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Egypt, France, Malta Sign Agreement to Establish Mediterranean Collaboration Network

The collaboration network aims to crowd in sovereign fund-backed capital with the support and investment participation of sovereign funds. (Reuters)
The collaboration network aims to crowd in sovereign fund-backed capital with the support and investment participation of sovereign funds. (Reuters)
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Egypt, France, Malta Sign Agreement to Establish Mediterranean Collaboration Network

The collaboration network aims to crowd in sovereign fund-backed capital with the support and investment participation of sovereign funds. (Reuters)
The collaboration network aims to crowd in sovereign fund-backed capital with the support and investment participation of sovereign funds. (Reuters)

Malta Government Investments (MGI), the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and Bpifrance, a French national investment bank signed an agreement to establish the “European, Middle East and North Africa Sovereign Wealth Funds Foundation” in Malta, according to a statement by Egypt’s Sovereign Fund on Thursday.

The Foundation aims to lay the basis for a Mediterranean collaboration network between the countries of the Mediterranean Basin region.

It further seeks to serve as a regional platform for members to meet and exchange experiences and available information on investment opportunities to achieve national and sustainable economic development goals in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

The network aims to crowd in sovereign fund-backed capital that will help unlock significant private investment flows to de-risk and fund projects or companies in the EMENA area that has an investment funding gap of $700-900 billion, with a special focus on green technology, sustainable development, SMEs and innovation.

The signing, which took place on March 24, was attended by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Economy and Industry (Malta), ambassadors for Egypt, France, Spain, and the Chairman of MGI. CEOs, Managing Directors and high level delegations from Ithmar Capital (Morocco), Kuwait Investment Authority, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Italy), Standard Chartered and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) also attended.

Senior officials from the European Investment Bank and the Oman Investment Authority also participated in a two-day summit that was held in Malta at the time.

Ayman Soliman, CEO of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt said: “TSFE’s collaboration with MGI, Bpifrance and COFIDES in establishing the EMENA SWF Foundation emphasizes the fund’s commitment to unlocking the investment potential in Egypt by creating long-term investment partnerships with investors and sovereign wealth funds in the region.”

“Malta Government Investments is very proud to have led in the past two years the setting up of the EMENA (Europe Middle East North Africa) Sovereign Wealth Funds Collaborative Network together with Bpifrance and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt,” said Herald Bonnici, CEO of MGI.

“The EMENA SWF Foundation, based in Malta, is a network of sovereign funds in the region that will discuss and share co-investment opportunities,” he added.

Executive Director of Bpifrance Pascal Lagarde said the agreement marks the beginning of new cooperation between institutions in the EMENA region, the idea of which emerged on the occasion of the 2019 Med 7 Summit in Malta, where the concept of a platform for regional cooperation was discussed between France and Malta.

“For Bpifrance, the EMENA SWF Collaborative Network is an opportunity to bolster its action in the Mediterranean region, favor the economic development of its neighboring countries and generate business opportunities for French companies in the area.”

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Business

Egypt's January-March Current Account Deficit Widens to $5.1 billion

The headquarters of the Central Bank of Egypt in downtown Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The headquarters of the Central Bank of Egypt in downtown Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt's January-March Current Account Deficit Widens to $5.1 billion

The headquarters of the Central Bank of Egypt in downtown Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The headquarters of the Central Bank of Egypt in downtown Cairo (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt's current account deficit more than doubled to $5.1 billion in the January-March quarter from $2.3 billion a year earlier, central bank data showed on Sunday.

Net foreign direct investment inflows edged down to $3.7 billion from $3.8 billion in the same period of 2025, Reuters reported.

The central bank attributed the wider July-March current account deficit mainly to a larger merchandise trade deficit, partly offset by higher remittances, tourism revenue and Suez Canal receipts.

Remittances from Egyptians working abroad rose to $12.8 billion from $9.3 billion in the same quarter last year, Reuters reported.

Tourism revenue increased to $4.2 billion from $3.8 billion in the same period last year. Suez Canal revenues rose to $1 billion from $800 million a year earlier.

Oil imports increased to $5.7 billion in the same quarter, from $4.8 billion a year earlier, while exports rose slightly to $1.6 billion from $1.2 billion.

Business

Focus Turns to Building Stronger Institutions in Africa to Speed Shift to Renewable Energy

A solar power plant in Burkina Faso (Reuters)
A solar power plant in Burkina Faso (Reuters)
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Focus Turns to Building Stronger Institutions in Africa to Speed Shift to Renewable Energy

A solar power plant in Burkina Faso (Reuters)
A solar power plant in Burkina Faso (Reuters)

Africa’s biggest clean energy challenge is shifting from building projects to building the institutions, markets and regulatory systems needed to deliver them at scale, experts say.

That challenge is emerging even as clean energy reaches a historic milestone globally.

Renewables generated 34% of the world’s electricity in 2025, overtaking coal’s 33% share. Together with nuclear power, renewables are expected to provide half of global electricity by 2030.

As industrialization, artificial intelligence and electrification push demand higher, experts say the bottleneck in transitioning to cleaner energy has shifted from technology to the systems supporting it, including funding.

Overcoming such obstacles is vital for securing access to power for the 600 million people in Africa who are yet to be connected.

“Clean energy is now cheaper than fossil fuels in virtually every part of the world,” former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, said in late June while announcing a new $285 million Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative to strengthen clean energy industries in emerging and developing economies.

“But fixable obstacles are still slowing down deployment, and with energy demand rising at an unprecedented speed, we can’t allow those obstacles to continue standing in the way,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.

Rather than financing solar farms or wind projects directly, the initiative will invest in strengthening market design, regulatory capacity, technical expertise and industry institutions, areas increasingly viewed as essential for attracting private investment and accelerating use of renewable energy.

It reflects a growing consensus that Africa’s energy transition is constrained less by a lack of renewable resources or viable technologies than by the institutional capacity needed to turn those advantages into financially viable projects and electricity on the grid.

Many projects remain delayed by weak market design, limited grid planning, slow permitting processes and fragmented regulatory systems.

“What has been missing is not the potential, but the institutional infrastructure and capabilities to unlock it,” said Saliem Fakir, executive director of the African Climate Foundation.

“Philanthropy that targets those gaps directly is the kind of intervention that can shift the trajectory of a continent’s energy system.”

Across Africa, renewable energy costs have fallen sharply while investment appetite continues to grow. However, investors say policy uncertainty, slow permitting processes and limited regulatory capacity are hindering projects.

Wangari Muchiri, founder and chief executive of RE.Think Energy, said the commitment signals that “the next phase of the energy transition is not about proving clean energy works, it’s about removing the barriers preventing it from scaling fast enough.”

The Bloomberg initiative is looking beyond ambitious renewable energy targets to focus on helping projects attract long-term investments and connect to national grids.

“The next chapter of Africa's renewable energy story will not be only by the projects it builds, but the institutions that make these projects possible,” Muchiri said.

Business

Volkswagen CEO Looks to Avoid Plant Closures as Automaker Moves to Cut Costs

FILE PHOTO: Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG, speaks during the annual Volkswagen Group press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG, speaks during the annual Volkswagen Group press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo
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Volkswagen CEO Looks to Avoid Plant Closures as Automaker Moves to Cut Costs

FILE PHOTO: Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG, speaks during the annual Volkswagen Group press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG, speaks during the annual Volkswagen Group press conference in Wolfsburg, Germany March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen/File Photo

Volkswagen's CEO indicated in comments published Sunday that he's trying to avoid closing plants as he seeks to turn around the automaker's performance.

The Wolfsburg, Germany-based company faces pressure to cut costs at home and increasingly intense competition in the lucrative Chinese market, in particular.

Last week, Volkswagen said its “fundamental realignment” over the past three years had reached its next phase, announcing plans to streamline the model lineup by up to half.

It didn't provide specifics, and questions remain over how else it will cut costs. There has been renewed speculation about the future of several plants in Germany.

“There are more intelligent solutions than closing plants,” CEO Oliver Blume told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper, according to The Associated Press.

He added that a cost-cutting program in Germany already is producing effects. “We were able to improve our factory costs in Germany by an average 20% last year alone,” he said, describing that as “strong progress.”

Blume argued that Volkswagen's products are very popular, but “we just earn too little money with them. So we must continue to reduce our costs. In all kinds of costs.”