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Tuesday, 16 Jun 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
The Big Story Today
Privatization Watch
M&a Watch
Investment Watch
Moves
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Going Green
Calendar

Egypt secures EUR 690 mn in EU financing for grid upgrade

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Today at a glance

1

THE BIG STORY

Egypt secures EUR 690 mn in EU financing for grid upgrade.
2

Privatization Watch

Privatization pipeline thaws as Safi draws bids and Elab files for EGX listing.
3

M&A WATCH

ALCN sells Egypt Marine Ports stake to state parent.
4

Investment Watch

Egyptian corporates are expanding regionally as outward FDI jumps 30%.
5

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Hassan Allam to build a new data center with USD 400 mn for Phase one.
6

Moves

Housing and Development Bank appoints Yehia Aboulfotouh as CEO.
7

PLANET FINANCE

Markets rush back into pre-war trades.
8

Going Green

A new Unido program is the latest attempt to unstick Egypt’s green hydrogen pipeline.

Tuesday, 16 Jun 2026

What We’re Tracking Today
The Big Story Today
Privatization Watch
M&a Watch
Investment Watch
Moves
Also On Our Radar
Planet Finance
Going Green
Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Hassan Allam commits USD 400 mn to new data center

Good morning, friends. It’s a capital flows and pipelines kind of morning as the EU puts up EUR 690 mn to upgrade our grid in a bid to integrate 22 GW of new renewables into our grid by 2030.

Meanwhile, our privatization pipeline is thawing in earnest. Offers are in for Safi, an IPO timeline is set for Quick Fuel, and Elab is filing for a temporary EGX listing — three long-running plays moving at once, just as the IMF watches the benchmark.

ALSO- ALCN is moving its 6.01% Egypt Maritime Ports stake up to its state-owned parent in a no-cash EGP 1.05 bn compensation swap.

Last, but not least: Don’t miss our deep dive into how outward FDI jumped 30% on the back of corporate heavyweights booking agreements across the GCC, Iraq, and North Africa.

IF YOU MISSED LAST NIGHT’S MATCH- The Pharaohs secured a 1-1 draw against Belgium in their opening Group G match of the 2026 World Cup. Egypt opened the score in the first half, before being forced into an own goal. Egypt will face New Zealand next, with the showdown scheduled for Monday at 4am.

***

ARE YOU MORE OF A LISTENER?Morning Drive is a 10-minute summary of today’s issue crafted for you to enjoy with your morning coffee, while getting the kids ready for school, or driving through the morning rush. And if you like it, tell your friends to tell their friends. They can find us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever they get their podcasts.

***

Data hub dreams

Our friends at Hassan Allam’s digital infrastructure arm have committed USD 400 mn for the first phase of a new data center after securing a cloud-computing license from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority. Hassan Allam Digital Infrastructure and Data Center Solutions will execute a phased expansion plan for the facility, according to a statement.

Why it matters: Egypt wants to become a regional data-center hub, but it has some serious catching up to do. The country currently hosts only 14 facilities — representing just 5.5% of the region’s data centers, according to Data Center Map. Hassan Allam’s new facility gives Egypt more room to keep data within our borders, cutting latency and making financial transactions, AI processing, and cloud services more reliable.

Fifth vessel incoming

The government is expected to contract for a fifth floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) ahead of the summer demand peak, two government officials tell EnterpriseAM. The vessel will join the four FSRUs already deployed in the country — the Hoegh Galleon, Energos Power, Energos Eskimo, and Energos Winter — which currently provide c.2.7 bcf/d of regasification capacity.

Why it matters: We’ve been buying huge volumes of liquified natural gas (LNG) since our domestic natural gas production plunged to an average of 3.87 bcf/d in 1Q 2026, compared to its peak of 6.13 bcf/d in March 2021. Egypt needs more capacity to turn the LNG into usable gas — a fifth unit would up our capacity, deepen the import buffer, and keep the national grid from buckling.

DATA POINT- Egypt has secured around 75 LNG cargoes to cover natural gas needs through the end of the year, including 45 cargoes for the summer months, the officials say. Roughly 30 of the summer cargoes will be directed to power stations, the sources add.

ALSO- The government could revise its oil price assumption in the FY 2026/27 budget to USD 100-110 / bbl (from USD 75 / bbl in the draft sent to the House) if regional tensions continue, an official tells us. The figure could come in below USD 100 / bbl if the war ends, he adds, which now looks likely as the US and Iran recently reached a tentative ceasefire agreement. Every USD 10 / bbl increase in global energy prices widens Egypt’s trade deficit by roughly USD 900 mn, putting pressure on a draft budget that Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk said was built around oil at USD 75 / bbl.

Egypt’s total energy import bill is expected to hit USD 13.5 bn, up from previous estimates of USD 12 bn in FY 2026/27, according to a government document seen by EnterpriseAM. From April through September of this year, crude import costs are expected to surge to USD 13.3 bn, up from an initial target of USD 10 bn.

Old friends, new pact

The House of Representatives gave the final nod to a presidential decree ratifying the country’s accession to the D-8 Preferential Trade Agreement and its dispute settlement protocol, according to a statement. The block includes Turkey, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Azerbaijan — the ninth member who joined last year.

Why it matters: The pact slashes tariffs and eliminates non-tariff barriers between the signatories. It also enforces a “national treatment” clause — meaning goods imported from member states are treated equally to domestic products under commercial regulations — and scraps any hidden fees or levies acting as backdoor customs duties. This will help Egyptian exporters access markets of over 1 bn people, which should move the government closer to hitting its USD 100 bn target in non-oil exports by 2030.

The new agreement mandates a structured reduction of customs tariffs across three tiers:

  • Any tariffs exceeding 25% will be reduced to 25%;
  • Tariffs ranging between 15-25% will be reduced to 15%;
  • Tariffs between 10-15% will be reduced to 10%.

Friendlier terms for settling disputes: The agreement also includes an institutional dispute settlement mechanism covering friendly consultations, referral to a supervisory committee, and arbitration — providing a more stable framework for trade relations among signatories, a government official tells us.

Happening today

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in France for the G7 summit, where he is expected to meet with a number of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump. The summit kicked off yesterday and runs through tomorrow as leaders grapple with an increasingly crowded agenda spanning geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, trade, security, and the global economy. We have more on what went down during day one of the summit in the news well, below.

Data point

USD 39.2 bn — that’s how much money Egyptians abroad sent home during the first 10 months of FY 2025/26, a 33.2% y-o-y increase from USD 29.4 bn, according to a statement (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt.

On a monthly basis, remittances jumped 44% y-o-y to USD 4.3 bn in April, up from USD 3 bn in April 2025, but down from March’s record of USD 5.5 bn.

PSA-

WEATHER- The day looks familiarly warm in Cairo today, with a high of 34°C and a low of 22°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s more springy in Alexandria, with a high of 27°C and a low of 20°C.

You can survive a bad investment, but you cannot undo a severance package you never negotiated.

You're at the stage where the questions have shifted: who gets what, whether your estate survives you intact or gets tied up in courts, whether you exit on your terms or let timing decide for you.

Retirement isn't a finish line but a structure problem, and most people get it wrong. It's not because they ran out of money but because they never asked the right questions at the right time.

In the final issue of EnterpriseAM Money Matters, we cover the decisions that define how you exit: estate planning under Egyptian law, what to actually ask your lawyer before you step back, how to read a severance package, when phased retirement makes financial sense — and when cashing out your options is the smartest move you'll make this decade.

Coming straight to your inbox — tomorrow, June 17.

The big story abroad

When will Hormuz reopen? That was the main question dominating the opening day of the G7Summit in France. While US President Donald Trump seems confident that the strait will be open to all on Friday — when the US and Iran are scheduled to sign a final agreement — others are less optimistic.

Drama at the summit: G7 members are yet to find common ground on how to handle “the situation in Iran,” one G7 official told Bloomberg. With two more days to go, we’ll be closely watching for developments from the summit.

News of the US-Iran agreement is making waves across stock markets: Equities soared yesterday as the announcement reignited investor confidence — the S&P 500 jumped 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 3.1%. The rally was further supported by SpaceX’s shares rising almost 20% yesterday — their second day of trading. Meanwhile, oil prices continued their fall, with Brent dipping 4.8% to USD 83.17.

Beware the meat wall: The Wall Street Journal is out with a piece looking at a new obstacle standing in the way of the teams playing in this year’s World Cup — the Meat Wall. In this tactic players line up to form a wall in hopes of blocking corner or free-kicks, which the WSJ says has turned “the beautiful game into a wrestling match.”

*** 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 a new UN-backed push to move the country’s green hydrogen projects past the MoU phase, and why the lack of clear executive frameworks remains a bottleneck.

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2

The Big Story Today

Powering up

The EU is putting up EUR 690 mn to upgrade our electricity transmission network and integrate 22 GW of new renewable capacity into the grid by 2030, according to a statement. The agreement — a EUR 600 mn EIB Global loan with EUR 90 mn tacked on in European Commission grants — is the first concrete project under T-Med, the Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy and Clean-Tech Cooperation Initiative the EU has built as the energy flagship of its new Pact for the Mediterranean.

Why it matters: Egypt’s 42% renewables by 2030 target has run into a binding constraint that has nothing to do with generation — the grid can’t reliably absorb the solar and wind capacity that has been added. The Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) spent EGP 26.3 bn upgrading the grid’s infrastructure during the last fiscal year, and former Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib has spoken about the need for USD 45 bn in distribution infrastructure investments to integrate new clean capacity.

Where’s the money going? EETC will use the financing to pay for new substations and high-voltage transmission lines to carry solar and wind power from the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez out to the national grid, with the EU money covering 44% of the total program cost and EETC funding the balance from its own resources, the statement notes. The EIB-supported phase will run 2027 to 2030, with the government acting as borrower through the Central Bank of Egypt.

The bigger picture: The package landed alongside the EU-Egypt Association Council in Luxembourg — the first such session since Egypt and the EU signed their Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership in 2024. EU High Representative Kaja Kallas framed the meeting around six strategic priorities — trade, investment, energy, green transition, migration, and people-to-people contacts, according to a separate statement. T-Med is positioned as the EU’s energy arm in the Mediterranean under Global Gateway, the bloc’s strategy to mobilize up to EUR 300 bn in infrastructure financing globally by 2027.

REMEMBER- The EU pledged a EUR 7.4 bn package of loans, grants, and investments through to 2027 and inked a joint strategic and comprehensive partnership with Egypt back in 2024. The grid package is the largest single concrete clean energy investment to land since that framework was signed. European backing has been one of our go-tos for grid support, with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) committing EUR 200 mn to support grid upgrades last year.

EETC has been the central instrument of Egypt’s renewables build-out for over a decade, offtaking electricity through long-term PPAs — USD-denominated for the new wave of projects — that have anchored the bankability of the 1.5 GW Benban solar park and recent solar-plus-storage projects like Scatec’s 1.95 GW of solar power and 3.9 GWh of battery storage PPA signed in January. EBRD data shows over 10 GW of renewable PPAs have been signed to date, with nearly 6 GW at financial close, mobilizing over EUR 4.3 bn of private capital.

What’s next: We’ll be on the lookout for the procurement timeline on the substation and transmission line contracts. The EPC awards will signal whether European or domestic engineering giants like our friends at Hassan Allam and Orascom Construction will snap up the contracts.

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3

Privatization Watch

Late privatization homework

Some of the government’s longest-running privatization plays may finally be seeing daylight. Offers are in for military-owned bottled water maker Safi and an IPO timeline has been set for the military’s new retail field vehicle Quick Fuel. Also, state petrochems company Elab just filed for a temporary listing on the EGX.

Safi has started drawing bids, with the government now reviewing “actual offers” for the asset, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM. The expected transaction follows the recent Wataneya-Taqa Arabia agreement and is one of five National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) companies the government plans to divest by 1H 2027, the official says.

Keeping its options open: While the government will continue temporarily listing state-owned companies on the EGX through the summer, it remains fully prepared to pivot from public offerings to strategic stake sales if private offers match fair-value studies, State-Owned Companies Unit CEO Hashem El Sayed tells us.

AND- We now have a date for the Quick Fuel IPO. Wataneya’s new vehicle is expected to begin the temporary EGX listing process before end-2026, after Taqa Arabia takes over management and operation, the official says. NSPO handed Taqa a 10% stake in Quick Fuel — which holds 172 Wataneya stations — under the transaction, with the option to acquire another 15% once Quick Fuel lists.

MEANWHILE- Qalaa Holdings wants more of Taqa Arabia: The EGX-listed investment firm, which currently holds approximately 6.2% of Taqa Arabia, intends to purchase an additional 11.45% of Taqa’s shares, according to a bourse filing (pdf). That comes on top of its existing option to buy NSPO’s 20% stake in June 2027. Qalaa could also acquire a further 17.68% block in September 2029 — currently owned by Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait, and Arab African International Bank under a previous debt settlement. If Qalaa exercises all three tranches, its stake in Taqa Arabia would climb north of 55%.

REMEMBER- Safi and Wataneya have been in the privatization pipeline for years. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt began restructuring five NSPO companies — Wataneya, Safi, Silo Foods, Chill Out, and the National Roads Company — last year ahead of planned offerings, after earlier attempts to sell stakes in Safi and Wataneya repeatedly stalled.

Elab nears the front of the IPO queue

State-owned and ADQ-backed petrochems player Egyptian Linear Alkyl Benzene Company (Elab) filed for a temporary listing on the main market, according to an EGX disclosure. The firm is looking to float some 2.1 bn shares at a nominal value of USD 0.1 apiece, bringing its issued capital on the board to USD 210 mn at par value. We still don’t know which of Elab’s shareholders is providing the paper.

ICYMI- Elab has been lined up for the state IPO program since at least 2018, before Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ stepped in to acquire 35% of it back in 2023. The latest move is part of the government’s plan to temporarily list 10 petroleum sector companies by the end of June, clearing the runway for Enppi, Petrojet, and Midor to follow in July, to keep the IMF on-side.

Elab is in the middle of a USD 20 mn+ expansion that will add 50k tons to its existing 150k-ton capacity, lifting its annual linear alkyl benzene production by roughly a third, Al Mal reports, citing unnamed sources. The project was originally due for completion before the end of this month, before regional geopolitical tensions pushed the timeline into 2H this year.

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4

M&A WATCH

ALCN trims portfolio

Alexandria Container & Cargo Handling (ALCN) is moving up its entire 6.01% stake in Egypt Maritime Ports to one of its own corporate parents, state-owned Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport, in an EGP 1.05 bn transaction, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). The sale is structured as a compensation swap, with no money changing hands, a senior government official tells EnterpriseAM.

What’s the fair value? The related-party transaction covers 182.7 mn shares at a fair value of USD 0.111 per share, putting total consideration at c.USD 20.28 mn. The fair value study assumed a conversion rate of EGP 51.77 to the USD.

A sprint to sign-off: ALCN had to change independent financial advisors less than three weeks before the fair value study was published. Elite Financial stepped in to complete the valuation — audited by Grant Thornton and BoD-approved — in less than 21 days.

Mind the gap: Baker Tilly, which was originally tapped for the transaction — according to an earlier bourse filing (pdf) — stepped back due to an independence issue under FRA rules. The firm had worked with ALCN within the preceding six months, which disqualifies it from serving as an independent financial advisor on a separate transaction during that period, a source close to the matter tells EnterpriseAM.

The sale has nothing to do with Black Caspian’s MTO for 90% of ALCN, the government official tells us. Discussions on the transaction have been underway since the start of the year, well before AD Ports submitted its sweetened offer, which the government is set to reject, the source adds.

Who sits at the cap table: AD Ports, which is owned by Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ, built a 51.33% majority in ALCN across two moves — a 32% indirect stake through Alpha Oryx in 2022, and an acquisition of PIF-owned SEIC’s 19.3% for EGP 13.24 bn last November. The government controls a combined 42.9% blocking stake through the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport (35.3%) and Alexandria Port Authority (7.6%).

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5

Investment Watch

Outward bound

Flagship Egyptian corporates across real estate, consumer goods, energy, and industrial sectors are expanding aggressively into the GCC, Iraq, and North Africa. Faced with a shifting domestic pipeline and exchange rate volatility, state-owned engineering giants Enppi and Petrojet, manufacturer Zeinox, and private developers Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) and Ora Developers have secured substantial transactions abroad. The structural question — is this outward expansion a deliberate macroeconomic hedge against domestic FX bottlenecks, or simply opportunistic?

By the numbers

Egyptian outward FDI reached USD 508 mn in 2024, a 30.3% y-o-y increase, building on a 14% rise to USD 390 mn in 2023, according to UNCTAD FDI data compiled and shared with us by senior economist and macro analyst Islam Magdy. The upward trajectory also continued into the current year, with Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) data showing net outward FDI climbing further to USD 524.1 mn in FY 2024/25. The surge correlates with Egypt's worst run of currency devaluations, with the EGP losing roughly 50% of its value against the USD across three devaluations between March 2022 and March 2024, culminating in a final 38% step-adjustment.

Crucially, Egypt’s balance of payments shows investment income receipts remain meaningful relative to outward FDI flows. CBE data shows that income receipts hit USD 2.90 bn in FY 2024/25, generating a 5.53x ratio against USD 524.1 mn in net outward FDI. This follows strong inflows in the preceding years, with receipts recording USD 1.93 bn in FY 2023/24 (a 3.85x ratio) and USD 2.14 bn in FY 2022/23 (a 6.33x ratio).

Companies like Orascom, EFG Hermes, and Oriental Weavers were building regional footprints well before recent devaluations, reflecting long-standing strategic ambitions, Magdy says. Al Ahly Pharos head of research Hany Genena traces the original impulse to the November 2016 float, when companies like Edita looked to Morocco. “That impulse faded as the EGP stabilized, but the 2022-2024 shock made the hedging imperative a structural necessity,” he says. “The devaluations accelerated existing expansion plans and enhanced the relative attractiveness of foreign markets for hard currency generation,” Magdy adds.

The analytical tension

Devaluation is not a single-variable explanation. “If the [chance] was not there, it wouldn’t have happened,” EFG Hermes chief economist Mohamed Abu Basha says. Saudi Arabia opened its property market, Oman launched industrial programs, and Iraq attracted regional capital.

The evidence, sector by sector

Private real estate is leading the pack. TMG recently secured land and an investment license for a USD 10 bn megaproject in Baghdad spanning 12.8 mn sqm, targeting USD 18.8 bn in sales and USD 108 mn in annual recurring revenues. Sawiris-owned Ora Developers also inked an agreement with the Iraqi government to develop Ali Al Wardi New City, described as the biggest residential complex in Iraq. Palm Hills Developments is deploying USD 3.8 bn to develop Saadiyat Shores in Abu Dhabi, targeting over USD 7 bn in project sales from international buyers. Orascom Construction and OCI Global are exploring a cross-border merger to create a single global infrastructure platform domiciled and listed in Abu Dhabi. A consortium led by b'naire Samih Sawiris is investing EUR 200 mn to kick off the first phase of rebuilding the long-stalled Mogador resort in Morocco.

The FMCG wave is part of the same push. Snackmaker Edita Food Industries recently secured a seven-year, EGP 500 mn loan to establish new production lines across Morocco and Iraq. Juhayna also recently inked a distribution agreement with Saudi Arabia to expand its footprint across the GCC, and Domty is eyeing a factory rollout in the Kingdom. Abu Basha notes this upgrades the FMCG model, allowing firms to invest in brands rather than relying on distribution.

State engineering is using diplomatic channels. Enppi marked its debut in Oman in May 2026, securing a USD 355 mn turnkey contract to triple the Birba Gathering Station’s processing capacity for Petroleum Development Oman. Earlier transactions in the cycle include Petrojet’s USD 181 mn EPC contract at Adnoc’s Bab and Asab fields in the UAE in June 2023, and the USD 1.24 bn natural gas pre-conditioning plant transaction Enppi and Petrojet closed in the UAE in January 2025. Local manufacturer Zeinox then inked a USD 2.5 mn agreement with the Oman Aluminium Rolling Company to build a 50k-ton capacity downstream aluminum center.

Banking is following the corporate migration. State-owned National Bank of Egypt recently opened its first Saudi branch and is currently looking into setting up shop in Iraq, and is studying an expansion in the UAE.

A possible motive

There is a valuation arbitrage driver few are discussing. “A lot of companies were saying, ‘I want to list abroad to boost my equity value, so that I am perceived as a foreign operator’,” Genena explains. Once a company generates 50% or more of its revenues from the Gulf — where exchange rates are stable and equity risk premiums are lower — investors assign it a lower cost of equity, raising overall valuation.

The Iraqi question

Iraq is the highest-stakes geographic bet. Investment flows into the country exceeded USD 102 bn between 2022 and 2025, Magdy says. Egyptian companies hold a competitive edge through execution experience in frontier markets and competitive pricing following the EGP's depreciation, he added. Iraq’s accession to the New York and Singapore conventions in 2021 has meaningfully strengthened investor protection frameworks.

What does this mean? By acceding to the New York and Singapore conventions, Iraq institutionalized a global safety net, giving foreign corporate firms — including Egyptian developers — predictability to conduct business there. This structural de-risking allows Egyptian firms to confidently expand into Iraq’s reconstruction pipeline, without leaving their capital exposed.

But Iraq carries real risk. Genena adds a note of caution: GB Corp saw its operations in Iraq — which span the distribution of passenger cars like MG, JAC, and Foton, Bajaj light mobility vehicles, and aftermarket spare parts — hurt by the regional war, turning a perceived hedge into a “valuation destroyer,” as inventory piled up and the company was forced to absorb markdown losses.

The cost? A domestic brain drain

The outward expansion is bleeding skilled workers to the Gulf, pushing local wages higher. As contractors navigate red tape to get teams abroad — like a USD 2.5k work visa for an Egyptian project manager in Iraq — the macroeconomic risk is that this relocation leaves the domestic market starved of talent.

The contractor’s structural piece is the sharpest evidence of survival, not just potential. As tracked in previous coverage, contractors are navigating a liquidity crunch and margin erosion. Nominal contract values mask deep losses, with asphalt costs jumping from EGP 100 per sqm at signing to EGP 350 today. State compensation covers only 60-70% of actual losses while imported supplies eat 40-50% of project costs in foreign currency, leaving local projects exposed to FX shocks.

The margin squeeze has fractured the market. Large players shield their balance sheets through foreign backlogs, evidenced by Orascom Construction’s USD 9.0 bn backlog in FY 2025, driven heavily by an 80.6% jump in its US backlog. Conversely, second- and third-tier contractors stuck at home are selling assets to stay in the market, with some facing bankruptcy. The EFCBC is now lobbying for state backing to turn construction exports into a primary hard currency earner.

Does the money come back?

Self-generating USD abroad reduces demand on Egypt’s interbank market, which Abu Basha describes as a healthy outcome of devaluation. As the numbers above show, the ratio of investment income receipts to outward FDI flows has risen significantly since 2022, proving that inflows are entering the system.

But the BOP benefit materializes only if income is repatriated. Genena warns that if income flows into offshore SPVs — shell companies set up in low-tax jurisdictions to route income — rather than back to Egypt, the BOP benefit evaporates. The precise breakdown between repatriated earnings and reinvested income deserves closer institutional attention, Magdy adds.

The state’s position

The government views outward expansion as a source of future hard currency, not a drain. The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is exploring outward investments, and the Central Bank frames outward capital mobility as a feature, Magdy says. Capital controls would contradict Egypt’s IMF commitments. The 2022 episode showed the cost of restricting USD flows, damaging investor confidence.

Why it matters

The outward expansion is an attempt to build new USD income streams and diversify risk — a convergence of strategic hedging, opportunism, domestic constraints, and the GCC investment cycle. The indicator to watch is the CBE’s balance of payments data, specifically whether “primary income” starts to move meaningfully as these cross-border projects mature.

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6

Moves

Housing and Development Bank has a new CEO

The Housing and Development Bank has named Yehia Aboulfotouh (LinkedIn) as CEO and managing director effective 1 July, following the resignation of Hassan Ghanem (LinkedIn), who stepped down for personal reasons, according to a statement (pdf). Aboulfotouh has held a 15-year tenure at the National Bank of Egypt, where he served as deputy chairman for nearly 12 years.

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7

Also on our Radar

Urbnlanes enters as Sky AD reportedly exits

Kuwaiti developer Urbnlanes is in final negotiations to acquire a 430-feddan plot in Ras El Hekma for EGP 7 bn (USD 137 mn), where it plans to set up a tourism and hotel project with expected total investments of EGP 80 bn, two sources told the Arabic press. The move follows the reported withdrawal of Sky Abu Dhabi Developments (Sky AD) from its previous development agreement on the site, according to the sources.

The exit: Sky AD — the real estate arm of UAE-based Diamond Group — recovered EGP 900 mn it had paid to the landowner and refunded all customer down payments, the sources said. Sky North — as the project was called — was planned to span 430 feddans across five phases with a total investment of EGP 80 bn.

Worth noting: Urbnlanes has been building out a hospitality arm in Egypt ahead of any potential North Coast move, having partnered with Story Hospitality — a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Capital Group — in April 2025 to expand extended-stay living in the country.

Another Chinese textile project

China’s Zhejiang Hongda will set up a USD 20 mn textile manufacturing and processing plant in Qantara West under a newly inked contract with the Suez Canal Economic Zone. The project will earmark 70% of its output to international markets and create 500 direct jobs.

DATA POINT- Qantara West has so far secured 53 projects worth USD 1.5 bn and spanning industry, service, and logistics.

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8

PLANET FINANCE

Back to the future

Investors are dusting off their pre-war playbook after the US and Iran reached an interim agreement that should lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Hedge funds are piling back into trades that worked before the conflict, buying everything from short-dated Treasuries and beaten-down Asian currencies to Southeast Asian equities and US consumer stocks, Bloomberg reports. One fund manager said the trade is to go “back to the future” with what worked before the war.

The biggest beneficiaries could be Asian: Hedge funds are turning bullish on oil-importing economies, including Japan, South Korea, and India, wagering lower crude prices will ease import bills and inflation pressures. Even instant-noodle stocks are back on investors’ shopping lists because of their exposure to palm oil prices.

Other sectors stand to gain as well: Investors are also eyeing Middle East-exposed industrials, logistics firms, and shipping companies that could benefit from a normalization of traffic through Hormuz.

Why the optimism? The agreement removes a major overhang for global markets after months of fighting triggered a massive disruption to oil supply. Brent crude fell more than 5% toward USD 82 a barrel after the agreement announcement, Bloomberg reported separately, while Treasury yields and the USD also moved lower as traders pared back expectations for future rate hikes.

A lot still hinges on inflation: “The real test now is the inflationary legacy of this war,” KCM Trade’s Tim Waterer said, while several analysts expect the agreement to trigger a short-term rally rather than a long-term one. “The big question is how quickly this oil relief translates into lower inflation and whether that opens the door for central banks to take an easier stance on monetary policy,” Waterer added.

Not everyone is convinced: The agreement still leaves major questions unresolved, including sanctions relief, Iran’s nuclear program, and the future operation of the Strait of Hormuz. While US President Donald Trump says the waterway will reopen on Friday, analysts warn traffic could take weeks to normalize and inflation expectations “won't reverse overnight,” Aberdeen Investments’ Michael Langham said.

In other words, markets may be pricing the best-case scenario. Pepperstone strategist Dilin Wu said the agreement must still survive Israeli opposition, Iranian hardliners, and a 60-day nuclear negotiation process. Stifel’s Barry Bannister also warned that while oil may fall further in the short term, the lack of detail in the agreement means the geopolitical risk premium is unlikely to disappear anytime soon.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asia-Pacific markets are mixed in early trading this morning, following yesterday’s rally triggered by the announcement of a framework agreement between the US and Iran. Investors are now sitting tight awaiting a rate decision from the Bank of Japan, which is expected to raise rates to a multi-decade high when it meets later today. Japan’s Nikkei is flat, while South Korea’s Kospi is up 1.4%.

EGX30

52,307

+0.6% (YTD: +25.1%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 50.32

Sell 50.46

USD (CIB)

Buy 50.28

Sell 50.38

Interest rates (CBE)

19.00% deposit

20.00% lending

Tadawul

11,096

-0.1% (YTD: +5.8%)

ADX

9,805

+2.7% (YTD: -1.9%)

DFM

5,954

+3.8% (YTD: -1.5%)

S&P 500

7,554

+1.7% (YTD: +10.4%)

FTSE 100

10,431

-0.4% (YTD: +5.0%)

Euro Stoxx 50

6,229

+0.7% (YTD: +7.5%)

Brent crude

USD 81.14

+0.4%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.15

+0.2%

Gold

USD 4,338

-0.3%

BTC

USD 66,404

+1.4% (YTD: -24.2%)

S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index

1,061

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S&P MENA bond & sukuk

152.49

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VIX (Volatility Index)

16.20

-8.4% (YTD: +8.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.6% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 11.4 bn (34.6% above the 90-day average). International investors were the sole net sellers. The index is up 25.1% YTD.

In the green: Eastern Company (+4.4%), ADIB (+3.3%), and Emaar Misr (+2.8%).

In the red: Qalaa Holdings (-4.6%), Egypt Aluminum (-4.5%), and Orascom Investment Holding (-2.8%).

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Our weekly deep dive into the green economy and ESG issue in Egypt.

Published every Tuesday in EnterpriseAM.

Read going Green
9

Going Green

Still studying

Egypt has signed 32 MoUs for green hydrogen projects worth a theoretical USD 175 bn, but as of last September, fewer than five had moved past feasibility studies. A new joint program, launched last April by the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido), is the latest attempt to unstick the pipeline — just as the industry is asking a more fundamental question: should Egypt be selling hydrogen at all?

REMEMBER– The OECD laid out a detailed policy stack last month for moving Egypt’s green hydrogen projects to final investment decision — estimating production costs here at USD 3.7-4.8/kg, more than double the USD 1.8/kg target in our national strategy. Reaching 1.5 mn tons of annual capacity by 2030 alone will require USD 45.6 bn in investment.

What the new program does: The National Clean Hydrogen Program aims to improve Egypt's investment readiness by pushing priority projects past the planning stage through pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. Unido will provide technical and policy support, strengthen institutional and national capacities, and help the SCZone establish a Green Hydrogen Center of Excellence. The initiative also connects local projects to global carbon markets and targets capacity building across government and industry.

A floor, not a ceiling: “The program helps developers address technical standards, certification, workforce development, industrial integration, and regulatory coordination — turning project announcements into investable [prospects],” Hydrogen Egypt cofounder and director Dalia Samir tells EnterpriseAM. The harder work starts when the program ends.

It builds on earlier institutional groundwork: The Unido initiative “builds on a series of ongoing institutional efforts,” H2Intelligence founder Osama Fawzy tells us. The push began in 2023 when representatives from the Egyptian Green Hydrogen High Commission, the Electricity Ministry, and Nile University signed an agreement with Geneva- and London-based Green Hydrogen Organization to lay the foundations for a local center of excellence. Separately, the British University in Egypt’s Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering partnered with Renewables Academy — funded by Germany’s International Climate Initiative under the regional Menalinks program — to deliver advanced courses in battery storage, power-to-X applications, and AI in renewable energy sector coupling.

The regulatory gap remains a problem: Egypt has plenty of regulations on paper, but “they often lack clear executive frameworks or the political will for enforcement, leaving them open to broad interpretation,” Fawzy says. That makes EBRD engagement critical. “Projects require coordination across multiple stakeholders — regulators, ports, utilities, land authorities, financing institutions, industrial users, and technology providers. Delays often arise because these elements move at different speeds,” Hydrogen Egypt CEO Khaled Nageib tells us.

The infrastructure is there — developers aren’t: The SCZone allocates 700k-800k sqm plots to developers and has built shared facilities for its green hydrogen cluster in Sokhna, including a desalination plant and a 13.5-km pipeline connecting the cluster to ammonia storage tanks. Developers stand hesitant regardless.

“The single biggest constraint paralyzing the industry is the lack of offtake agreements,” Fawzy says. Developers can’t secure the 70-30 debt-to-equity financing required for a USD 5-7 bn project from international banks without a signed buyer. On the other hand, offtakers are reluctant to lock in at today's price of USD 4.70/kg when prices are expected to fall to USD 3.40-3.50/kg by the time projects go operational. The result? “Banks won't finance without a buyer, and buyers won’t sign without a viable, operational project,” Fawzy tells us.

MDBs can help de-risk: Multilateral development banks can support early-stage feasibility studies, environmental assessments, certification frameworks, and pilot projects through grants and concessional funding — and can provide assurances, blended finance structures, and anchor investments that make projects more bankable. That means combining commercial debt, sovereign support, export credit agencies, and development finance institutions, Samir says.

There’s a domestic case to be made: Rather than exporting green hydrogen to decarbonize European industries, Egypt could use it domestically to clean up its own hard-to-abate sectors — then export the green end products, Fawzy argues. Developers could move faster by targeting sectors where demand already exists: green ammonia, methanol, and low-carbon fertilizers, where international buyers already have procurement programs in place, Samir adds.

Hard-to-abate industries would also gain an immediate edge under the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, while exports would generate foreign currency, attract international investment, and cement Egypt’s position as a regional energy hub, Nageib says.

Or… the government could become the offtaker itself. By raising natural gas prices for heavy industries to international spot market levels — then subsidizing locally produced green hydrogen down to USD 2.50/kg — Egypt could push local factories to transition and export green steel, green cement, and other green commodities directly to Europe, bypassing the offtake deadlock entirely, Fawzy says. Targeted support mechanisms would reinforce the shift: land access, streamlined permitting, renewable energy integration, tax incentives, and concessional financing for decarbonization projects, according to Nageib.

OUR TAKE- Fawzy’s domestic-offtake thesis is a sharp idea, but the political and fiscal architecture needed to deliver it is only partly in place. The first leg — raising industrial gas prices — has happened: a USD 2/mmBtu hike for energy-intensive sectors under a May decree. But Cairo opted for a fixed hike over the flexible, market-linked structure it had been considering — prioritizing IMF-driven fiscal relief over strategic industrial reform. That’s not a posture that easily extends to layering new subsidies on top: closing Fawzy’s USD 1/kg gap at the 2030 target of 1.5 mn tonnes implies USD 1.5 bn a year in fresh hydrogen subsidies, after two years of cutting subsidies on the IMF’s instructions. The conversion capex on the demand side is a separate question again. The idea is the right one; whether Egypt can assemble the package to deliver it is what the next 18 months will tell us.

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CALENDAR

JUNE

16-18 June (Tuesday-Thursday) AFA International Annual Fertilizer Conference & Exhibition, Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

23-25 June (Tuesday-Thursday): Watrex Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

30 June (Tuesday): June 30 Revolution.

JULY

9 July (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fourth meeting of 2026.

23 July (Thursday): Revolution Day (TBC).

AUGUST

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

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.

OCTOBER

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.

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

1Q 2026: Trial operations for the Ain Sokhna-Sixth of October section of Egypt’s first high-speed rail line scheduled to begin.

May 2026: End of extension for developers on 15% interest rates for land installment payments.

July 2026: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer set to visit Egypt.

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

16-18 January (Saturday-Monday): Agri Expo, Cairo International Convention Center.

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

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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