It was a mixed bag on talk shows yesterday: Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi discussed Egypt’s debut sukuk issuance with Tarek El Metwally, the former head of Blom Bank Egypt (more on this in the news well above), Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir made an appearance on Ala Mas’ouleety to talk about new capital transport links and metro fare hikes (see above), and Al Hayah Al Youm looked at the latest initiative to locally produce electric cars in Egypt.

Ultra-cheap, locally-assembled electric cars? The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AAST) has added its name to the list of companies proposing to start assembling EVs in Egypt, and says it can do it at an ultra-low price. In an announcement Tuesday, the Arab League-run university said it will launch the country’s first Egypt-made EVs in the next six months, and will sell them at prices far below cars manufactured by international auto firms.

Yahduth fi Masr picked up the news last night following talks between Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and AAST representatives, and spoke to AAST Dean of Applied Research Mohamed Elghamry, who is behind the project (watch, runtime: 11:01). The vehicles will be sold at between EGP 100k and EGP 170k, Elghamry said, adding that the initiative is attempting to address the high prices of traditional cars in the market. The first batch of EVs will go on sale in the second half of the year, and 500 vehicles will be produced in the initial phase, he revealed. Around 60% of the components will be sourced from local suppliers but AAST hopes to increase this to 100% in the future.

Meanwhile: Masa’a DMC took note of the Higher Education Ministry opening the door for applications for a new AAST-backed grant for local EV assembly and technology transfer, with a deadline set for 15 March (watch, runtime: 5:47).