Good morning, wonderful people. We lead today’s issue with good news on the investment front. Thndr is leveling up from a simple stock-trading app into a comprehensive wealth management platform, rolling out digital gold, fractional real estate, and AI-powered planning tools.
On the energy front, we could see a final investment decision on the Aphrodite gas field soon, as the Oil Ministry and Chevron look to finalize the key agreements needed by September. Meanwhile, the UAE’s Amea Power signed contracts for two major battery storage projects totaling 1.5 GWh, alongside a factory that could make batteries here at home.
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SouthMed gets a VAT answer
The Egyptian Tax Authority (ETA) has stepped in to resolve a VAT dispute at Talaat Moustafa Group’s SouthMed, offering clarity for contractors caught in the transition to the new tax system, according to a tax document seen by EnterpriseAM. The ruling ends a standoff between contractors and TMG subsidiary Alexandria for Development and Tourism over how to tax contracts signed before last year’s VAT amendments.
The rules: The ETA clarified that work completed before the legal amendments remains under the old 5% schedule tax. However, any new work, contract renewals, or scope expansions executed after the law passed are treated as standalone projects, subject to the standard 14% VAT rate with full input-tax deductions allowed.
The gray area: For contracts inked before the new law but executed afterward, the ETA is applying the 14% VAT to only 36% of the approved work value. The catch? Contractors must shoulder the extra tax burden and are strictly barred from claiming input-tax deductions on this portion. Meanwhile, subcontractors are considered fully paid up as long as the main contractor settles the tax on the executed work.
Why it matters: Contractors cautioned about this gray area when the Madbouly government moved construction and contracting services from the old 5% schedule tax to the standard 14% VAT rate, which the government is banking on to get an extra EGP 200 bn in VAT revenues. The shift was meant to bring contractors into the deductible VAT system, but projects already awarded or underway need case-by-case treatment, with SouthMed now being the highest-profile test case.
SFE wants an Africa fund
The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) is eyeing its first-ever international expansion with a new Africa-focused sub-fund, Investment Minister Mohamed Farid told the Arabic press. The fund will target banking and non-banking finance, tourism, healthcare, and education, with the SFE currently studying prospects in Kenya, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Sub-funds at home: Farid also expects the government to finalize a new industrial investment fund alongside several other sub-funds between August and September. This fund will inject seed capital into asset managers to attract private investment while directly backing companies to boost local content and export scale. Additionally, it is in talks with the IFC to support a separate VC-style fund targeting the “missing middle” — startups too large for incubators but too small for conventional sovereign fund tickets.
IN CONTEXT- The move builds on the industrial-fund pipeline we reported on in March, when Beltone, EFG Hermes, Al Ahly Pharos, CI Capital, and Cairo Capital were working with the SFE to launch debt, equity, and transferable-securities funds for manufacturers. More recently, we noted that the SFE is looking to snap up a 10-20% stake in two new industrial investment funds launched with CI Capital and Cairo Capital, carrying a targeted capital of EGP 5 bn.
IN OTHER SFE NEWS- We have an updated timeline on Misr Life’s IPO. Farid said the government wants to wrap the sale of a stake in Misr Life Ins. between June and July. The company completed its temporary EGX listing earlier this year, before the SFE tapped EFG Hermes as sole global coordinator and bookrunner for the planned 20% float.
Worth reading
The Oxford Handbook of the Egyptian Economy has been published, offering a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the Egyptian economy over the past seven decades. Edited by Mahmoud Mohieldin, Marcelo Giugale, and Racha Ramadan, the volume brings together contributions from 69 experts and is aimed primarily at academics, students, practitioners, and anyone interested in understanding Egypt’s path toward sustainable development.
What’s inside: The handbook examines a broad range of topics, including macroeconomic fundamentals, sectoral reforms, more than a century of legal and regulatory developments, human development priorities, and environmental challenges. It also explores education, labor markets, competition policy, public investment, inequality, and the demographic dividend, while offering policy recommendations to address some of the longstanding economic challenges facing Egyptians.
Data point
USD 22 mn — That’s the total value of M&As on the local market in 1Q 2026. The value is spread across eight transactions, down from 11 a year earlier, according to a report (pdf) by Ansarada. This aligns with a regional downward trend that saw the Middle East’s M&A count drop to 196 transactions worth USD 23.3 bn, compared to 207 M&As worth USD 31.3 bn in 1Q 2025.
M&A transactions are still going through, but “instead of closing a transaction in six months, it [may take] one-and-a-half years or up to two years” due to market jitters from the Iran war, M&A lawyer Ibrahim ElGengehy previously told EnterpriseAM. “There is a little bit of hesitation from private equity funds willing to invest in Egypt,” he said. However, he was optimistic about the outlook for the end of 2026 and beginning of 2027, saying that currently stalled transactions may be completed during that time, assuming regional tensions from the war subside by then.
PSA-
WEATHER- Cairo is in for another sunny day, with a high of 35°C and a low of 22°C, according to our favorite weather app.
It’s marginally cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 34°C and a low of 20°C.

You’ve spent decades building wealth, and the question now isn’t how to make money — it’s how to make sure it survives you, works across borders, and doesn’t quietly erode while you’re not looking. The rules have changed. Egyptian real estate, once a near-guaranteed store of value, is competing with markets in Greece, Spain, and Dubai.
Whether it’s art as an asset, crowd-funding, or the tax implications quietly stacking up behind that second passport, the toolkit for serious capital deployment has expanded faster than most conventional advice — or most advisors — have.
In Issue 3 of EnterpriseAM Money Matters, we cover the decisions that matter most when you’re at the stage where capital preservation is just as important as capital growth — and where getting it wrong is no longer something you can simply recover from.
Coming straight to your inbox — Wednesday, June 10.
The big story abroad
Geopolitical updates lead today’s news cycle. Washington is reportedly considering seizing Iranian assets to fund repairs for damage sustained by Gulf nations during Tehran’s recent strikes. The nature of the assets under consideration remains unclear.
How are talks going? US-Iran negotiations are currently at a deadlock, Iranian presidential adviser Mohsen Rezaei told CNN. A peace agreement depends on the US unfreezing USD 24 bn in Iranian assets, Rezaei said.
It could be a while before we see SpaceX on the S&P 500: S&P Dow Jones Indices will reportedly maintain a rule that bars unprofitable companies from joining the S&P 500, potentially delaying the inclusion of SpaceX, whose IPO is expected to raise a record USD 75 bn.The company may not list on the index until after 2027, when it is expected to turn a net income according to Evercore ISI research analysts. IPO-hopefuls Anthropic and OpenAI will also face similar fates.
There’s more: Investors based in China and Hong Kong are reportedly unable to access SpaceX’s website and IPO documents. The block is believed to be the result of a company decision.
In the world of M&A: A consortium led by France’s Bouygues Telecom will take over legacy French operator SFR for around EUR 20.4 bn, taking it off Altice France’s hands. The proposed carve-out, if approved, will trim the number of mobile network operators in France down to three.
And crypto is in dire straits: Cryptocurrency is facing a “very hard” year ahead of an anticipated mass exodus of developers, projects, and capital, according to Charles Hoskinson, founder of blockchain platform Cardano. BTC’s 17% drop so far in June is a two-year low — the cryptocurrency fell below USD 60k at one point last Friday.
Are wealth managers the latest victim of AI automation? Bloomberg is out with a piece that finds traditional wealth managers are more vulnerable to AI-induced replacement than other financial services professionals. It seems that a growing number of people are resorting to programs like Claude to manage their money for them, which bodes ill for wealth advisers the world over.




