{"id":677473,"date":"2025-12-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/?p=677473"},"modified":"2025-12-22T10:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T10:22:54","slug":"the-pharaohs-afcon-campaign-begins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2025\/12\/22\/the-pharaohs-afcon-campaign-begins\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pharaohs\u2019 Afcon campaign begins"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people. We\u2019re reading the coffee grinds<\/strong> at the bottom of our cup to get us started this morning. <\/p>\n

Egypt is moving from a \u201craise all the debt\u201d stance to one of \u201cpay it down to a sensible <\/strong>level.\u201d<\/strong> That\u2019s the key message the Madbouly government is delivering to the business community, foreign investors, and the public alike heading into the final days of 2025. <\/p>\n

Debt messaging in overdrive:<\/strong> Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk, and CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla sat down yesterday to brief<\/a> President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on the state of the economy and public finances. The briefing came just days after Madbouly released a lengthy op-ed<\/a> defending the government\u2019s debt management record and promising \u201cexceptional solutions\u201d to ease fiscal pressures \u201cin the coming days.\u201d <\/p>\n

Officials at all levels overuse the phrases \u201cwithin the coming hours\u201d and \u201cin the coming <\/strong>days,\u201d but still:<\/strong> Cabinet is signposting a policy shift. Madbouly set a target of bringing the ratio of external debt-to-GDP down to 40% by the end of the current fiscal year in June 2026 from 44% today \u2014 a level Madbouly was at pains to note falls within the internationally accepted \u201csafe range\u201d of 40-45%. <\/p>\n

The messaging push is laying the groundwork for 2026:<\/strong> With parliamentary elections wrapping on 10 January just in time for the end of the current House\u2019s five-year term, the Economic Group is staking out its policy framework for the year ahead.<\/p>\n

Madbouly\u2019s op-ed was unusually candid: He took direct aim at the \u201croads and bridges\u201d <\/strong>critique<\/strong> \u2014 the narrative that infrastructure megaprojects drove the debt buildup at the expense of social spending \u2014 arguing it creates a \u201cfalse confrontation\u201d between physical investment and human development. The real question, he wrote, isn\u2019t the size of the debt or the buildout of public infrastructure, but how debt gets managed and whether it crowds out social spending or supports growth. Watch this space. <\/p>\n

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Watch this space<\/p>\n

<\/a> CAPITAL MARKETS \u2014 Trading on the EGX could be extended by an additional <\/strong>hour<\/strong> with an earlier start and later close, according to a statement from the bourse seen by EnterpriseAM. The proposed 9:30am start and 3pm finish \u2014 instead of the current 10am-2:30pm window \u2014 could increase trading volumes, deepen liquidity, and align the local bourse more closely with regional peers, according to the statement. <\/p>\n

Extending trading hours could help lift trading volumes, but the move would not, on its <\/strong>own, bring in fresh liquidity<\/strong>, CI Capital Head of Research Monsef Morsy told us. \u201cMore IPOs, different listings across different sectors, a better representation of the sectors within the real economy being represented on the market is definitely one thing to also improve overall liquidity and eventually increase foreign participation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> CUSTOMS<\/strong> \u2014 Coming up on the 12-month mark, the Egyptian Customs Authority <\/strong>is reviewing its policy on personal mobile-phone imports<\/strong>, a senior government official told EnterpriseAM. Lest you think the state is going to drop the measure: We don\u2019t expect significant changes to the policy, which grants Egyptians the right to bring in one handset free of customs and taxes<\/a> (equivalent to 37.5% of the customs value of the device) every three years. <\/p>\n

Note that we said \u201cEgyptians\u201d: Foreign residents, including investors and senior <\/strong>executives, aren\u2019t allowed a new device every three years. <\/strong>The rule as it stands is that foreign residents get one customs-free phone activated with an Egyptian SIM as a one off.<\/p>\n

The government argues that resident foreigners and citizens are still treated the same<\/strong>, our source says, explaining that the three-year exemption for citizens was introduced specifically with Egyptians working abroad in mind.<\/p>\n

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Data point<\/p>\n

<\/a> USD 12 bn \u2014 the total value of Egyptian investments in Africa<\/strong>, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said<\/a>. Total annual trade between Egypt and the wider continent stands at some USD 10 bn, according to the president.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a lot of zeroes, but in the wider scheme of things, we have plenty of room to grow. <\/strong>By comparison, South Africa leads the continent with USD 33 bn of total investments in Africa, while the Netherlands tops the list globally with USD 109 bn, according to UN Trade and Development.<\/p>\n

Why? Egyptian businesses lack the banking rails to travel south.<\/strong> Unlike South African firms, whose national banks expanded across the continent to support client investments, Egyptian investors face a financing vacuum: Local banks rarely fund capex outside the country and state-backed risk insurance is virtually nonexistent. Consequently, even willing investors are forced to self-fund projects in volatile markets, often deciding that the risk-reward ratio is far worse than the safer, familiar yields found in the Gulf or the domestic treasury market.<\/p>\n

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Happening this week<\/p>\n

TODAY \u2014 The Egyptian national team will face Zimbabwe in their <\/strong>opening match<\/a><\/strong> of the <\/strong>2025 <\/strong>Africa Cup of Nations<\/strong>, marking the start of Egypt\u2019s Group B campaign. Football fans will be closely watching the Pharaohs\u2019 performance, with supporters looking to see if the team has what it takes this year to break its 15-year medal drought in the tourney.<\/p>\n

THURSDAY \u2014 Results from the latest set of runoffs<\/strong> in elections for the House of Representatives are due out on 25 December. The National Elections Authority is aiming to wrap the full election cycle by 10 January 2026 ahead of the expiry of the current parliament\u2019s term at month\u2019s end. <\/p>\n

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PSA- <\/p>\n

WEATHER- <\/strong>Cairo could be in for a light drizzle today as the Egyptian Meteorological Authority forecasts low clouds across the capital. Expect a high of 22\u00b0C and a low of 11\u00b0C, according to our favorite weather app. <\/p>\n

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The big story abroad<\/p>\n

Oil prices ticked up in Asia this morning after US forces tried to tighten their blockade <\/strong>of oil tankers coming into and out of Venezuela.<\/strong> The US coast guard is reportedly pursuing in international waters a tanker that was heading into Venezuela. The development comes barely two days after it raided a Panama-flagged ship and two weeks after it seized a third. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s otherwise a particularly quiet morning in the global business press <\/strong>\u2014 markets seem already to be sliding into the Christmas week news slowdown. That has the business pages serving up year-end fare including: <\/p>\n