Back to the complete issue
Tuesday, 31 August 2021

Egycomex to go live in 1Q2022

Egypt’s long-awaited commodities exchange (Egycomex) is set to start full operations in 1Q2022, Ibrahim Ashmawy, head of the Internal Trade Development Authority and chairman of the new exchange, told Akhbar Al Youm. The commodities exchange began trading on a pilot basis this past spring to coincide with the start of the wheat harvest, prior to which some 450 wheat collection points were established across the country for farmers wishing to offer their harvest on Egycomex, Ashmawy noted.

A twinning grant contract is set to be signed with the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE) to benefit from its expertise in database building, membership requirements, and trading commissions in the mercantile exchange market, Ashmawy said, without specifying a timeframe. BUCE is billed as one of the largest spot exchanges in Eastern Europe, with an annual turnover of about USD 2.3 bn.

Where do things stand? The law governing the forthcoming Egyptian commodities exchange — which has been in the works since February 2018 when it was made possible after amendments made to the Capital Markets Act — should now be in the hands of the House of Representatives after receiving cabinet approval last year. Ashmawy had previously told us that traders would be able to buy and sell wheat, oil, sugar, and rice when the exchange launches, and said in a separate interview that gold, steel and cotton would be added later.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.