Electric Cadillacs are coming to Egypt: General Motors (GM) and Al Mansour Automotive will roll out Cadillac’s all-electric mid-size luxury SUV Lyriq in Egypt by the end of 2023, the two companies announced in a statement (pdf) last week. Five other Cadillac EVs are slated to hit the Egyptian market two years later, according to the statement.

Al Mansour Auto hopes to start assembling electric vehicles in Egypt within the coming year, and is close to finishing feasibility studies, Ankush Arora, CEO of Al Mansour Automotive told Bloomberg Asharq yesterday. Al Mansour chairman Mohamed Mansour told Bloomberg he intends to produce 15k EVs in Egypt over the next three years. Under an MoU signed last December, Al Mansour Auto and GM are looking at partnering up to produce EVs in Egypt.

The Lyriq is really popular in the West: It’s sold out for 2023 delivery in the United States, where GM is now accepting orders for 2024 delivery. It’s getting positive reviews from Car and Driver, Edmunds and Motor Trend.

What’s the current state of Egypt’s EV industry? The industry is still nascent, with its first locally manufactured EV expected sometime next year after a protracted search for a partner to work with El Nasr Automotive on producing EVs. The government is still working on plans to establish a nationwide charging network — with our friends at renewable energy player Infinity working to set up 6k vehicle charging points at 3k stations across the country. Egypt’s House of Representatives just gave its final approval to a bill that will establish a new regulatory body to set policy for auto assembly in the country, including EVs, and provide financial incentives for manufacturers.

REGIONALLY- Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed agreements with US-based luxury EV manufacturer Lucid Motors and Taiwan’s Foxconn on EVs to design, manufacture, and sell EVs in Saudi Arabia. The agreement with Foxconn would see both parties collaborate to set up Ceer, a joint venture created to design, manufacture, and sell EVs in Saudi Arabia by 2025. 80% of all EVs produced by US-based EV manufacturer Lucid Motors will be made in Saudi Arabia by 2030 with 155k EVs produced annually in Saudi Arabia by 2025.

Several auto companies are looking to set up shop in Morocco, given the country’s capacity to produce over 700k vehicles per year, and Turkey unveiled its first locally-produced EV last month with some 1 mn cars expected to be produced by the end of the decade.