Category: Uncategorized

Education Ministry cares about child upbringing, not just schooling: Shawky

Egypt’s Minister of Education and Technical Education Tarek Shawky said, on Monday, that his ministry cares about correct upbringing of children, not just education.

It came during a press conference to announce the details of the national project to encourage physical activities in schools, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health.

Shawky said that the project aims to increase the physical competence of students, noting that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced the ministry to pay more attention to the health care system in schools.

The objectives of this project are to develop the student’s physical competence, eliminate obesity, invest leisure time in purposeful and constructive activities that support the student and society.

Suez Canal Bank achieves 24% growth in net profit before appropriation

The Suez Canal Bank (SCB) achieved 24% growth in net profit before appropriation, reaching EGP 615m in September 2020, up from EGP 497m in September 2019, supported by 26% net interest income increase and 11% growth in net revenue.

The bank also increased its loan and facilities portfolio by 11%, to reach EGP 17.1bn in September 2020, compared to EGP 15.4bn in December 2019.

In a statement, the bank said that the personal loan portfolio witnessed remarkable growth during the first nine months of this year, compared to 2019. It rose by 62% to reach EGP 800m.

The bank also managed to increase its SME loan portfolio by 25%, to reach EGP 1.3bn in September 2020, as well as the syndicated loan portfolio to EGP 6.2bn, with a growth rate of 8%.

The bank’s financial statements revealed that total customer deposits recorded EGP 43.212bn in September 2020, compared to EGP 44.181bn in December 2019.

The bank’s total assets stood at about EGP 50.150bn in September 2020, down from EGP 52.016bn in December 2019.

UAE receives 11% of Egypt’s total exports: Gamea

Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea stated that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market annually receives about 11% of Egypt’s total exports.

During the first meeting of the Joint Egyptian-UAE Business Council, Gamea said that the UAE investments in Egypt exceed $7bn in different projects, with additional $7bn worth memoranda of understanding signed between the two countries, making the UAE the top investor in the Egyptian market.

The Minister pointed out that the size of cooperation between Egyptian and Emirati companies in fields of contracting, power stations, airport development, and other economic activities, exceeded $1bn.

She stressed the importance of the Egyptian-UAE Business Council in defining and overcoming challenges that companies may face in the two countries.

Egypt’s online food delivery market to reach $131m by 2024: Talabat

CEO of Talabat Egypt, Sufian Al-Marzooqi, said that the size of online food delivery market in Egypt will reach $131m by 2024 compared to $74m currently.

This came during a press conference held by the company on Monday to announce its expansion plans in the Egyptian market.

Al-Marzooqi said that the company aims to serve 55 million customers in Egypt, and is also planning to expand in eight cities across the country, and to cooperate with 20,000 new business partners.

He expected that Talabat’s business volume will grow locally in the coming years by up to 15%, pointing out that the number of the company’s active clients in the Middle East and North Africa region is estimated at 2 million people.

Talabat accounts for the largest share of the online food delivery market in the Gulf countries, Jordan, and Egypt, Al-Marzooqi said.

Local, international financial institutions offer to invest $1.755bn in CBE’s T-bills

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has received offers from international and local financial institutions to invest in local treasury bills (T-bills) denominated in US currency, which were issued on Monday.

The CBE floated the $1.56bn worth T-bill tender for a year, due on 16 November 2021.

According to the CBE, it received 38 bids worth $1.755bn to cover this bid, but only 33 bids worth $1.585bn were accepted.

The return accepted by the CBE ranged between 3.34% and 3.401%, and averaged 3.394%, compared to 3.42%, 3.45%, and 3.446% in the last similar bid put forward by the CBE on 8 June 2020. The CBE rejected other offers from investors who requested a 4% return.

The proceeds of this bid will be used to pay for a previous bid put forward by the CBE on 19 November 2019, through which it obtained $1.56bn.

Second phase of Egypt’s parliamentary elections sees 29.5% voter turnout

Head of the National Elections Authority (NEA) Lasheen Ibrahim announced, on Monday, that the second phase of the House of Representatives elections has witnessed 29.5% voter turnout.

The electoral list led by pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party has won the majority of votes in the second phase.

About 9.2 million people cast their ballots out of 31 million eligible voters in the second phase of elections. The number of valid votes in the individual system recorded 8,332,214 votes, while the number of invalid votes reached 956,952 votes. The number of valid votes in the party list system reached 7,730,456 votes, while the number of invalid votes stood at 1,585,710 votes.

This came during a press conference by the NEA at Maspero building, to announce the final results of the second phase.

Ibarhim said that the first round of the second phase of the parliament elections witnessed 2,083 candidates running for individual seats, after the death of two candidates.

This election phase was held at 9,468 sub-committees supervised by 1,200 judges.

EBRD, partners acquire Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals

EBRD commits $75m to support the company’s growth in Egypt

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is joining forces with reputable partners to acquire Egypt’s Adwia Pharmaceuticals company to improve the availability and affordability of medicines, using an investment platform with an initial capital commitment of $250m.

The EBRD is committing $75m to support the company’s growth in Egypt, alongside Development Partners International (DPI), a pan-African private equity firm which is committing $75m, and CDC Group, a development finance institution funded by the UK government, with $100m commitment.

Moreover, the investment platform acquired Celon Laboratories, an Indian oncology and critical-care product specialist.

Adwia will benefit from Celon’s know-how in drug development, including for chronic and life-threatening health conditions.

Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Overnight Deposit Rate

The Central Bank of Egypt unexpectedly cut its key overnight deposit rate by 50 bps to 8.25 percent during its November meeting, surprising markets that expected no changes. The move follows a similar margin cut on September 24th and brings borrowing costs to its lowest level since 2014. Policymakers noted that the annual inflation rate rose to 4.5% in October mainly driven by the cost of food. The Committee said that the outlook for inflation in the last quarter of 2020 is estimated to be in the low single digits range, with an increased likelihood of coming under the target floor of 6%. Policymakers added that the decision to cut rates provides appropriate support to economic activity while remaining consistent with price stability over the medium term. The Committee said it will closely monitor all economic developments and will not hesitate to utilize all available tools to support the recovery of economic activity, within its price stability mandate. source: Central Bank of Egypt

See Attachment : mpc-press-release-november-12-2020-

Banking Industry Forum urges action to combat money-laundering, terrorism financing

Sun, 15 Nov 2020 – 03:43 GMT

SHARM El SHEIKH – 15 Novemeber 2020: Participants in the Banking Industry and Future of Financial Services Forum recommended on Sunday to unify efforts to combat the threats of money-laundering and terrorism financing, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

This came at the concluding session of the forum held under the auspices of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The three-day event was organized by the Union of Arab Banks (UAB).

The participants also called for preparing an overall study concerning the digital transformation in banks, stressing the importance of expanding financial digital lending technology platforms.