{"id":630496,"date":"2018-04-23T04:26:24","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T04:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/04\/23\/what-were-tracking-on-23-april-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-04-23T04:26:24","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T04:26:24","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-23-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/04\/23\/what-were-tracking-on-23-april-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 23 April 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Egypt be anointed as an energy export hub for the EU today?<\/strong> Egypt is expected to sign a new oil and gas cooperation agreement with the European Union this afternoon, a government source told us yesterday. The agreement comes as EU Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Ca\u00f1ete arrived in Cairo on Sunday for energy cooperation talks with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla, according to an Oil Ministry statement on Sunday<\/a>. We\u2019re taking \"Strategic Cooperation in Energy\" as euphemism for a long-awaited agreement which could see Egypt turn into the natural gas export hub to Europe for the East Mediterranean basin. Egypt and Cyprus are close to signing contracts for a pipeline to connect the latter\u2019s gas fields to liquefaction plants in Egypt\u2019s Idku or Damietta, according to statements by Cypriot Foreign Minister Nicos Christodoulides earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Egypt to receive funding from World Bank and EU for gas connection project: <\/strong>The EU, the World Bank and French Development Agency have provided Egypt with mns to fund the connection of more households to the natural gas grid. We have more in today\u2019s Speed Round, below.<\/p>\n

World Bank to raise capital by USD 13 bn: <\/strong>This came as the World Bank Group announced yesterday<\/a> that its shareholders \u201cendorsed an ambitious package of measures that include a USD 13 bn paid-in capital increase, a series of internal reforms, and a set of policy measures that greatly strengthen the [World Bank\u2019s] ability to scale up its resources and deliver on its mission in areas of the world that need the most assistance.\u201d This is good news for Egypt,<\/strong> which could be looking at a large funding package of up to USD 1 bn<\/a> this year now that the World Bank is replenishing its resources. The World Bank has already pledged USD 500 mn this year to supporting Egypt\u2019s educational reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pharos-affiliated Pride Capital, Egypt\u2019s first fintech-focused accelerator, is hosting a workshop titled \u201cFinancing Small Merchants\u201d<\/strong><\/a> today at 5:30pm at the Greek Campus.<\/p>\n

Our friends at Renaissance Capital are holding their third annual Egypt Investor Conference in Cape Town <\/strong>tomorrow and Wednesday. Senior management from leading Egyptian companies will meet one-on-one with South Africa-based investors at the gathering.<\/p>\n

In the run-up to the conference, we have an exclusive op-ed from RenCap Global Chief Economist Charles Robertson<\/strong>, Extel\u2019s top-ranked frontier markets analyst for 2017. Charles is a sought-after commentator for global business and finance publications including Bloomberg and the Financial Times. In today\u2019s Spotlight, he writes about how he sees Egyptian manufacturing as one of the biggest emerging market beneficiaries of Europe\u2019s economic recovery. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Also worth a moment of your time this morning:<\/p>\n