Pre-Trading Thoughts

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday inaugurated the country’s newest and largest railway station, Giza’s Bashteel Station.

The CBE’s MPC is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 17 October. We expect the CBE to prefer to hold rates unchanged in its upcoming meeting.

The Suez Canal Authority has rolled out fresh incentives and facilities for yachts passing through the waterway in a bid to promote yacht and marine tourism along the Red Sea coast — effective 1 November.

Russia is pushing for the nine-member bloc that includes Egypt to adopt changes to how local currency transactions are made between member nations to bypass the world’s dominant financial systems. 

The IMF is slashing surcharges - additional fees imposed on countries that borrow beyond their quota or delay loan repayments — by 36% on average starting 1 November. 

The Grand Egyptian Museum is to launch partial trial operations on Wednesday ahead of grand opening, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said in a televised statement. 

The General Authority for Investment and Freezones (GAFI) will set up five more freezones under the special freezones system in response to investor demand.

State-owned Egyptian Company for Natural Gas Distribution — more commonly known as Town Gas — signed contracts with Romania’s Cis Gaz to manage linking natural gas distribution grids in Romania.

The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (MSMEDA) signed an agreement with Romania’s Economy, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism Ministry to enhance cooperation in SME development, focusing on sectors such as agriculture, textile, and technology.

Egypt is expected to launch trial operations of the first phase of its USD1.8 billion Egypt-Saudi interconnection project in April 2025 instead of May. 

The Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) is close to producing batteries for electric vehicles, Al Borsa writes, citing the Chairman of AOI’s Kader Factory Amr Abdel Aziz.

Pharos Energy revealed that it received USD20 million of its arrears in Egypt during the 1H24.

According to local media, GBCO’s NBFS arm GB Capital is reportedly looking to secure its license to promote and cover subscriptions from the Financial Regulatory Authority as part of its efforts to become an investment bank.

HRHO’s leasing and factoring arm is considering issuing securitization bonds with a total value of up to EGP2.0 billion next year.

Garawany Group subsidiary International Steel Industry is looking to invest EGP5.5 billion to upgrade and expand state-owned Delta Steel through a nine-year lease agreement, according to the Group's CEO. 

Suez Canal shipping volume witnessed a 70% YoY decline in 3Q24.