The Qatar Investment Authority — the investment arm of the country — is studying a new investment project in the field of renewable energy in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) with investments exceeding $1bn.

Close sources said that the project consists of a green ammonia unit with initial features that were agreed upon between Qatar Energy and Egypt’s Sovereign Fund on the side-lines of the Egyptian delegation’s visit to Qatar last month, and it is expected that the injection of investments will start during the coming period.

The sources also expect that the production of the project will lead to ship catering or export at a later stage, noting that there are several projects being discussed with the Qatari side within the framework of renewable and clean energy.

Last week witnessed the visit of a delegation of Qatari businessmen to Egypt with the aim of developing economic and commercial cooperative relations and developing joint investments to contribute to supporting the economic development process in the two brotherly countries within the framework of joint action to maximise mutual interests and optimal utilisation of available opportunities.

Recently, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi stressed the positive developments in the economic and trade relations between the two brotherly countries, pointing out the various investment opportunities that the giant projects being implemented in Egypt provide, foremost of which is the development axis of the SCZone, which includes a number of major industrial and logistical areas, which provides promising opportunities for Qatari companies wishing to benefit from Egypt’s strategic location and the free trade agreements that link it with different continents and geographical regions.

Earlier, Daily News Egypt (DNE) revealed that the Qatar Investment Authority is conducting advanced negotiations with Egypt’s sovereign fund regarding the acquisition of shares of Egyptian companies focused in fintech and renewable energy.

DNE learned that the Qatar Investment Authority is considering buying stakes in three or four companies — including e-finance and Fawry — and it is expected that the first deals will be executed within a few weeks.

The sources added that the Saudi Sovereign Fund is also currently about to buy a stake in Misr Aluminum and that the deal is expected to be implemented within weeks by pumping about $215m in increasing the company’s capital, in addition to acquiring a stake in the new, under establishment hotel company within two months.

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Fatma Salah