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Egypt to Launch Bids to Explore Precious Metals Within Weeks

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Tarek el-Molla during a session of talks with Saudi Minister of Industry Bandar al-Khorayef (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Tarek el-Molla during a session of talks with Saudi Minister of Industry Bandar al-Khorayef (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt to Launch Bids to Explore Precious Metals Within Weeks

Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Tarek el-Molla during a session of talks with Saudi Minister of Industry Bandar al-Khorayef (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resource Tarek el-Molla during a session of talks with Saudi Minister of Industry Bandar al-Khorayef (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egypt is about to launch a set of bids for precious and basic metals, in addition to phosphates, sulfur, and potash, during the current quarter, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Molla has announced.

Speaking at the Egypt Mining Forum 2023, Molla referred to efforts to place Egypt as a prominent player at the global investment map, attracting worldwide interest and engagement.

Egypt launched global bids to search for gold and other minerals in 2020, with a total of 290 sectors and resulted in the winning of 13 local and international mining companies with initial investments and a minimum commitment of about $65 million.

Egypt launched the Special Economic Zone of the Golden Triangle, a dedicated platform to foster the growth of mining and value-added projects within the resource-rich region encompassing Qena, Safaga, and al-Qusair.

The Golden Triangle represents approximately 75 percent of the country's mineral wealth, with a vast reserve of iron, copper, gold, silver, granite, and phosphates.

About 11 Egyptian and international companies own concession areas for research and exploration of gold in the Iqat concession area in southern Egypt, in addition to the Sukari Gold Mine (SGM) expansion.

Egypt's raw materials and products production increased 32.5 percent during the last fiscal year, and mineral exports amounted to $1.6 billion over the past year.

Cairo aims to increase its mineral exports to $10 billion in 2040.

In his speech, Molla said the Ministry embarked on an ambitious project for development and modernization, as it adopted the development program in cooperation with the Wood Mackenzie research group.

He indicated that the Ministry aims to increase the mining sector's contribution to the nation's GDP to five percent, focusing on legislating the mining field, amending the financial and licensing systems, and developing organizational structure, mining strategies, and communication.

In 2019, the Ministry amended provisions of the Mineral Resources Law and its executive regulations.

The Minister noted that the authorities were able to adopt a new policy to maximize the added value of mineral wealth by establishing investment projects for the private sector to provide intermediate products.

Several value-added projects have been implemented to provide high-value minerals such as metallic silicon, soda ash, and tantalum.

Molla met Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar al-Khorayef and discussed boosting cooperation in mining.

Khorayef stressed that Egypt and Saudi Arabia are joined by integration opportunities in the mining sector, taking advantage of the recent positive developments witnessed by this sector in both countries.

He added that Egypt has recently attracted investors' attention to its mining sector after it achieved several developments, stressing the importance of services in adding momentum to the mining activities.

During the meeting, the two ministers agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for cooperation between the mining sector in both countries.

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Business

Saudi Minister Says AIIB Success Measured by Development Impact, Not Financing

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
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Saudi Minister Says AIIB Success Measured by Development Impact, Not Financing

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan at the 11th annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Board of Governors (X)

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan urged the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to judge its success by the impact of its projects, saying financing volumes and approvals alone do not show whether the bank is improving services, strengthening institutions, or building economic resilience.

Speaking at the 11th annual meeting of the bank’s Board of Governors, which concluded on Tuesday in Doha, al-Jadaan said the AIIB had built strong foundations in its early years.

Progress on regional connectivity, cooperation and private-sector participation had strengthened its ability to meet member countries’ infrastructure needs, he said.

As the bank expands, progress “should not be measured by financing volumes or project approvals alone, but by development impact,” he said.

Success should mean “better infrastructure services, stronger institutions, greater economic resilience and broader private-sector participation,” al-Jadaan said, as the bank enters its second decade and seeks to expand infrastructure financing and mobilize more private capital.

He called for earlier engagement with member countries to better understand their circumstances, infrastructure gaps and priorities, and for multiyear programs aligned with national strategies.

Al-Jadaan also urged the bank to broaden partnerships with multilateral development banks and international organizations to share expertise, avoid duplicating efforts and mobilize more public and private resources.

He said the bank should remain guided by member countries’ needs, taking account of differences in institutional capacity, fiscal space and levels of infrastructure development.

The Doha meeting, held under the theme “Future Infrastructure: Impact and Innovation,” comes as the bank prepares for a new phase of expansion.

The AIIB has said it aims to nearly double annual financing to about $20 billion by 2030, focusing on infrastructure linked to climate resilience, renewable energy, digital transformation and regional connectivity, while mobilizing more private capital.

Saudi Arabia is a founding member of the AIIB, a multilateral development finance institution established in Beijing in 2016.

Business

African Leaders to Gather in Egypt for Business Summit

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
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African Leaders to Gather in Egypt for Business Summit

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File
Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions. © KHALED DESOUKI / AFP/File

African leaders will meet in Egypt on Friday for a business summit that Cairo hopes will bolster its clout across the continent.

Friday's forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.

"This is an African platform," Egypt's deputy foreign minister for African affairs Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh told AFP.

"A country in East Africa should be able to sign an agreement with a country in West, North or southern Africa through this platform."

Saleh said the forum would become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy.

Officials estimate Egyptian investments across Africa at around $14 billion. Among Egypt's flagship ventures is Tanzania's $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, built by a consortium led by Egyptian companies.

Yet trade within Africa remains limited, totalling just $192 billion in 2023 and only accounting for around 15 percent of the continent's total trade, compared with more than 55 percent in Asia and over 70 percent in Europe.

Africa also attracted about $70 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, a fraction of the roughly $1.6 trillion invested globally, according to the UN.

"Africa possesses vast resources, but they are still not being exploited to the level we would like to see," Saleh said.

The gathering also takes place against the backdrop of an unresolved dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the $5 billion GERD, Africa's largest hydroelectric project.

Ethiopia says the dam, inaugurated last year, is vital for economic growth, while Egypt says it could threaten Nile water supplies without a binding operating agreement.

More than a decade of negotiations have failed to yield a settlement.

"Our position on Egypt's water security has not changed and will not change," Saleh said. "It is an existential issue for Egypt."

Business

US Ban on $1 Billion Worth of Canadian Imports Goes into Effect

Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
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US Ban on $1 Billion Worth of Canadian Imports Goes into Effect

Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)
Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal, Canada (Reuters)

US-Canada relations, already tense, are likely to deteriorate further after the United States went ahead early Tuesday with a decision to ban nearly $1 billion worth of Canadian imports, including dairy products and motorcycles.

The ban amounts to barely a ripple in $880 billion worth of a two-way annual trade between the two northern neighbors. But it marks another ratcheting up of President Donald Trump’s second-term trade war with America’s longtime ally and trading partner.

The import ban “certainly won't do anything to help the trade tensions between the United States and Canada,'' said trade attorney Patrick Childress, a partner at Holland & Knight and a former US trade official.

The latest sparring began over the summer when Trump reached back to a Great Depression law to impose 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, charging that Canada discriminates against US dairy and auto producers. Canada promptly counterpunched with tariffs of 15% and 25%, matching US imports dollar for dollar.

To punish Canada for retaliating against his tariffs, Trump decided to ban a list of Canadian products, effective 12:01 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday.

The economic impact is likely to be minimal. Childress noted that the products on the banned list were already facing Trump’s tariffs. “For a lot of these goods, the 50% was already acting as a de facto ban by making importation from Canada into the United States uneconomical,″ he said.

Jacob Jensen, director of trade policy at the center-right American Action Forum think tank, calculates that the ban would cover $967 million worth of Canadian imports, based on 2025 numbers.

“This marks yet another escalation in the trade war that may result in further retaliation on the Canadian side,” Jensen said. He expects Canadian exporters and US importers “impacted by these bans will be highly motivated’’ to demand that trade officials on both sides find some way to reach a “resolution of this whole ordeal.’’