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Edmund Bower

Reporter

Edmund Bower is a freelance journalist based in Beirut who has been reporting from the Middle East since 2014. He covers Lebanon and Egypt for AGBI and also writes for titles including The Economist, The Guardian and The Telegraph.

Edmund Bower
Egypt external debt

Egypt external debt makes record drop

Egypt’s external debt decreased by over $14 billion between December 2023 and May 2024, the steepest drop on record according to its Central Bank (CBE). External debt fell from a record high of $168 billion at the end of December to $154 billion at the end of May, a decrease of 8.4 percent. The drop […]

Egypt is seeking FDI with a particular focus on textiles manufacturing and green energy

Egypt seeks to treble foreign direct investment to $30bn

Egypt’s new cabinet, formed earlier this month, wants to treble foreign direct investment into the country from the record $10 billion of FDI inflows recorded in  2022-23. The ambitious target of $30 billion in FDI during the current financial year, which began on 1 July, has been set as Egypt cuts budgets and slows down […]

Workers set up photovoltaic solar panels at the Benban plant, which will contribute to Egypt's goal of 58 percent renewable energy by 2040

Austerity threatens Egypt’s green energy progress

Sprawling over 37 sq km of desert north of Egyptian city of Aswan, the Benban Solar Park is one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in the world. Made up of 41 individual solar plants, the park’s investors boast it can be seen from space. Launched in 2018 and now at 1.8 gigawatt capacity, in […]

Egypt foreign exchange forex fx

Remittance revival pushes Egypt’s FX reserves to record

Egypt recorded its highest foreign exchange reserves ever in June, after remittances rose almost 75 percent year on year. Boosted by the disbursement of loans and investment deals, as well as the return of remittance payments to the formal banking sector, reserves reached $46.38 billion, up from $46.13 billion in May, which itself was also […]

Workers at a textile factory in Bilbeis, Egypt. S&P Global says businesses may soon be able to expand their output

Egyptian business confidence improves but pessimism remains

Egyptian businesses reported significant new sales for the first time since 2021 in June but are still more pessimistic than optimistic, according to the latest purchasing managers index (PMI) report. The survey released by S&P Global reported a headline PMI of 49.9, the highest in almost three years and just shy of the 50.0 mark […]

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a group photo with Egypt's new cabinet

New oil and finance ministers in Egyptian cabinet reshuffle

The Egyptian government has conducted a long-awaited cabinet reshuffle resulting in a series of new appointees to important ministries including foreign affairs, finance and petroleum. A handful of existing ministers expanded their portfolios. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, swore in the new cabinet, which will be led by the incumbent prime minister Mostafa Madbouly, […]

Tourists at the Temple of Hathor, in Dendera, Egypt. 7.1m people visited the country in the first half of 2024

Egypt hails record tourist numbers despite regional conflict

Egypt received a record number of tourists during the first two quarters of 2024 despite ongoing conflict in the region. The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said on Monday that 7.1 million tourists visited the country in the first half of the year, breaking the previous record for the same period of 6.9 million in […]

A stall holder in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. People in Istanbul faced rises in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages

Cairo and Istanbul feel biggest cost of living squeeze

Dubai has become the most expensive city in the Middle East for expatriate workers, while Cairo and Istanbul were among the cities that saw the biggest rise in the cost of living this year, as soaring inflation impacted wages. Dubai, the UAE’s largest city, saw rental prices rise by about a fifth in the last […]

Government officials have suggested that construction will continue on Egypt's state-led mega-projects, including the New Administrative Capital city, thought to cost more than $58 billion

Egypt shows signs of recovery after landmark IMF deal

Last Friday marked 100 days since Egypt, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) second-biggest debtor after Argentina, agreed its latest loan. Eased by a $35 billion development deal with the UAE and increased international concern for Egypt’s economic stability following the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the deal drew a line under more than two […]

Egypt will use the US funding across a range of sectors including agriculture

US allocates $130m development funding to Egypt

The US has allocated funding of $130 million for a range of developmental projects in Egypt, it was announced on Thursday. In a press release published by the US Embassy in Cairo, ambassador Herro Mustafa Garg said that the money would go towards “advancing Egyptian efforts to achieve a brighter, healthier, and more prosperous future […]

Egypt's new Shariah Index says it has received strong interest from a large number of local, regional, and international investors

Hopes high for Egypt’s shariah-compliant index

The Egyptian stock exchange has announced the launch of a long-awaited shariah-compliant index, a move observers say is likely to attract new investors and boost the North African country’s latent Islamic banking sector. Gulf investors are said to be particularly interested. The chairman of the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), Ahmed el Sheikh, announced that the new […]

Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor, chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, said that the “lack of necessary security stability … has left us no choice but to abandon the launch of our television station from Lebanon"

Al Habtoor scraps Lebanon TV channel after physical threats

Dubai’s Al Habtoor Group has cancelled plans to launch a TV channel from Lebanon after physical threats were made to the founder and staff. Chairman and founder Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor said that the “lack of necessary security stability for investment … has left us no choice but to step back from this initiative and […]

A vendor at a vegetable market in Cairo. The IMF is encouraging the Egyptian government to continue selling stakes in state assets

Egypt confronts sell-off of more state assets

More sales of Egyptian state assets from petrol stations to wind farms are likely to be announced in the financial year to June 2025, according to people familiar with the negotiations. A deal with the UAE worth $35 billion to develop a resort at Ras El Hekma on the Mediterranean has eased the pressure on […]

A cargo ship passes through the Suez Canal

Suez Canal revenues and traffic fell in May

Suez Canal revenues continued to decline in May because of instability in the Red Sea, according to Egyptian media. Revenues fell 64.3 percent year on year to $337.8 million. Last month 1,111 individual ships passed through the canal – down 54 percent on the May 2023 figure of 2,396.  Finance minister Mohamed Maait said last […]

Citrus fruits were Egypt's largest agricultural export, and its orange exports are predicted to reach 2 million tonnes

Citrus produce helps Egypt agricultural exports rise

The value of Egypt’s agricultural exports in the first five months of 2024 rose 24 percent year on year, following greater land allocation for produce such as oranges and potatoes. The minister of agriculture and land reclamation, Mohamed Al Sayed Al Quseir, told reporters on Thursday that more than 4.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce, […]

A worker unloads wheat in Qalyubia, north of Cairo. Analysts warn that a rise in bread prices could harm imnproving business sentiment

Egypt’s business activity rises as inflation pressure falls

A softening of inflationary pressures and an increase in the availability of foreign exchange helped improve business activity and confidence in Egypt in May, according to central bank data and an influential survey. But experts warned that government austerity measures, including a rise in the politically sensitive prices of bread and petrol, may dampen business […]

An airplane on final approach to Beirut International Airport: Lebanon has cut the amount owed to airlines by 9%

Lebanon among biggest debtors to global airlines

The money owed to international airlines in Lebanon has fallen by almost 9 percent year on year, but still totals $129 million, the International Air Transport Association reported on Sunday. Lebanon takes the fifth spot in a 2024 list of countries where funds are overdue for repatriation, IATA said. It was the No 1 country […]

A young man delivers bread in Cairo, Egypt; the price of subsidised bread will rise for the first time in 30 years

Egypt’s rising bread price sparks austerity fears

Egypt’s plan to hike the price of subsidised bread for the first time in 30 years has increased talk of an austerity budget for the coming fiscal year, amid rumours of price increases for medicine and electricity and the phasing out of fuel subsidies.  The International Monetary Fund, which is currently preparing a third review […]

Egypt tourist Grand Egyptian Museum Giza

War and tensions mean Egypt dials down tourist forecast

Egypt has revised its tourist targets downwards because of the continuing conflicts in the region. However the country is still hoping to receive a record number of visitors in 2024. Egypt’s tourism minister Ahmed Issa told Sky News Arabia this week that his ministry had lowered its expectations down from 18 million to between 15.5 […]

Locals at Daraw market, Egypt. The biggest challenge facing digital banks could be the 60 percent of Egyptians who say they lack internet access

Digital lenders eager to tap into Egypt’s unbanked masses

Egyptian banking history was made this month when Misr Digital Innovation (MDI) became the first Egyptian company to receive preliminary approval for a digital banking licence.  MDI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, will open Onebank – Egypt’s first digital bank – by the first quarter of next year at the latest. Experts predict many more […]

An orange vendor in Cairo. The country will export 2 million tonnes of oranges this year

Egyptian agricultural exports hit record levels

Egypt exported a record 7.5 million tonnes of agricultural produce last year, compared with 6.4 million tonnes in 2022 and 5.6 million in 2021. The total value of agricultural exports in 2023 was $8.8 billion, according to minister of agriculture and land reclamation Al Sayed Al Quseir. Egypt’s total number of export partners has increased […]