Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 6 November 2022

SCZone might be getting an investment arm

SCZone to get investment arm? The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) plans to establish an investment company to channel finance into projects being established in the zone, SCZone head Walid Gamal El Din said Saturday, without providing further information.

This isn’t the same thing as the Suez Canal Authority’s new fund: Ministers in July approved plans to allow the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) to set up a EGP 10 bn investment fund. Neither the government or the SCA has disclosed how this money will be used, saying only that it will be deployed to support the authority’s economic development.

This is part of a package of measures designed to boost FDI inflows that was approved by the SCZone board yesterday. Among them: New investment incentives and an SCZone investors’ association, the statement said, without disclosing details. The board also discussed ambitions to establish the zone as an “offshore global financial center.”

A green energy hub: The board also discussed its strategy to turn the SCZone into a regional hub for clean energy such as green hydrogen and green ammonia. The authority is expected to sign a number of agreements with international companies to establish green hydrogen and ammonia plants at the COP27 climate summit this month. Initial agreements worth some USD 33 bn have been signed this year, the most recent of which was with Maersk for a huge USD 15 bn facility capable of producing 3 mn tons of fuel a year.

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.