Egypt will produce its first locally assembled electric vehicles next year, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said in an address to the World Youth Forum yesterday (watch, runtime: 10:26). His comments come after the government last week said it was in talks with two Chinese companies to partner with El Nasr Automotive to produce electric cars in Egypt, with a view to signing final contracts by March.

A Dongfeng-derived delay: El Nasr was aiming to have Egypt’s first 100 homegrown EVs ready by July-August 2022 — then negotiations with Chinese auto firm Dongfeng to locally assemble its E70 cars collapsed in November. The company has since narrowed seven proposals from new potential EV partners down to the two Chinese firms, with an eye to finalize terms later this month.

General Motors and Al Mansour are also in the running to jointly produce EVs: The two companies signed an MoU on the plan in December and are working to present a study to the government sometime within the next few months.

And incentives could be announced soon: The Madbouly government is finalizing incentives to the local industry under a long-delayed automotive strategy. The measures could offer manufacturers customs discounts for using locally-produced components, potentially linked to their added value (i.e cost). It could also provide buyers of locally-made EVs subsidies worth up to EGP 50k. The incentives were expected to come out in December

Also in store: The government will invest at least EGP 450 mn to roll out the infrastructure required to make EVs viable on Egyptian roads, led by industry leader Infinity, which will set up 6k electric vehicle charging points across 3k stations nationwide. An official announcement on EV charging tariffs and regulations governing the industry is also expected soon.

The rise of the EV: Infinity co-founder and CEO Mohamed Mansour expects 40-50k EVs on our roads by 2025, up from a current 1.5k, as we see models from global brands being offered, he told us earlier this week.