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Xi’s Cairo visit brings a slew of agreements and MoUs
Xi’s Cairo visit | Insider blackout goes calendar-based | Valu renews Walid Hassouna’s CEO role for three years
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Beijing makes a splash
Today's big story: While Xi Jinping’s first state visit to Egypt in ten years has thus far yielded specific practical agreements rather than the expansive deal some anticipated, further announcements could emerge before the Chinese president departs later today.
Today at a Glance
Making It
PlaylistWhy Rep. Neveen El Tahri is optimistic
Foreign investors see a lot of potential in Egypt. Their optimism, however, is not necessarily shared by…
Investment Watch
M&A Watch
Explore EnterpriseAM for your industry
A close look at key activities driving headlines across industries
Privatization Watch
The CBE approved new rules allowing banks to verify customers entirely online
Good morning, folks. Egypt’s markets are growing, but not without…
State IPOs are gearing up for 4Q trading debut
Four more state-owned companies are looking to list in July, according to the head of the State-Owned Companies Unit
Newsmakers
Coffee with Jon Rokk on Valmore’s hard-currency turn
Rokk talks to us about funding UK and Saudi expansion with Egyptian exits and what three uninterrupted months of gas supply…
My Morning Routine
Orascom Construction, Sawiris Foundation back next generation of scholars
This marks the 26th consecutive year of the program
Spotlight
Regulation
Legislation Watch
Parliament moves to shield healthcare and research from nuclear fee hikes
Amendments create a clearer distinction between commercial nuclear ventures and…
Regulation Watch
Insider trading blackout now runs on the earnings calendar only
The FRA has narrowed the insider trading blackout to results…
Cabinet Watch
Garghoub is now a Special Economic Zone — here is what that means for investors
Plus: A major overhaul at GOEIC to slash customs times
Ittihadiya
Sisi inaugurates Octagon, unveils comprehensive economic program
El Sisi gave us a glimpse into Egypt’s post-IMF future
Startup Watch
Orascam Pyramids Entertainment is seeking arbitration against Supreme Council of Antiquities over alleged breach of contract
Plus: The Scale It Forward program has selected Aman Holding, Bokra, and Erada Finance as financial institutions to deploy venture debt solutions
Meet our Founder of the Month: Biddex’s Amr Allam
Biddex is an end-to-end online car marketplace — letting buyers browse, get financing approved,…
Meet our Founder of the Month: Arise Media’s Amall Askar
“My interest in AI began as a solution to a production problem I’d been…
Industries
Banking
Sisi and Xi set out an ambitious bilateral agenda in a pair of op-eds timed to the Chinese president’s arrival in Cairo
Good morning, everyone. Who’s building cities, and who’s buying stocks?…
Finance
Private capital in the Middle East falls to its lowest half-year total on record in 1H 2026
Fintech still dominated the investments that did close, capturing 47%…
Capital Markets
EGX30 gains 2.66% in August as broader market rally gathers pace
Foreign institutions returned to net selling, while Egyptian retail and…
Fintech
How Balad connects global remittances to home
The Cairo-based fintech provides the infrastructure connecting international remittance companies…
Climate
Nepal-Tibet flood death toll passes 1,000 + global bond sell-off deepens
Good afternoon, friends, and happy hump day. Consider this your…
Automotive
Egypt’s auto market grew in June, but dealers warn of shipping pressure ahead
Buses accounted for nearly all of June’s m-o-m market growth,…
Commodities
Wheat dodged Hormuz, but summer crops face the input crunch
Analysts agree this season’s wheat is secure, but differ on…
Tech
Huawei is bidding to supply Egypt’s AI infrastructure — Washington is trying to stop it
Good afternoon, ladies and gents, and congratulations on making it…
Energy
Egypt studies two repair options to return Energos Winter to service
The vessel had been feeding around 450 mmcf / d…
Infrastructure
Karm Holding is planning to build a solar microgrid to unlock South Sinai's stalled industrial zone
The system should cut tenant factories’ energy costs by 30-60%…
Manufacturing
Factories follow the Sahel development boom
The North Coast’s development boom is beginning to build an…
Mining
Gov’t breaks ground on USD 658 mn Abu Tartour phosphoric acid complex
PLUS: A USD 67 mn Jieya hygiene-products plant breaks ground…
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Good afternoon, folks,
and happy almost-weekend. It’s a busy day on the newsfront, both at home and abroad, and we’ve got the latest below. We’re also looking at the tayyibat diet: how a system that tells you to eat Nutella and skip your insulin shots managed to accumulate mns of followers. Elsewhere today: We have a review of a debut novel that unpacks what happens when a family is forced to reckon with long-kept secrets. Plus, everything happening on the pitch tonight.
Today at a Glance
Thursday, 27 August 2026
Good morning, friends, and happy long weekend.
We’re feeling a little nostalgic today, so we’re taking you along on a trip down memory lane. We’re tracing a thousand years of El Moulid El Nabawy sweets and the economy behind them. We also revisited Spectra, Cairo’s beloved early 2000s family dining hotspot, to see how it holds up in 2026. And for anyone counting down to GTA VI, we went back to Vice City to see how the original still fares.
Elsewhere in today’s issue: a new Insidious film if you’re in the mood to be scared, and a tribute to the late, great Dolly Parton.
