Good morning, folks. Egypt’s markets are growing, but not without some friction. We’ve got three stories about it today, covering the EGX, pharma, and real estate.

The EGX filing story is the most pointed read. About 50 companies were fined a combined EGP 1.04 mn last week for missing financial statements, the latest in a summer-long run of repeated penalties against the same names without results.

On pharma: Local insulin manufacturers are expanding capacity to meet export orders from Europe and Africa, but the Egyptian Drug Authority is keeping a close eye on domestic supply as producers scale up.

And in real estate: Al Ahly Sabbour, Beltone Mortgage, Property Finder, and Coldwell Banker Egypt are introducing the open-house model to Egypt. It’s a small format shift with a larger signal behind it: buyers are becoming more selective, and developers are having to compete on the product itself, not just the payment plan.

*** A QUICK NOTE FROM THE AUDIO TEAM- Morning Drive is taking a summer publication holiday today, Tuesday 25 August, and tomorrow Wednesday 26 August. We’ll be back in your feeds on Sunday 30 August. In the meantime, you can check out our other show Making It, an hour where the founders, CEOs, investors, and policymakers making the biggest decisions in our region show their work and talk about what’s next. You can find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anghami, and YouTube.

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Verify once, bank anywhere

The Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) board has approved rules governing the eKYC identity system, which electronically identifies and verifies bank customers, letting banks verify customer identities digitally rather than in person, according to a CBE statement. Governor Hassan Abdalla said the system lets customers open accounts and access banking products entirely through digital channels — no branch visit required — with electronic acceptance of terms and conditions, e-authentication replacing wet signatures, and simplified data updates.

“The real shift in eKYC isn’t that the customer opens an account from their phone. It’s that their financial identity stops starting from zero every time they move from one bank to another,” banking expert Hany Abou El Fotouh tells EnterpriseAM. He says the rules allow a financial identity created electronically with a bank or other participating entity to be reused by another bank, subject to the customer’s electronic consent. “Converting paper procedures to electronic ones saves time. Reusing the digital identity goes further by preventing the same verification steps from being repeated at every bank,” he says.

That puts the spotlight on who runs the plumbing. The Digital Financial Identity Company (Haweya) manages and operates the system, including connecting participating banks to it, and the CBE holds a 55% stake. The system “isn’t an open space where institutions exchange customer data without restriction,” Abou El Fotouh says, adding that a digital identity’s value comes not only from ease of use but also “from trust in whoever manages it and whoever holds the right of access.”

Why it matters: A digital bank can’t function without a legal way to onboard customers who never set foot in a branch, and eKYC is that missing link. We flagged the groundwork back in February, including digital IDs, e-signatures, and strengthened AML frameworks that had lowered barriers to digital banking. CIB CEO Hisham Ezz Al Arab told us in April that the CBE had been introducing digital banking licenses, strengthening fintech regulation, and enabling tools such as eKYC and regulatory sandboxes to support financial-services innovation.

With the eKYC framework now adopted, banks must still clear licensing and operational-readiness steps for secure digital onboarding. Onebank has received final approval, while CIB’s Yomo has preliminary approval and is moving through technology validation, cybersecurity testing, and customer-journey work ahead of its targeted 4Q 2026 launch. The IMF says additional digital-bank applications remain under review and expects Egypt’s first fully licensed digital bank before the end of 2026, according to the Fund’s Seventh Review (pdf).

Switching gears for electric

The government is studying the launch of a 2027 scheme to replace conventional-fuel vehicles with locally assembled electric models. The proposed initiative would offer manufacturers cash incentives linked to sales, production volumes, and local value-added, with support potentially reaching 30% of a vehicle’s price, capped at EGP 150k. Companies would need to meet a minimum 45% local-content threshold, while offering competitively priced vehicles and aftersales services.

The program would not require motorists to surrender existing vehicles. Owners could either scrap their old cars for a scrappage payment or sell them and use the proceeds toward the down payment on a new EV. The initiative could cover private cars, taxis, and passenger vehicles, while the Industry Ministry also seeks to bring battery and charging equipment manufacturers into the scheme.

Why it matters: The proposal would add a consumer-demand component to Egypt’s wider EV-localization push, as the government separately weighs a 5% customs tariff on fully imported EVs to narrow the advantage enjoyed by imported models over local assemblers. It could also support planned local production, including SN Automotive’s reported upcoming launch of a locally assembled EV and Rox ESI Egypt’s luxury EV production, planned for mid-2027.

MEANWHILE- The localization pipeline is widening: Abou Ghaly Motors, Geely Global, and state-owned El Nasr Automotive signed an MoU to study locally assembling four Geely New Energy Vehicle (NEV) models in Egypt, Hapi Journal reports. Under the framework, El Nasr would provide manufacturing facilities and production-line modifications, Abou Ghaly Motors would invest in equipping the factory and lead marketing and exports, and Geely would provide technical support and localization guidance. The project remains at the feasibility study stage, with model selection, investment size, and a production timeline still to be determined.

Another delay?

The government is targeting the completion of the fair-value study for Misr Life Ins. by the end of September, a government official tells EnterpriseAM, a timeline that could push the state-owned insurer’s long-awaited EGX offering beyond earlier expectations. The study will determine the company’s valuation and must be approved by the Financial Regulatory Authority before the government sets the final timetable and structure of the offering, including the portion of shares to be sold, the official says. An independent financial adviser is preparing the study.

Why it matters: The new timeline is a further shift for an offering that had previously been penciled in for this year. Misr Ins. Holding Company approved a plan in June to float up to 20% of Misr Life on the EGX, with EFG Hermes acting as sole global coordinator and bookrunner. The insurer has held a temporary EGX listing since March.

The valuation process has already faced delays. The government expected to complete the fair-value study in late June, while a government official told us in July that it had been finalized — even as Investment Minister Mohamed Farid said that valuation details were still being finalized.

The potential sale is part of Egypt’s wider divestment program. The government is seeking a further USD 1.5 bn in asset-sale proceeds before its IMF program ends in December, after raising more than USD 500 mn by July, including from the Gabal El Zeit wind farm transaction.

Data point

USD 4.47 bn — that was how much Egypt’s food industry exported in the first seven months of 2026, a record for the period and up 10.7% from USD 4.04 bn a year earlier, according to a Food Export Council statement. The EU was the fastest-growing bloc (rising 18.6% to USD 1 bn), while Arab markets remained the single biggest destination at USD 2.06 bn, or 46% of total exports. Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Palestine led individual-market growth, and chocolate exports nearly doubled to USD 262 mn, making them the top contributor to the sector’s overall gain.

Destination Sahel Issue IV, the final issue in the series, drops this week, and we’re exploring how the North Coast could be more than a summer story.

Living in Sahel year-round is moving from a seasonal idea to a serious question; an industrial push is reshaping the Coast’s economic base, and Egyptian homebuyers are weighing Sahel against Dubai, London, and other Mediterranean markets for where to put their money.

In this issue, we get into what it would take for Sahel to work beyond the summer, how industry fits into the Coast’s next chapter, and the numbers behind the Sahel-vs-everywhere debate.

Coming straight to your inbox tomorrow.

PSA-

#1- The EGX (like us) is taking Thursday off. The bourse will be closed on 27 August for the Prophet’s birthday (Mawlid Al Nabi), according to a statement yesterday. Trading is set to resume on Sunday, 30 August.

#2- WEATHER- It’s hot and humid in Cairo today, with a high of 37°C and a low of 26°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a little less intense in Alexandria, where temperatures will reach 33°C, with a low of 23°C.

The big story abroad

Washington has announced its latest attempt to squeeze Iran’s economy. Operation Economic Outcast includes sanctioning more than 60 entities, individuals, and vessels on a global level. Secondary sanctions may target entities doing business with Iran across several sectors, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, warning Tehran’s trade partners to sever ties or face being expelled from the USD-based financial system.

Iran’s response? Tehran threatened military action and further cuts to Gulf oil exports before the US sanctions announcement, but Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh later said the country was “fully prepared.” An IRGC spokesperson warned Iran would strike US vital interests and energy chokepoints if its infrastructure is threatened.

Washington’s ire toward Ottawa is also making waves, as US President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canadian cars to 50% by 1 January and lock existing steel levies at the same rate. Last-minute trade talks collapsed over the weekend, triggering a new wave of US tariffs on USD 20 bn worth of Canadian goods and reigniting a trade war between the two nations.

A hedge fund under the microscope: The US Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed major Wall Street banks over trading activity at AI-focused hedge fund Situation Awareness. The fund narrowly avoided collapse after last month’s tech sell-off by selling the majority of its holdings to Citadel — a US hedge fund — in just 24 hours. The regulator will look into the timing of trades between Situation Awareness and its lenders, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We look at why Chinese-backed assembly plants in Egypt still leave the country short of high-value ingot and wafer production, and buyers for their output.