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Tuesday, 14 March 2023

Tourist arrivals jump by a third in January and February. PLUS: Madbouly meets GM + Egypt-Saudi interconnector.

TOURISM-

It’s already looking like a good year for tourism: The number of tourists coming into Egypt jumped 34% y-o-y during January and February, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa told CNBC Arabia. Tourists from two of our key markets, Russia and Ukraine, saw a significant drop on the back of the ongoing war on Ukraine, dipping 40% and 80%, respectively, he said. Fitch Solutions forecast that Egypt’s tourism revenues will rise 18% to a record USD 13.6 bn this year, while the number of tourists visiting the country will jump 46% to 11.6 mn.

AUTOMOTIVE-

Madbouly meets GM: Representatives of General Motors and Al Mansour Auto — the company’s local partner — sat down with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly yesterday to discuss investment in Egypt, according to a cabinet statement. GM and Al Mansour are planning to launch electric Cadillacs in Egypt later this year.

ENERGY-

Egypt-Saudi subsea electricity cable installed by the end of the year: Italian cable manufacturer Prysmian is expected to finish manufacturing the EUR 221.6 mn subsea cable that will link the power grids of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and have it installed by the end of December, Asharq Business reports, citing three sources it says are in the know. Egypt is set to chip in 48% of the cost, with the Saudis covering the remainder.

REFRESHER- Prysmian was awarded the contract to install the electrical cables back in October 2016. Trial operations for the 3 GW, USD 1.8 bn interconnection are set to begin in May 2025 with an official operational launch set for later in the same year. The first 1.5 GW phase will go live in June 2025, followed by the second and final 1.5 GW phase in November 2025.

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