooms, more load: Egypt is targeting a 40% expansion in the North Coast’s hotel capacity this year, aiming to bring total rooms to 7k from the current baseline of 5k keys across 42 hotels. Looking further out, the government wants to add 20k-30k rooms to the Mediterranean coast by 2030 as it pushes the area further toward a year-round tourism destination.

IN CONTEXT- The power investment tackles one of the infrastructure gaps we flagged in our Sahel deep dive last summer, when developers said Alamein and Ras El Hekma would need city-scale infrastructure to support year-round growth rather than individual resort-by-resort development.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

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3

REGULATION WATCH

FRA opens the door for Egypt’s first hedge funds

Fund managers can soon launch hedge funds in Egypt for the first time, either by building ones from scratch or converting existing mutual funds, according to a new decision by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The decision seeks to deepen local capital markets by introducing absolute-return strategies to the Egyptian Exchange (EGX).

Uhm…Enterprise, what’s a hedge fund? A hedge fund is a private pool of capital managed with one primary goal: delivering positive returns regardless of whether the market is going up or down. That absolute-return focus is what sets it apart from traditional mutual funds, which generally just ride market cycles. To pull this off, a hedge fund manager borrows money to make bigger wagers than the fund’s own capital would allow, by using derivatives like options and futures and by short-selling.

Why it matters: With that, the FRA just created a whole lot of demand for our nascent derivatives market. A licensed hedge fund can trade financial derivatives (forwards, futures, and traded options) and borrowed securities used for short-selling on the EGX, alongside equities, debt instruments, and other high-turnover securities. The new rules thereby create a new class of investors with built-in demand for the EGX’s new derivatives products, namely EGX30 index futures and single-stock futures on two of the exchange’s most liquid names: CIB and TMG — which have so far suffered thin trading volumes.

ICYMI- We flagged this exact gap in March. When EGX30 futures launched, Al Ahly Pharos Head of Research Hany Genena told us that fund managers’ own internal mandates, not appetite, were what kept them out of the new derivatives markets, since most mandates didn’t yet allow for leveraged instruments. A hedge fund is, by definition, a mandate built to use the tools Genena said everyone else was locked out of.

The guardrails: To balance investment flexibility with investor protection, the FRA is establishing operational obligations for fund managers. A hedge fund’s investment manager needs to have specialized expertise in its core strategy, periodically assess the creditworthiness of counterparties, manage and monitor leverage to keep it within prospectus limits, and run periodic stress tests and scenario analyses to ensure the fund can survive extreme conditions.

Converting the book: A fund company has to get its board’s approval to amend its prospectus or information memorandum to reflect the fund’s new multi-issuance hedge-fund status. The fund’s investment universe must be strictly restricted to EGX-listed equities and debt instruments, open-ended or listed fund units, exchange-traded futures and options, and other financial instruments authorized by the FRA board.

“Hedge funds will help activate the exchange” alongside the derivatives and short-selling rollout, FRA Chairman Islam Azzam said, calling the decision a positive step following recent amendments to the Capital Market Law’s executive regulations. He said the funds would boost the industry’s investment and operational flexibility while targeting new segments of local and foreign investors through their diversification-based, high-return strategy.

What’s next: The new regulations will be published in the Official Gazette within days and will take effect the day after publication. EGX Chairman Omar Radwan told us last week that the market’s short-selling mechanism is coming online this month. That means hedge funds licensed under today’s decision won’t just have derivatives to trade — they will have a functioning way to actually execute the short side of their strategy almost immediately, rather than waiting on a second piece of infrastructure to catch up.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

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4

Energy

Gov’t maps out EGP 257.7 bn drilling program push to lift oil and gas output

The Oil Ministry is lining up EGP 257.7 bn in investment to expand extraction activities over the coming period, including EGP 103 bn earmarked specifically for natural gas, a government official tells EnterpriseAM. The spending will focus on West Nile and the southern Western Desert, alongside new exploration work, as the ministry looks to lift domestic output after years of declining production and reduce reliance on imports.

A nationwide seismic survey: The ministry is launching a phased 100k-sq-km seismic survey alongside a major concession offering to attract foreign operators. The initial 18k-sq-km phase of the survey will cover West Nile and the Western Desert to identify high-potential reservoirs. Meanwhile, the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is already moving ahead with a seismic survey covering more than 50k sq km near the Libyan border.

More acreage up for grabs: The ministry has put forward 70 new oil and gas potential investments across the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Western Desert, Delta, and Gulf of Suez, the official says. The exploration push comes alongside plans for 160 new oil and gas wells this fiscal year, backed by at least USD 7.2 bn in planned investment from foreign partners, with around 30% of the wells earmarked for exploration.

The government is pairing the upstream drilling push with targeted midstream, pipeline, and refining upgrades:

  • EGPC will deploy EGP 8.3 bn to replace and renew production units at active wells to improve output efficiency;
  • The Petroleum Pipelines Company will spend EGP 3.6 bn to upgrade crude and LPG pipelines and renew parts of the national network;
  • Assiut Oil Refining Company will invest EGP 4 bn, a package that includes the construction of a 10 MW solar power plant to reduce the refinery’s grid draw;
  • The ministry also plans to complete Phase 2 of the Meleiha gas treatment plant, boosting production capacity to 125 mmcf / d once complete.

IN CONTEXT- Domestic gas output has fallen below 4 bcf / d, while existing fields are losing around 120 mmcf / d every month through natural decline. Five wells due online in October are expected to add around 100 mmcf / d — not enough on their own to offset that decline.

Imports have been doing more of the heavy lifting. The government imported around USD 7.9 bn worth of natural gas in 2025, Alarabiya reported earlier this year. The country’s regasification system can currently handle around 2.7 bcf / d, leaving the ministry’s production push aimed squarely at gradually reducing how much of that capacity Egypt needs to use.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

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5

Also on our Radar

Five Indian firms mull market entry as Cairo pitches dedicated SCZone industrial hub

Five Indian companies are studying potential new investments in Egypt across several sectors, including chemicals, fertilizers, petrochemicals, textiles, engineering, pharma, automotive, and renewables, Al Borsa reports, citing Egyptian-Indian Business Council head Khaled Abu El Makarem. The companies, their planned investment tickets, and timelines were not disclosed.

They could soon have a dedicated home: Egypt and India are advancing plans for an Indian industrial zone within the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), with Investment Minister Mohamed Farid and Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal discussing the project again on Friday and calling for accelerating the remaining implementation steps. Abu El Makarem expects the zone to help draw in more Indian manufacturers by giving them access to Egypt’s network of trade agreements and to lift Indian investment in the country by at least 20%.

But Indian manufacturers aren’t waiting for the dedicated zone: Prestige Denim Mills signed up for a USD 20 mn Qantara West denim plant in June, while TCI Sanmar laid out another USD 300 mn in Egypt investment plans last year.

A shorter extension

Private ins. funds now have until 31 December to bring themselves into line with the Unified Ins. Law, according to a statement from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The extension gives funds more time to amend their bylaws and complete the steps needed to comply with the new legislative and regulatory framework.

But they don’t get as long as everyone else: We reported last week that the FRA gave the rest of the ins. sector until 11 July 2027 to comply with the law. The regulator did not clarify why private ins. funds are subject to the shorter deadline.

There’s a sizable pool at stake: Private ins. funds had more than EGP 201 bn invested across 671 funds serving around 5 mn members at end-2025, as we looked at last month. New investments reached EGP 16.5 bn in the first five months of 2026, up around 51% y-o-y.

More on our radar:

  • The Red Sea Ports Authority is auctioning a seven-year usufruct contract to operate and commercially develop Safaga’s Marina Al Aluminium, with the auction set for 25 August. The authority is targeting around EGP 50 mn in annual revenue from the marina. (Al Borsa)

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

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6

PLANET FINANCE

Moody’s warns bank AI race risks “systemic dependency” on Silicon Valley

Could AI leave banks beholden to a handful of tech vendors? Banks racing to build AI into their operations risk becoming dependent on a small cluster of Silicon Valley models and cloud providers, The Guardian reports, citing a research note by Moody’s. The credit rating agency warns the trend could expose lenders to outages and pricing power wielded by profit-hungry tech firms.

The catch: Moody’s expects AI to eventually cut costs and lift revenue across banking but says that will require heavy upfront investment. However, competitive pressure, with rivals racing toward the same tools, will erode much of the payoff. The agency also flagged rising exposure to data privacy failures, cybersecurity gaps, fraud, and the risk of customers shifting large deposits between accounts at short notice as AI makes switching easier.

The concentration problem: Moody’s argues that leaning on a narrow set of foundation-model and cloud providers creates a “systemic dependency” — the report’s own term for a scenario where a single major outage could ripple across customers and entire sectors. It named OpenAI and Anthropic specifically, pointing out both are under pressure from investors to reach profitability despite ongoing losses — pressure Moody’s believes could eventually give those vendors leverage over the pricing terms of the institutions that build on their models.

Adoption is already deep. More than three-quarters of UK financial services firms use AI today, according to a UK Treasury select committee report. Adoption is highest among insurers and international banks, mostly for automating administrative work and handling core functions like claims processing and credit assessment. Lloyds Banking Group’s CEO Charlie Nunn has pressed ahead regardless, committing GBP 13 bn to an AI strategy that includes GBP 2 bn in cost cuts — acknowledging job impact. Moody’s separately put rough odds (about one in five) on AI matching the output of a capable mid-level employee by 2030.

Regional banks aren’t exactly waiting on the sidelines. Several GCC lenders have publicly disclosed their own AI push over the past year. Emirates NBD ranked first among 25 of the region’s largest banks in the inaugural Evident AI Index for Banks, Middle East and Africa (pdf). First Abu Dhabi Bank and Mashreq also ranked among the region’s top 10 most AI-mature banks, with Saudi Arabia’s Al Rajhi Bank the only other Gulf lender to crack the top 10. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Qatar National Bank, National Bank of Kuwait, Banque Misr, Riyad Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Kuwait Finance House, Saudi National Bank, and Saudi Awwal Bank were also included in the index.

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background as well as external sources.)

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Shares across Asia rose in early trading this morning, alongside Wall Street after a soft US jobs report eased concerns over near-term rate increases. Japan’s Nikkei gained around 1.5%, while South Korea’s Kospi trailed behind at a 0.6% gain. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index rose 0.3%.

EGX30

55,125

+0.8% (YTD: +31.8%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 49.79

Sell 49.93

USD (CIB)

Buy 49.80

Sell 49.90

Interest rates (CBE)

19.00% deposit

20.00% lending

Tadawul

10,817

+0.1% (YTD: +3.1%)

ADX

10,095

-0.3% (YTD: +1.0%)

DFM

5,945

+0.5% (YTD: -1.7%)

S&P 500

7,758

+0.6% (YTD: +13.3%)

FTSE 100

10,901

+0.3% (YTD: +9.8%)

Euro Stoxx 50

6,524

+0.3% (YTD: +12.6%)

Brent crude

USD 84.64

+1.3%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 2.72

+2.3%

Gold

USD 4,403

+0.1%

BTC

USD 65,131

+0.2% (YTD: +25.7%)

S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index

1,092

+0.1% (YTD: +10.0%%)

S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk

150.98

+0.0% (YTD: -0.6%)

VIX (Volatility Index)

14.90

-1.7% (YTD: -0.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.8% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 12.2 bn (23.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 31.8% YTD.

In the green: Arabian Cement (+7.6%), E-finance (+4.3%), and Orascom Development (+4.2%).

In the red: Emaar Misr (-0.8%), Orascom Investment Holding (-0.6%), and Qalaa Holdings (-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.

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7

BLACKBOARD

Egypt’s Kosen Institute is enrollment-full, factory-short

Egypt’s answer to a widening skills gap is a Japanese-style engineering school, the Kosen Institute — whose growth is capped by how many factories agree to train students, not by how many classrooms the state can build.

University graduates make up 41.5% of Egypt’s unemployed, yet factories across the country say they can’t find enough qualified technicians, according to Capmas’ 1Q 2026 Labor Force Survey bulletin (pdf). This mismatch is the backdrop for the Egypt-Japan Kosen Institute’s move to its permanent campus in 10th of Ramadan City this September — the start of its second academic year. It’s a five-year, Japan International Cooperation Agency-

(Jica) backed engineering program that ties classroom time directly to production-line needs, rather than issuing a diploma and hoping the market absorbs it.

An FDI supply line: The institute isn’t launching in a vacuum. Its expansion coincides with the government’s invitation to Japanese companies to build their own industrial zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) and with Toyota Tsusho’s agreement with the Industry and Investment ministries to localize auto manufacturing and its supply chain. Skilled technical labor is a prerequisite for both to work.

BACKGROUND- Kosen is a Japanese model dating to the 1960s that blends secondary and higher education to prepare engineers in fields society urgently needs, says the Kosen system’s official site. Egypt signed an agreement with Jica last year to open the first Kosen campus outside Japan. It’s the country’s first post-prep-school program of its kind, and it falls under the Higher Education Ministry, Egypt-Japan Kosen Institute Director Ahmed El Bandari tells EnterpriseAM.

A wage premium for graduates: The model also changes how the market prices technical labor. A graduate hired by the same company where he trained “earns a salary 30% higher compared to his peers holding traditional diplomas,” Supreme Council for Technological Education Secretary-General Ahmed El Gioushy tells EnterpriseAM.

Factories, not textbooks, write the syllabus: Jica gave the institute a list of 30 Japanese factories operating in Egypt, and coordination has started with eight of them to shape coursework around their actual skill needs, El Bandari says. Two new specializations, microelectronics and green energy, are being added to existing tracks in robotics, mechatronics and AI. “The goal is graduates who can develop production lines and machinery, not just staff them,” he adds.

Selective by design: The program’s financial and operational model runs on filtering, not scale. The first admissions round drew roughly 900 applicants for the 2026/27 academic year, up from just 47 in last year’s inaugural batch, but only 320 students got in.

The formula behind the number: El Gioushy says the cap is set by three factors: labor-market demand, factory training capacity, and a ratio of teachers, equipment, and sites per student meant to protect quality. The math comes down to “a machine, a factory, or a work site available for every student.” He measures success by how many graduates get hired, not how many apply.

Applicants need a minimum 85% preparatory school score, along with passing math, science, English, and logical reasoning tests. Tuition runs EGP 15k a year, split evenly between students and the Education Development Fund (EDF).

Life on campus, and what it leads to: The permanent campus sits on 24 feddans and includes more than 15 labs and workshops, El Bandari says — among them the “Dream Factory,” where students turn ideas into working prototypes using industrial-grade equipment. “Graduates can enter engineering college or a technical university directly in the third year, skipping the first two,” El Bandari notes. Japanese entities have also expressed interest in funding scholarships for graduates to continue their studies in Japan, a program El Bandari expects to launch next year once requirements are finalized.

Nissan Egypt has signed a protocol with the EDF to train Kosen students at its factory under Japanese-standard supervision, and SE Wiring Systems Egypt signed a similar agreement in April 2026, El Bandari says. “The institute plans to expand to other governorates in the coming years, with current students already drawn from across the country,” he notes.

Part of a wider push: The Kosen model sits inside a bigger state strategy. A separate push with Germany is also underway: the Education Ministry is running a 100-school Egyptian-German initiative for the 2026/27 academic year, backed by the German Embassy, the Goethe Institute, and Germany’s ZfA. Egypt has also passed its original target of 200 applied-technology schools by 2030, built in partnership with the private sector. The country will have 225 by the next academic year, per a Presidency statement.

Companies are already building their own: Elsewedy Electric’s STA runs a German-style dual-education model with 80% factory training and 20% classroom under the Education Ministry’s supervision. It also received a Swiss government delegation in 2020 to discuss expanding vocational training. Ezz Steel is opening seven similar schools with Italy’s Danieli in the 2026/27 academic year.

El Gioushy says it will take at least 10 years to properly judge Kosen’s real impact, pointing to how long similar education-policy shifts have taken to show results elsewhere, including in the US. Scaling the model to cover all of Egypt’s technical schools isn’t realistic without resources the country doesn’t yet have, he adds.

OUR TAKE- In demand terms, the model works, and 900 applicants for 320 seats is the proof. But that same number is also where the model breaks, because the supply side hasn’t kept up: the number of factories willing to train those students is still small. Nissan Egypt and SE Wiring Systems Egypt have signed on, but two factory floors won’t dent a labor market where roughly four in 10 jobless Egyptians already hold a university degree. Closing the skills gap depends on manufacturers, not classrooms.

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CALENDAR

AUGUST

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

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.

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

30 September - October 3 (Wednesday-Saturday): Cityscape, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

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.

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

Mid-August: IMF Board expected to decide on the seventh review of the loan program.

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.

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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