Back to the complete issue
Monday, 19 June 2017

GE agreement, philanthropy in Ramadan, and Sisi’s iftar with citizens

The airwaves offered us up a bag of somewhat mixed nuts for a change last night, with the biggest news being the Egyptian National Railway (ENR)’s USD 575 mn purchase of 100 locomotives from General Electric.

Lamees Al Hadidi spoke to Transport Minister Hisham Arafat during her weekly spot on CBC Extra. Arafat said that he hopes the new locomotives, the first shipment of which will arrive in April 2018, will see ENR make better use of its capacity and generate revenues to help cover the cost of upgrades over the coming seven or eight years.

Fifty of the 100 locomotives will be built in Egypt in partnership with the military’s Arab Organization for Industry, GE’s President and CEO for North East Africa Ayman Khattab told Lamees (more on that in the Speed Round). The agreement is the largest commercial transaction between Egypt and a US company since President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to DC earlier this year, he added, explaining that the 15-year maintenance package is possibly the first of its kind in Egypt (watch, runtime 8:42).

Lamees then moved on to a quick review of major philanthropic activities this Ramadan (well-timed since we are in the last week of the holy month), starting with the 500500 Cancer Hospital, which reportedly receives around 1,000 patients a day. The hospital is establishing a new facility in the Cairo suburb of Sheikh Zayed (watch, runtime 4:35). Meanwhile, Misr Al Kheir charity group is planning to expand its presence to 17 new areas in Upper Egypt, in partnership with the National Bank of Egypt (watch, runtime: 5:40).

Over on Kol Youm, Amr Adib played clips from El Sisi’s Ramadan iftar with 28 citizens on Sunday while defending the president against critical comments on social and mainstream media. “He’ll get attacked whether he does the iftar or not,” Adib said (watch, runtime: 6:03).

Adib also took some time to cover the fire in West London, describing 2017 as a “dark year” {for the UK, just as 2016 was for France (watch, runtime: 4:22).

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.