TL;DR

NBE’s investment banking arm to make surprise offer for CI Capital. (What We’re Tracking Today)

CBE to let FX bureaux swapping other foreign currencies for USD. (Speed Round)

Water prices will rise, El Sisi suggests. (Speed Round)

Egypt cancels yet another wheat tender. (Speed Round)

Doctors’ Syndicate mulls nationwide strike. (Speed Round)

Alabbar looks to acquire 69% stake in Americana. (Speed Round)

Saudi, Turkey could send ground troops into Syria. (Speed Round)

Oil Ministry to sign agreement to form Zohr JV next week. (Energy)

IDA, GAFI still publicly fighting over who runs land tenders for industry. (Real Estate + Housing)

Salman says H+K to promote investment in Egypt, Warner will help restructure state-owned textile companies. (Egypt Politics + Economics)

Italian grad student’s murder injects tension into one of Egypt’s most important trade relationships. (Last Night’s Talk Shows, Spotlight, Egypt in the News)

By the Numbers

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

The murder of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, which prompted the early departure of a high-profile Italian trade delegation, continued to inject new tension into Egypt’s relationship with one of its most important trade partners. We carry an extensive summary of what’s known to-date in our Spotlight today as well as in Last Night’s Talk Shows. Recent developments include the arrival in Cairo of a team of Italian investigators and a statement from the Egyptian prosecutor in charge of the case noting that Regeni’s body showed signs of torture and a “slow death.”

As we noted in our weekend edition, Al-Ahly Capital appears set to make an offer to acquire CIB’s CI Capital. Al-Ahly Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Bank of Egypt, is expected to present its bid today, CI Capital CEO Mahmoud Attalla was quoted by Daily News Egypt as saying. CIB confirms it has received “a written expression of interest that did not include a non-binding offer nor an indicative price. “The bank has asked “the interested party” to sign an NDA and make an offer before they open CI Capital to due diligence. CIB’s board agreed in December to allow Naguib Sawiris’ OTMT to start due diligence on a non-binding offer for the nation’s second-largest investment bank in a transaction the market expects will be valued at just under EGP 1 bn. OTMT will present its final offer to acquire CI Capital next Thursday, says Attalla, when due diligence wraps. A rival bid from London-based Rasmala failed to materialize.

Meanwhile, Beltone Financial CEO Bassem Azab tells Al Mal the company’s priorities for 2016 include expanding in SME financing, insurancebrokerage and leasing — and, of course, supporting parent company OTMT in the completion of its acquisition of CI Capital. Azab hinted that expansion in the leasing sector could via Corplease, if the company should complete the CI Capital acquisition.

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon will be in Cairo today for the “A Commitment to Development: The Private Sector’s Role in Inclusive Growth” conference along with Egyptian ministers Ashraf Salman, Ghada Waly and Khaled Hanafy. The gathering is being organized by AmCham and the UNDP at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza. Registration information is here and the conference agenda is here.

The first meeting of the ministerial committee appointed last week to amend the Civil Service Act is expected to be held today. Right off the bat, the Union of SocialInsurance Workers wants the committee to review its recommendations that workers of the National Organization for SocialInsurance, which manages the state’s welfare funds, remain exempt from the Civil Service Act, Al Masry Al Youm reports.

After a shaky week of trading, there is much at stake for oil during a meeting today between Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino and his Saudi counterpart Ali al-Naimi in Riyadh, after Del Pino’s discussions with the Qatari and Omani ministers this week, according to Reuters.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

The Business News Summit on Capital Markets and Financing Growth is being held on  Tuesday at the Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo. Speakers include Investment Minister Ashraf Salman and Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Finance Minister Hany Dimian is also set to speak.

The 2016 Solar Power North Africa Conference takes place in Cairo this week on 8-11 February.

Across the pond, the gloves are off in the race for the White House, with voters in New Hampshire casting ballots in the nation’s first primary this coming Tuesday, 9 February.

ON THE HORIZON

Saudi-Egyptian meeting postponed to prepare for El Sisi’s speech to House of Reps: The fifth meeting of the Saudi-Egyptian coordination council, which was planned for 10 February in Riyadh, has been postponed because President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is scheduled to give a speech in the House of Representatives on 13 February. Hossam El-Qawish, spokesman for Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, says the PM will arrive in Cairo from the UAE on Tuesday after attending the government summit in Dubai. He will not travel to Riyadh to attend the meeting planned for Wednesday.

Egypt Energy Investment Summit is taking place on 16-18 February at the Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo.

Egypt will talk trade and investment with Africa in Sharm El Sheikh on 20-21 February. Heads of state including where the presidents of Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa have confirmed their attendance. The conference name is as much a mouthful as it is over-reaching: “Africa 2016: Business for Africa, Egypt and the World.”

The president of Gabon will visit Egypt on 17-19 February ahead of the conference to talk bilateral relations, reports Al Shorouk. The talks will be centered around cooperation in infrastructure and the food industry and the possibility of direct flights connecting the countries.

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We’re opening the GCC alpha edition to everyone who has written in asking to be added to the list. You can also sign up via this link. The alpha edition will be published 2-3x weekly during the workday until mid-February, then move to a Sunday-Thursday publication schedule, delivered before 6am KSA / 7AM UAE.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

On Al Qahera Al Youm, Amr Adeeb held court with two tourism officials in his studio in a segment that amounted to at least a partial scapegoating of JWT for Egypt’s moribund tourism sector. Hany Shoukry, executive chairman of JWT Cairo, called in to defend his firm’s handling of their USD 68 mn campaign to promote tourism in Egypt, while Adeeb and his two guests grilled him. Shoukry said the European component of the campaign was initially set to begin on 1 November, but was pre-empted by the Metrojet crash just one day prior on 31 October. He also highlighted that the Tourism Ministry exerted enormous amount of effort to defer travel advisories against Egypt; the campaign instead launched inside Egypt to help lay the groundwork through social media.

Shoukry also disclosed that the campaign was only launched on the first of this month in Germany, with a rollout throughout Europe over the coming month. Both of Adeeb’s guests were incensed by the delay, having missed the peak season, with Shoukry countering that the previous months were not a suitable time to begin promoting Egypt. Shoukry’s position was endorsed in a subsequent call-in by Egyptian Chamber of Hotels Chairman Mohamed Ayoub, who reiterated that if the campaign had been launched in Europe over the past few months, it would have been a waste of money.

Lamees El Hadidy on CBC Egypt received two phone calls regarding the case of 28-year Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni, who died in Cairo under mysterious circumstances. The first call was from Foreign Ministry spokesperson Counselor Ahmed Abu Zeid. El Hadidy began her brief interview by asking him for his thoughts on the portrayal of the incident by the foreign press as being potentially harmful to relations between Egypt and Italy. Abu Zeid concurred that certain elements of the foreign media are being presumptuous in their depiction of the incident before the full results of the investigation are released, without mentioning any names or countries in particular. [The Italian press has expressed its suspicions that Egypt’s security forces may have been complicit in the death].

El Hadidy added that certain Egyptians — in a veiled reference to a Facebook post by activist Mona Seif, sister of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah — had released statements urging foreigners not to visit Egypt as it is unsafe. Abu Zeid replied that Egypt’s diplomats are cooperating with their Italian counterparts with “full transparency,” and that Egypt’s ambassador to Rome has met with Regeni’s family to express his condolences. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry recently concluded an interview with one of Italy’s largest newspapers [Corriere della Sera], the spokesman added. Abu Zeid emphasized that relations between the two states remain strong. (Watch in Arabic, running time: 2:40)

The second call on the Regeni case was from Deputy Minister of Interior for public relations Gen. Abu Bakr Abdel Karim, who confirmed that Italian investigators are on the ground in Cairo and have met with their counterparts at the MOI. In response to El Hadidy’s question, he said he is uncertain when the forensics report will be released, but refuted a previous statement (made by Maj. Gen. Khaled Shalaby, head of the Interior Ministry’s General Investigations Department for Giza, but not mentioned in the segment by name) that a car accident was the cause of death as “unofficial and unrepresentative” of the MOI. (Watch in Arabic, running time: 3:14)

However, Al Mal is reporting that Abdel Karim later called in to Mona El Shazly’s program on the same channel and denied there was any signs of torture on Regeni’s body. We’re unable to independently confirm that Abdel Karim made this statement and that it’s not misconstrued by Al Mal as neither the segment nor the episode in full have been uploaded at time of dispatch, and we don’t watch her program. Egypt’s ambassador in Rome Amr Helmy also reportedly phoned in to the same program to criticize the conflicting statements issued by Egypt’s security forces, saying the contradiction has angered the Italians.

SPEED ROUND

The CBE has approved allowing exchange bureaux to swap other foreign currencies for USD at banks, reviving a mechanism that was phased out in 2013. FX exchange sources tell Al Ahram that banks began enacting the policy on Thursday. The FX bureau’s representatives’ had requested the move during last Sunday’s meeting with the CBE, Bloomberg reports. The move would “boost the supply of greenbacks available to their clients since about 30 percent of cash they hold is in currencies other than USD,” Mohamed El Abiad, the head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s FX division said. There is still no word on whether the CBE approved a request by the bureau to double band within which they can buy or sell USD to 10 piasters from the official rate. Bloomberg notes that “In the past 12 months, the Egyptian exchange rate has fallen 2.5 percent against the USD, compared with a retreat of 13 percent in a gauge tracking 20 emerging-market peers.”

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi strongly suggested that the price of water and government services will rise, stating that the low prices of these services are unsustainable and calling on citizens to cut down consumption of water. Speaking at a launch ceremony for 34 infrastructure and housing projects — including 13,000 homes and a water plant in Sixth October — the president said, “We need EGP 40 mn a day to provide people with drinking water,” adding that the state will need to spend EGP 25 bn to build sewage treatment plants that provide 3 bn cubic meters of water. This is not the first government statement on a potential rise in water prices: An official from the Holding Water Company, speaking to Ibrahim Eissa, had said the company was working on a five-year program to raise water prices to their true market cost (while still providing cost breaks for low-income earners through consumption-based price tiers). Furthermore, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail had hinted that the government might raise prices, stating that their costs were unsustainable. The president also stated that he ordered the Housing Ministry to raise the price of homes on the Dar Misr social housing project despite the probable media backlash. Housing Ministry sources tell Al Borsa that prices of future phases of the Dar Misr project will continue to increase. Al Borsa is directly linking these statements with the reforms drawn up to reach an agreement with the World Bank loans.

The president also ordered that EGP 1 bn in funds donated by government supporters be used to build 100k subsidized housing units, according to the AP. MENA wrote on Saturday that the financing would come from Tahya Misr.

More wheat woes: Egypt cancelled a wheat tender on Friday after receiving only four offers, Reuters reports. The lowest price was reportedly well above prices quoted in an Algerian deal last week, suggesting “Cairo continues to suffer from the confusion over its import regulations,” Reuters reports. Traders boycotted a tender on Tuesday due to a zero-tolerance policy on shipments containing ergot fungus, but the Agriculture Ministry backtracked on the decision, saying it would allow shipments with up to 0.05% ergot. If you’re following the industry, the Wall Street Journal (paywall) looks at how the “ground is shifting” under the market for what exports, saying record harvests, Egyptian demand, cheap oil and a strong USD are combining to “shake up the multi’bn-USD global wheat market.”

Central Bank of Egypt Governor Tarek Amer approved extending the rescheduling of loan payments by tourism companies to three years from six months, saying those whose reschedule will not face penalties, Al Ahram reports. Amer also approved allowing companies to pay USD-denominated interest payments in EGP on top of postponing installments payments on loans taken out by employees in the sector for six months. The decision follows a meeting with hotel owners in Sharm El Sheikh requested by the Governor of South Sinai. The CBE will also form a committee to review loans on a case-by-case basis. Amer said banks are ready to provide hotels, ailing since the Metrojet crash, with bns of EGPs to fund refurbishing their hotels.

You know the situation is dire when this is news: Sharm El Sheikh Airport received nine international flights on Thursday, Al Shorouk reported. Aboard the flights were 964 tourists in total.

In response to claims by taxi drivers it is not licensed to operate in Egypt, Uber said it had obtained licenses from the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Amwal Al Ghad quoted the company’s General Manager Jambu Palaniappan as saying. Amwal Al Ghad followed up on the claim, receiving a statement from NTRA denying it granted Uber any operating licenses and saying it has no power to grant licenses to transport companies.

Will doctors strike? The Doctors’ Syndicate is reportedly holding an emergency meeting on Friday, 12 February to discuss the possibility of a nationwide general strike of its members in the latest escalation of tensions after attacks on physicians by police at the Matariya Teaching Hospital, according to Daily News Egypt. On Thursday, Prosecutor General Nabil Sadek ordered the reopening of the hospital and the investigation of those involved in its closure, Ahram Online reports. According to a statement issued by the Prosecutor General’s Office, “the closure of the hospital and the suspension of medical service for citizens are considered a ‘crime’ that is punishable by law and is against the Egyptian constitution,” according to Ahram Online. On Friday, the doctors at the hospital decided to reopen emergency services only. The doctors’ strike has rallied support from activist and press freedom groups including the 6 April movement, which has been vocal on abuses by police. The Prosecutor General’s Office has also begun interviewing witnesses in the case, calling in the Doctors’ Syndicate chief Dr. Hassan Kheiry and his deputy, Dr. Mona Mina, who gave testimony on Saturday, according to a press release by the syndicate. The prosecution also called in nine members of the hospital staff to give statements today, Al Mal reports.

Strike expands to Qaliubya: Doctors of the maternity ward at Banha University’s teaching hospital went on strike after a man reported to have been a police officer forced doctors at gunpoint to treat his wife and ignore an emergency case, Al Mal reports. The Interior Ministry released a statement denying the involvement of any police officers in the incident, saying the alleged assailant was a car dealer, AMAY reports.

Revenge is a dish best served drenched in tahina: Speaking of the Doctors’ Syndicate, the professional organization is reportedly pursuing investigations of all individuals connected to #AIDSKoftagate in a rare and much-needed respite from relentlessly grim news we are bombarded with on a daily basis. AMAY reports that the syndicate will also pursue the role of individuals in the media who were complicit in the endorsement of the fraudulent AIDS / cancer / hep C detection device, which also appears to moonlight as a fake bomb detector in Iraq.

Alabbar sets sights to acquire 69% stake in Americana: A consortium led by Emirati businessman Mohamed Alabbar has offered to acquire Al Khair National for Stocks and Real Estate Company’s 69% stake in Kuwait-based food conglomerate Americana in a USD 1.8 bn transaction, according to Bloomberg estimates. The value of the acquisition has not been disclosed. Americana operates a number of franchises in the MENA region, including KFC, TGI Friday’s Inc. and Pizza Hut, among others. The acquisition is still pending due diligence and approval from Kuwait’s Capital Markets Authority, according to state news agency KUNA as reported by Reuters. The newswire also notes that “Adeptio also represents other financial investors from Gulf Arab states” in the transaction and quotes Alabbar as noting simply, “We see a bright future for Americana and look forward to working with management to realise the significant growth potential in the business going forward.” Other consortia including KKR and CVC Capital Partners as well as Savola and Singapore’s Temasek have made runs at Americana in the past two years (background here and here).

Saudi Arabia is reportedly ready to send ground troops to Syria to fight Daesh, Reuters reports. Saudi sources told the Guardian that thousands of special forces could be deployed. Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem warned on Saturday that foreign ground troops entering Syria would “return home in wooden coffins,” according to Ahram Online. Meanwhile, Iran is flat out mocking the move, with the head of its Revolutionary Guard Mohammad Ali Jafari saying Saudi lacked the courage to go through with it. “I don’t think they are brave enough to do so … Even if they send troops, they would be definitely defeated,” Reuters reports. The Independent has a primer on the ramifications for the wider region.

Turkey might also be planning a Syria “invasion,” Russia says: Russia is accusing Turkey of carrying out “intensive preparations” for a military invasion of Syria, Bloomberg reported. “The Russian Defense Ministry sees ‘a growing number of signs of hidden preparation of the Turkish Armed Forces for active actions on the territory of Syria,’ General-Major Igor Konashenkov said in an emailed statement Thursday. There are “reasonable grounds” to suspect Turkey of preparing for action.”

THE MACRO PICTURE

The global economy’s methods of dealing with financial shocks need to be overhauled to prepare for what could be a series of crises in emerging markets, IMF head Christine Lagarde says, according to the FT (paywall). According to a speech Lagarde gave on Thursday at the University of Maryland, policymakers need to bolster the existing “safety net” — ranging from swap lines between central banks to access to credit lines from multilateral lenders. “Governments needed to spend more efficiently and scale down ‘Pharaonic’ public projects,” she said. “They also needed to allow their currencies to trade more freely to absorb economic shocks.” Lagarde told reporter later that the IMF is prepared to offer financial assistance to oil exporters like Azerbaijan and Nigeria.

And while we’re on oil, U.S. energy firms cut oil rigs for a seventh week in a row to the lowest levels since March 2010, according to data coming out from Friday, Reuters reports. Drillers removed 31 rigs last week — the biggest cut since April last year — bringing the total rig count down to 467, according to oil services company Baker Hughes.

The surge in lending to emerging markets has come to an end. “In the risk-on phase [of the global economic cycle], lending sets off a virtuous circle in financial conditions in which things can look better than they really are,” the FT (paywall) quotes Hyun Song Shin, head of research at the Bank for International Settlements as saying. “But flows can quickly go into reverse and then it becomes a vicious circle, especially if there is leverage,” he told the FT. And according to BIS data released on Friday, the reversal has already happened.

Also in the headlines this weekend: Argentina reached preliminary accords worth USD 6.5 bn with two of the six biggest creditors that sued the country over its USD 95 bn default in 2001, Bloomberg reports. “The deal will clear the way for Argentina’s return to the international capital markets, providing a boost for the stagnant and inflation-wracked economy long starved of foreign investment,” writes the FT (paywall).

SPOTLIGHT on the murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni

The body of 28-year old Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni was repatriated to Rome on Saturday, where it will undergo a second autopsy, the AP reported. Regeni’s body was discovered with signs of torture on Wednesday, and Egyptian authorities on Thursday said a brain hemorrhage was the likely cause of death. A team of Italian and Interpol investigators arrived in Cairo on Friday night, according to officials from both countries as reported by the New York Times and confirmed by this statement issued by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Friday. The statement, however, ends by warning the incident should not be exploited to “propagate a false impression, not grounded on any facts, for well-known objectives that are evident to everyone,” in a likely veiled reference to Egypt’s Islamists using the event for political gain.

“Egyptian media accused ‘evil hands’ of orchestrating Regeni’s killing to damage Egyptian-Italian relations. The term is usually used to refer to Islamists,” the AP reported on Thursday, such as this speculative piece by Youm7. The Interior Ministry confirmed that it shared the details of the case with the Italian investigators, Al Masry Al Youm reports. A ministry spokesperson denied that the ministry had any hand in Regeni’s alleged torture.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi offered his condolences to Regini’s family and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in a phone call on Thursday. El Sisi assured Renzi that the security forces and the Prosecutor General’s office were on top of the case. The two sides confirmed the need to enhance and further develop economic cooperation and reviewed the outcomes of the meetings with the Italian business delegation, according to a statement from Ittihadiya.

Despite the cordial nature of the statement, a good deal of diplomatic back and forth has taken place in the past few days, following days of silence on the matter by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
Italy’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Egyptian Ambassador on Thursday to “express concern” about the death “and to urge a joint investigation, according to a statement,” as per Reuters. The statement also “stressed that Italy expects full cooperation from the Egyptian authorities at all levels in view of the exceptional gravity of what happened to the Italian student and of the traditionally close and friendly relations between the two countries.”

A source told Al Ahram that Regeni had relations with a number of “politically active youth” and has “travelled to a number of Arab countries” recently. The police service’s head of investigations in Giza told Youm7 that initial investigations point to the cause of death being a traffic accident and that the body did not show signs of stabbing or bullet wounds. However, Ahmed Nagy, the prosecutor who is actually in charge of the case, subsequently confirmed signs of torture and a “slow death,” the New York Times reported. Nagy also questioned Regeni’s friend, a British University in Egypt professor whom he was set to meet the night of his disappearance, and a German teacher who resided with Regeni. Their testimony indicates that Regeni had called to state he was 25 minutes away from arriving at a friend’s birthday party in Bab El-Louq. His friends filed a missing persons report at 2am the following day, according to AMAY.

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Reporting on Egypt in the foreign press last night and going into the morning is squarely focused on the case of Giulio Regeni, as well as on potentially inflammatory statements on Saturday from Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, who said that Hamas tunnels were flooded by Egypt at Israel’s request, as reported by The Times of Israel. Steinitz’s comments have already generated a backlash within Israel, with the Jerusalem Post reporting unnamed members of Israel’s defense establishment are “furious with … Steinitz after learning of the comments he made on Saturday concerning security cooperation with Egypt … Highlighting that sensitivity is the Military Censor’s concern; heavy restrictions have been placed on what Israeli journalists can report on Egyptian-Israeli ties. The censor has even been known to reject Israeli coverage of the subject based on foreign media reports, at the behest of Cairo.” Steinitz later reportedly expressed regret over any “unintended impression” his comments may have caused.

All the truth: Italian newspaper Il Manifesto, at which Giulio Regeni submitted articles, published an editorial on Friday demanding full transparency from Italian and Egyptian officials regarding the investigation of Regeni’s death. “He feared for his safety. This is one truth we at il manifesto can report after the violent death of the doctoral student Giulio Regeni, 28, a contributor to this newspaper who was found dead in Cairo on Wednesday.”

WORTH READING

Giulio Regeni’s final article: Leftist Italian newspaper Il Manifesto published on Friday Regeni’s final article for their newspaper, which their editor notes in a brief forward: “Because independent trade unions are a contentious topic in Egypt, Regeni asked us to publish this article under a pseudonym, as we have done in the past. Today, we publish this last dispatch under the author’s real name.” Read: In Egypt, second life for independent trade unions, by Giulio Regeni. The article has also been translated to Arabic here.

WORTH WATCHING

Just when you think it couldn’t get worse: Three men were arrested after a video (run time 4:07) of them selling stones making up the pyramids went viral. Watch them literally break up pieces and sell them for the low-low price of EGP 250 after giving reporters posing as buyers a choice of alabaster or granite.

DIPLOMACY + FOREIGN TRADE

A delegation of nine UK-based companies headed by MP Jeffrey Donaldson is expected to meet with the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association on Monday to look into investment opportunities, including opening an car factory in Egypt, according to Al Masry Al Youm.

ENERGY

Oil Ministry to sign agreement to form Zohr JV next week
The Oil Ministry will sign an agreement with Eni setting up the Petroshorouk Company, the entity that will be managing the Zohr oil discovery, next week, Daily News Egypt reported. Following the finalization of its establishment procedures, Petroshorouk’s shareholder will hold a general assembly to announce the investment plan for Zohr. “Petrobel will carry out search and development operations … in agreed upon deep water areas,” DNE said, and a second exploratory well is being drilled now. A source added that the agreed upon price “cannot” exceed the limit of USD 4-5.88 per mmBtu. (Read)

EBRD to lend Sonker USD 341 mn to upgrade oil and gas infrastructure
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is extending Sonker, an Egyptian company providing hydrocarbon storage and bunkering, a USD 341 mn credit facility as part of a consortium. “As part of a consortium, the EBRD is extending a USD 72 mn senior loan and a USD 22 mn mezzanine loan to the company, while the International Finance Corporation (IFC) … is providing a USD 70 mn senior loan along with a USD 22 mn mezzanine loan and mobilising USD 52.5 mn from other investors… [CIB] is availing with USD 28 mn and the equivalent of USD 44 mn in Egyptian pounds loan as well as a USD 30 mn Credit Support Instrument Facility.” According to the EBRD’s press release, “The company will use the funds to construct and operate a bulk-liquids terminal for the import and storage of gasoil, LPG in the third basin of Ain Sokhna Port” and will accommodate the docking of two FSRUs. (Read)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

Swiss embassy and Agriculture Ministry launch project to boost fish production
The Embassy of Switzerland’s Office for International Cooperation, in collaboration with WorldFish and CARE International and Egypt’s Agriculture Ministry is launching a project to  boost aquaculture efficiency in Egypt entitled Sustainable Transformation of Egypt’s Aquaculture Market System (STREAMS). According to an embassy press release, CHF 2 mn is allocated for STREAMS, which will “assist fish farmers, fish traders and retailers across seven Egyptian governorates: Kafr El Sheikh, Beheira, Sharkia, Fayoum, Port Said, Minya and Beni Suef.” (Read)

MANUFACTURING

Minya Governor meets with German investors to build a USD 100 mn bagasse paper factory
Minya Governor Tarek Nasr met with German investors to discuss opening a USD 100 mn bagasse-based paper factory. The governor ordered that 120k sqm of land be dedicated for the project, a feasibility study be conducted, and that preliminary agreements be reviewed. A spokesperson for the German investors say manufacturing bagasse (the solid residue leftover from crushing sugarcane) locally would save Egypt USD 175 mn per year in imports. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH + EDUCATION

Sovaldi prices reduced for the third time
The Health Ministry announced that Sovaldi prices have been reduced to EGP 520 per pack to patients being treated by the ministry, Al Ahram reported. The prices were reduced to EGP 680 per pack last December, then brought down to EGP 600 prior to the most recent decrease. Health Minister Ahmed Emad has also approved allocating six centers nationwide to treat renal failure patients who also suffer from hepatitis C. (Read in Arabic)

** Further reading in Health + Education: Will a women-only project designed to provide entertainment and education for young women in rural areas be helpful? “The project consists of five aspects … cultural aspect involves viewing films and discussing a particular intellectual issue … psychological counseling and support groups … entertainment field … health, academic studies and professional counseling for those seeking a job, as well as courses in English, marketing and human development … charity work and assistance for orphaned children,” Reham Mokbel writes. However, there are concerns that this exclusion will promote an idea of segregation, isolation and discrimination.

REAL ESTATE + HOUSING

Cabinet-sanctioned exemptions from Investment Act stoking dispute between investment and trade ministries
The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) plans to request cabinet approval to exempt the authority from the Investment Act and allow it to manage land tenders for 30 mn sqm land in Tenth of Ramadan, Sadat City, Borg El Arab and Port Said. IDA wants to hold auctions for the land, a violation of the Investment Act, which enforces a set price determined by government bodies, according to a Trade and Industry Ministry source speaking to Al Borsa. The source says the authority received an exemption from the cabinet last month to tender 11 mn sqm in an auction and expressed willingness to grant further exemptions “in the interest of investment.”  A source from the Investment Ministry’s General Authority for FreeZones and Investment denounced the move, saying the Investment Ministry will fight it. The source adds that the heads of both the Investment Authority and the IDA had met last week to discuss the issue, at which time the IDA conceded to having GAFI manage the tendering process. (Read in Arabic)

TOURISM

Nile Ritz-Carlton’s occupancy rates average 50% in January
Nile Ritz-Carlton’s occupancy rates have averaged 50% in January, according to the hotel’s Executive Assistant Manager Tawfik Mokhtar. The increased influx of Arab tourists in February should drive occupancy rates higher, he said. Mokhtar also expects an increase in the numbers of Chinese tourists in Egypt. He noted that the average room rate at the hotel is USD 300 a night, and it fluctuates with demand. The recently re-opened Nile Ritz-Carlton is the property previously known as the Nile Hilton. (Read in Arabic)

BANKING + FINANCE

HC Securities advising on M&A transactions worth more than EGP 5 bn -chairman
HC Securities is has a pipeline of M&A transactions worth in excess of EGP 5 bn for 2016, Chairman Hussein Choucri told Reuters. The sellers in the agreements are Egyptians and the buyers are foreigners and Arabs, Choucri added. “We are the financial advisers to a UAE company in its bid to acquire a Turkish firm in the medical sector. The size of the deal is not clear yet but we hope to complete it this year,” he added. HC is also keen on creating a USD 100 mn private equity fund.  (Read)

NBE announces SME finance initiative
The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) will offer existing and new small- and micro-businesses seven-year loans at 5% interest to cover up to 90% of their costs, Al Mal reports. NBE, which is offering the loans to existing and newly launched businesses, will provide them at all the bank’s branches in Egypt. (Read in Arabic)

Banque Misr partners with NBE to extend over USD 5 bn in LCs in three months
Banque Misr partnered with National Bank of Egypt (NBE) to provide over USD 5 bn in letters of credit from November to January. Banque Misr Chairman Mohamed El Etreby said his bank and NBE covered most of the USD 8.3 bn in trade finance facilities mentioned by CBE Governor Tarek Amer recently. He added that imports to Egypt amounted to around USD 80 bn. (Read in Arabic)

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

Salman says H+K to promote investment in Egypt, Warner will help restructure state-owned textile companies
PR firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies has been hired by the government to promote investment in Egypt, says Investment Minister Ashraf Salman. Speaking at the Egyptian-European Business Council meeting, Salman also announced that management consulting firm Warner International will consult on restructuring public sector textile companies ahead of launching IPOs. On the macro side of things, Salman discussed the government’s sustainable development plan 2030, which he says targets a budget deficit reduction of under 10% of GDP and a investment growth rate of 19% by FY2018/19 — the first phase of the plan. Salman also discussed progress on resolving investor disputes, stating that the committee to resolve disputes set up by the Investment Act has completed 92% of cases assigned to it since it began in August. 77% of disputes were between local companies, while the remaining 23% were between local and regional companies.

Egypt’s share of AIIB is USD 850 mn, Nasr says
Egypt’s share in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s capital is USD 850 mn, payable over 10 years, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said. Part of the money will be paid in EGP, she noted, and once the first tranche is delivered, Egypt’s membership will be activated. This awaits parliamentary approval, Nasr explained. (Read in Arabic)

NATIONAL SECURITY

Declaring war and a state of emergency requires a two-thirds majority in the House
The House Committee on Parliamentary Affairs amended articles pertaining to the House of Representatives declaring war or a state of emergency. The change to executive regulations of the Parliamentary Procedures Act require a two-thirds majority vote of the House to sanction an act of war or state of emergency by the president. Prior to the amendment, the law had never specified what constitutes a majority vote on such decisions. The committee’s amendments must be taken to the full body of the House for debate and a vote. (Read in Arabic)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

The (relatively) rich get almost all of the mortgage financing in Egypt: The volume of new mortgage financing in Egypt increased to EGP 981.3 mn in 2015 from EGP 575.9 mn a year earlier. 96.6% of the new financing extended went to people with incomes higher than EGP 3,000 per month. (Read in Arabic)

Banque Misr and NBE will not be selling Ahmed Bahgat’s Dreamland assets, Al Borsa reported. Bahgat had submitted a petition to stop the sale, and was accepted, bringing the case back to square one, he said.

“Egypt’s vast irrigation network, the bulk of which was carved into the Delta and much of Upper Egypt in the 19th century, is in a horrible state of neglect and badly needs an upgrade and overhaul,” veteran finance writer Patrick Werr says in The National. Mohamed Allam, a professor of irrigation at Cairo University and former minister of water resources and agriculture, estimates an upgrade of the system would cost USD 15-20 bn and could take up to 20 years. However, “The return on investment would be well worth it, saving 5 to 10 per cent of Egypt’s water, he says. If 3 bn cubic metres a year were saved and water was priced at USD 0.50 per cubic metre, that would represent an annual saving of USD 1.5 bn.”

Security forces arrested 50 members of Al Ahly “Ultras” fans after clashes on Saturday with security forces near the Opera metro station. A statement by the Ultras calling for their release threatened an escalation of clashes, Al Mal reports.