The Gulf of Suez is reportedly getting a new EGP 20 bn route into the national grid. An Egyptian-Emirati consortium led by Intelligent Globe Construction Egypt will build a 500 kV transmission line linking solar and wind projects in the Gulf of Suez to the Hawamdeya substation in South Giza. Construction is expected to take 30 months.
Why it matters: Egypt’s renewables buildout is increasingly a grid-capacity story, as new solar and wind capacity is only useful if the grid can carry it. The EU recently committed EUR 690 mn to new high-voltage lines and substations, designed to bring 22 GW of new renewable capacity onto the grid by 2030, including power from the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea.
Direct line to Nvidia
Nvidia’s Inception startup program now has a formal Egyptian on-ramp. RiseUp, A15, and BitRoot are positioning themselves as the local access channel to the global program, which offers compute credits, technical support, and market-entry guidance to startups at no fee and with no equity taken, according to a press release (pdf).
The program itself isn’t new — the local access is. Inception is open to any startup that applies online, but the Egyptian channel through RiseUp, A15, and BitRoot gives local founders an in-person introduction to Nvidia’s regional staff and investors that a self-service application wouldn’t. More sessions are planned to expand founders’ access to Nvidia resources and networking connections. Venture-building initiative BitRoot — a joint effort from RiseUp and A15 — aims to help corporate professionals and early-stage founders turn ideas into startups, backed by capital and coaching rather than a fixed program.
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