TL;DR

The Central Bank of Egypt has eased its cap on USD deposits, at least for importers. (Speed Round)

The Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund is setting up a parallel fund for Egypt. (Speed Round)

EFSA takes a step closer to covered and unrated bonds. (Speed Round)

Supply ministry will stop buying local wheat at international prices. (Speed Round)

World Bank lowers 2016 forecast for crude oil prices — and we’re terrified of China’s debt problem. (The Macro Picture)

LG Egypt operating at 30% of capacity as production inputs languish in ports. (Manufacturing)

Roster of state-owned companies up for listing on EGX will be finalized within three months, Salman says. (Egypt Politics + Economics)

The Egyptian judiciary in its own words. (Worth Reading)

When a balloon can land you in jail and puppets are evil. (Last Night’s Talk Shows, Egypt in the News)

Egyptian stork (2013), meet Israeli vulture (2016). (On Your Way Out)

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

The Central Bank of Egypt eased the cap on USD deposits yesterday to USD 250k per month from USD 50,000. The restrictions have been blamed for exacerbating the FX shortage (more in Speed Round).

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to release a statement today at around 9pm CLT (2pm EST) after its Federal Open Market Committee wraps its two-day meeting. The global picture has changed since it last met, with analysts expecting rates will be left unchanged on Wednesday. “If this market action continues there is no way in the world the Fed is raising rates in March. But they will want flexibility,” said Roberto Perli, an economist at Cornerstone Macro, tells the Financial Times (paywall).

A meeting of Shell shareholders will vote today on its merger with BG, paving the way for the GBP 47 bn merger of the two energy giants to go forward. Key shareholders have indicated they’re voting in favour, as is the one high-profile investor (Standard Life) that had objections.

An unprecedented number of countries are said to be taking part in the 46th Cairo International Book Fair, which kicks off today. 850 publishers from 34 countries will participate in this year’s fair, the theme of which is “Culture on the Frontline”, according to Ahram Online.

The Egypt Transport Infrastructure Summit starts in Cairo today and wraps up tomorrow.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets to discuss interest rates tomorrow. Tap here for the 2016 meeting calendar.

ON THE HORIZON

The second Egyptian-Russian forum is set to take place next Monday, when Trade Minister Tarek Kabil will meet with Russian counterpart Denis Manturov and a delegation of 100 Russian companies.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Talk shows last night suffered from a serious case of split personality, standing up for Egyptian writer Fatima Naoot’s right to express herself and ganging up on 20-year-old actor Ahmed Malek for posting a video poking fun of police officers on 25 January. Economic and business news took a backseat to Naoot’s controversial articles on religion and Malek pranking officers with inflated, uh, “balloons that prevent the creation of babies during a certain act” (thank you, algorithms that govern our deliverability to your inbox…)

Lamees El Hadidy did, however, manage to interview Hany Genena, the new head of equities at Beltone, on the central bank’s decision to increase USD deposit caps to USD 250k from USD 50,000 for importers (more in Speed Round). “There were huge issues in 2015 due to these decisions [capping USD transactions], and they created a gap between official USD prices and black market prices; any decision to narrow the gap between the two worlds is the right one,” Genena told El Hadidy.

Ibrahim Eissa hosted the head of the Economic Analysis Unit at the Holding Water Company, Khaled Gomaa. Gomaa told Eissa the company is working on installing a private meter in every home instead of one for every building and added that a new, five-year program to raise water prices to their true market cost (while still providing cost breaks for low income earners through consumption-based pricing tiers) will reduce both consumption and waste, with the latter accounting for 30% of consumption, he added.

And with those two lone interviews and — Amr Adeeb and co-host Rania El Badawy briefly mentioning the CBE decision — talk shows ended their business coverage for the evening.

Naoot was handed a three-year prison sentence for contempt of religion over an article she wrote condemning the torture of animals during Eid El Adha sacrifices. The verdict dominated the airwaves last night. “It was shocking to me … there’s a clear attempt to muzzle our voices,” Naoot told El Hadidy. Former Culture Minister Gaber Asfour, MP and Islamic philosophy expert Amna Nosseir and MP and director Khaled Youssef also called in to comment. While Asfour said the verdict was “unconstitutional,” Nosseir and Youssef both called for a change in the religious contempt article of the law. “I don’t want to be scared to voice my opinion,” media veteran Mofid Fawzy told El Hadidy.

Eissa was having the time of his life last night — controversy, freedom of expression and contempt of religion are Eissa’s definition of comfort food. The anchor dedicated the better part of his show to the issues.

Badawy, El Hadidy and Youssef El-Housseiny were all rather worked up the Facebook video posted by Malek and Shady Hussein, the latter from the CBC comedy show Abla Fahita. Malek and Hussein apologized after a social media uproar, but it was too little too late — you’re on El Hadidy’s blacklist now, gents. El Hadidy stood up for her home channel, basically washing CBC’s hands of the pair. “This is contempt toward humans,” said Adeeb, but he did manage to add that he was against arrests over expressing opinions. It seems Fawzy was having quite a slow night yesterday, calling up Adeeb after hanging up with El Hadidy to say “standards disappeared after 25 January. It created a generation lacking morals.”

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SPEED ROUND

The Central Bank of Egypt raised its cap on USD-denominated deposits to USD 250k a month for companies importing food, capital machinery, manufacturing components and medicines, without a daily limit, according to a CBE statement. Individuals and legal persons alike are still bound by the USD 50,000 monthly cap on deposits as well as the daily limit. Reuters and Bloomberg have coverage in English.

The business community is ecstatic, as you might expect having persistently called for the ceiling to be raised. Mohamed El Sewedy, head of the Egyptian Federation of Industries, calls the move “the most courageous one [taken by the CBE],” adding that it will attract direct foreign investment and ease the FX crunch. The decision would solve 90% of the liquidity problems faced by importers and manufacturers, but it will need to be accompanied by eliminating daily deposit caps, said Mahmoud Abu Al Ainein, head of the Investors Division of the Chambers of Commerce, according to Al Mal. The move is surprising considering the government had consistently been telling us not to expect USD deposit caps to rise until the end of 2016, the most recent being a statement from Investment Minister Ashraf Salman last week. The decision may be a preemptive move to appease different investor associations who threatened to escalate measures against the CBE and the Trade Ministry over their recent import restrictions. These associations, including the two mentioned above, had previously stated they would postpone these escalations until after 25 January.

Israel’s Globes has backed off its claim that reserves at ENI’s Zohr field could be significantly smaller than previously reported, saying it now believes the field’s extractable gas stands at 23-26 tcf. Yesterday we noted an unconfirmed report from Israeli news site Globes, which itself referenced a media outlet based in Egypt, as saying the estimates of Egypt’s Zohr supergiant gas field had been halved to 16 tcf. The site in question, which published the original report last week was Egypt Oil & Gas, which has since published a correction, saying the estimated extractable gas stands at between 23 and 26 tcf.

EAEF looking to create “parallel fund” for Egypt: The Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund (EAEF) is working to “facilitate the entry of other institutional investors into the Egyptian market by developing a ‘parallel fund’ that could invest alongside the EAEF,” according to an emailed statement. Saying its size of USD 300 mn is not enough to address all investment opportunities, the EAEF hopes the parallel fund will attract new capital, thereby “unlocking [the] true value in supporting the Middle East.” The fund will be marketed to private-sector investments and sovereign wealth funds without any U.S. government financing. The EAEF invested last year in both Fawry (where it acquired a majority stake as part of a consortium of other global investors including Helios and the MENA Long-Term Value Fund) and Sarwa Capital. The news is contained in EAEF Chairman James Harmon’s annual letter, which we think is worth reading in full (pdf).

Juhayna will invest EGP 600 mn in capex this year, according to a regulatory filing. The inflow will be used to increase production capacity (particularly in the juice segment), build four logistic centers and expand the dairy farm to 4,000 cows.

EFSA takes a step closer to covered and unrated bonds: Investment Minister Ashraf Salman has amended the executive regulations of the Capital Markets Act to allow for the issuance of covered and unrated bonds. EFSA Chairman Sherif Samy welcomed the amendments, saying they will improve access to financing for small and medium-sized businesses. The amendments will also allow for investment funds to channel proceeds due to individual unit holders directly charities at the unit holders’ request, says Samy. (Read in Arabic)

EFSA and the Dubai Financial Services Authority signed a cooperation agreement that would make the process of dual listing on the EGX and Nasdaq Dubai more efficient, Al Mal reports. The agreement will also see both regulators cooperate further in supervising requests to list on both markets and make sure companies meet requirements. The agreement was signed at the International Organization of Securities Commissions meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

Supply Minister Khaled El Hanafi promised to stop buying wheat from local farmers at the international market price after the decision was shot down by the House Agriculture Committee, Al Borsa reports. The move will see the reversal of the wheat subsidy system adopted by the cabinet back in November, where farmers would be paid the average global price for their crop and given a direct EGP 1,300 subsidy per feddan. The ministry is awaiting approval from the cabinet to revert to the old subsidy system of paying EGP 420 per ardeb (1 ardeb= 5.62 US bushels), says General Authority for Supply Commodities chief Mamdouh Abdel Fattah. The House had voted down the new subsidy policy as it allegedly “violates farmers’ rights,” according to MP Abdel Fattah Sirag El Din.

As for fuel subsidies, the “mandatory phase” of the fuel smart card system is ready for implementation now that card provider e-Finance has distributed 14,000 cards to tuk-tuks, a company official said. The government committee charged with supervising fuel smart card distribution will meet with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to review the status of distributions ahead of implementing the system. Abdel Ghany says distributing the cards to tuk-tuks was the primary reason behind the indefinite delay in launching the system, which was initially set to take place last summer, Al Mal reports. While the story is getting wide play in the national business press, we urge readers to take it with a grain of salt: The company in question has a track record of self-promotion through insertion of itself into policy debates, and 14k three-wheelers (heck, 140k tuktuks) are a rounding error in the subsidy program.

The U.S. and Turkey will seek a military solution against Daesh if a political agreement between the Syrian government and the opposition proves impossible, according to a statement earlier this week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden after a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul. While the objective in any operational expansion in Syria would be the destruction of Daesh, discussion also focused on how they could further support Sunni Arab rebels opposing Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, BBC reports. This marks the boldest rhetoric to-date by the Obama administration on taking stronger action against the terrorist group and, if followed through, could mark a strategic shift in its approach during its last year in office. In a show of support for Turkey, Biden continued to condemn actions by the Kurdistan Workers Party and reaffirmed their status as a terrorist group.

Saudi royals were allegedly behind the anonymous gift of USD 681 mn to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Malaysia’s attorney general said at a press conference yesterday, CNBC reports. The transfer to Razak’s personal bank account first came to light in this report by the Wall Street Journal (paywall) in July of last year, which had suggested the source of the funds was Malaysia’s heavily-indebted (to the tune of USD 11 bn) state fund Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) — not to be confused with the delightfully useful IMDB. The prime minister had denied at the time any wrongdoing and said the funds had originated from a Middle Eastern benefactor who he’d declined to name. The news comes just one day after the Saudi Press Agency announced the authorization of a draft MOU between the two countries’ anti-corruption watchdogs. Malaysia’s prosecutor has cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.

“Africa Rising” is to this century what Orientalism was to the 19th and early 20th centuries. Longtime readers are more than passingly aware of our loathing of the token “African voices” and “African business” (et cetera, et cetera, ad nauseum) shows that populate the airwaves of major broadcasters. And don’t get us started on the “special supplement” industry, wherein that dead commodity known as “print advertising space” is acquired from the WSJ / FT / NYT / Whatever, marked as a “Special Supplement,” and then literally re-sold to local companies who are told they’re buying editorial coverage in said august media outlets. It’s a direct cash transfer from emerging markets to D-grade Western commercial outfits. And you know what readers do with those supplements, folks? They throw them out. (Or skip over them if they’re bound in — we’re looking at you, Economist.) Why the rant? Because this trope is so miserable you need to understand that we’re not making fun of the FT’s William Wallis for his “Smart Africa: Smartphones pave way for huge opportunities” — despite our belief that the headline writer should be subjected to 48 hours of uninterrupted techno-shaabi (Islam Chipsy, perhaps). Wallis gets the promise right, but is also mature enough a writer to note the significant challenges to tech becoming Africa’s equivalent of the steam engine in Victorian England. If you need a primer on topic, this is a reasonable starting point.

Other international headlines this morning that either carry implications for Egypt or that are simply worth noting in brief:

• The Russian flight ban isn’t just hurting our tourism industry. As many as six Russian airlines could be forced out of the market in 2016 due to Russia’s ban on flights to Egypt, the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday, citing Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency. The Moscow Times reports that the airlines could stop operating by October if flights aren’t resumed by the summer, agency official Yury Malyshev says.

THE MACRO PICTURE

The World Bank lowered its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to USD 37 per barrel in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook (pdf) report, down from its October projection of USD 51 per barrel. Reasons for the lower forecast include exports from Iran, U.S. production’s rebound due to cost cuts and weak growth prospects in emerging markets. However, it does expect a gradual recovery in oil prices over the of the year from current lows. The bank also lowered its its growth forecast for emerging and developing economies to 4% this year “subject to considerable downside risks in a fragile global environment,” the FT (paywall) writes.

In that vein, surging oil prices drove an equity market rebound yesterday as U.S. and European markets shrugged off a tumble in Chinese stocks. “This is a schizophrenic market. Big up days, big down days. No real direction,” Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York, tells Reuters. U.S. stocks were also bolstered by Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson’s better-than-expected quarterly earnings. On the flip side, Apple’s iPhone growth era is coming to a close, with the company forecasting its first revenue drop in 13 years and the slowest-ever growth in iPhone shipments due to the sluggish Chinese market, writes the FT (paywall). The news came as Apple beat on earnings but saw revenue and iPhone sales fall short in its fiscal first quarter earnings. (Check out CNBC’s earnings coverage here or read Apple’s earnings release) Not even your iPhone is safe in this economic environment.

Is Chinese debt a ticking timebomb? “Default risks for a pile of USD 15tn in Chinese corporate debt are rising to their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis as sluggish demand, weak pricing and high leverage sap the dynamism of the country’s most powerful companies,” writes the Financial Times. It may not be large corporate defaults that set off the explosion, though: Longtime readers will recall our preoccupation with what we fear is a mountain of bad (and un-/poorly-document) debt in China at the rural and smaller-city levels, created from a process whereby local officials have pressured local bankers to extend credit to local companies so as to gin-up growth figures for the edification of the central government. Into that maw steps the FT, with a note that “investors rush online to ditch stakes in China rural lenders.” China’s rural commercial banks held about 13.4% of the banking system’s total assets as of November 2015, according to figures from china’s central bank.

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Usually, balloons and puppets are telltale signs of a kid’s party. But yesterday, we found out that balloons could land kids in prison — and that the puppet is evil and issues press releases. Word of the fallout from actor Ahmed Malek and reporter Shady Hussein‘s controversial video (in which they filmed themselves inflating contraceptives and handing them out to police in Tahrir Square on the anniversary of 25 January) has reached the foreign press. “If charged and convicted, they face no less than six months in jail and a fine of [EGP] 10,000 pounds (USD 1,250),” the AP’s Hamza Hendawi notes. Abla Fahita, puppet and Malek’s current (former?) employer, issued a statement in Arabic disavowing Malek and his video. The comments in response to the puppet’s post are not exactly family-friendly and are near-unanimous in what they characterize as the puppet’s betrayal. Fahita is no stranger to controversy, having been accused last year of embedding coded messages to terrorists in a series of television advertisements.

WORTH READING

In the Egyptian judiciary’s own words: We began the week with a reading from retired American federal prosecutor David E. Risley, who called on the world to stand with the reform-minded elements of Egypt’s judiciary, arguing they present “the best hope for Egypt to transition to a stable, working democracy in which the constitutional rights of its citizens are protected.”

One such voice from the judiciary is Sarwat Abd El Shahid, former judge and Counselor of the State Council (Maglis El Dawla), Egypt’s highest judicial authority, and who is now founder of Shahid Law Firm.

In the following commentary, he argues against judgments handed down in absentia, specifically against Article 388 of the Egyptian Criminal Procedural Law, “which prohibits the attorney of a defendant in absentia from appearing before criminal courts in order to defend or represent the accused in a felony.” Abd El Shahid writes that the Article itself is defective and stands in contravention to the 2014 constitution, judicial precedents set by Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court and international conventions to which Egypt is a party. Judgments rendered in absentia, and in which the same court is permitted to deliberate on the same case a second time, breaches a defendant’s right of defense. (Read: In absentia judgments violate Egyptian standards of justice)

DIPLOMACY + FOREIGN TRADE

International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr met with Spain’s Ambassador to Egypt to accelerate the disbursement of a grant to development projects, Al Borsa reports. Nasr and the ambassador also discussed regional cooperation and Spain’s involvement in financing infrastructure projects in Egypt.

The presidents of Ghana, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Africa have confirmed their attendance at the Business for Africa forum due to take place in Sharm El Sheikh on 20-21 February, says Investment Minister Ashraf Salman. He adds that a number of investment projects, including the Suez Canal Development Area, will be presented to officials and business leaders at the conference, which seeks to create better market integration and bolster trade in the continent. The conference will also see Egypt attempt to diversify its investments in Africa, Al Ahram reports.

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.

Egypt supports peace agreement in Colombia, says Egypt’s Permanent Representative to the U.S. Amr Abul Atta. Egypt voted in favor of the draft resolution unanimously adopted by the UNSC, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry. This resolution would set up a political mission in Colombia to be the coordinator of a “tripartite mechanism” signed with the Colombian government and the The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Sergei Naryshkin, the speaker of the Russian lower house of parliament, met with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and his Egyptian counterpart Ali Abdel Aal to reiterate statements from yesterday that Russia is interested in resuming tourist flights to Egypt in light of an improvement in security, Al Ahram reports. Their discussions also focused on combating terrorism and fundamentalist ideology.

Naryshkin’s visit precedes the second Egyptian-Russian forum, at which Trade Minister Tarek Kabil is set to meet with his Russian counterpart Denis Manturov, who heads a delegation of 100 of Russia’s leading companies on Monday. The forum will focus on strengthening economic cooperation between both countries and boosting exports, particularly in light of sanctions and boycotts between Russia on one side and the EU and Turkey on the other, Al Ahram reports.

A delegation of 30 Italian companies will visit Egypt in February, Al Masry Al Youm reported. The delegation will review investment opportunities in Egypt, according to Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil. Earlier this month the Italian Ambassador to Egypt said a delegation of 25 Italian companies would be arriving in February to discuss developments to the Suez Canal.

ENERGY

Shell Egypt to increase investments this fiscal year to EGP 438 mn
Shell Egypt is increasing its investments in FY2015-16 to EGP 438 mn, up 15% from the original plan, Al Borsa quotes Emad Hamdy, chairman of Bapteco (Shell’s JV) as saying. All exploratory wells for the first half of the year have been drilled, increasing the company’s output to 143k bbl of oil equivalent, he adds. Shell Egypt also produces around 500 mcf of gas per day, Hamdy says. (Read in Arabic)

CCED completes EGP 45 mn project to connect Al Qusayr to electricity grid
The Canal Company for Electricity Distribution has completed connecting the Red Sea town of Al Qusayr to the national grid at a total cost of EGP 45 mn, says company Chairman Mohamed El Sayed. The project was financed internally and serves 30,000 people in the region. (Read in Arabic)

ERC shareholders pay 7.5% of EGPC share in Mostorod
Shareholders of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) have paid 7.5% of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation’s (EGPC) share of the paid-up capital for the Mostorod project, Daily News Egypt reports. The 7.5% will be repaid from EGPC’s profits from the project once it is operational. A senior ERC official told DNE that EGPC will contribute 24% of the project’s paid-up capital. ERC will refine fuel oil from the adjacent Cairo Oil Refinery Company, with its diesel production being sold to EGPC at international prices under a 25-year offtake agreement.

INFRASTRUCTURE

EGP 300 mn to build 141 km Matrouh–Siwa Road
The Northwestern Coast Development Authority will build the first 141 km phase of the Matrouh–Siwa Road at a total cost of EGP 300 mn in the next fiscal year, according to authority head Ibrahim El Tantawy. The road is set to be 310 km long and was scheduled for completion this year. However, financing was not made available in time, says El Tantawy. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

Unilever Mashreq targets EGP 200 mn in agreements with FIHC
Unilever Mashreq is looking to grow the size of its contracts with the government-owned Food Industries Holding Company under the supply commodities umbrella to EGP 200 mn by the end of the current year, says head of sales Mohamed Abu El Yazid. Sales under the program rang in at EGP 130 mn last year, he added. The company is looking to boost the number of products under the umbrella, which currently stand at five that made up 10% of total sales last year. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

LG Egypt inputs held at ports, factory operating at 30% capacity
LG Egypt has had USD 23 mn worth of industrial inputs held at ports for over 25 days as USD continues to be in short supply, Al Mal reports. Company head Ashraf Hamdy says LG Egypt was only given USD 5 mn in trade financing in January, but it requires USD 28 mn a month to ensure that it operates at full capacity. As it stands, the factory is operating at only 30% capacity, with shutting down the plant being an option if the situation persists, Hamdy adds. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH + EDUCATION

Doctors’ Syndicate threatens lawsuit if health insurance bill passes as is
The Doctors’ Syndicate is threatening legal action if the current iteration of the health insurance pill passes muster in parliament, Daily News Egypt reports. “We refuse the newly suggested health insurance bill as it has substantial flaws that threaten the wellbeing of citizens, medical staff and the entire healthcare system,” Ehab Al-Taher, the syndicate chief, said during a press conference where the syndicate proposed amendments to the bill. The syndicate has voiced concerns over the bill before, citing funding sources, the quality of public hospitals and the jurisdiction under which institutions fall to supervise the bill as its main concerns.

REAL ESTATE + HOUSING

NUCA to issue 400 feddans in non-residential land over three stages
The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) will issue 400 feddans in non-residential land over three stages, to be sold through GAFI, after concluding the sale of the planned 1,500 feddans to be developed into integrated communities. The land plots are spread over several new cities, including the Dar Misr and Housing Ministry’s 1 mn housing unit project. NUCA announced previously that the sale is planned before the end of June 2016. (Read in Arabic)

Housing Ministry to offer real estate co-development opportunities to UAE-based investors  
The Housing Ministry plans to offer a number of real estate projects for co-development to UAE-based private and government investors either by sending a delegation to the UAE or through the Coordination Office of the UAE-funded Development Projects. This follows news that Housing Minister Mustafa Madbouly offered over 20 projects to Saudi investors in the new capital city and eight new cities. (Read in Arabic)

TOURISM

Elephantine Hotel inauguration on 13 February
The Elephantine Hotel in Aswan will be inaugurated on 13 February, says Egyptian General Co. for Tourism and Hotels Chairman Samir Hassan. The total investment cost of the project exceeds EGP 200 mn, he adds. The hotel and Movenpick Aswan will be merged to create Movenpick Elephantine. The company is also preparing to issue 6,000 sqm of land on the Elephantine Island to investors following the hotel’s inauguration. (Read in Arabic)

TELECOMS + ICT

NTRA extends ban on sales of new lines to non-telecom vendors to 1 February
The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority extended the ban on sales of SIM cards by third-party vendors to 1 February as Vodafone and Mobinil have yet to reach an agreement with the regulator over the model contract. The contract, which enforces strict guidelines on registering user data in the distribution of new cell lines, was supposed to have come into effect on 20 January. (Read in Arabic)

AUTOMOTIVE + TRANSPORTATION

Damietta Container signs agreements for shipping routes to the Black Sea
The Damietta Container & Cargo Handling Company (DCCHC) signed an agreement with Turkish container shipping line Arkas and Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd to run weekly shipments out of Damietta Port to ports in Turkey and the Black Sea. DCCHC will join Hapag-Lloyd’s Black Sea-Mediterranean Express Service route and will begin shipping with Arkas along its routes. (Read in Arabic)

OTHER BUSINESS NEWS OF NOTE

Government approves energy shipping JV with DP World and Sonker
Egypt’s government ratified an agreement to form a joint venture between the Suez Canal Development Project (SCDP), DP World and Sonker Bunkering Co. that would deliver gas and petroleum supplies to Egypt, says SCDP head Ahmed Darwish. SCDP will hold the majority stake of 60% of the JV, he adds. On another note, Darwish says the SCDP received three offers to build a solar panel manufacturing plant over the last few months. (Read in Arabic)

LEGISLATION + POLICY

Placeholder Civil Service Act back in play
Apparently, a placeholder law for the Civil Service Act is back on the table, with Legal Affairs Minister Magdy Agaty saying the new law would be introduced to the House of Representatives one week from today, Al Ahram reports. This contradicts reports citing government sources saying the government had backed away from the plan.

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

Three months to finalize roster of state-owned companies to be listed on EGX
It will take the government three months to finalize the list of state-owned companies that will be listed on the EGX, Investment Minister Ashraf Salman tells Al Masry Al Youm. The government is already working on a list of candidates, but Salman believes improving the security situation is key to attracting investments. He also says investment returns in Egypt are now increasing. (Read in Arabic)

Egypt’s budget deficit grows EGP 30 bn in the first five months of FY2015-16
Egypt’s budget deficit grew EGP 30 bn y-o-y and to 4.9% of GDP to EGP 139 bn in the first five months of FY2015-16 from EGP 108 bn, according to the Finance Ministry’s monthly report.  Spending on debt service for the period was the largest contributor to the budget deficit, growing 40.8% to EGP 96.3 bn, followed by spending on salaries and pensions for state employees, which grew 6.6% to EGP 84.9 bn. Subsidies, grants and benefits were up 38.9% to EGP 60.6 bn despite plummeting fuel prices. (Arabic pdf)

El Sisi reviews 2030 sustainable development plan ahead of putting it to a national dialogue
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with the ministers of planning, electricity, oil, housing and transport on Tuesday to review Egypt’s 2030 sustainable development plan. El Sisi also reviewed the ministers’ agenda for the year and progress on their respective projects, including the Electricity Ministry’s preparations for summer energy demand, the Housing Ministry’s infrastructure projects and the Oil Ministry’s fertilizer plant developments. The sustainable development plan will also be put up for national dialogue within the coming days. Some of the key economic goals of the plan are raising Egypt’s built-up area by 5% and building 7.5 mn homes. One of its key social policies include reducing infant mortality rates by 50% in five years. (Read in Arabic)

Hisham Geneina refuses to attend hearing
Hisham Geneina, head of the Central Auditing Organization, refused to attend his hearing and questioning related to a lawsuit filed by Justice Minister Ahmed El Zend. Geneina cited potential partiality by the prosecuting judge in the case, whom Geneina ran against in the Judges Club elections back in 2002. (Read in Arabic)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

The ports of Alexandria and Dekheila remained closed for the fifth consecutive day due to poor weather conditions, Al Borsa reports.

Think Egypt has a monopoly on paranoia? Think again. A vulture escaped from an Israeli nature reserve has been arrested in Lebanon on suspicion of espionage, according to the Guardian. No word on when or if the bird will be returned to the reserve or if it will meet the same delicious fate a stork did after it was arrested in Egypt in 2013.

CALENDAR