The Madbouly government is in talks with an international automaker to produce vehicles to replace tuk-tuks, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said last week, without providing further details. Industry observers are closely watching to see what class of vehicles (and which incentives) the government authorizes to replace tuk-tuks, which largely serve peri-urban areas with streets too narrow or congested for standard four-wheeled vehicles.

ALSO- Automotive industry players are still waiting for news of the so-called “automotive directive” — a long-in-the-works package of incentives and regulations designed to spur investment in vehicle assembly and manufacturing in Egypt. Our Inside Industry vertical, presented in association with our friends at IDG, had a deep dive last month into what you can expect.

MEANWHILE- ABB will soon open an EGP 180 mn factory in Tenth of Ramadan City that will manufacture components for electric trains. It will source up to 40% of its components from local suppliers, and sell some 25% of its products to the local market. (Al Mal)

AND- Cabinet approved amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering Act that would see an independent money laundering and terrorist financing unit set up at the Central Bank of Egypt. (Statement)

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

• Cabinet approved a USD 373 mn funding agreement with the Arab Monetary Fund to support the government in overcoming the effects of the covid pandemic, and a USD 60.6 mn financing agreement from the South Korean government to upgrade the signaling systems on the Luxor-High Dam railway line. (Statement)
• Banks opened letters of credit worth USD 11.6 bn in the six weeks since 1 March, when the CBE’s new rule requiring businesses to use L/Cs to import goods came into effect. (AMAY)
• The 2016 crash of Paris-Cairo EgyptAir flight MS804 was the result of a fire sparked by a cigarette, according to a report conducted by French aviation experts that Italian paper Corriere della Sera claims to have seen. British newspaper the Telegraph also has the story.
• German development bank KfW has agreed to lend us EUR 26 mn to finance the renovation of hydropower stations in Aswan. (Statement)
• The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) has allocated USD 15 mn to the African Development Bank to extend digital services and training to women-owned SMEs in Egypt, Cameroon, Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria. (Statement)