Qatar eyes USD 1 bn green ammonia plant in Egypt’s SCZone: The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is reportedly mulling an investment of over USD 1 bn to establish a new green ammonia plant in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the newspaper Al Borsa reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

In detail: The project will produce green hydrogen, some of which will go towards the production of green ammonia to be sold as ship fuel, with the aim to start exporting at a later stage. No specific time frame was given for getting the project off the ground, but initial investments could be imminent, the sources are quoted as saying.

Talks may have materialized during El Sisi’s Qatar visit last month: The project specs were agreed on during discussions between QatarEnergy and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt on the sidelines of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Doha in September, Al Borsa quoted the unnamed sources as saying.

Egypt currently leads the pack of MENA economies in green hydrogen and ammonia production — while Qatar trails behind: Egypt leads the pack in MENA in terms of the value of green hydrogen projects, with some USD 63.8 bn — just over 35% of the USD 180 bn regional total — according to data from Middle East Business Intelligence picked up in early October. Qatar ranked last, along with Kuwait, with USD 15 mn each. Qatar’s focus has instead been on blue ammonia, with the country’s state-owned petroleum company QatarEnergy’s renewables arm signing agreements in early September to build the world’s largest blue ammonia plant, at a cost of USD 1 bn.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has been eyeing investment in Egypt in recent months: Egypt and Qatar have been in talks for weeks over potential investments from Qatari firms and the QIA, but nothing has yet been officially announced. QIA’s Maha Capital recently paid a visit to the Damietta Port, shortly after inking an MoU to explore port investments with Egypt’s Transport Ministry. The two countries have also held talks about joint investments in oil and gas and in local listed firms. Qatar has pledged to invest USD 5 bn in Egypt, joining Saudi Arabia and the UAE to help shield the country from the fallout from the war in Ukraine.