{"id":655230,"date":"2024-11-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/11\/14\/govt-inks-5-2-gw-worth-of-new-solar-and-wind-projects\/"},"modified":"2024-11-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T00:00:00","slug":"govt-inks-5-2-gw-worth-of-new-solar-and-wind-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/11\/14\/govt-inks-5-2-gw-worth-of-new-solar-and-wind-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Gov\u2019t inks 5.2 GW worth of new solar and wind projects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good afternoon folks, and welcome to the weekend. <\/strong>We\u2019ve got the wrap on the week\u2019s news as we power our laptops down for the weekend.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY TODAY<\/p>\n

#1- <\/strong>Another<\/strong> 5.2 GW worth of renewables are in the works: <\/strong>UAE\u2019s Alcazar Energy and a consortium of Taqa Arabia and France\u2019s Voltalia could establish a total of 5.2 GW worth of renewable energy projects in the country after inking two separate build-own-operate MoUs with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) today, according to a cabinet statement<\/a>. Under the terms of the agreements, Alcazar Energy will initiate studies for a 2 GW wind power project<\/a>, while the Taqa Arabia-Voltalia consortium will conduct studies for a hybrid project<\/a> that produces 1.1 GW of wind energy and 2.1 GW of solar energy. The news comes as the government works to raise the share of renewables in its energy mix to 42% by 2030<\/a>. <\/p>\n

#2- United Bank mulls acquisition of local bank, tech company as IPO draws closer: <\/strong>Central Bank of Egypt-owned United Bank is currently studying the acquisition of an unnamed local bank in the coming period after the bank\u2019s initial target was acquired by another party, CEO and managing director Ashraf Elkady told Al Mal<\/a>. Elkady added that United Bank has also completed due diligence on a number of tech companies as part of a soon-to-be-announced plan to expand in the fintech arena. The news follows United Bank\u2019s announcement that it will be floating 330 mn of its shares<\/a> \u2014 equivalent to a 30% stake \u2014 on the EGX by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

#3-<\/strong> Unemployment inches up to 6.7% in 3Q 2024: <\/strong>Egypt\u2019s unemployment rate rose to 6.7% of the total workforce in the third quarter of the year, climbing 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter<\/a>, according to data by state statistics agency Capmas. On a year-on-year basis, unemployment dropped by 0.4 percentage points from the same period in 2023<\/a>. The quarter-on-quarter rise in unemployment ends a streak that saw the jobless rate dropping for three consecutive quarters.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD<\/p>\n

Hezbollah will abide by ceasefire terms with Israel, says a Lebanese official:<\/strong> A top aide to Lebanon\u2019s speaker of parliament indicated this morning that Hezbollah would support Lebanon\u2019s implementation of a 2006 UN Security Council resolution stipulating that a 30 km area between the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine and Lebanon\u2019s Litani River remain free of weapons and fighters affiliated with Hezbollah or the Israeli military. If accepted by Israel \u2014 which itself routinely violates the resolution through breaches of Lebanese airspace \u2014 Hezbollah will retreat from the border it was defending against ground invasion attempts by Israel. <\/p>\n

This comes hot on the heels of news of a possible truce in Lebanon being drawn up by <\/strong>White House envoy Amos Hochstein, <\/strong>which is awaiting response from Israel. The one point of contention is Israel\u2019s insistence to \u201cintervene \u2026 to enforce [the ceasefire] if it deems necessary.\u201d The aide, Ali Hassan Khalil, stated that \u201cno Lebanese \u2026 would accept Israel having freedom of movement in Lebanon,\u201d but that they would not object to the US or France overseeing ceasefire compliance. (Reuters<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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