Good morning, friends. Today's issue unpacks the state trying to get its house in order — paying bills, clearing backlogs, and stepping back to let the private sector do more of the building.

Elsewhere, everyone's picking a lane: Mylerz raised over EGP 100 mn to go all-in on Egypt and put its North Africa plans on ice; Lecico folded three units into one to compete harder at home; ins. firms got three more months to raise capital; and Fujairah is circling storage on both of Egypt's coasts as Gulf players hunt for room west of Hormuz.

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Destination Sahel is back for a second edition — and this year, it's not just about the beach.

Gulf sovereign wealth funds are pouring billions into the North Coast, Gulf buyers keep showing up despite regional headwinds, and a new 400km master plan could reshape the whole coastline before summer’s out.

Over this season's series, stay tuned to see who's really buying Sahel, where the money's coming from, and what could still go wrong.

Plus, the hotels, restaurants, and openings worth checking out this summer.

Coming straight to your inbox — today.

Paperwork in order

House passes bill reorganizing Mostakbal Misr: Parliament gave final approval on Tuesday to the draft law reorganizing the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development (Mostakbal Misr) following two days of floor debate, according to a Parliament statement. The law transfers supervision of the authority from the Defense Ministry, placing it under the direct oversight of the presidency. It also establishes two new entities — a sovereign wealth fund, Nile Pyramids, and a service fund, Da’em — both operating under their own financial and administrative regulations rather than standard state frameworks.

What changed in committee: The final text is narrower than the government’s original draft, which we’ve tracked since it reached committee. The joint committee scrapped a provision that would have had the Treasury cover the authority’s tax bill, including VAT, restored the Central Auditing Organization’s standard oversight, limited the authority’s real-estate reach to land it owns, and preserved the right to sue by property rights holders.

Grace extended

Ins. firms now have more time to find capital: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) pushed back the deadline for ins. and reins. brokers, along with risk- and damage-assessment firms, to meet new minimum capital requirements from 19 July to 31 October, according to a statement. Some 82 of the 132 companies across these categories have already met the thresholds, per the FRA — leaving roughly 50 firms, about 38% of the market, still short with under four months to comply.

REFRESHER- The thresholds are part of the Unified Ins. Law rollout, ratified in July 2024. Ins. and reins. brokers must hold a minimum capital of EGP 5 mn, while risk-assessment, damage-assessment, and ins.-consulting firms need EGP 3 mn. The FRA hasn’t said what happens to firms that miss the extended deadline.

A tale of two coasts

  Egypt’s tanks draw more Emirati interest: Fujairah International Oil and Gas Corporation is in talks with the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to lease crude and petroleum-product storage on Egypt’s Red Sea coast. This is the second time in the past few months that an Emirati entity has made a move like this — AD Ports made a similar pitch for Red Sea storage in April. The targeted facilities, capacity, and terms weren’t disclosed.

Why it matters: The interest tracks the hunt for storage west of Hormuz. Disruption in the strait is pushing Gulf producers and traders to secure alternative routes and storage outside the waterway — and Egypt is positioning to catch that flow. It has around 29 mn barrels of spare storage across its main ports, part of an infrastructure base of 19 commercial ports (14 under development), and nearly 79 petroleum storage facilities built or upgraded in recent years. In March, it put up 10 storage facilities at Ain Sokhna and Ras Badran for lease to monetize that spare capacity.

Now both coasts: Fujairah is already on the Mediterranean side. It’s partnering with Wepco on a USD 457 mn expansion of Al Hamra Port, set to double crude storage to 5.3 mn barrels from 2.5 mn and add a 130k-ton petroleum-products complex.

Sharing is caring

A new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) arrived at Jordan’s Aqaba port to be shared by Cairo and Amman through year-end. The Excelerate Acadia — owned by US-based Excelerate Energy — is being connected to Aqaba's facilities for commissioning tests, with its charter running to December.

How the gas splits: Of the unit’s 750 mmcf / d capacity, Egypt can draw up to 450 mmcf / d through the Arab Gas Pipeline, depending on demand, with Jordan taking around 300 mmcf / d.

A vessel reshuffle: The Excelerate Acadia’s arrival frees up the Energos Force, which has moved from Aqaba to Ain Sokhna and will stay there until its charter expires at the end of August.

BACKGROUND- Excelerate signed a charter with Jordan’s National Electric Power Company in May to deploy the vessel at Aqaba. The FSRU was originally built for Excelerate’s planned Iraq import terminal but was reassigned temporarily after the Iraqi project slipped.

IN CONTEXT- Egypt now has access to six FSRUs: five stationed at its own ports — Hoegh Galleon, Energos Eskimo, Energos Power, Energos Winter, and the Energos Force now at Ain Sokhna — plus the shared Excelerate Acadia at Aqaba.

Data point

329k — that’s how many investors were holding gold and silver fund positions by end-June, up 14% in a single quarter from 289k, according to an FRA statement. Net assets edged up to EGP 9.35 bn from EGP 9.28 bn at end-March. The investor base skews young and retail: individuals make up 71%, and more than 70% are aged 20 to 40. Gold funds account for the bulk — 306.5k clients across seven funds hold EGP 9.2 bn — while silver, launched only in 2Q, drew 22.3k clients to its first two funds.

REMEMBER- Precious-metals funds are the fast-growing corner of a fund industry that hit EGP411 bn in 1Q, up 30% in a quarter. They were the quarter’s best performers, returning an average 20.4%, as buyers priced out of physical gold turn to a regulated, small-ticket way to hold the same exposure.

PSA

#1- We can look forward to a day off next week on Thursday for Revolution Day (the 23rd of July), according to a cabinet statement. Unluckily for students, previously scheduled exams will proceed as planned.

#2- WEATHER- It’s another hot day in our capital, with a high of 35°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s much the same in Alexandria during the day, with a high of 31°C but a “feels like” temp of 35°C. Overnight, temps drop to a cool low of 23°C.

The big story abroad

International dailies have their hands full with geopolitical and business updates this morning. Here are the biggest developments.

Trump withdraws Hormuz cargo tax: Pressure from Gulf states prompted US President Donald Trump to walk back his proposed 20% fee on cargoes transiting the Strait of Hormuz, announcing that it would be replaced by direct Gulf investments in the US. The US military confirmed that its naval blockade on Iran took effect yesterday and that it launched fresh strikes on the Islamic Republic.

That’s not all — the US is also leading talks to revive a long-defunct Iraq-Syria oil pipeline to circumvent the Hormuz bottleneck and undermine Tehran’s leverage over global energy supplies. Washington is in talks with Baghdad, Damascus, and Chevron.

OpenAI’s first device will be an AI companion — a mobile, screenless speaker designed to answer questions, play media, and help control smart-home appliances. The product is still under development and is intended to be personalized and proactive, used primarily in users’ homes.

Could drugs be a new frontier for AI? Startup Chai Discovery, which specializes in using AI to pioneer new drugs, has secured USD 400 mn in fresh funding, valuing the company at USD 3.8 bn. The company also works with established pharma giants to help them to become post-AI companies, founder and president Jack Dent said.

And over at the World Cup, Spain bested France 2-0 last night, marking its second time to book a spot in the tournament’s final showdown. They will play either Argentina or England in Sunday’s final in New Jersey.

*** 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: We look into FY 2026/27's EGP 3.7 tn investment plan that will see the state step back from direct contracting.