INVESTMENT WATCH- Mansour becomes exclusive distributor for MG in Egypt, to invest EGP 400 mn by 2022: Mansour Group’s Al Mansour Automotive signed an agreement with SAIC Motors that will see it become the exclusive local agent for the company’s UK subsidiary MG Motors, according to Al Shorouk. The company intends to invest EGP 400 mn in its new joint venture, which comes as part of a 2017-2022 plan to invest EGP 1 bn in Egypt, says Group CEO Adel Khedr. The company intends to open up 12 new showrooms in 2018 dedicated exclusively to MG-brand cars, with plans to bring the number of showrooms up to 20 by 2019. Al Mansour will be retailing a sedan and two sports models from the MG brand.

Background: We had heard in March that SAIC Motors was considering establishing an auto manufacturing plant in Egypt and had been looking for a local partner on the venture. There’s been no mention of whether Al Mansour and SAIC will assemble the cars locally — and you can expect zero word on that front until the Madbouly government makes clear its plan for the automotive directive.