Egypt and Chinese firms partner on green public transport: Egypt’s National Authority For Tunnels signed a framework agreement with China’s Avic Project Engineering Company and the China Railway Engineering Consulting Group to establish the all-electric fourth phase of the country’s 10th of Ramadan City railway line, according to a statement.

And there’s more: Egypt also signed an additional two agreements with Avic to cooperate on the development of the project’s fifth phase and to establish an all-electric train extending from Al Rehab to Egypt’s New Administrative capital, the statement notes.

On the private sector side… : Egypt-based Delta Engineering Drilling inked an MoU with the China Real Estate Information Corporation to partner up on construction of a high-speed all-electric railway line, the statement notes. The line will span 250 km from Egypt’s Port Said to Abu Qir and be developed under a build, operate, transfer (BOT) format.

REMEMBER- China Exim and AFC are helping finance Egypt’s electric monorail projects: The Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) reportedly said it would extend Egypt USD 400 mn to finance the third phase of Egypt’s all-electric light railway train (LRT) back in September. The loan was planned to finance the delayed project’s completion, adding 20.4 km and four additional stations to the line. The Chinese lender had agreed back in 2019 to extend a USD 1.2 bn loan for the LRT’s initial phases of construction. And back in February, multilateral lender Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) said it is looking to bankroll Egypt’s monorail and high-speed train projects with a USD 250 mn facility.

IN OTHER EGYPT NEWS- Tuktuk EVs? State-owned El Nasr Automotive is reportedly close to inking a partnership agreement with an unnamed Chinese investor to manufacture four-wheeled electric light vehicles as an alternative to the three-wheeled tuktuk, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

El Nasr has been preparing for this: The automaker has overhauled its production lines recently to accommodate for the shift to light-weight EVs, the news outlet writes. The restructuring strategy has been funded by an unnamed local investor, Al Mal’s sources said, with Egypt’s state-owned Metallurgical Industries Holding (MIH) also contributing an undisclosed sum to the financing package.

REMEMBER- El Nasr Automotive has been looking for an international partner to form a joint venture for locally-made electric vehicles for the past couple of years. The government began in May negotiations with Ashok Leyland, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Hinduja Group, after talks with Chinese firm Dongfeng fell through in 2021.