Egypt signed 14 investment agreements with Saudi Arabia worth USD 7.7 bn during Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s visit to Cairo yesterday, the Madbouly cabinet said in a statement yesterday. The agreements cover key sectors including energy, tech, food, and pharma and were signed during a meeting of Egyptian and Saudi companies and key officials.

And there’s plenty more where that came from: Saudi Arabia intends to “lead” USD 30 bn in investments in Egypt, the two countries wrote in a joint final communique marking the end of bin Salman’s visit, without giving any further details.

REMEMBER- Saudi Arabia recently pledged USD 15 bn to support Egypt: In March, Saudi deposited USD 5 bn with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), to help shore up our finances amid global fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine. In parallel, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund said it was looking to invest USD 10 bn in Egypt’s healthcare, education, agriculture and financial services sectors.

Here’s the breakdown on where that USD 7.7 bn of KSA money is headed:

ENERGY- Ajlan & Bros to build oil storage complex: Saudi conglomerate Ajlan & Bros inked a USD 3.3 bn agreement to build a facility for storing petroleum products with the Egyptian Arab Supply Chain Group Company, according to Arab News. The storage complex made up more than 40% of the value agreements signed with KSA yesterday. The company signed six agreements worth a total of almost USD 5 bn yesterday, Chairman Ajlan Al Ajlan told CNBC Arabia.

One of the largest onshore wind farms in the world: Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and Hassan Allam Holding signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) to develop a 1.1 GW wind farm in the Gulf of Suez, it announced in a statement and in a Tadawul filing. The USD 1.5 bn project will be one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world, and the largest in the Middle East, the company said.

The details: The project will be built under a build-own-operate framework, and ACWA will also be responsible for obtaining financing, it said. Hassan Allam will work alongside the company to prepare the site and secure financing.

The project is expected to reach financial close by 4Q 2024 and begin commercial operations by the end of 2026.

KSA industrial conglomerate Alfanar is also getting involved in Egypt’s wind + green hydro sectors: Alfanar signed an agreement with the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) for the production of wind energy and green hydrogen, the cabinet said.

TECH + FINTECH- Benya and Al Fanar to set up tech-focused JV: Al Fanar signed an agreement with IT infrastructure contractor Benya Group to set up a USD 200 mn joint venture in Saudi Arabia that will focus on data centers, smart cities, and cybersecurity, Benya Chairman Ahmed Mekky told Bloomberg Asharq. The companies plan to increase investments in the next five years to reach USD 1 bn, he added. The final agreement will take place in 3Q, and the company will begin operating before the end of the year. Benya had previously told Enterprise it plans to set up a Saudi investment arm by the end of 2022.

Fawry for remittances? Saudi business development company T2 signed an investment agreement with Fawry to develop fintech solutions for trade and money transfers between the two countries, the cabinet statement read.

Also in fintech: Saudi VC Khwarizmi Ventures and local startup Khazna signed an investment agreement that could see Khazna expand to provide mobile financial services for employees in the kingdom, cabinet said.

PHARMA- Pharco to set up pharma complex in Saudi: Egyptian pharma player Pharco will establish a USD 150 mn pharma manufacturing complex in Medina, Chairman Sherine Helmy told Bloomberg Asharq. The company will start working immediately to set up the city, and has plans to produce medicines and vaccines. Production is expected to begin within two years, he said.

FOOD- Saudi’s Albaik might be coming here: The fried chicken chain’s products could be manufactured locally by the Egyptian subsidiary of Saudi’s Halwani Bros and sold to local franchisees, the company said in a filing to the Saudi stock exchange. Halwani Bros signed a non-binding agreement with Albaik sister firm Aquat Food Industries on the possible partnership. Aquat is conducting a technical and logistical evaluation of Halwani Bros’ factories in Egypt, with investments for the plan estimated at EGP 1 bn (USD 53 mn).

More food investment coming our way: Hadhim Dates plans to invest here and work with private-sector companies to cultivate palm trees in Al Wadi Al Gadeed governorate, head of the company Abdulaziz Al Tuwaijri told Al Borsa.

And that’s not all, folks: The Saudi investment ministry tweeted a handy infographic of every company involved in the investments announced yesterday, and we expect more details to trickle through in the coming days.

The story is getting coverage in international business press, including: Reuters | Bloomberg | The National | AP.