The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), with technical assistance from Ministry of Finance’s PPP Central Unit, has prequalified 17 consortia to bid for the development of a number of seawater desalination plants powered by renewable energy sources in different locations across Egypt under the First Phase of Egypt’s water desalination programme. Prequalified consortia are classified into four categories based on previous experience in various desalination projects regionally & globally (list of prequalified consortiums is included at the end of this release). Egypt’s water desalination programme entails the launch of several projects covering a total planned capacity of 8.85 million m3/day by 2050 of which 3.35 million m3/day is planned by 2025 as the (“First Phase”). TSFE is part of a special committee formed through a decree issued by the Prime Minister of Egypt, comprised of the various stakeholders in Egypt’s water desalination program. The committee oversees the whole pre-qualification and the tender processes to ensure progression of process at fast pace through public tenders in light of private sector and financing institutions expectations.

CAIRO - 1 May 2023: The Egyptian parliament has initially approved on Monday, new amendments to the Nuclear Power Plants Authority (NPPA) law issued in 1976, to eliminate executional challenges. The new amendments assign the authority to desalinate water by using nuclear power, while also acknowledging the authority as the sole owner and operator of all nuclear power plants across Egypt. Furthermore, suppliers are exempted from all taxes and fees required for fulfilling their obligations in accordance with the contracts signed with the NPPA. Similar exemptions have been previously granted to subcontractors, as it is legally and commercially recognized that supplies fall within the contracting business. The nuclear power plants authority (NPPA) law issued in 1976 stipulated the establishment of a national authority responsible for: building nuclear power plants to generate electricity within the framework of the state’s general plan, conducting the necessary research and studies for projects to establish nuclear power plants, and laying the essential foundations for the specifications of their construction

Madbouly started his visit by inspecting the LG – Egypt factory. He was accompanied by Assem El-Gazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities; Hossam Haiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones; Billy Kim, General Manager of LG Egypt; and LG Egypt Vice President Alaa Omar. The Prime Minister confirmed that his visit to a number of factories comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s interest in supporting and encouraging the private sector. LG Egypt’s investments amounted to $300m for producing televisions, washing machine, refrigerator, LG Egypt President Alaa Omar has said. Omar added that LG’s production volume reaches approximately 1.5m televisions, which are produced on three production lines, as well as about 500,000 washing machines produced on one production line.

Banks operating in the Egyptian market are waiting for the signal from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to include the tourism sector in the initiative to support industry, which would increase its value to EGP 160bn. Last January, the Cabinet approved the general framework of the initiative to support the industrial and agricultural sectors. It aims to reduce the interest rate on loans provided to the two sectors, within the framework of continuous support for them and their activities. He pointed out that the state treasury will bear more than EGP 13bn annually and the interest rate difference. In addition to that, the instructions of CBE specified the interest rate considered the basis for calculating the compensation of banks for the interest rate difference at the credit and discount rate of decreasing 1%.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry headed on Sunday evening to the Jordanian capital Amman to participate in a meeting of the committee formed by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq on Syria. The committee stems from the consultative meeting of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, which was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 14, to discuss ways to promote joint Arab action. Ambassador Ahmed Abu Zeid, the spokesperson, said that the committee is scheduled to discuss ways to deal with the Syrian crisis, including strengthening the solidarity of Arab countries with the brotherly Syrian people in overcoming their plight. For his part, the spokesman of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, Sinan Majali, said that the meeting comes as a complement to the consultative meeting of the GCC, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, hosted by Saudi Arabia. He added that the meeting comes to build on the contacts made by these countries with the Syrian government and in the context of their proposals, and the Jordanian initiative to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

CAIRO – 30 APRIL 2023: The number of Egyptian returnees from Sudan has reached 6,960 citizens to date since the outbreak of clashes between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Sudanese Rapid Forces (SRF) on April 15, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid in a statement on Sunday. Over two says (April 19 and 30), a total of 561 Egyptian citizens in Sudan returned home through the land crossings between Egypt and Sudan. Egyptian border crossings with Sudan crossings witness an influx of displaced persons as a result of the military clashes between the Sudanese Army and the SRF. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced, on 29 April 2023, the end of the evacuations from the Wadi Seidna Air Base, north of Khartoum in Sudan, due to the security reasons. The ministry said in the statement that its crisis management room continues to receive phone calls from the citizens at home and abroad around the clock on the following numbers:01281943533 - 01283176900 - 01281943599 - 01283176913 - 01283176857 - 01283176881 - 01283176903 - 01283176894 - 01281943990 - 01283176866.

The Egyptian money market awaits the government IPO programme after the Cabinet announced the 32 companies to be offered through either public offering or to a strategic investor. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a statement on Saturday that the government aims to collect $2bn from the government offering programme before the end of next June. Madbouly explained that the sovereign fund is negotiating with investment agencies to implement the offering programme, while CBE is preparing the banks to be offered. Yasser El-Masry, managing director of the Arab African International Securities (AAIS), said that the market is ready to start implementing the government offering programme. It should include the timing of each offering of the programme companies, especially that the talk about the offering programme started in 2016 until now.

Four banks will participate in the sixth phase of the lump-sum export subsidy payment initiative, which was approved by the Cabinet last week. The launch of this phase comes within the framework of the state’s efforts to complete the payment of export subsidy dues, to encourage companies to increase their exports. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, said that the cabinet agreed to launch the sixth phase of the initiative at a value of EGP 10bn. Maait explained that the sixth phase of the initiative aims to cover exports until 31 December 2022, with the same previous controls. He pointed out that the same export support rules for the fiscal year 2021/2022 will be applied to export support dues for the fiscal year 2022/2023.

Cairo - 30 April 2023: Egypt's Grand Mufti, President of the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide, Dr. Shawki Allam, headed to India Sunday upon an official invitation from president of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations Vinay Sahasrabuddhe. During his five-day visit, the Mufti will meet with senior officials and religious figures, and will visit a number of Islamic universities and religious sites, said Dr Ibrahim Negm, the Mufti advisor, who hailed relations of friendship between the two countries. Negm stressed the importance of Allam's visit for building bridges of peace and discussing intellectual, religious and cultural issues.

CAIRO – 30 April 2023: Ahead of the opening session of the National Dialogue scheduled for May 3, Egyptian politicians spoke to media presenting their priorities and ambitions with regard to the talks. Member of the Economic Committee at the Tagamoa Party Sherif Fayad addressed the issue of price hikes of goods, recommending to set a maximum margin of profit for merchants, cutting it down from 60-70 percent to 20-25 percent, and combating monopoly. Yet, he stressed that the government should still play a significant role in strategic sectors that have direct impact on the people's livelihoods. Parliamentarian and Member of the Board of the National Dialogue Amira Saber highlighted the powerful impact of the talks, pointing out to the president's approval to extend the judicial supervision on elections. Member of the Board of the National Dialogue Talaat Abdel Qawy underscored that the principle of social justice is at the center of the sessions.

The Sudanese army said on Saturday that it had thwarted an attempt by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to seize power in Sudan supported by“parties inside and outside” the country, without identifying those parties. The RSF said in a statement on Twitter that the Sudanese army attacked, on Saturday morning, a number of“positions of our forces and a number of residential neighbourhoods in Khartoum by air and artillery. He noted that the conflicting parties have been reached for a ceasefire, but fighting is returning again. He added that international organizations – the UN, the African Union (AU), IGAD, and the Arab League (AL)- have called for a ceasefire in Sudan. The two sides stressed that the interest of the brotherly Sudanese people remains the main concern and the goal behind the efforts of the two countries.

The company is affiliated to Japanese company Sumitomo, which is considered one of the largest economic entities in the world. It will be the largest factory in the world, and it is planned to start exporting its products in the first half of the year. During the tour,Magdy indicated that the company owns five factories in Port Said, and two factories in the Sixth of October City. Moreover, Sumitomo Egypt is the largest foreign company operating under the free zone system, exporting from Egypt for two years. The company also won an award for the largest exporter of international brands for the year 2022.

He pointed out that a unit will be formed to manage the government IPO programme. The Prime Minister added, during a press conference, that an advisor to the Prime Minister will be appointed to manage the IPO programme, and an international consultant will assist the government in the process. Madbouly explained that the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) is negotiating with investment agencies to implement the offering programme, while the Central Bank is preparing the banks that will be offered. The government IPO programme includes 32 state-owned companies that will be offered on the Egyptian Exchange or to a strategic investor, or both. The offered companies operate in 18 different economic sectors and activities, including the insurance sector, the electricity and energy sector, and the petroleum sector, in addition to offering companies in the transportation and container handling sectors.

CAIRO – 29 April 2023: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will attend a celebration of the Egyptian Labor Day due on Monday, said the Secretary-General of the Egyptian Trade Union Federation (ETUF) Eid Mersal in a statement on Saturday. It is expected that President Sisi will address laborers on this occasion, he added, noting that the ETUF celebration will be held on Monday, in the new city of Salhia in Sharqia governorate. On that day, a new Sugar Company factory will be opened, and the President will to honor a number of veterans of trade union and distinguished workers in their performance by granting them the Work Medal of the First Class, Eid continued. The celebration will be attended by a number of senior statesmen, ministers, clerics, political and party leaders, and in the presence of representatives of trade unions.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly has said that the government aims to collect $2bn from its IPO programme before the end of next June. He pointed out that a unit will be formed to manage the government IPO programme. The Prime Minister added, during a press conference, that an advisor to the Prime Minister will be appointed to manage the IPO programme, and an international consultant will assist the government in the process. Madbouly explained that the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE) is negotiating with investment agencies to implement the offering programme, while the Central Bank is preparing the banks that will be offered. The government IPO programme includes 32 state-owned companies that will be offered on the Egyptian Exchange or to a strategic investor, or both.