A syndicate of banks led by SAIB have agreed to lend Kharafi National for Infrastructure Projects EGP 1.2 bn, the bank announced, without providing further detail on how the funding would be deployed. The syndicate also includes the Export Development Bank of Egypt, the Arab Investment Bank, Industrial Development and Workers Bank and Al Baraka Bank Egypt.

The untold story of the government’s court battle with an Egyptian-turned-Finnish mining investor: Egypt has requested that a US Federal court to stay proceedings on a lawsuit filed against it by embattled mining investor Mohamed Abdel Raouf Bahgat. Bahgat recently took to litigation in order to enforce a USD 115 mn arbitral award he had won against the government in 2019 over the loss of his business and his imprisonment a decade ago, according to Law360.

Other things we’re keeping an eye on this morning:

• Banque Misr has a potential pipeline of 39 syndicated agreements worth up to EGP 124 bn — with its own contribution (pdf) amounting to EGP 42 bn and covering financing for real estate, tourism, transport, oil and gas, petrochemicals, electricity, education, and automotives.
• Qatar Airways to increase flights to Egypt: The airline increased the number of flights between Doha and Cairo to three a day on 1 October — and will begin a new 2x weekly route between Doha and Sharm El Sheikh on 3 December. The carrier will also resume 4x weekly trips to Luxor on 23 November.
• The EDA has introduced new quality standards for pharma products to ensure their safety.
• Land freight heading into Sudan has been suspended since 27 September after protesters blocked the road to Khartoum, trapping hundreds of vehicles including a dozen Egyptian trucks.
• Egyptian Iron and Steel will pay its former workers EGP 14k for each year worked — with a cap of EGP 450k — under the terms of an agreement (pdf) reached as part of the state-owned company’s liquidation process.