FDI nearly covers Egypt’s widening current account gap

Wednesday, 14 Oct 2026

FDI nearly covers Egypt’s widening current account gap

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Today at a glance

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Foreign investors had huge appetite for MNT-Halan’s private placement, war in the Gulf or not.

Real estate

Hassan Allam’s Grova Developments enters Oman with USD 115 mn of projects at Muscat’s Madinat Al Irfan.

The Big Story Today

Egypt’s BoP swung to a USD 2.8 bn surplus in FY 2025/26, even as the current account deficit widened 45.6% to USD 22.5 bn.

Capital markets

The EGX30 rose 2.79% in 3Q, as a 5.4% slide in September gave back much of the summer’s gains.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Spark for Acquisition has applied to list on the EGX, which would make it the bourse’s fourth SPAC.

Also on our Radar

Emirates NBD Egypt will offer its clients two EFG Hermes equity funds, one of them Shariah-compliant.

PLANET FINANCE

IMF slashes MENA growth as Hormuz closure disrupts oil and shipping

HARDHAT

Egypt has more than tripled its modern wheat silo capacity since 2014, and contractors and lenders are helping pay for more.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

War or not, institutional investors had a big appetite for MNT-Halan’s USD 126 mn IPO on the Egyptian Exchange

It’s a huge morning for capital market watchers — investors, regulators, and pundits alike: Foreign institutional investors have flocked to MNT-Halan’s USD 126.5 mn IPO on the Egyptian Exchange.

Why it matters: MNT-Halan and Banque du Caire are in the market with two of the most exciting IPOs we’ve seen in more than a decade. MNT was out first, and if CEO Mounir Nakhla and his bankers are successful, the offering could re-open Egypt’s IPO window and mark us as a stable destination for equity investors who have given us a cold shoulder for the better part of the last 15 years.

The catch: You could feel our community collectively hold its breath when a Houthi attack on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport killed 13 and injured more than 300 over the weekend. It was already a miracle that MNT and BdC were in the market amid a hot war in the Gulf. Cranking it up a notch with a brutal attack on civilian infrastructure is the type of thing that would traditionally have sent foreign investors fleeing for the exit — and make investment bankers lose their nerve.

Instead, it’s a story of “plenty of appetite, no seconds”: Fintech giant MNT-Halan’s private placement closed 11.2x oversubscribed yesterday, according to a statement seen by EnterpriseAM. More than 300 investors across more than 10 countries — including multiple GCC countries, the UK, France, Switzerland, South Africa, and Egypt — put in orders for the 272 mn shares at the EGP 24.50 offer price.

Sound smart: Excluding cornerstone investors CIB and London’s Redwheel, the institutional offering was more than 19x oversubscribed. CIB and Redwheel have together been allocated more than a third of the base offering.

No seconds, though: The prospectus allowed the private placement to be upsized by up to 80 mn shares, which would have taken the offering to 25% of the company from 20%. Any increase needed FRA approval and had to be announced at least three days before retail subscriptions close on 15 October. That window has passed with no announcement. MNT shares should make their EGX debut on 20 October.

Retail investors have until tomorrow to get their orders in: The 48 mn-share public tranche closes on 15 October.

REFRESHER- MNT Investments B.V. is selling 320 mn shares, good for 20% of MNT-Halan’s issued share capital, through a private placement to institutional investors and a public offering in Egypt. Our friends at EFG Hermes acted as global coordinator for the offering.

ADVISORS- EFG Hermes is joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner along with Citi for MNT-Halan’s offering.

What to watch for next: Banque du Caire is looking to raise USD 460 mn or so in a blockbuster IPO that has so far attracted significant interest from foreign institutional investors, as we’ve previously reported. CI Capital is quarterbacking the transaction as lead global coordinator and joint bookrunner, while EFG Hermes is joint global coordinator and joint bookrunner.

WANT TO GO DEEPER? MNT-Halan CEO Mounir Nakhla was our guest on Making It, our weekly podcast with the nation’s top business leaders, last week. Listen to the episode on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anghami | YouTube

Also happening this morning

We have a look at Egypt’s balance of payments in the state’s last fiscal year (it closed in surplus thanks to a big one-off), and our friends at Hassan Allam Holdings are making their Oman real estate debut. We have the rundown on both of these stories — and a lot more — in this morning’s news well below.

SPAC on track

MEANWHILE- Blank-check company Spark for Acquisition wants to list on the EGX’s main market, according to an EGX statement. That would make it the fourth SPAC on the bourse. We still don’t know who owns or runs the company: its FRA record lists only an office address in New Cairo. Spark has applied to list 1 mn shares at EGP 10 par value, for an issued capital of EGP 10 mn, the regulatory minimum. The request still has to go before the EGX’s listing committee.

Just in time: Spark got its FRA license on 17 September, around the same time Tafra Investment Group SPAC was approved for establishment. SPAC rules give newly licensed vehicles one month to apply for an EGX listing, or risk losing their license. Spark filed with four days to spare.

REFRESHER- The EGX has three SPACs on its books. Catalyst Partners Middle East, Egypt’s first, started trading late last year. Next, Hassan Allam’s vehicle secured a temporary listing in July 2025 and has since been rebranded as Grova Venture Capital. OG Capital followed with a temporary listing in May, giving it until around 19 November to put an acquisition target to a shareholder vote. It hasn’t announced one yet. Dutch PE firm RMBV also applied to the FRA in May to set up a SPAC of its own.

What’s next: Once listed, Spark’s clocks start ticking — three months to raise its issued capital to at least EGP 100 mn, six months to put a target to a shareholder vote, and two years to close a transaction, all counted from listing day.

***

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.

***

Factory aid

The government has earmarked EGP 10 bn to help struggling factories restructure and resume production, Asharq Business reports, citing comments by Industry Minister Khaled Hashem at the Canada Egypt Business Council conference. The initiative will operate along three main avenues: technical assistance, financial backing, and connections to fresh investors.

More on the way: Hashem said the ministry plans to announce industrial complexes for small and medium-sized manufacturers today, and is preparing a financing initiative for SMEs. It is also working on a scheme to give factories soft loans for renewable energy, targeting some 1k MW of capacity for 7k factories.

This development follows the CBE’s launch of a new EGP 1 bn fund, which takes equity stakes in distressed factories and restructures them so they can resume operations. The Distressed Factories Restructuring Fund targets industrial firms with viable operations that have hit financial or operational trouble. CI Capital manages it, and the head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Mohamed El Sewedy, chairs its investment committee. Five banks back it: the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, the Arab African International Bank, the Agricultural Bank of Egypt, and the Export Development Bank of Egypt. The fund takes equity and works alongside management rather than lending, Assistant to the Industry Minister Emad Abdel Hamid told us last December.

Data point

EGP 262.9 bn — that’s the value of the 29 syndicated loans the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) managed in 9M 2026, according to a press release (pdf). The state-owned lender served as facility agent, the bank that runs the loan on behalf of the whole syndicate, on 20 of those transactions, capturing a 10.48% share of all syndicated loan agreements in Africa over the period, it says.

That put NBE at the top of Bloomberg’s league tables for Egypt as facility agent, mandated lead arranger, bookrunner, and documentation bank. It also ranked first in Africa as bookrunner and documentation bank, and fourth in MENA as facility agent and bookrunner.

The Gulf’s sovereign funds and largest companies are committing bns to AI infrastructure at home and to AI companies in the US and beyond. EnterpriseAM AI + Innovation reports on where that capital goes, who controls it and what it is actually buying.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, we also cover the startups and established firms across MENA putting AI to work, and how it is changing jobs, education and the way business runs.

It’s sharp, analytical and skeptical journalism that ignores hype and is laser-focused on informing our readers, not pleasing our sources.

The gas crunch gave Egypt every reason to speed up its energy transition, and the question now is who builds it and who pays for it.

Power Trip, our four-part signature series, turns this week to the transition and the private developers now building much of Egypt’s new power.

Issue II looks at how the deals behind these projects work, who is lending to them, and why the country is building a nuclear plant at El Dabaa alongside its solar and wind farms. We also look at whether the regional crisis has finally pushed industry toward renewables, and at the factories Egypt is counting on to build its own panels, batteries, and turbines.

Coming straight to your inbox today.

PSA

WEATHER- Cairo is warming up today, with a high of 32°C and a low of 20°C — a two-degree bump from yesterday as a brief hot spell rolls in, according to our favorite weather app. Watch for strong winds kicking up dust and morning fog, with a slight chance of light rain.

It’s a notch warmer on the coast in Alexandria too, with a high of 31°C and a low of 20°C.

The big story abroad

US authorities arrested a Saudi OpenAI employee for allegedly planting a recording device at the company's San Francisco headquarters. A security team found the device hidden in toilet paper behind a TV in an executive meeting room at its headquarters on 30 September. OpenAI fired the employee and said it found no sign that customer data, source code, or model weights had been stolen.

The US Treasury Department fined Bank of America more than USD 1 bn for violating anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and failing to report over USD 5 bn in suspicious activity. This included “suspicious transactions indicative of Chinese Money Laundering Networks, fraud, and potential trade-based money laundering with a substantial nexus to the southwest border,” the Treasury Department said.

Google released its flagship AI model Gemini 4 Argon to developers and businesses worldwide. The model is billed as particularly effective at complex, multi-step work across coding, finance, legal affairs, cybersecurity, and scientific research.

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: EnterpriseAM’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: After repeated supply shocks, we look at who is building Egypt’s new wheat silos and warehouses, and who is paying for them.

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EGX IPO MNT-Halan National Bank of Egypt SPACs WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Where ideas, industries and perspectives come together. This October, Somabay welcomes leading voices from Egypt, the region and beyond, as the Narrative Summit marks its milestone tenth edition. Ten editions. One destination. Conversations that shape a decade.

The Big Story Today

Egypt’s BoP swings to a USD 2.8 bn surplus in FY 2025/26 as FDI covers most of a wider current account gap

Egypt’s balance of payments swung to a USD 2.8 bn surplus in FY 2025/26, compared to a USD 2.1 bn deficit the year before, according to Central Bank of Egypt figures (pdf). Net inflows into the capital and financial account more than doubled to USD 23.2 bn from USD 10.2 bn. Net FDI and portfolio money together brought in USD 22.2 bn, within USD 0.3 bn of the current account gap.

That gap is getting wider, though: The current account deficit grew 45.6% to USD 22.5 bn from USD 15.4 bn, as the merchandise trade deficit widened 27.1% to USD 64.8 bn and the investment income deficit rose 33.8% to USD 21.2 bn. Remittances, tourism, and a partial Suez Canal recovery softened the blow but couldn’t keep pace.

SOUND SMART- The balance of payments has two sides. The current account tracks what Egypt earns and spends on goods, services, income, and transfers. Two components drove this year’s widening: the merchandise trade deficit (what Egypt pays for imported goods minus export earnings) and the investment income deficit (what it pays foreign investors and lenders in interest, income, and dividends minus what it earns on its own investments abroad). The capital and financial account tracks the money flowing in from investment and borrowing. When those inflows more than cover the current account gap, the overall balance broadly moves into surplus.

Why it matters: The surplus leans on a one-off. Strip out the USD 3.5 bn Alam El Roum tranche booked in October-December, and the year would have closed roughly USD 0.7 bn in the red.

What widened the deficit

The bigger drag was non-oil imports. The non-oil trade deficit widened 25.4% to USD 46.6 bn as non-oil imports rose 16.9% to USD 83.9 bn. Intermediate goods, the inputs factories use to make other products, accounted for 55.2% of that increase. Non-oil exports grew a slower 7.8% to USD 37.3 bn, led by vegetables, gold, readymade garments, household appliances, and fruits.

Energy added to the bill. The oil trade deficit widened 31.5% to USD 18.3 bn. Oil imports rose 27.6% to USD 24.9 bn, mostly on more natural gas (up USD 4.7 bn) and crude (up USD 1.9 bn), while oil product imports fell by USD 1.2 bn. Oil exports rose 18.1% to USD 6.6 bn from USD 5.6 bn, and almost all of the USD 1.0 bn increase (USD 955.8 mn) came in 4Q.

Foreign investors are taking more home. Payments to foreign investors rose USD 5.2 bn to USD 23.9 bn, while receipts slipped to USD 2.7 bn. Only about USD 0.8 bn of the increase was interest, which rose to USD 8.1 bn. The rest is likely profits and dividends earned by foreign companies here. (Reinvested earnings, which the CBE books as both an income payment and an FDI inflow, rose to USD 6.2 bn from USD 4.2 bn.)

What kept it from getting worse: Remittances jumped 29.6% to USD 47.3 bn from USD 36.5 bn, by far the biggest offset. Tourism revenues rose 10.3% to USD 18.4 bn, and Suez Canal receipts climbed 21.6% to USD 4.4 bn as traffic partly returned, with net tonnage up 22.4% and transits up 9.8% to 13.6k vessels. That pushed the services surplus up 10.5% to USD 16.7 bn.

Where the money came from

FDI was the main source. Net FDI inflows rose to USD 18.0 bn from USD 12.2 bn, nearly all of it (USD 17.8 bn) outside oil. Greenfield investment and capital increases reached USD 8.8 bn from USD 5.5 bn, including USD 3.5 bn from Alam El Roum. Reinvested earnings added USD 6.2 bn, and foreigners buying property added another USD 2.8 bn. Oil and mining FDI shrank to USD 190.2 mn from USD 598.3 mn, as cost recovery payments to foreign partners rose to USD 6.5 bn.

Hot money came back too: Portfolio inflows more than doubled to USD 4.2 bn from USD 1.6 bn, even though foreigners were net sellers of Egyptian bonds, pulling out USD 935 mn.

And debt stopped draining USD: Medium- and long-term loans and facilities posted a net disbursement of USD 1.9 bn, against a net repayment of USD 3.5 bn the year before. Principal repayments fell to USD 7.1 bn from USD 12.4 bn, while disbursements held at about USD 9.0 bn.

Not all of it stayed in the system, though: Banks and the CBE added USD 9.7 bn to their assets abroad, against USD 5.6 bn the year before, which counts as an outflow in the BoP. That’s USD parked outside the country as a buffer, not spent.

REMEMBER- Egypt’s external buffers held up through the regional shock. Net international reserves rose to USD 55.1 bn at the end of June from USD 52.8 bn in March, and the banking system’s net foreign assets recovered to USD 22.9 bn in May from USD 21.4 bn in March. The EGP firmed to 49.2 against the greenback by end-June from 54.6 three months earlier. That came despite USD 9.5 bn in portfolio outflows after the regional conflict broke out in late February.

Looking ahead

The IMF sees faster growth and a wider gap: The IMF raised its 2026 real GDP growth forecast for Egypt to 5.1% — up from 4.6% in its July outlook and 4.4% last year — before projecting expansion to ease to 4.7% in 2027, according to its latest economic outlook (pdf). The Fund expects the current account deficit to broaden to 4.4% of GDP in 2026, up from 4.2% a year earlier, and widen further to 4.9% in 2027.

That growth call is close to the CBE’s own projection of 5.0% in FY 2025/26 and 4.9% in FY 2026/27, both revised up 0.1 ppt, with growth picking up to 5.4% in FY 2027/28.

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BoP current account deficit FDI GDP portfolio investments THE BIG STORY TODAY

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Real estate

Hassan Allam becomes latest Egyptian developer to enter Oman with USD 115 mn Madinat Al Irfan deal

Hassan Allam Holding is the latest Egyptian developer to cross the Gulf into Oman. The group’s real estate arm Grova Developments signed two agreements yesterday with state-owned Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran Group) to launch the first residential phase at Madinat Al Irfan in Muscat, according to a press release. The agreements cover a USD 75 mn residential neighbourhood and a USD 40 mn branded residences project, roughly USD 115 mn combined. Hassan Allam Construction will build both.

The projects are Grova’s Oman debut and the first residential launch at Madinat Al Irfan in Oman. The project has a 7 mn sqm masterplan with 10k units planned. These were two of three agreements signed by Oman yesterday totalling c. USD 317 mn (OMR 122 mn). The remaining agreement, valued at c. USD 203 mn (OMR 78 mn), was signed with Omani developer Aurelian Development for the sustainable city Yiti.

Irfan is one of two hot spots in the Omani residential market right now. The project is “establishing itself as Muscat’s premier emerging Central Business District for Grade A commercial and office space” ahead of upcoming residential launches, Ahmed Al Shuwaikh, sales and investment manager at Hamptons International Oman, tells EnterpriseAM. The other is Sultan Haitham City, the national flagship smart city urban development. Both projects are feeding the same momentum. “[The projects] have created long-term market confidence and attracted institutional capital, while immediate end-user demand continues to absorb existing stock in established corridors,” Shuwaikh says.

Both are designated as Integrated Tourism Complexes (ITCs), the main legal route for foreign freehold ownership in Oman, bundled with renewable residency for buyers and their families. But Sultan Haitham runs on a more open regime than standard ITCs, with a September 2025 cabinet decision that lets buyers lock in residency after paying just 30% of a property at prices as low as OMR 50k, pre-completion, as we reported last month.

The agreement comes amid a foreign investment surge into Oman’s residential market. Oman is “experiencing a notable influx of foreign and GCC capital, driven by political stability, economic predictability, safe-haven status, and major legal reforms, including the New Real Estate Registration Law, which digitizes title registration and boosts transparency,” Shuwaikh explains. Yields are a key draw, with ITC residential properties averaging 8.75% gross and mixed-use assets reaching 9.75%, he adds. Accessible entry prices compared to the regional alternatives are also playing a role; studios at Sultan Haitham launched at OMR 27.8k in 2023-2024 and are now trading around OMR 70k, well below comparable units in Dubai or Riyadh.

Hassan Allam joins a short list of Egyptian first-movers. Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) and Al Ahly Sabbour got to Oman first. TMG has Jood inside Sultan Haitham City and its coastal Yamal project, while Al Ahly Sabbour has Wadi Zaha, also in Sultan Haitham City. Brokers say the two Egyptian firms have taken the most premium plots so far. “Egyptian developers possess deep, proven expertise in master-planned smart city projects and large-scale community developments. Their business models align directly with the master framework and scale of Sultan Haitham City,” Shuwaikh says.

This comes amid a near absence of GCC developers in these two major urban developments. Saudi developer Retal is the only non-Egyptian regional player to have entered Sultan Haitham City, with a USD 830 mn mixed-use project spanning 1.3 mn sqm, while no major Emirati developer (such as Emaar, Aldar, or Damac) has entered either development yet.

But don’t read too much into the Egyptian lead, cautions Farzad Salehi, principal at Muscat-based Yaghoobi Real Estate Brokerage. “It does not, in itself, prove that they have cornered the market on prime land or that other regional developers lack interest; every developer has distinct priorities, return-on-investment targets, and commitments elsewhere,” he tells us. “As primary infrastructure is completed and early absorption is demonstrated, major GCC and Emirati developers are likely to enter for subsequent phases and land parcels,” Shuwaikh says.

Tags:

Grova Developments Hassan Allam Holding Oman real estate

Capital markets

EGX30 gained 2.79% in 3Q, but September gave back most of its July-August run, with mid-caps falling the hardest

The EGX30 etched out a modest gain in 3Q, closing the quarter up 2.79% at roughly 51.9k points, according to the bourse’s latest quarterly report (pdf), against an 11.4% rally in 2Q. September slowed the overall gain, with the index shedding 5.4% over the month, dragged down by building materials stocks, data from the EGX’s latest monthly report (pdf) shows.

Why the quarter’s gain shrank to a quarter of 2Q’s: “The most significant upward movements typically occur in 4Q,” Sameh Gharib of Tycoon Securities told EnterpriseAM in July. “3Q is generally characterized by a phase of accumulation. The market tends to move sideways as it builds up new buying power, or takes a breather before rising,” he said.

Small- and mid-caps outran the benchmark for a second straight quarter, and the spread widened. The EGX70 climbed 20.14% over the quarter while the EGX100 EWI added 17.19%, both leaving the EGX30 far behind. The gap was 23.68% and 21.32% against 11.4% in 2Q.

Meanwhile, trading topped EGP 7.5 tn during the quarter, up from EGP 6.9 tn in 2Q, with the EGX’s market capitalization climbing 10.3% to EGP 4.06 tn. Equities accounted for 11.14% of traded value, while bonds and T-bills took the remaining 88.86%. Volumes reached 212.7 bn securities across 17.4 mn transactions, against 154.4 bn and 12.1 mn in 2Q.

Retail now accounts for close to four-fifths of equity turnover. Retail investors traded EGP 1.23 tn in listed stocks, excluding deals, against EGP 331.2 bn for institutions. Thndr Securities Brokerage took 24.0% of value traded and 13.7 mn of the market’s 17.3 mn trades on its own.

Seventeen of 18 sectors finished the quarter higher. Energy and support services (+41.8%) and textiles and durables (+25.3%) led the 3Q rally, followed by contracting and construction engineering (+21.3%) and travel and leisure (+17.9%). Food, beverages, and tobacco was the only sector in the red last quarter, down 5.8%, with real estate close to flat at +0.2%.

The buyer mix also saw a big shake-up: Regional institutions turned net buyers of EGP 1.9 bn in listed shares during 3Q, after net selling EGP 5.1 bn in 2Q. Local institutions went the other way, selling a net EGP 3.6 bn after buying EGP 9.4 bn the quarter before. Foreign institutions remained net sellers, offloading EGP 2.2 bn, though that’s less than half the EGP 4.8 bn they sold in 2Q. Meanwhile, local retail investors were the biggest net buyers, picking up EGP 5.1 bn.

What’s keeping foreign institutions out isn’t the macro, Randa Hamed, managing director at Okaz Asset Management, said in an interview with Asharq (watch: runtime: 9:00). FX flexibility and the ability to repatriate dividends and capital gains have improved. “What it lacks is the large companies, a market with stock to offer, and better mechanisms,” she said. “The mechanisms have started, but they are still in their early stages,” she added, pointing to derivatives and short-selling.

September in focus

The EGX30 opened September at 54.9k points, touched a 50.9k low mid-month, and closed at 51.9k. The broader market fell harder, with the EGX70 off 10.85% and the EGX100 EWI off 9.12%, reversing the pattern that held through July and August. EGX T Bonds was the only index to finish the month in the green, up 1.42%.

Mid-caps gave back what the quarter had handed them. EGX70 constituents lost 22.0% of their market value over September against a 3.8% drop for EGX30 names. Total market cap fell 5.4% m-o-m to EGP 4.06 tn, while turnover in listed stocks thinned to EGP 266.7 bn from EGP 300.4 bn in August.

Energy and support services (+3.8%) was September’s best-performing sector, followed by IT, media, and communication services (+3.3%) and travel and leisure (+0.9%). The other 13 sectors closed in the red. Building materials was the worst performer by a wide margin, down 20.9%, while the health care and pharma sector and the food, beverages, and tobacco sector both shed 12.4%. Real estate fell 10.3%.

The month’s flows ran against the quarter’s. Regional institutions bought a net EGP 3.5 bn and foreign institutions EGP 302.5 mn, while local institutions sold EGP 8.0 bn, more than double what they offloaded across 3Q as a whole. Local retail stayed on the bid, picking up EGP 4.4 bn, as regional retail sold EGP 251.3 mn and foreign retail bought EGP 48.4 mn.

Some of that institutional selling may be retail money in disguise. Equity funds have proliferated, and their unitholders are overwhelmingly individuals, Hamed told Asharq. “At the end of the day, the investment manager, the fund manager, has to meet the redemptions, and even the funds are now on an app,” she said. “With the press of a button, [the investor] sells his certificates, and the investment manager is forced to sell.”

Whether September is a correction or a turn comes down to the fundamentals, Hamed said. “A change in direction would mean the fundamentals have changed,” and they haven’t, she said, pointing to foreign reserves above USD 57 bn and net foreign assets at banks above USD 28 bn.

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capital markets EGX

Moves

Mopco taps Osama Youssef as CEO, managing director

Misr Fertilizer Production (Mopco) appointed Osama Abd El Rahman Youssef as its CEO and managing director, effective 12 October, according to a company statement (pdf). Youssef succeeds Ahmed Mahmoud El Sayed.

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Mopco moves

Also on our Radar

Emirates NBD Egypt will offer two EFG Hermes equity funds, one conventional and one Shariah-compliant

Emirates NBD Egypt will start offering two EFG Hermes equity funds to its clients, one conventional and one shariah-compliant, under a new distribution agreement, according to a statement (pdf). Neither side named the funds, said how big they are, or stated when clients can start buying. The two go back to 2018, when Emirates NBD Egypt launched its first mutual fund and hired EFG Hermes Asset Management to run it.

It’s the second push to get EFG Hermes funds in front of retail investors this year. In February, the firm put five funds on its One app that had until then been reserved for institutional clients, including an actively managed Egyptian equity fund and a shariah-compliant one benchmarked to the EGX 33 Shariah Index.

A Klivvr expansion

Sawiris-backed fintech firm Klivvr is targeting a roughly 160% jump in its financing portfolio next year to as much as EGP 6.5 bn, up from more than EGP 2.5 bn disbursed in its first 12 months, Asharq Business reports, citing CEO Nils Bachtler. The current portfolio sits at EGP 2.4-2.5 bn, with banks and factoring companies providing around 95% of its funding. Klivvr plans to double its merchant network to more than 2k from around 1k within 12 months and is weighing SME financing — targeting EGP 2-3 bn in its first year — while applying for the needed licenses.

IN CONTEXT- The growth target lands in a sector that regulators are pulling back on. Klivvr draws about 95% of its funding from banks and factoring companies, the very channel the central bank is now restricting (banks are barred from lending to non-bank lenders that aren’t registered with the central bank and reporting to I-Score). The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has pushed through its own data rules, requiring consumer finance firms to report each approval, disbursement, and repayment to I-Score in real time and to link their databases to the regulator’s own. Klivvr is a relative newcomer: the FRA cleared its consumer finance arm in December 2024, and the Sawiris family’s Klivvr Holding bought Orascom Financial Holding’s 99% stake in Klivvr Electronics for EGP 657.7 mn in January 2025.

Share and share alike

Bonyan for Development and Trade is issuing 37.5 mn new shares at EGP 1 par to its employee incentive scheme, lifting its issued and paid-up capital by 2% to EGP 1.91 bn from EGP 1.87 bn, according to a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX. Shareholders signed off on the increase at an ordinary general meeting on Monday. The new shares are a fifth of the pool set aside for the scheme, which puts the full pool at some 187.5 mn shares, or 10% of the company’s capital before the increase, by our math.

BACKGROUND- The issuance comes a week after Bonyan’s board greenlit a buyback of up to 4% of its issued capital, with the stock at EGP 4.08 on 5 October, at about half what an FRA-approved independent valuer says its portfolio is worth. Bonyan is a real estate operating company (REOC): it owns income-generating commercial property and leases it out, with roughly 60% of its rental contracts USD-linked. It floated a stake of just over a fifth in July 2025 in the EGX’s first REOC IPO.

Funding the follow-on

Korra Energi CEO Ayman Korra sold 34.2 mn shares in the company for EGP 205.3 mn on Monday, one session before the cut-off to qualify for its EGP 405 mn rights issue, according to an EGX filing (pdf). The shares went at an average of EGP 6.004 through Wilzy Securities, cutting his stake to 73.48% from 75%. He and related parties now hold 87.48%, down from 89%.

The timing lines up with his own bill. His remaining shares entitle him to around 1.49 bn new shares, which would cost some EGP 305 mn to take up at the EGP 0.205 price. The stock sale covers two-thirds of it. Rights priced at par against a share price near EGP 6 are what make that take-up worth funding.

The terms: Korra is selling 2.025 bn new shares at par to existing shareholders, 0.9 for every share held, nearly doubling its share count and lifting paid-in capital to EGP 855 mn from EGP 450 mn. Subscription runs from 18 October to 1 November, and the rights trade separately, between Egyptians only, until 27 October.

Where the money goes: Up to EGP 255 mn goes to working capital, around EGP 100 mn to settling tax and financial leasing obligations, and the remaining EGP 50 mn to branch assets, marketing, and operating costs, according to the invitation to shareholders (pdf).

Building for the overflow

Alexandria is getting a dirty bulk terminal, and a Chinese company is building it. The Alexandria Port Authority signed an MoU with Xiamen C&D to develop the terminal at Al-Max Port, according to a Transport Ministry statement issued yesterday. Dirty bulk is the unprocessed cargo that can’t share a berth with grain: coal, clinker, and iron ore — the raw material feeding cement and steel. The design gives it storage yards, silos, two main quays, and handling facilities, with room for three of the largest bulk carriers at the same time once it’s built. It’s the first of four terminals planned for Al-Max Port, all part of the Greater Alexandria Port scheme inside the Sokhna-Alexandria logistics corridor.

The timing isn’t accidental, since transit containers through Alexandria and Dekheila ports rose 74% last fiscal year as carriers shifted to the Mediterranean to stay clear of the Red Sea, and the ports are feeling the squeeze. The Al-Max terminal and the Amreya dry port, which opens shortly, both belong to a wider plan for 33 dry ports and logistics zones along seven corridors. C&D wants more where this came from: managing director and CEO Liu Rongdian says the company is looking at further terminals and at commercial shipbuilding.

Blank check

Egypt says it will back Riyadh “without any reservation” in its fight against the Houthis. “Whatever is being asked by the Saudis, of course we will respond. Without any reservation, we are providing all kinds of support,” Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told Bloomberg when asked about the possibility of Egyptian military support.

Cairo considering joining defense pact: Abdelatty added that membership in the regional Makkah defense agreement “is under serious consideration from the Egyptian side.” He said Egypt enjoys close ties with all three signatories to the pact — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR EGX Egypt Houthis Klivvr Korra Energi Saudi Arabia

PLANET FINANCE

IMF slashes MENA growth as Hormuz closure disrupts oil and shipping

The Middle East and North Africa is set to contract 3.8% growth in 2026 before rebounding next year to an 8.0% clip, as the Gulf war disrupts hydrocarbon production, shipping, and economic activity, according to the IMF’s October 2026 World Economic Outlook (pdf). The Fund cut its 2026 MENA growth forecast by 4.8 percentage points from April, while raising its 2027 projection by 3.1 points.

The IMF updated its forecasts almost at the last minute to reflect higher oil prices, IMF Deputy Director of Research Petya Koeva Brooks said at the WEO press briefing in Bangkok. Risks remain tilted to the downside, particularly for Gulf exporters, where the shock is also spilling into non-oil activity.

What’s driving the downturn? The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted a route that carried around 20 mn barrels of oil daily before the war — roughly a quarter of global maritime oil trade. Infrastructure damage, shipping restrictions, and higher freight and ins. costs have curtailed exports and weighed on tourism and transport.

Refinery outages and damage in the Gulf and Russia have removed an estimated 20% of internationally traded refined oil product supply, leaving prices 70-95% above prewar levels. Diesel and gasoline face particularly severe pressures.

Gulf economies face steep contractions: Oil exporters in the IMF's broader Middle East and Central Asia grouping are expected to shrink 3.8% this year before growing 7.4% in 2027. Higher oil prices are not enough to offset lost production and exports.

Kuwait’s economy is forecast to contract 16.7% in 2026 before rebounding 17.1% next year. Iraq is expected to shrink 16.0% before growing 19.0%, Qatar to contract 15.6% before expanding 18.8%, and Bahrain to shrink 11.3% before recovering 13.9%.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE face smaller contractions of 3.3% and 3.9%, respectively, followed by growth of 7.9% and 7.7% in 2027. Saudi Arabia benefits from alternative oil export routes, although the IMF warned that non-oil activity is also slowing in some Gulf economies.

Elsewhere, Oman (+4.1%), Algeria (+3.8%), and Libya (+3.3%) are expected to grow this year, while Iran is forecast to contract 7.6%, with inflation reaching 78.6%.

Oil importers are holding up better: The IMF forecasts 4.7% growth in both 2026 and 2027 for importers in its broader Middle East and Central Asia grouping, compared with 4.3% in 2025. The Fund had modestly upgraded the outlook, citing resilient domestic demand, remittances, and tourism, despite higher energy and food import bills, IMF Director of Research Silvana Tenreyo said.

Egypt’s growth forecast has been upgraded for both 2026 and 2027, driven by recovering Suez Canal activity and oil-related sectors, the IMF official said at the briefing. The Fund expects growth of 5.1% this year, up from 4.4% in 2025, before slowing to 4.7% in 2027 as the delayed impact of the Gulf conflict weighs on activity. Risks remain tilted to the downside, including from further regional shipping disruptions.

Egyptian inflation is forecast to ease from 20.4% in 2025 to 13.3% this year before rising to 14.8% in 2027. The current account deficit is projected to widen from 4.2% of GDP in 2025 to 4.4% this year and 4.9% next year.

Morocco is expected to grow 4.5% in 2026 and 4.2% in 2027, Jordan 2.7% and 3.1%, and Tunisia 2.4% and 2.0%, respectively.

Hormuz reopening scenarios: The IMF’s baseline assumes reopening will begin in March 2027, with conditions broadly returning to prewar levels by October 2027. This is a forecasting assumption, not a prediction of when the war will end. The Fund assumes average oil prices of USD 95.74 / bbl in 2026 and USD 87.39 in 2027.

What if the conflict drags on? In a downside scenario with hostilities continuing through June 2027 and further infrastructure damage, oil prices reach USD 130 per barrel in late 2026 and early 2027. OPEC production falls 22% below the 2027 baseline. Combined with tighter financing conditions and higher inflation expectations, the scenario would cut global growth by 0.5 percentage points and raise inflation by 1.1 points in 2027.

The global economy’s resilience has limits: Higher production outside the Gulf, inventory drawdowns, alternative supplies, and energy efficiency have cushioned the shock. Without these adjustments, global growth would have been 2.5% rather than the projected 3.1% in 2026, IMF Economic Counsellor Silvana Tenreyro said. But inventories and other buffers are running thin.

AI-related investment and trade have also supported global growth, although the benefits are concentrated in technology supply chains, leaving many energy importers more exposed to the shock.

What does the IMF recommend? Temporary, targeted support for vulnerable households rather than broad subsidies, rebuilding fiscal buffers, and strengthening energy security. Central banks should keep inflation expectations anchored while weighing the impact of higher prices on economic activity.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets were in the green in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi was up around 1%, and Japan’s Nikkei was up roughly 0.4%. US equities were broadly in the red.

EGX30	51,265	-0.7% (YTD: +22.6%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 52.77	Sell 52.90
USD (CIB)	Buy 52.77	Sell 52.87
Interest rates (CBE)	19.00% deposit	20.00% lending
Tadawul	10,318	+0.3% (YTD: -1.6%)
ADX	9,794	+0.3% (YTD: -2.0%)
DFM	5,859	+0.4% (YTD: -3.1%)
S&P 500	7,806	+0.0% (YTD: +14.0%)
FTSE 100	10,650	-0.1% (YTD: +7.2%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,167	-0.6% (YTD: -6.4%)
Brent crude	USD 107.10	+1.3%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 3.33	+1.3%
Gold	USD 4,176	+0.0%
BTC	USD 83,273	+0.2% (YTD: +5.0%)
S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index	1,129	+0.2% (YTD: +13.7%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	147.23	+0.2% (YTD: -3.1%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	15.27	+0.4% (YTD: +2.1%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.7% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 9.8 bn (14.0% below the 90-day average). International investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 22.6% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Construction (+3.6%), Telecom Egypt (+3.0%), and Rameda (+2.6%).

In the red: Alexandria Containers and Goods (-3.8%), Egypt Aluminum (-3.5%), and Juhayna (-3.2%).

Tags:

Financial Markets Planet Finance

HARDHAT

Egypt builds its wheat storage, with private contractors and lenders sharing the cost

After repeated supply shocks since 2022, Egypt is building silos to hold more of its wheat at home instead of relying only on global markets. Modern silo capacity has grown to 3.9 mn from 1.2 mn tons in 2014, with 6 mn targeted by 2030, the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage tells EnterpriseAM. Private firms including Hassan Allam, Orascom Construction, and Samcrete are taking a share of the work, and lenders including the World Bank are covering part of the cost.

The end of buying on demand? The disruption to wheat imports means just-in-time supply should give way to more diverse sourcing, Amandeep Kaur Ahuja, a Dubai-based geopolitical risk consultant focused on the Middle East and North Africa, tells EnterpriseAM. “But it’s too early to call it over,” she says. New facilities take months or years to build, and they need heavy capital and ongoing maintenance. (Egypt also has a separate ambition to become a regional grain re-export hub, which we explored in June.)

The current buffer

Months of cover: Current silo capacity gives the state the flexibility “to hold reserves covering more than eight months of total wheat consumption,” Ashraf Sadek, managing director and CEO of the holding company, tells EnterpriseAM. Based on the USDA’s forecast (pdf) of about 20.7 mn tons of consumption in 2026/27, 3.9 mn tons of silo capacity covers a little over two months. Silo capacity stood at 3.3 mn tons in 2023, when earthen open-air yards known as shona and other warehouses held another 1.4 mn tons, according to a joint World Bank, FAO, and WFP report (pdf). Imported wheat for subsidized bread goes into the silos, while local wheat has been stored in both.

Less grain lost: Grain stored in open-air shona has cost the state 10-15% of the harvest, while losses in modern silos are close to zero, Sadek says. The World Bank puts the reduction in losses from silos at 40-50% compared to traditional storage. Egypt has 69 state-owned silos, 50 of which belong to the holding company, “and spreading them across the country cuts transport and fuel costs,” Sadek tells EnterpriseAM. The network supplies mills with about 24.2k tons of wheat a day. Sensors track the stock, and with the World Bank and other donors, Egypt is upgrading its information system to link silos, mills, and bakeries.

The holding company aims to add 1mn tons of capacity in FY 2026/27, Sadek tells EnterpriseAM. He told Al Borsa in August that the company is investing around EGP 7.5 bn to add 875k tons of grain storage capacity. Its own 44 silos held 2.56 mn tons of capacity as of May, Sadek says. “The current capacity of each is about 58k tons on average,” he adds. Another 50 silos with a combined capacity of 1.5mn tons are under construction under the National Silos Project.

Beyond the holding company: The rest of the capacity sits outside the holding company. That’s about 1.3 mn tons, including 500k tons of capacity at state agency Mostaqbal Misr, built in 5k-ton silo units at its industrial city in the New Delta, the presidency says. They’re part of a 300-silo, 2 mn ton program with China’s Famsun.

Stock and purchasing

The government stocked up on wheat in 2025/26. State wheat imports jumped 52% in that marketing year, which runs from July to June, to bolster reserves against price shocks from regional conflicts, according to the USDA’s latest Grain and Feed Update (pdf). It bought just over 5 mn tons of local wheat in the 2026 procurement season (April to August), beating its target and up about 30% from 4 mn tons in 2025. With that stock and a 10 mn ton harvest, the USDA expects imports to fall about 23% to 12 mn tons in 2026/27. Storage capacity has helped procurement before: purchases in 2025 beat the five-year average on better prices and more storage capacity, the USDA said in March (pdf).

Stock as leverage: Physical stock keeps food within reach in a crisis, Ahuja says, which matters in a country where wheat makes up more than 30% of the typical diet. A large stock also lets Cairo draw on its own reserves instead of paying high premiums for spot purchases, and with enough storage capacity, Egypt could negotiate from a stronger position. “But that leeway won’t protect it from currency swings or liquidity crises,” she says.

Who builds it, who pays

The build-out is creating work for contractors and manufacturers, Sadek says, and increasing demand for locally made silo parts that save hard currency on imports. Feerum Misr, a Samcrete venture to make silo components locally which brings in technology from Poland’s Feerum, plans to make 80% of silo components locally within three years, the Supply Ministry says. It has committed to supplying parts for 1.4 mn tons of capacity at fixed prices in local currency. Its factory in East Port Said has yet to start production, we understand.

Three of the four planned warehouses for staples, including wheat, have been built. The state canceled the Sharqia site, Hossam El Garrahy, acting chairman of the Internal Trade Development Authority (ITDA), tells EnterpriseAM. Fayoum, built by Orascom Construction for EGP 2.24 bn has been running at full capacity since April 2026. Suez, developed by Samcrete, and Luxor are finished and due to open before the end of the year, he says. Hassan Allam Strategic Warehouses owns and runs the Luxor site. All three come with 35-year operating terms. The warehouses stock more than 25 basic goods, including oil, rice, sugar, and ghee. A digital network links all warehouses, letting the ministry track stock in every governorate.

Who’s lending: The World Bank is financing 700k tons of new and upgraded silo capacity, according to its 2025 report. France’s AFD and the EU are backing another 375k tons. In September, Farouk discussed funding a grain logistics hub with the European Investment Bank. The Supply Ministry is also in talks with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation to fund new silos and edible oil tanks.

Tags:

grain storage Hardhat STORAGE + WAREHOUSES

CALENDAR

OCTOBER

12-18 October (Monday-Sunday): IMF & World Bank Annual Meetings, Bangkok.

13-14 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): GTR North Africa 2026 Conference, Dusit Thani Lakeview Cairo.

19-22 October (Monday-Thursday): UfM Economic Forum, Cairo.

19-24 October (Monday-Saturday): Egypt 2026 Forum, The St. Regis New Capital.

26-28 October (Monday-Wednesday): IEX Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

29 October (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s seventh meeting of 2026.

NOVEMBER

5-7 November (Thursday-Saturday): ICA Annual Conference 2026, Cairo.

6-8 November (Friday-Sunday): Global Entrepreneurship Festival, JW Marriott Hotel, New Cairo.

7-10 November (Sunday-Wednesday): Cairo ICT Forum, Egypt International Exhibition Center, New Cairo.

10 November (Tuesday): Cityscape Egypt Forum, Cairo.

DECEMBER

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Food Africa, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

11-12 December (Friday-Saturday): ISER International Conference, Cairo.

17 December (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s eighth meeting of 2026.

17-20 December (Thursday-Sunday): MacTech Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

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.

29 September - 2 October (Wednesday-Saturday): Cityscape Egypt Exhibition, Cairo.

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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