Gas supplies to Lebanon waiting on “final” US approval + World Bank financing: Cairo is “waiting for the final green light” from Washington, as well as a funding commitment between Beirut and the World Bank, before it goes ahead with plans to ship natural gas to Lebanon via Syria, Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad told Bloomberg Asharq. Both Egypt and Jordan are reportedly seeking further assurances that the move will not run afoul of US sanctions in place against Syria, despite written promises from the US that it would not penalize countries involved in the plan, which was hatched last year to alleviate Lebanon’s power crisis

How much longer could this take? Oil Minister Tarek El Molla reportedly told Lebanese officials that Egypt will be pumping gas to Lebanon by “spring,” according to Fayyad. El Molla’s most recent public estimate was for the pipeline to be up and running by the end of February or the beginning of March, after several delays. Meanwhile, US energy advisor Amos Hochstein said earlier this month that Lebanon could agree a financing agreement with the World Bank for the gas “in a matter of weeks.”

EFG Hermes’ fintech platform valU has expanded its partnership with Waffarha, allowing the savings platform to become an accepted payment method through valU’s POS, it said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. Customers will also be able to recharge their Waffarha wallet using ValU per the agreement, alongside other services.

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

• Expanding the ins. pool for those abroad: Families of Egyptians working and studying abroad will be able to access Egypt’s state-backed ins. policies.
• Several Kazakhstani airlines will resume flights to Sharm El Sheikh in March after the country’s covid-19 committee green-lit the move.
• Kuwaiti real estate player Urbnlanes Developments plans to invest EGP 10 bn the Egyptian property sector.
• Etisalat Misr has been awarded a contract to add automated and digital banking channels at the Agricultural Bank of Egypt’s 1.1k branches.
• Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir held talks with nine Austrian rail companies to discuss participation in the ministry’s plans to modernize Egypt’s rail network.
• Egypt Post has signed an agreement with Saudi Post to launch a remittance service allowing Egyptian expats in Saudi Arabia to send funds home through the post office.

CLARIFICATION- The headline on yesterday’s Also On Our Radar section suggested that Edita had rebranded its Molto product range. As the story in the section correctly noted, the snackmaker has rebranded its Molto Sandwich line. The headline has since been updated on our website.