TL;DR

• Meet your new cabinet
• IMF delegation notes “positive economic developments”
• CBE, US Fed both leave interest rates on hold
• Eastern Company’s IR site: Staring into the mouth of madness.
• Please stop bringing snakes onboard flights.
• ** By the Numbers + Why Pharos believes an IMF package is in the offing — and what that means for the USD/EGP rate **

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

It was a weekend dominated by the shakeup in government:

We have a new cabinet, with three fewer ministries, 16 new faces, and key economic group ministers all remaining in place (save one). Details in Spotlight, after Last Night’s Talk Shows, below.

A new prosecutor general was also sworn in on Saturday: Judge Nabil Ahmed Tawfiq Sadek replaces acting prosecutor general Zakaria Osman, who stepped in following the assassination of Hisham Barakat. Sadek began his career as a police officer before becoming a judge. He served on the bench in Qatar for a number of years and previously served as chief prosecutor for financial affairs. (Read)

Now-former PM Ibrahim Mahlab was appointed “Assistant to the President for National and Strategic Projects,” according to an emailed statement from the presidency office, as talk show host Ahmed Moussa had foreseen. El Sisi said Mahlab will “continue his role in overseeing the implementation of major national projects that will contribute to economic growth, job creation for the youth, and urban expansion.”

Egypt’s new ambassador to the United States, Yasser Reda submitted his credentials to US President Barack Obama on Thursday, Ahram Online reports, replacing outgoing Ambassador Mohamed Tawfik. Reda was previously Egypt’s ambassador to Tel Aviv from 2008 to 2012.

Meanwhile, straight from Parallel Dimension #1: A pro-Erdoğan columnist has described Egypt as part of an “evil front” trying to “trap” Turkey, along with “Iran, Syria, Israel, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Vatican, Greece, Greek Cyprus, Scandinavian countries, Benelux countries, some NATO allies, some countries with a Muslim majority population, Armenian terrorists, the parallel state, masonic organizations, capitalist speculators, communists, fascists, moderate Islamists, white Turks and the deep state.” (Read)

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

It’s a three-day workweek just about everywhere in the Middle East this week. Here in Egypt, we have national holidays on Wednesday (Wa’fat Arafat) and Thursday (Eid Al Adha).

SPOTLIGHT ON the Ismail Cabinet

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new cabinet: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi swore-in a new Council of Ministers on Saturday. Led by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, there will be three fewer ministers sitting around the cabinet table (33 vs. 36 in the Mahlab government), with the sovereign and economic group posts (among others) remaining unchanged, save for the Ministry of Trade and Industry. The Ministries of Health and Population were merged, as were the Ministries of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and the Ministries of Education and Technical Education. In sum, there are 16 new faces in Cabinet.

Download Ittihadiya’s official Cabinet list in MS Word (including what we presume are the ministers’ preferred transliterations of their names) The same link will take you to tables we’ve prepared breaking down who’s new, who’s returning, and which ministries have been merged or renamed.

Biographies of the new cabinet members are out, courtesy Ittihadiya’s press office. Shorouk has them in Arabic, Ahram Online carries a similar breakdown in English. Notable highlights, in our view, include:

Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) Chairman Tarek El Molla has replaced Sherif Ismail as Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources. Ismail had appointed El Molla as head of EGPC when he became oil minister himself in 2013. El Molla was one of the key officials in charge of ending Egypt’s electricity shortages this summer, is a strong proponent of fuel subsidy reform, and has played an important role in advocating for energy policy reforms at the highest levels of government.

Tarek Kabil, partner at Abraaj Group and a veteran exec at Pepsi prior to crossing over to PE, has been appointed Ministry of Trade and Industry, replacing outgoing minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour. Kabil’s entire background is in the private sector, having come up through the ranks at Procter and Gamble before moving to Pepsi. (More here.)

Business should also welcome the appointment of the very bright Sahar Nasr as Minister of International Cooperation. A top economist at the World Bank (official bio here), where she has been the institution’s MENA “regional leader … on issues of financial sector development and non-bank financial institutions.” Tap through to the World Bank’s blog for her thoughts on women and microcredit and on financial inclusiveness.

The new Agriculture Minister, Essam Fayed, is a microbiology professor at Ain Shams University and assumes his post following a corruption scandal saw his predecessor arrested. Fayed has a full agenda: He’ll need to cooperate with investigators probing allegations that corruption in the ministry went deeper than previously announced. Fayed will also have to ensure farmers receive fertilizers for the winter fall / winter season, finalize Egyptian cotton prices and move forward with the 1.5 mn feddan land reclamation initiative launched by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Yasser El Qady replaces outgoing Minister of Communications and Information Technology Khaled Negm. Negm was best known for ‘lowering’ internet prices (the actual math suggests it was more of a price hike, but more on that another day). Negm also helped prompt a feud between majority state-owned TE and the three private mobile operators over TE’s plans to acquire a unified telecom license — as well as open warfare between TE Data and private-sector ISPs.

Telecom Egypt (TE) Mohamed Salem stepped down just hours after Negm left cabinet, saying “It’s no secret that working in such a hostile environment is unpleasant and wastes time and effort,” Cairo Post reported.

Hesham Zaazou is back as Minister of Tourism, a post he held almost uninterrupted since Qandil’s cabinet was formed in 2012. Zaazou resigned briefly in June 2013 before Morsi was deposed, protesting one of Morsi’s more inspired decisions (the appointment of a member of Jama’a al-Islamiya’s political wing as governor of Luxor. Jama’a al-Islamiya are responsible for the 1997 Luxor Massacre, which witnessed the killing of 62 people, mostly tourists. Morsi’s government later backed down, accepting the governor of Luxor’s resignation days later, after which Zaazou returned to his post.) At the time, Heba Saleh and Borzou Daraghi profiled Zaazou for the Financial Times (paywall), crediting him with helping to secure the release of two Canadians imprisoned in Egypt, as well as lobbying other countries to convince them of Egypt’s safety as a tourist destination. Zaazou left cabinet in the March 2015 shuffle, prompting leading German travel magazine fvw to quote unnamed German travel industry executives describe the decision as “an earthquake,” “a major catastrophe,” and “crazy.” One went so far as to say that Zaazou’s removal “could damage the current upturn in the Egyptian tourism business.” Zaazou replaces Khaled Abbas Ramy, who before his post as tourism minister served as the head of Egypt’s Tourism Authority in London from 2004 to 2012, according to the Atlantic Council.

Maj. Gen. Saad El Geyoushi, the new Transportation Minister, previously served as head of the General Authority for Roads and Bridges, helping implement critical components of the Sisi administration’s infrastructure investment program; Geyoushi has in the past come in for criticism for a number of high-profile road and rail accidents that took place during his tenure.

Among the more controversial ministers in the new cabinet is Ahmed Zaki Badr, the Minister of Local and Administrative Development. Badr served as Minister of Education from January 2010 until the January 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak; he was also a member of the now-disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP). Badr had earlier suggested he was not expecting to return to cabinet, saying, “I was not offered any positions, and I am completely convinced there are no old officials returning to new posts, including myself.” (watch in Arabic, running time: 42 seconds). Badr is the son of former Interior Minister Zaki Badr. His previous stint in cabinet was not without controversy, as typified by this piece in Al Bedaiyah (Arabic).

Ahmed El-Zend remains as Justice Minister, having been appointed earlier this year to replace former justice minister Mahfouz Saber, who was sacked after making classist comments about garbage collectors. El-Zend had served as head of the Judges Club since 2009 and is also known for controversial statements like judges “are masters of this land [Egypt], and everyone else are slaves,” as well as saying that had the judges known the outcome of the 2011/2012 parliamentary elections, that they would have never agreed to supervise them.

Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa is back. Gomaa was sworn into office in July 2013, where he promptly began reining in imams, standardizing their sermons, and shutting down unlicensed mosques in an attempt to fight the spread of extremist thought. The decision was controversial to those who believe that unencumbered religious freedom in Egypt will lead to a nationwide flowering of peace and serene spirituality. Both Egypt and the region have witnessed the result of Salafists seizing control of mosques from Tunisia to North Sinai to use as recruitment and indoctrination centers for militancy.

Ashraf El Shihi, the recently retired president of Zagazig University, is replacing Sayed Abdel-Khaleq as Minister of Higher Education in the newly merged Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Abdel-Khaleq and his ministry were criticised for allowing the exemption of children of judges, police and army officers from university admissions zoning restrictions. The exemptions were subsequently scrapped.

The Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs is a new ministry introduced in Sherif Ismail’s cabinet, headed by Nabila Makram, an Egyptian diplomat who served as consul-general in Rome.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Lamis El Hadidy began Saturday night’s episode of Hona El Assema by offering her condolences to Mohamed Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, on the death of his son, Rashid bin Mohamed Al Maktoum. The host then kicked-off a discussion on the recently-announced Ismail Cabinet.

El Hadidi: “This Cabinet has two objectives: a) to preside over the upcoming parliamentary elections and b) to formulate a comprehensive strategy, which it will then submit to parliament once it has been elected… This Cabinet is made up of technocrats and lacks political experience… The fact that most of the members of the Ministerial Economic Group held on to their posts suggests that the president is satisfied with the country’s economic performance.”

Guest commentator Qadry Abouhassan, president of the Masr Balady party, praised the newly appointed ministers for agreeing to serve. “The fact that ministers were will willing to accept their roles, despite the fact that they may only be in positions for three months, is a patriotic act,” said Abouhassan.

Meanwhile, ONtv’s El Soora El Kamila, led by Lebanese host Lillian Dawood, cast into the spotlight the story of 19-year old Mahmoud Mohamed, who has been in prison for the past 600 days, allegedly for wearing a t-shirt with the words “A country without torture” written on it. Amir Salam, Mohamed’s lawyer, called in, asking: “How is it appropriate that a boy remains in jail for 600 days, merely because he wore shirt that has ‘A country without torture’ written on it? How is this justice and what is the boy guilty of? We, Egyptians, were all against torture and police abuses from 2005 to 2011. What has changed now?”

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SPEED ROUND

“There have been positive economic developments since the mission’s last visit in Egypt,” the head of the IMF mission to Egypt, Chris Jarvis, said in conclusion of a visit to Cairo that took place during 13-17 September. “Some of the pledges made at the Egypt Economic Development Conference in March are already in the implementation phase … Macroeconomic figures also point to some improvement … Financial soundness indicators point to the continued resilience of the banking sector, and the authorities are making efforts to deepen financial inclusion,” Jarvis added. He warned that “unemployment remains high notably among the youth. The fiscal deficit is still large and domestic public debt high. Reserves are about three months of imports, and foreign exchange is in short supply.”

Still, the IMF mission “welcomes the authorities’ plans to pursue fiscal and structural reforms … Lower fuel and electricity subsidies, combined with the implementation of the VAT, would go a long way toward improving the strength of the budget” and praised the CBE’s “efforts to curb the parallel exchange market,” saying “a gradual move toward a more flexible exchange rate policy focused on achieving a market-clearing rate would serve Egypt’s interests. Such a move would improve the availability of foreign exchange, strengthen competitiveness, support exports and tourism, and attract foreign direct investment. This, together with the pursuit of structural reforms, should also foster growth and jobs, and reduce financing needs.”

Speaking of the CBE, both the Central Bank of Egypt and the US Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday. Citing risks surrounding inflation and GDP outlook for Egypt on the back of global economic concerns such as the “softening growth in emerging markets and challenges facing the Euro Area” prompted the bank to keep “the overnight deposit rate, overnight lending rate, and the rate of the CBE’s main operation unchanged at 8.75 percent, 9.75 percent, and 9.25 percent, respectively,” according to a release (pdf) on Thursday. The Fed’s decision to keep short-term interest rates steady caused global stock markets to fall on Friday, the Wall Street Journal reports, also on concerns of a global economic slowdown, with “Fund managers and traders … [piling] into bets that reflected the belief that interest rates will continue to remain low for a long time.” (Read)

Egypt is one of the largest consumers of what Bloomberg calls “the hottest commodity asset right now,” floating storage and regasification units, or FSRUs. They are “a cheaper, quicker way to attack power shortages by importing liquefied natural gas,” cost about half as much as an onshore import terminal, and “are up and running as much as six times faster.” Norway’s Hoegh, the supplier of Egypt’s first FSRU, the Hoegh Gallant, sees as many as 55 such vessels in use within the next five years – only 20 are commissioned currently. “Floating terminals account for 28 percent of the import capacity under construction, according to Bank of America Corp,” Bloomberg added.

Speaking of FSRUs: Egypt’s second FSRU, supplied by BW Gas, will arrive after Eid Al Adha, in the last month of September, Al Shorouk reported. The FSRU will come loaded with an LNG shipment of a volume that has not been made public to be used for the two-week testing period. The unit is expected to begin full operations by mid-October. Also, the government has moved the date of receiving the first LNG shipment from the winners of EGAS’ second tender to mid-November instead of October. The winners of the tender will be announced before the end of September.

El Universal has what it says is eyewitness testimony from survivors of the Western Desert incident that saw Egyptian security forces accidentally attack Mexican tourists, resulting in the death of at least eight of them. As the story violates a domestic publication ban on the incident, we will not be recapping the report (Spanish). Reuters also has a take.

Meanwhile: The Mexican government has demanded compensation from Egypt, as well as a transparent investigation, according to Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs Claudia Ruiz Massieu as reported by DNE. Al Bawaba says, according to an unnamed source from the Tourism Ministry, that communications firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies had advised the Egyptian government to state that the area visited by the tourists was prohibited.

“Now is the time for everybody to do something different about education in Egypt,” the World Bank says in a blog post. Two issues in Egyptian education need to be addressed urgently: “access and overcrowding and capacity development for headmasters and teachers.” This should be followed addressing inequality in education given how pupils from lower socioeconomic statuses are more likely to be tracked into technical training and are less likely to be “admitted into college faculties that lead to the better jobs, mostly because of the costs incurred in private tutoring and the secondary school exit exam.” Crucially, the World Bank adds, we need to acknowledge that public “education has not yet led to equity of opportunities either in learning or in the job market.”

Egypt will activate a EUR 20 mn technical assistance programme with the EU, according to now-former Trade and Industry Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour. The programme, according to Ahram Gate, aims to provide technical support to international trade and foreign agreements as well as industrial development in Egypt. The programme will last for three years and aims to increase Egyptian industrial competitiveness, Abdel Nour said.

Qalaa Holdings’ financial turnaround continued in 2Q2015 as the company reported a 33.7% surge in the top line to EGP 2.1 bn in the quarter while EBITDA rose more than 2x to EGP 289 mn. Its net loss for the quarter contracted more than 55% year-on-year to EGP 85 mn, the company said in earnings release (pdf).

Several commercial stores were set on fire in Haret Al Yahud, as the Jewish Quarter is called, in Cairo’s Al Mosky district early Sunday morning, witnesses told Youm7. No official word as yet on what might have caused the fire.

MENA jobs aren’t immune to the oil price drop: “Recruitment is waning in the UAE’s oil and gas sector amid the oil price rout and regional security concerns,” The National’s LeAnne Graves writes. Hiring recovery will require time, the regional manager of Monster, a recruitment portal, told Graves. “It is unsurprising that many oil and gas companies are cutting back spending on recruitment,” said a senior analyst at Oxford Strategic Consulting but added that there is no reason to panic just yet.

MOVES- Amin H. Nasser has tapped to continue as CEO of state-owned Saudi Aramco on a permanent basis, having served as its acting chief since May, according to a release from the company. Nasser began his career with Aramco right out of university in 1982 with a degree in petroleum engineering, and since then has held various assignments throughout the company, including senior vice president of upstream operations. Nasser has served as acting chief executive since King Salman’s last reshuffle saw Nasser’s predecessor Khalid al-Falih be appointed as Aramco’s chairman and health minister of Saudi Arabia, Reuters reports.

From Parallel Dimension #2: Eastern Tobacco won Best Company for IR (Egypt) at the Extel Middle East IR Awards 2015 dinner last Wednesday night. From the landing page of their ‘invest relation‘ section: “IR officers, on one hand, pay attention to periodically and regularly release the information and data about the Company to all relevant parties form the financial community aiming to consolidate the relations with current and prospective investors making sure the market reflects fair value of our company’s share. On the other hand, they work towards opening communication channels in an effort to strengthen the relations with capital & investment market to avail disclosure and transparency elements which have, on the long run, a positive impact on the market value of EC share in the Egyptian Exchange, and increase its shares circulation rate.” Finalists in the Leading Corporate for Investor Relations (Egypt) category included CIB, Eastern, GB Auto, Global Telecom Holding, SODIC and Telecom Egypt. The full list of nominations across all categories and markets is here (pdf). We still haven’t received a press release with the final list of winners in all categories.

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

The New York Times’ Editorial board is back like the undead for their latest on Egypt, namely on the Western Desert incident. It’s a pretty terse, short statement, a fourth of which at least is their boilerplate about 2013. The MFA has taken it upon themselves to engage, not with other diplomats, but the New York Times. MFA spokesman Ahmed Abou Zeid replied to the editorial on the ministry’s Facebook page, which largely gets bogged down on what to call 2013’s ouster of Morsi. Because we’re back to that now.

Snakes on a Plane, Part 2: For the second time — for the second time — snakes were found in a passenger’s carry-on aboard a flight landing at Hurghada International Airport. The snakes were all dead, tanned and prepared to be made into leather products, Islamist-website Middle East Eye reports, citing Al-Ahram. In 2013, an EgyptAir pilot had to make an emergency landing at the airport after a Jordanian passenger was bit by a snake he had secretly brought on board. The latest incident prompted the following response from Samuel L. Jackson. (Watch, viewer discretion is advised, running time: 13 seconds. Really: Don’t play this with your kids in the room.)

The Mexican Foreign Minister’s demands for a full inquiry into accidental killing by security forces of 12 tourists in the Western Desert remains a focus of much media attention, with The New York Times, CBS and BBC all covering the announcement.

AP, meanwhile, reports that the Interior Ministry confirmed on Thursday that a police general was shot dead in a drive-by in northern Sinai.

WHAT YOU CLICKED ON LAST WEEK

The most-clicked links in Enterprise last week were:

• PM Sherif Ismail’s EEDC presentation: Unlocking Egypt’s Energy Potential. (pdf)
• Mexican tourists killed by Egyptian security forces, BBC News. (Read) (tie)
• In Real Estate, Signals of a Cyclical Slowdown Are Flashing, Pharos. (Read) (tie)
• Cairo Real Estate Market Overview Q2 2015, Jones Lang LaSalle. (pdf) (tie)
• EgyptERASeS electricity reporting mobile app. (Install from Google Play) (tie)
• Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry’s open letter to the people of Mexico. (Read)
• A photo of Naguib Sawiris standing with the late Kim Jong-il, and his late brother-in-law Jang Sung-taek (pictured left), who was later executed by Kim Jong-il’s son Kim Jong-un. (View image)

WORTH READING

We’re re-upping this reading despite having featured it just last month, as recent events have warranted its resuscitation: The Organizational Apology, by Maurice E. Schweitzer, Alison Wood Brooks and Adam D. Galinsky for the September 2015 issue of Harvard Business Review. On the idea that a crisis can be managed by controlling the flow of information, the authors note: “Sometimes violations that harm only a single person or a small group can remain private matters. But remember, thanks to Twitter, Instagram, Yelp, Facebook, and other social media outlets, a single customer complaint can easily go viral and influence the perceptions of mns of potential customers.” (Read)

WORTH WATCHING

Second Republican debate: Pundits and polls agree that former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina was the clear winner of the second Republican debate. She was the only woman among, at times, 10 other candidates on stage. While Donald Trump continues to lead ahead of the rest of the pack, with a recent poll saying 36% of registered voters saying they would elect him, Fiorina is beginning to catch up, coming in at second place with 19% of voters. Fiorina stood out during the debate most prominently when standing up to Trump, who for the first time in recent memory was forced to back down on an insult. Which doesn’t mean that he still didn’t spend the night tormenting both Rand Paul and, especially, Jeb Bush.

Debate highlights:

• Watch Carly Fiorina respond to Trump’s comments he had made about her appearance in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, where he was quoted as saying “Look at that face … Would anyone vote for that?” (Watch, running time: 53 seconds)
• Best Trump zingers. (Watch, running time: 1:28)
• After having created a meme that an introverted Jeb Bush is low-energy, watch Trump comment on Bush’s more aggressive tone. (Watch, running time: 49 seconds)
• Jeb Bush’s answer to Rand Paul’s passive aggressive jabs about Bush’s past drug use. (Watch, running time: 3:42)

Just one day after the debate, during a town hall event for Trump in New Hampshire, the first question addressed to the candidate from an audience member was: “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. You know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American. Anyway, we have training camps growing where they want to kill us. That’s my question: When can we get rid of them?” (Watch as an embedded video on CNN, running time: 53 seconds). Trump did not object to any of the audience member’s statements. Despite the origin of the “birther” claims denying Obama’s citizenship and religion often being misattributed to having started with Trump, a 2011 Politico piece notes that it was actually supporters of Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential campaign who first began the disinformation campaign in an attempt to bolster her chances.

DIPLOMACY

President Abdelfattah El Sisi met with a US congressional delegation headed by Congressman Steve Scalise on Saturday, Al Mal reports. US Ambassador Robert Beecroft and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry were in attendance. Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said that the meeting discussed recent regional developments and explored cooperation efforts between the two countries on numerous fronts. Youssef said that El Sisi invited the US congressional delegation to participate in the monitoring the upcoming parliamentary elections.

President Abdelfattah El Sisi also met with European Council President Donald Tusk on Saturday, according to a note from Ittihadiya. El Sisi highlighted the importance of ties with the European Union and invited the EU to monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections. During a joint press conference, El Sisi expressed “deep concerns” over Al Aqsa clashes in Jerusalem, which, according to Al Ahram, represents a “grave violation of the Islamic holy sites”. Tusk said that the EU looks forward to cooperation and dialogue to assist Egypt to confront common challenges, the newspaper noted.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri met with COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ndema Ngwenya on Saturday to follow up on the results of the Tripartite Free-Trade Area talks held in Sharm El Sheik last May, Al Masry Al Youm reports. Also discussed: Building a waterway linking Lake Victoria and the Red Sea.

ENERGY

NBE, NBAD to advise MIDOR on expansion agreement
Reuters | 17 Sep 2015
National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) will advise on Middle East Oil Refinery Company’s (Midor). Midor is looking to engage in a USD 1.4 bn refinery expansion project. “The expansion will increase the company’s refining capacity to 160k barrels per day from 100k barrels per day,” Reuters reported. (Read)

Egypt gas find to contribute to European energy security, Descalzi says
Offshore Energy Today | 17 Sep 2015
Eni’s supergiant gas discovery in Egypt, along with gas discoveries along Israel and Cyprus’ coasts, allow “the East Mediterranean gas hub to contribute significantly to European energy security, enhance the liquidity of the gas market and improve the competitiveness of gas vis-à-vis coal,” Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi reportedly said. The remarks were made during a meeting with The European Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, Miguel Arias Cañete, to discuss the status of the negotiations preceding the COP21 climate summit in Paris in December. Descalzi repeated a request to Cañete “for a global carbon pricing mechanism to address concerns related to the increased use of coal in power generation and to ensure a level playing field between the EU and other major industrialised countries.” (Read)

EDEPCO to invest EGP 17 bn over two years, build three power stations
Al Mal | 17 Sep 2015
East Delta Electricity Production Company (EDEPCO) said it is investing EGP 17 bn over the next two years on projects, including building three new power stations, Al Mal reported. The two new stations are expected to 3,500 MW in production, once completed. EDEPCO is also planning on beginning implementing coal projects in cooperation with a Chinese company. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

Seven cement companies receive environmental approvals for coal
Al Mal | 17 Sep 2015
Seven cement companies received approvals on their coal usage environmental impact assessments from the Environmental Affairs Ministry, Al Mal reported. In total, 19 studies were presented to the Ministry and are being assessed. The Environmental Affairs Ministry had stipulated that coal users take action to reduce the polluting effects. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

Rubex plans to double its capital to EGP 100 mn
EGX Disclosure | 17 Sep 2015
Rubex for Plastic & Acrylic Manufacture is planning on increasing its capital to EGP 100 mn from EGP 50 mn, Al Borsa reported. The company has appointed Osool as financial advisor for the potential transaction. The capital increase, according to the disclosure sent to the bourse, is to finance the building of a new production plant on a 100k sqm plot of land Rubex acquired in Beheira. (Read in Arabic)

AUTOMOTIVE + TRANSPORTATION

Embraer re-approves EgyptAir as a maintenance and training centre
Ahram Gate | 17 Sep 2015
Brazilian aerospace company Embraer reapproved EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering as a maintenance and training centre following an inspection, Ahram Gate reported. EgyptAir’s charter company EgyptAir Express currently flies 12 Embraer aircrafts. EgyptAir Maintenance and Engineering is now also licenced to provide maintenance services to Saudia flown Embraer aircrafts in Sharm El Sheikh and Borg El Arab as well as Kenya Airways’ in Khartoum. The agreement between EgyptAir and Embraer was first signed in 2011 giving the company “access to Embraer’s structure-specific repair solutions and extended databases.” (Read in Arabic)

NATIONAL SECURITY

General Mohamed Samir announced on Sunday that 74 militants were killed and 52 others were arrested on the 13th day of Operation Haq El Shaheed [Martyr’s Right], AMAY reports. The Defense Ministry has uploaded a video covering the 13th day of the operation on its YouTube channel. (Watch in Arabic, running time 2:43)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

Egyptian digital agency Kijamii has reportedly been awarded the right to manage the social media presence of Italian football club, AS Roma. “AS Roma became the second European football club Kijamii wins in addition to Chelsea FC early last year, to be the first and only MENA-based agency with sports digital experience and focus,” Digital Boom said.

Three engineers working on tunnel boring underneath the Suez Canal died in a car accident on Thursday, Al Mal reported. Two Egyptian engineers were among the deceased and the third was a German national.

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