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.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madboly inspected one of the factories of SE Wiring Systems Egypt company, which specializes in manufacturing electrical wiring systems and cables for cars of all kinds. 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 warring parties in Sudan exchanged on Saturday accusations over non-compliance with the ongoing ceasefire, and each side held the other responsible for violations. 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. 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.

CAIRO - 29 April 2023: The marine dugong, or as it is called the mermaid, is one of the peaceful marine creatures that divers love to see during diving trips. The dugong is a marine mammal that feeds on seaweeds, and searches for them in the depths of the bays and natural marine areas. They also attract thousands of tourists who like to dive with them and watch them swimming underwater. The pioneer of marine sciences, Hamid Gohar, called it mermaid, while the local fishermen called it "the skin". The most commonly used name for it is the "dugong".

The minister said that Egyptian commodity exports to the African continent amounted to $1.611bn, while Egyptian imports from the continent registered $506m. Samir said that the ministry is working to achieve economic integration between the African countries and to overcome obstacles that may hinder the movement of trade between countries. In addition to, benefit from trade agreements signed between Egypt and the countries as well as economic blocs of the continent such as the COMESA Agreement and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, besides expanding inparticipation in specialised exhibitions, and increasing the presence of Egyptian commercial representation in many African countries. Chairperson of the General Organization for Export and Import Control, Essam Al-Naggar, stated that the top five receiving markets for Egyptian exports are Libya by $317m, Sudan by $226m, Algeria by $217m, Morocco by $191m, and Tunisia by $86m. Al-Naggar added that the most prominent Egyptian exports to the African continent in 1Q 2023included construction materials ($422m), chemical products and fertilizers ($358m), food industries ($242m), engineering and electronic goods ($185m), medical industries ($103m), printing, packaging, paper, books, and artistic works ($98m), agriculture crops ($80m), spinning and textiles ($47m), furniture ($24m), furnishings ($18m), ready-made garments ($15m), and handicrafts ($14m).

CAIRO – 28 April 2023: A total of 1.072 Egyptians returned to Egypt from Sudan on Friday, bringing the figure to 6.399 since the beginning of the crisis in the southern neighbor. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Abu Zaid said in a statement that 454 Egyptian nationals were evacuated on land and 618 via airplanes. The Armed Forces have provided food and first aid supplies to more than 1,000 Egyptian citizens in Sudan who are expected to be evacuated during the ongoing air evacuations. The Foreign Ministry on Friday announced a change in the assembly points where Egyptian citizens are evacuated from Sudan. In a statement, the ministry said the new assembly points are the Egyptian Consulate General in Port Sudan and the border crossings of Qastal and Arqin.