EBRD to help us unlock USD 1 bn from IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Fund

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What We're Tracking Today

Concrete Fashion Group to debut on the Egyptian Stock Exchange today

Good morning, friends. It’s shaping up to be another busy week, with everything from updates on Egypt’s strategic partnership with the EU, more signs of a healthy interbank market, another IPO is back in the news, and a new step towards a Turkish industrial zone in Egypt.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:09 pm in the capital city, and you’ll have until 4:25 am tomorrow to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of fajr.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- El Sisi wants more gov’t involvement in stabilizing commodity prices: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi proposed that the government could either compete directly with the private sector in selling essential commodities — in which case he called for earmarking USD 1-3 bn to the government to ramp up competition — and enforce the role of the competition authority deter hoarding and price gouging practices, according to a Thursday speech (watch, runtime: 3:10).

#2- EIB gearing up to finance green hydrogen project: The European Investment Bank (EIB) has started due diligence for an unspecified green hydrogen project, the bank’s regional head, Guido Clary, told Asharq Business, adding that green hydrogen will be among the main sectors in which the bank will target next year, especially in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Clary did not specify whether the lender will be directing funds to one of the numerous projects already in the pipeline or a new one.

FX WATCH-

Banks in Egypt have bought and sold over USD 8.5 bn on the interbank market in the two weeks since Egypt floated the EGP, Asharq Business reports, citing unnamed banking sources. The EGP has appreciated about 9% against the greenback since the float was announced, closing last week at about EGP 46.70 to USD 1.

Healthy interbank volumes are a good sign: They’re consistent with the slow de-dollarization expected by most bankers with whom we’ve spoken. They’re also consistent with positive market sentiment after a run of announcements of immediate inflows from the carry trade and the first payments from ADQ for the development rights to Ras El Hekma, as well expectations of near- and medium-term inflows from the IMF, World Bank, and European Union.

Where does the EGP “settle”: Smart folks ranging from EFG Hermes and HSBC to Goldman Sachs and more see the EGP in the 40-45 range.

What to watch for: Inflows speak to the EGP appreciating to something in the range called for by the big research houses. Among the signs that we’re not re-pegged:

Does the central bank fully eliminate currency controls?

Does the EGP lose ground in the face of an adverse development — something another covid or war in Ukraine?
Is there volatility within the trading band the big banks think is reasonable?
Do the interbank volumes remain healthy?
How does the EGP behave (immediately and in the medium term) if we cut interest rates to the point that we become less attractive to the carry trade — and more attractive to local and foreign direct investor?

WAR WATCH-

Arab FMs talk ceasefire efforts with Blinken: Arab foreign ministers met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo on Thursday to push for concrete steps towards a ceasefire and decided that an expert group meeting with representatives from each country will convene in the coming days on the matter. Blinken met FM Sameh Shoukry and President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to discuss aid, ceasefire, and Red Sea developments (here and here).

UN Chief was also in town: UN Secertary General Antonio Guterrescalled Israel’s blocking of the flow of aid into Gaza a “moral outrage” while on a visit to the Rafah crossing yesterday, Reuters reported.

US-led Gaza ceasefire resolution vetoed by Russia, China:A US-led resolutioncalling for an immediate six-week ceasefire in Gaza and a hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas was vetoed by Russia and China during a UN Security Council meeting on Friday, reports Reuters. The resolution is the fourth to have been vetoed by the council since the war began in October, after Russia and China rebuffed the US’ insistence on tying the ceasefire to a hostage agreement and condemnation of Hamas, adds Axios. Algeria also voted against the resolution.

What’s next? The Security Council will reconvene on Monday to vote on an alternative resolution, a diplomatic source told Reuters.

RED SEA WATCH-

Maersk continues to avoid Red Sea despite EU naval protection mission: Shipping giant Maersk said it will continue to reroute via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea, after deeming that “the risk level in the region remains elevated,” a company statement showed. The number of attacks on commercial vessels has risen despite the EU launch of security operation Aspides last month to ensure a safer transit, the statement noted.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Concrete Fashion Group to start trading on the EGX: Our friends at Concrete Fashion Group for Commercial and Industrial Investment and subsidiary GTEX Holding will begin trading on the EGX today. The two companies are the product of a demerger at Arafa Holding that took place last week.

Go deeper- We spoke with newly-appointed deputy CEO Mohamed Talaat last week to find out what prompted the move and what’s next for Concrete, including its global expansion plans. You can read the full story here.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It was an incredibly busy weekend for news, regardless of whether capital markets, tech, or politics are your thing.

IN BUSINESS + TECH: [Redacted] just got serious for Big Tech. Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have spent the past 2-3 years trying to curb the power of major technology companies. Perhaps the most ambitious (and least well-thought-out?) swing came from the US Department of Justice, which on Thursday accused Apple of maintaining an illegal monopoly on smartphones.

The catch: Tech pundits argue the DoJ is overreaching by creating a smartphone category that doesn’t exist (have you ever heard of a “performance phone”? Didn’t think so.) in a bid to make its charges stick.

Essential reading:

The Department of Justice comes for Apple (Platformer)
US sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphones (The Verge)
Ghost of Microsoft stalks Apple as DOJ takes its shot (Wall Street Journal)
Google, Apple breakups on the agenda as global regulators target tech (Reuters)

AND- Reddit shares soared in their NYSE debut, climbing 48% in their first day of trading and prompting some analysts to claim the US IPO market for tech shares is back. We have the rundown in this morning’s Planet Finance, below.

MEANWHILE- “Big Oil used an industry conference this week to argue against a rapid transition to green energy, as fossil fuel companies are emboldened by high demand and record profits despite rising alarm over climate change,” the Financial Times writes in its must-read wrap of CERAWeek in Houston.

IN POLITICS: More than 130 people are dead in an Isis attack on a Moscow concert venueand the UK’s Princess Catherine has joined King Charles in revealing that she’s receiving treatment for cancer.

Somabay set to make a splash again with World Aquatics triple event extravaganza: Somabay is hosting the World Aquatics series for the second year, featuring three events in March, May, and August. The series includes the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup 2024, World Aquatics Elite Beach Water Polo World Cup 2024, and the World Aquatics Under 18 Beach Water Polo Cup 2024.

EBRD working to unlock USD 1 bn from IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility, bank’s Egypt head tells Enterprise

The EBRD has an important role to play in Egypt’s strategic partnership with the EU: On the heels of the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to Cairo last week, which was accompanied by various European heads of state to ink a joint strategic and comprehensive partnership with Egypt, Enterprise sat down with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Head of Egypt Khalid Hamza (LinkedIn) to find out more about the new partnership and the incoming EUR 7.4 bn.

Remember- A lot has changed during the month, with businesses, policymakers, and international lenders like the EBRD assessing the impact of a new post-float normal. Huge inflows of foreign currency have started entering Egypt’s coffers following the ADQ’s landmark USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement — the largest ever direct investment in Egypt. Soon after, the central bank moved to float the currency and hike interest rates by 600 bps to tackle an FX crunch that was facing the country. In addition, over USD 22 bn funding from the IMF, EU, and World Bank was greenlit.

For starters, the bank is going to help unlock USD 1 bn to support the partnership’s economic stability pillar: “If we speak about the economic macro stability, here we're coordinating with other [international financial institutions] and with the IMF on some of the policy issues that Egypt could adopt to be able to release the Resilience and Sustainability Facility,” Hamza told Enterprise. The IMF facility unlocks about USD 1 bn to facilitate Egypt’s energy transition.

The EBRD is going to play an important role in trade and investment — especially for the private sector — under the EU-Egypt partnership, Hamza told us, saying that almost 80% of the bank’s activity is with the private sector and that the last year saw 96% go to the private sector.

The bank aims to double down on infrastructure investment to tackle the migration crisis: Migration “puts a lot of pressure on Egyptian infrastructure, both hard and soft infrastructure,” Hamza explained, citing that the partnership seeks to support Egypt in hosting refugees and migrants and continuing to clamp down on irregular migration. “We're very well geared to address this and we've done this before and in other areas in the region by addressing those issues with investments in infrastructure.”

Fresh funds? While the EUR 7.4 bn package of grants and loans includes pledges that were previously announced, funds like the EUR 35 mn allocated in 2022 to Egypt’s Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy have not been utilized yet and in this sense can be considered “new money,” Hamza explained.

But what does the EU get out of the partnership? “There's the political dimension, there's the security dimension, and there's the economic dimension,” Hamza said. In addition to being important to regional stability and an important factor in limiting unregulated migration flows into Europe, “it's also very important because it has a huge potential to become a key supplier of renewable energy to its European neighbors.”

How will the political and security dimensions play out? “Politics is best left to the politicians and security is best left for those who work in security,” Hamza told us.

The partnership’s education and research cooperation pillar will also get some EBRD financial support and know-how: Skills development “is something that we play a big role in. We've worked in Egypt on trying to help with the establishment of a number of sector skills,” Hamza told us. “We've also supported the private sector establishing technical skills…We've actually financed technical assistance to upgrade and build capacity on the staff level.”

The float doesn't just affect the valuation of projects, it enables them, Hamza told us, explaining that mergers and acquisitions and the state privatization program faced stagnation, because it was difficult to determine the true value of a company amid multip exchange rates. Progress resumed, however, once the exchange rate was unified, he added.

Is the EU private sector gearing up to invest in Egypt following the recent reforms? “What happened with the IMF and the positive news that's happening at the moment is certainly raising curiosity on the European side.” Hamza said. On top of this, the upcoming EU-Egypt Investment Conference “will shed a lot of light [on investments in Egypt] and also on the importance and strategic location of Egypt to Europe [especially in light of CBAM].”

Remember: The EU is gearing up to fully implement the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism — more commonly known by its acronym CBAM — in 2026, which will require importers to purchase certificates according to the associated carbon emissions, effectively introducing a tax on high-emission goods from non-European countries such as Egypt.

What the EBRD wants to see going forward: The EBRD is looking forward to seeing more private sector involvement in the economy, more manufacturing endeavors and more exports, Hamza said.

“I think that European companies are underutilizing the potential of Egypt,” Hamza said, adding that “Egypt has cheap labor, is strategically located very close to Europe, and is working hard on greening its supply chain.” He also said that “there's a lot of incentives and positives when looking at Egypt as a manufacturing hub or nearshoring potential.”

Egypt hikes car fuel prices by 8-21%

Attention, petrol heads: The Madbouly government raised fuel prices over the weekend, according to decisions published in the Official Gazette. The hikes, which ranged from 8.0% to 21.2%, came after the government’s fuel pricing committee met on Thursday to announce the first price hikes this year.

The prices of petrol have been hiked by 8-10% at the pumps as of Friday:

95-Octane is EGP 13.5 per liter, up 8% from EGP 12.5.
92-Octane is EGP 12.5 per liter, up 8.7% from EGP 11.5.
80-Octane is EGP 11 per liter, up 10% from EGP 10.

But diesel car drivers saw the biggest increase, with prices rising 21.2% to EGP 10 per liter from EGP 8.25.

The price of compressed natural gas for automobiles also rose substantially, increasing 18% to EGP 6.50 per cubic meter, up from EGP 5.5.

All aboard, at a higher price: Public transport users will also see a price hike of EGP 1:

Public bus fares rose to EGP 7 for regular buses and EGP 13 for air-conditioned vehicles.
White taxi meters in Cairo will now start at EGP 8.5, rising by EGP 4 per km, while in Alexandria, fares will start at EGP 9.25, rising by EGP 3.25 per km.
Minibus travel will now cost EGP 10 for distances over 30 km and EGP 9 for shorter distances.
Microbus tickets vary between governorates and depend on the length of the trip, with fares increasing betweenEGP 0.5 - 1 for the majority of routes. Inter-governorate microbus fares rose roughly 15% distance dependent.

However, train tickets are still on the same track: The government is not looking to increase the prices of railway ticket prices despite the hike in diesel prices costing the network an additional EGP 1.5 bn a year, a government official told Asharq Business

The price of a 12.5 kilogram butane gas cylinder jumped by 33% to EGP 100 from EGP 75.

The hikes have also directly impacted the industrial sector, as the price of mazut for brick and cement factories rose to EGP 7.5k per ton from EGP 6k previously.

Hikes to impact commodity prices: With elevated logistics costs following the hike, commodity prices could see a 5-12% increase, Head of Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s Supply Division Matta Beshay told Salet El Tahrir’s Azza Mostafa (watch, runtime: 3:28).

We’ve been expecting the hike: The rise in the transportation and shipping of oil imports as a result of Red Sea disruptions in addition to the government’s float of the EGP earlier this month underpinned the committee's decision to hike the prices, the oil ministry said in a statement.

Part of promises to IMF: The increase also falls in line with promises made by Egypt to the International Monetary Fund over a year ago as part of the now-USD 8 bn financial support agreement, when the government said it would allow fuel prices to rise to bring domestic prices in line with international energy markets.

But fuel price hikes could add to inflationary pressures: Fuel price increases are likely to have a knock-on effect on inflation, which defied analyst expectations in February by rising to 35.7%, a whole ten percentage points above analyst forecasts, dashing hopes that Egypt is firmly on a disinflationary path.

Turkey’s Doğuş eyes USD 7 bn logistics and industrial zone in Egypt’s Gargoub

A Turkish industrial zone in Egypt back in the cards? Turkish firm Doğuş Construction and Trade has signed an MoU with the transport ministry’s Egyptian Group For Multipurpose Terminals to establish an industrial and logistics zone in Gargoub on the country’s northwest coast with over USD 7 bn in estimated investment, according to a statement from the ministry.

Déjà vu? Enterprise heard from industry insiders in February that Egypt and Turkey were set to revive plans to set up Turkish industrial zones following President Recep Tayyip Erdogans’ visit to the country. We also heard from meetings preceding Erdogan’s visit between Trade Minister Ahmed Samir and Turkish business representatives that a Turkish industrial zone would house industries including aluminum production, automotive, machinery and equipment, and advanced tech industries.

The details: The project plans to establish a commercial port in addition to logistics and free zones, which will all be linked to the railway network, a freight station, a yacht marina, a multipurpose terminal, and an industrial zone. It will take six months to complete studies and obtain the required approvals for the project. A final contract is expected to be signed by the end of the year, with operations in the multipurpose terminal and the logistics area expected to kick off in 2026.

The why: In addition to warming political relations helping to pave the way for investments between Egypt and Turkey, Ankara sees an important window to boost its exports to Africa through Egypt, especially due to its membership of Comesa and the African Continental Freetrade Agreement, Egyptian-Turkish Business Council member Majd El Manzalawy told Enterprise earlier in the year. This geographical advantage, coupled with an investor-friendly environment — thanks to the government’s golden license program and the wide availability of raw materials — also positions Egypt as an attractive investment destination for Egypt, House Economic Committee member Attia El Fayoumi told Enterprise.

It’s not only Turkish companies that are interested in Gargoub: South Korean trading company STX Corporation announced in November that it will work with the government to upgrade Gargoub port, establish an industrial-logistics zone in the area, and buildan oil pipeline connecting Libyan fields to the port as well as residential and tourist areas. Belgian dredging and offshore energy contractor DEME also has a USD 3.1 bn project in the pipeline to produce green hydrogen and its derivatives near the port.

Act Financial eyes IPO in 2Q 2024

Act Financial’s long-awaited IPO approaching? Investment management firm Act Financial is working to IPO on the EGX in 2Q 2024, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter. The company reportedly filed a request with the relevant regulatory authorities days ago. It is currently in talks with a number of investment banks over the management of the IPO and is poised to select a consultant within days.

Remember: Act Financial had initially planned to offer up to a 40% stake on the EGX by early 2023, Managing Partner and Co-Founder Mostafa Abdel Aziz told Enterprise back in September 2022.

Transaction size TBD: The company is still looking into the exact size of the stake to put up for grabs. The transaction value, which will depend on the targeted capital increase, will reportedly be “large”.

All part of an ambitious expansion plan: Last time we spoke with Abdel Aziz, he said that Act Financial also had plans to acquire 5-20% in some EGX-listed companies, diversify its investments across various sectors, and launch SME and real estate investment funds with initial capital of EGP 1 bn and EGP 2 bn.

2023 was a dry year for the IPO market: Last year saw a single company make its EGX debut, Taqa Arabia started trading on the EGX in July 2023 — in a technical listing, not an IPO — listing 1.35 bn shares on the exchange.

But we’re expecting a couple of IPOs this year: The developer of the new administrative capital Administrative Capital for Urban Development is set to be ready for listing by 2Q 2024 and aims to raise over EGP 150 bn from listing 5-10% of its shares in one of the EGX’s largest ever transactions. Meanwhile, Raya Holding plans to offer 30-35% of its IT arm Raya Information Technology on the EGX in 1H 2024.

Two European firms mull USD 270 mn investments in plays on Egypt's growing gold industry

German, Austrian firms eye building sodium cyanide factories: Two European companies have submitted investment proposals to the Oil Ministry to set up sodium cyanide facilities in Egypt worth a combined USD 270 mn, Asharq Business reports, citing two anonymous government sources. The proposals include one from German cyanide producer CyPlus to set up a USD 150 mn factory that would produce 30k tonnes of sodium cyanide per annum, and a separate USD 120 mn factory from an Austrian company, with a similar production capacity to that of CyPlus.

SOUND SMART: Sodium cyanide is the solution commonly used for gold extraction from low-grade ore, and can be used to extract other metals, including copper, zinc, and silver.

In the works since last summer: Oil Minister Tarek El Molla met with the managing director of CyPlus last year to discuss the company’s plan for the factory.

Where the proposals stand: The European companies have seen their proposals approved by the Egyptian Investment Authority, while the state gas firm EGAS has signed off on their requests for natural gas supplies for the factories, one of the sources is quoted as saying. The companies are reportedly looking at setting up their factories either in Alexandria or Ain Sokhna to be close to the main raw production materials needed for the compound and to be well situated to export to mines in the Eastern Desert and overseas.

Egypt’s Orascom Construction reports net income rise in 2023 as backlog records record high

Orascom Construction sees net income rise despite falling revenue in USD on the back of EGP depreciation: Orascom Construction’s net income rose 39.7% y-o-y to USD 158.6 mn in 2023, the company said in an earnings release (pdf ). The construction giant recorded revenues of USD 3.4 bn in 2023 — a 19.4% y-o-y decrease — which the company attributed to the devaluation of the EGP as its figures are denominated in USD.

On a quarterly basis: The company’s revenues dipped 10.9% y-o-y to USD 1 bn in 4Q 2023, which contributed to a 21.5% y-o-y drop in net income to USD 43.8 mn in the same period.

Backlog hits historic high, new awards triple in 4Q: Projects in Egypt accounted for 68.3%of Orascom Construction’s total consolidated backlog, which rose 45.7% y-o-y to reach a record USD 8.1 bn in 2023. The company’s new awards rose 234.3% y-o-y in 4Q to USD 1.9 bn, driving new awards up 58.8% y-o-y to USD 5.8 bn in 2023. Egypt projects constituted 66% of the company’s new awards in 4Q.

The float may shake things up: Orascom Construction’s backlog figures are calculated based on the official exchange rate as of 31 December 2023. Should the EGP come to settle at 50 to the greenback following the float, the company’s 2023 backlog figures would be c.8.2% lower at USD 7.4 bn, the statement said. The EGP currently stands around 46 to the greenback according to the current official rate.

Looking forward: “We continue to deliver consistent results as we execute our long-term operational, financial, and capital allocation strategies. We also believe that we have established the right fundamentals that have allowed us to navigate the current environment and position us well for the challenges of 2024,” company CEO Osama Bishai said.

Mohamed Mansour appointed to Bank of America’s Europe, the Middle East, and Africa advisory board

Egypt’s second-richest man tapped to advise Bank of America: Bank of America has appointed Mansour Group and Man Capital chairman Mohamed Mansour (LinkedIn) to its senior advisory board for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, according to a Mansour Group statement.

Egypt releases the last two Al Jazeera journalists in detention

The last of Al Jazeera detained journalists freed: Authorities have released Al Jazeera journalists Bahaa Eldin Ibrahim and Rabie El Sheikh — the last of the Doha-based network’s journalists that were detained in Egypt — as the country’s ties with Qatar continue to warm, Reuters reports. The two Egyptian journalists were held in pretrial detention for years — with Ibrahim arrested in February 2020 and El Sheikh detained in August 2021 — on charges of spreading false news and joining a terrorist group, Al Jazeera reported earlier. Their release follows the freeing of Al Jazeera journalists Hisham Abdel Aziz in May 2023 and Ahmed Al Nagdy in September 2022. Journalism syndicate head Khaled El Balshy took to social media to commend the move and call for the release of other journalists.

China’s construction behemoth eyes building a medical city near Egypt’s new capital

HEALTHCARE-

Health Ministry discusses establishing medical city project with Chinese state-owned construction giant: China State Construction Engineering Corporation — the largest construction company in the world — along with engineering consultancy Income Egypt discussed the establishment of a medical city off the Ain Sokhna Road, near the new capital, with Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, according to a statement from the ministry.

The details: The plan is for the project to house 18 specialized clinics with a total capacity of more than 4.2k beds, in addition to research centers, central laboratories, a blood bank, and other services. Establishing a residential area to house staff and a hotel to cater to medical tourism is also part of the plan.

ICYMI: Egypt has been trying to position itself as a medical tourism hub to attract FDI and to open fresh FX revenue streams from patients from Africa, the Middle East, and Europe coming here for treatment on the back of our talented and well-trained medical staff and the competitive price point Egyptian hospitals can offer.

Reddit’s big NYSE debut stokes hopes for a US IPO revival

Will Reddit’s blockbuster IPO signal the start of a rally? Some bankers expect an uptick in companies looking to list in the United States as they follow in the footsteps of social media platform Reddit, whose shares climbed 48% following its blowout IPO, the Financial Times reports. The listings would revitalize an IPO market that has been sluggish since 2021 and provide relief to private equity firms, which typically depend on IPOs to exit investments.

ICYMI- Reddit’s IPO raised some USD 748 mn after it priced its listing at the top of the range in an IPO that was 5x oversubscribed.

The European IPO market is on the up, too: A series of European companies have recently seen their shares jump following their stock market debuts. These include German military gearbox manufacturer Renk, Athens International Airport, and Swiss pharma company Galderma, whose shares gained 21% on Friday.

Also making a case for an IPO boom: The stock market's recent rally and raised forecasts for US economic growth by the US Federal Reserve have also stoked confidence in an IPO revival.

EGX30	29,055	+1.6% (YTD: +16.7%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 46.61	Sell 46.75
USD at CIB	Buy 46.6	Sell 46.7
Interest rates CBE	27.25% deposit	28.25% lending
Tadawul	12,836	+0.8% (YTD: +7.3%)
ADX	9,322	+0.4% (YTD: -2.7%)
DFM	4,280	+0.1% (YTD: +5.4%)
S&P 500	5,234	-0.1% (YTD: +9.7%)
FTSE 100	7,931	+0.6% (YTD: +11.2%)
Euro Stoxx 50	5,031	-0.4% (YTD: +11.3%)
Brent crude	USD 85.4	-0.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 1.66	-1.4%
Gold	USD 2,181.6	-1.1%
BTC	USD 65,380	+2.8% (YTD: +136%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 1.6% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.7 bn (25.3% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 16.7% YTD.

In the green: Qalaa Holdings (+10.2%), E-Finance (+9.5%), and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+8.5%).

In the red: Edita (-5.0%), Talaat Moustafa Group (-3.3%), and Juhayna (-2.2%).

CALENDAR

2024

MARCH

28 March (Thursday): Industrial Development Authority to close applications for 1 mn sqm of land in 10 different governorates.

29 March (Friday): Egypt removed from JPMorgan Chase’s Emerging Local Markets Index Plus.

APRIL

1 April (Monday): Deadline to bid for 23 blocks in an international oil and gas tender.

2 April (Tuesday): President Abdel Fattah El Sisi swearing in ceremony, New Administrative Capital.

9 April (Tuesday): Eid El Fitr (TBC) (national holiday).

15-21 April (Monday-Sunday): The IMF / World Bank Spring Meetings.

25 April (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Sinai Liberation Day (TBC) (national holiday).

26 April (Wednesday): Clocks move forward one hour at midnight as daylight saving time starts.

28 April (Sunday): Grace period to ins. brokerage firms to comply with Law 215 for 2023 expires.

28-29 April (Sunday-Monday): Saudi Arabia hosts a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on ‘global collaboration, growth, and energy.’

29 April (Monday): The government’s car export scheme expires.

MAY

1 May (Wednesday): National holiday in observance of Labor Day (TBC) (national holiday).

2-5 May (Thursday-Sunday): Townhall Expo in Riyadh.

5 May (Sunday): Coptic Easter.

6 May (Monday): Sham El Nessim (national holiday).

20 May (Monday): Malaysian Palm Oil Forum in Cairo, with attendance from Malaysian Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.

23 May (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

29 May (Wednesday): Virtual launch of Chicago Booth Executive Program.

JUNE

15-19 June (Saturday-Wednesday): Eid El Adha (TBC) (national holiday).

30 June (Sunday): June 30 Revolution Day (national holiday).

JULY

7 July (Sunday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

18 July (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

23 July (Tuesday): Revolution Day (national holiday).

SEPTEMBER

2-5 September (Monday-Thursday): Egypt International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport.

5 September (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

15 September (Sunday): National holiday in observance of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

25-26 September (Wednesday - Thursday): The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) 2024 annual meeting, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

OCTOBER

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day.

17 October (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

21-27 October (Monday-Sunday): The World Bank and IMF annual meetings.

NOVEMBER

21 November (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

DECEMBER

26 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

January 2024: The Red Sea Ports Authority is set to finalize an agreement with the Abu Dhabi Ports Group for the operation and maintenance of the tourist passenger terminal in the Sharm El Sheikh Sea Port.

February 2024: Egypt will sign a USD 1.5 bn financing agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

February 2024: Funds from the Islamic Development Bank for the high speed electric railway will get the sign off.

April 2024: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will visit Turkey.

1Q 2024: Egyptian-Qatari Joint Supreme Committee.

1Q 2024: Opening of the newly developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

1Q 2024: The government is set to finalize the sale of the Gabal El Zeit wind farm.

February-May: The Grand Egyptian Museum could officially open to visitors.

March 2024: The USD 2.7 bn MIDOR Refinery is set to begin full operations.

May 2024: Arab Finance Ministers’ meeting at Egypt’s administrative capital.

June 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of Beni Suef combined-cycle power plant.

1H 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of four water desalination plants.

1H 2024: The European Union is set to hold an investment conference in Egypt during spring.

2H 2024: Gov’t to launch the Cairo Ring Road BRT buses.

November 2024: Egypt to host the World Urban Forum (WUF12).

End of 2024: The launch of the high-speed train line linking Ain Sokhna with Al Alamein City.

2025

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2Q 2025: Safaga Terminal 2 to start operations.

2027

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

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

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

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