Shoukry in Asmara: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Asmara, Eritrea, today in a visit to boost bilateral relations, FM spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement yesterday. The visit comes the same week that Ethiopia and Eritrea re-opened their border for the first time in 20 years after the United Arab Emirates brokered rapprochement between the two sides in a development widely seen as positive for Egypt.

EIB grants to be inked today: Investment Minister Sahar Nasr is expected to sign agreements today on two grants from the European Investment Bank, according to a ministry statement (pdf) that provided no further details.

**#8 Sign of the times: “Private equity investors shun bulk of emerging world,” declares the Financial Times. Funds focused on the Mideast, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union together accounted for a mere 11.6% of EM-focused PE funds raised in the first six months of this year, according to the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association. More than 88% of EM-focused money raised flowed into Asia. And with the worst of the fallout from Abraaj likely yet to come, you can forget about serious fundraising for Mideast PE (at a minimum) for some time to come.