TL;DR

House asked to investigate Abraaj’s “role” in Egypt’s healthcare sector. (Speed Round)

Barclays is looking to exit Africa, the WSJ says — could Egypt be on the auction block? (Speed Round)

Cabinet eyes as much as USD 15 bn in finance, investment from China as Xi kicks of Mideast tour today with visit to Riyadh. (What We’re Tracking Today, Speed Round)

Moody’s likes the CBE’s new lending regulations. But the SME initiative? Not so much. (Speed Round)

Investment bank watch: OTMT due diligence on CI Capital set to wrap in two weeks; Pharos eyes regional growth, brings on Signet’s Angus Blair. (Speed Round)

What were Egypt’s top brands in 2015? (Speed Round)

House of Reps passes 11 pieces of economic legislation including amendments to investment, capital markets, income tax acts. 94 acts left to pass… (Parliament Watch)

Dire Straits will play Egypt’s national theme song at Soma Bay. (What We’re Tracking This Week)

Whatsapp has dropped its USD 1 annual subscription fee (On Your Way Out)

By the Numbers

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

China’s President Xi Jinping starts his Middle East tour today. Saudi Arabia is the first stop on the 19-23 January visit, followed by Egypt and Iran, the the Chinese leader due to land here tomorrow. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met yesterday with cabinet members including the ministers of trade and industry and of transport to prepare for the visit, according to a statement from Ittihadiya. The presidency noted the ministers reviewed with the president draft agreements and MoUs on projects in transportation, housing, electricity, agriculture and higher and technical education. Egypt is eyeing a USD 15 bn finance package from China as part of the visit, says International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr. (More in Speed Round)

Xi’s trip comes as statistics released overnight show China’s economy grew last year at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century. Growth figures for the fourth quarter undershot market expectations, coming in at 6.8%, the slowest quarterly rate of expansion since the global financial crisis, “putting pressure on Beijing to roll out more support measures as fears of a sharper slowdown panic investors,” Reuters reports. (Oh, and did we mention that China’s top securities market regulator has offered to fall on his sword “for mishandling a recent crisis that wiped over $5 trillion off the value of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets”?)

You can expect wide international coverage of the tour, which was originally due to have taken place in 2015, but was scrapped after the conflict in Yemen broke out so that China would not appear to be “taking sides” with a visit to Riyadh. The Financial Times (paywall) notes this morning that “China’s role in the region has been noticeable for its absence in recent years” — it’s the first trip to the Mideast by a Chinese leader in seven years. Notably, the FT doesn’t think China’s going to be getting much love from the newly opened Iran: “Iranian businesses are less enthusiastic, however. They say Chinese banks and businesses penalized them with high commissions and delays in deliveries when they had no choice but to buy Chinese products.” You can also find very solid coverage this morning in Reuters and The Diplomat. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, looks at what to expect from the trip in broad terms.

The Ismail cabinet will hold its weekly meeting today instead of the usual Wednesday in light of Xi’s visit, AMAY reports.

Efma is on the second day of its Banks of the Future in the Middle East conference in Dubai (use # #EfmaDubai16 on Twitter to follow the events) while in Abu Dhabi, the World Future Energy Summit is also in the works. A number of initiatives are expected to be unveiled during the energy summit, including a solar project in Jordan with Masdar.

The dust storm that seemed to keep nearly everyone in Cairo at home on Monday and made traffic for the rest of us almost bearable is set to subside today. If that’s all it took to make the commute slightly more bearable, then we mourn the dust storm’s passing.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

The World Economic Forum kicks off its annual meeting in Davos on Wednesday (get an advance preview from Reuters’ “A world divided: Elites descend on Swiss Alps amid rising inequality”).

On Thursday President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is holding a mini-summit in Addis Ababa for GERD negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan. El Sisi will be there for the 26th African Union Summit being held from 21 to 31 January.

Dire Straits are playing this Friday at Soma Bay, which is appropriate considering their most famous track Money for Nothing may at this point be considered our country’s theme song.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Lamis El Hadidy spoke last night with Microsoft GM Khaled Abdel Kader and Chairman of Banque du Caire Mounir Zahed as well as Mansour Amer and the ministers of electricity and housing on last night’s episode of her show Hona El Assema on CBC.

El Zahed told El Hadidy that while there had been moves to support SMEs in the past, recent policy initiatives at the central bank and in government mean it’s different this time around. Banks have now developed systems to better assess SMEs for financing, he said. Banque Misr is using a scoring system for SMEs that requires more credentials as the business grows. “So when the business reaches EGP 25,000, for instance, we require a commercial registry and so on.” This scoring system, El Zahed added, can be used for the first year of business “until they … become more bankable.”

El Zahed told El Hadidy that the SMEs Banque du Caire financed have provided around 700k jobs and represent about 10% of the bank’s portfolio. “Now that we have this initiative with low interest rate and less complicated procedures to get loans, I am hoping we can change the culture of favoring steady employment over entrepreneurship.”

Microsoft is also looking to make a buck by making life easier for SMEs and startups by cooperating with the ministries of communication and local development to create a platform for SMEs in various sectors. “The problem SMEs face is not just financing, it’s how to develop human resources, get legal advice, market themselves or even as basic as how to evaluate the business idea,” Abdel Kader said. Building on initiatives like Entaleq and Mashrou’ak, Microsoft’s platform will help SMEs and entrepreneurs register and discuss their ideas with experts. “The aim is that in 18 months we help 100k working companies, startups or existing SMES,” Abdel Kader said.

And remember that long-lost dream of a one-stop-shop for investors that GAFI had promised? Microsoft is promising to help make it happen through developing an application with GAFI and the ICT Ministry.

CEO of Amer Group Mansour Amer also called El Hadidy last night to reveal the group executed a 125-mn-share stock buyback. “We believe the current share prices do not reflect real prices […] this purchase affirms our trust in the Egyptian economy,” Amer told El Hadidy.

El Hadidy was on a roll last night, interviewing Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker and Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Shaker announced that Egypt is signing six agreements with China, including two framework agreements to finance the electricity segment. “Three contracts will be signed with China for an electricity station that is equal in production to the High Dam,” Shaker said. A hopeful Shaker said he is aiming to go beyond fulfilling local needs and onto exporting to a number of Arab countries. Forget exports — living without electricity blackouts next summer would be great. Did we mention the power was out for the entire city of Hurghada for 15 minutes on Sunday?

Madbouly also discussed the Chinese visit, confirming that a Chinese company is set to execute the Administrative Capital project.

In non-Ibrahim Eissa fashion, the host dedicated a segment to the economy for the second night in a row, hosting Deputy Finance Minister for Treasury Affairs Mohamed Moeit. But in complete Eissa fashion, he had Moeit give us a Finance 101 crash course on state budgeting. Beyond educating the masses, Moeit admitted one of the biggest challenges to curbing the budget deficit is tax evasion on the back of the sprawling informal economy. “Tax income grew last year, but it is still rather low,” he said.

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SPEED ROUND

Member of the House demands inquiry into Abraaj’s “role in Egypt’s healthcare sector”: A member of the House of Representatives submitted a motion asking parliament to look into Abraaj Capital’s role in Egypt’s healthcare sector, Al Borsa reports. Rep. Ayman Aboul Ela says Abraaj’s “multinational setup” allows it to be “unclear” about its complete shareholder structure. Abraaj’s expansion in Egypt’s healthcare sector through its stake in Integrated Diagnostics Holdings and its hospital holdings, including Cairo Medical Center, Cleopatra Hospital, Nile Badrawi Hospital and Al Shorouk Hospital, could be viewed as monopolistic, he says. The MP is concerned that Abraaj could be using this “market power” to control the cost of healthcare and destroy the national healthcare system. Abraaj partner Mustafa Abdel-Wadood refuses the accusations and Al Borsa quotes a statement of his from last March saying Abraaj only controls 300 beds of a market that has more than 100k beds, an estimate that goes up to 180k beds once public hospitals are included as well.

Anyway, sir, you’re a bit late: On Sunday, Abraaj Group announced it completed the sale of its entire stake in Integrated Diagnostics Holdings last November, according to a statement from the firm.

…They’re looking to Tunisia now: Abraaj Group is also investing in Tunisian personal care product manufacturer Société d’Articles Hygiéniques (SAH) through its second generation North Africa Fund, acquiring a 49% stake in JM Holding, the company that holds a majority share in SAH. “Abraaj and SAH are partnering to consolidate the company’s market position and expand its footprint across Sub-Saharan Africa by enhancing its distribution models, improving production efficiency and focusing on product innovation… the company plans to build manufacturing plants in Western Africa to facilitate its growth,” Abraaj said in its press release.

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Barclays looking to exit Africa, WSJ says, raising question on Egypt: U.K. lender Barclays Plc, which “built up its African banking network over nearly a century, making it one of the leading Western banks, is planning a gradual withdrawal from the continent, the Wall Street Journal claims. “Barclays executives have concluded that being the majority owner of a sprawling African business no longer fits with the bank’s strategy, according to people familiar with the matter,” the paper says, adding that, “The bank is drawing up plans to sell some of its 62% stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd., the publicly traded entity that houses most of its African business. Where does Egypt fit in? “Outside its 12-country Africa unit, Barclays also controls a bank in Egypt, which is profitable and could attract bidders from the Middle East, bankers add,” according to the Journal.

OTMT is expected to complete due diligence on CI Capital in two weeks, OTMT VP Tamer Al Mahdy told Al Borsa. OTMT hired Deloitte to act as due diligence advisor.

Pharos Holding is planning to double its assets under management from EGP 800 mn this year and to expand regionally, CEO Elwy Taymour tells Reuters. “I don’t want to wait until we get to the top of the cycle to start expanding, I’d rather invest at the bottom of the cycle when things are cheaper … So this is probably the right time to do it, and we have regional ambitions,” the newswire quotes Taymour as saying. The firm has a pipeline of nine M&A transactions in “retail, beverage, education, pharmaceutical and financial services sectors with a total value of EGP 3-4 bn,” Reuters says, as well as two IPOs. Pharos will staff-up to grow, and one of the new hires is Angus Blair, chairman of Signet LLC, who was appointed COO and board member of Pharos Holdings. Elsewhere yesterday, Taymour described the government’s dealings with investment banks over marketing EEDC projects as “not serious,” adding that it moved to market them itself even after banks, including his own, lined up a number of investment offers for the projects, Al Mal reports.

Shalakany Law to open office in UAE: Shalakany Law Office is looking to expand regionally, senior partner Emad El Shalakany tells Al Borsa. The practice is set to open an office in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE, and expects business volume to increase as mergers and acquisitions rise. Emad El Shalakany expects the business environment in Egypt to improve in 2016, but urges the government to revisit legislation and suggests linking the tax rate to the nature of businesses.

Facebook, Google and YouTube were the best perceived brands in Egypt in 2015, according to the YouGov BrandIndex. Beyond the internet, Almarai topped the list for beverages, Pizza Hut was king for casual dining and National Bank of Egypt was the best perceived banking brand, according to the index.

Mmmm, grease… Fast-food player Cook Door will roll out 12 new branches this year and grow its top line nearly 70% to EGP 700 mn as part of a plan to invest EGP 200 mn in expansion over the next two years or so, Al-Borsa reports.

Real estate is affordable in Egypt, says Investment Minister Ashraf Salman. The price of land per meter in Egypt, he says, is cheap when compared to Dubai and even in comparable markets like Tunisia or Jordan, he tells Al Masry Al Youm.

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Egypt’s new lending regulations are credit positive for banks, Moody’s Investor Service says (paywall). The new lending “macro-prudential initiatives” are credit positive, designed to contain the credit risk in banks’ growing retail portfolios and reduce asset quality vulnerability from concentration risk. As for retail lending, Moody’s believes the new measures will help avert “overheating,” which would also mitigate credit risk. Unharmed by these restrictions is CIB, which already has more stringent internal limits, but NBE and Banque Misr are set to benefit from the measures “since loan concentrations for these two government-owned lenders are the highest among the banks,” according to Moody’s. (We’re hearing from senior bankers a rather different perspective on this story; we’ll be back with more on this front later this week or early next.)

However, increasing lending to SMEs will have an adverse effect on the banks’ asset quality, according to a separate Moody’s report (paywall). Last week, the CBE instructed banks to increase lending to SMEs to 20% of their loan books over the next four years. “The rapid growth in SME loans necessary to reach the 20% target will likely weaken loan performance, a credit negative for Egyptian banks,” says the report. The CBE also set an interest rate cap of 5% on the loans, but since the CBE has allowed banks to fund the loans using their required reserves, “the profitability benefit will be higher for banks particularly once we include the fee income banks will earn from this business.”

The Moody’s reports are so far getting limited play in the media, with coverage from Ahram Online (here and here) and Daily News Egypt.

Asset quality notwithstanding, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi encouraged the government and the central bank to press ahead with its SME financing initiatives at a meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and CBE Governor Tarek Amer yesterday, Al Mal reports. He also supported import restrictions set by the CBE and the Trade Ministry and urged cooperation on all levels to increase exports. An Ittihadiya spokesman also stated that the coming period will see banks and companies list more shares on the EGX to “stabilize capital markets” in light of the bourse’s record declines this week. Finance Minister Hany Dimian and Trade and Industry Minister Tarek Kabil also attended Monday’s meeting.

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Egypt is in negotiations with the Export-Import Bank of China for a USD 15 bn financing package to prop up FX reserves and fund projects in energy, transport and sanitation, according to International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr, Ahram Online reports. The minister has also confirmed that Egypt is in talks with China for a USD 700 mn loan for the National Bank of Egypt and a USD 100 mn loan to Banque Misr, following conflicting reports in local media on the exact amount. Her statements in AMAY also clarify that the loans are still being negotiated, after state media agencies implied they were set in stone. Nasr was very optimistic that Egypt would be included among the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) first wave of development loans. However, Egypt may not be able to receive loans from the AIIB as it has yet to ratify the Articles of Agreement that form the newly launched bank — and the CBE has not deposited Egypt’s contribution with the bank, according senior government sources speaking to Al Borsa. Egypt’s membership will be contingent on parliament’s ratification and the CBE’s approval on contributing.

Meanwhile, the Electricity Ministry is looking to ink USD 6 bn in preliminary agreements for power plants with Shanghai Electric Corporation, Donfang Electric and Sinohydro during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit, a ministry source is quoted in Al Borsa as saying. These projects will include two coal-fired plants (one 4GW, the other 2GW) and a 2GW pumped-storage hydroelectricity plant. The ministry has yet to decide whether the agreements will be on a BOO or EPC-plus-finance basis.

And while we’re on investments: Egypt’s foreign direct investment (FDI) hit USD 1.5 bn in 1Q2015-16, Investment Minister Ashraf tells Reuters on Monday. “I am bullish in the second half we will see more FDI flow in the country,” he said on the sidelines of the World Future Energy summit in Abu Dhabi. Egypt is expected to meet its target of USD 8-10 bn FDI, which the minister anticipates will be concentrated in the oil and gas, renewable energy, real estate and infrastructure sectors.

Tourism revenue fell 15% year-on-year to USD 6.1 bn in FY2015, down from USD 7.4 bn in FY2014, according to what Al Borsa claims are official CBE figures that have been sent to the Tourism Ministry for verification. The number of tourists visiting Egypt fell 6% to 9.3 mn during 2015, from 9.9 mn in 2014. Tourism Promotion Authority VP Ahmed Hamdy confirmed that the number of tourists fell to 9.3 mn, adding that tourist nights fell by 13 mn to 84 mn from 97 mn in 2014. Hamdy states that lost Egypt EGP 4.4 bn in revenues over two months, according to Al Mal.

Standard & Poor’s reports that overall sovereign creditworthiness in the MENA region has deteriorated since it last published six months ago. “We rate nine of the 13 MENA sovereigns in the ‘BBB’ rating category or above. The average MENA sovereign rating is now close to ‘BBB’. When weighted by GDP, the average moves closer to ‘BBB+’,” says S&P’s sovereign analyst Trevor Cullinan in a report published yesterday entitled “Middle East And North Africa Sovereign Rating Trends 2016” (paywall). The nominal GDP weighted average has fallen more sharply than the unweighted average over the past six months because the agency lowered the rating on Saudi Arabia in October 2015 to ‘A+’ from ‘AA-‘ due to the deterioration in its fiscal position. The average rating for oil-rich Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia is currently close to ‘A’ compared to ‘A+’ prior to the downgrade of Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah are closer to ‘BB+’. In November 2015, S&P lowered its outlook on Egypt to stable from positive, adding that fiscal pressures in the GCC due to tumbling oil prices could affect the support Egypt receives from the nations.

Saudi Arabia is launching a new USD 133 mn ICT fund called “Riyadh Taqnia Capital” to fund startups, according to the International Business Times. The fund, which  was announced last month on Al Hayat, will be headquartered in Riyadh, but will operate from California. It will “also explore investments in energy, advanced material and sustainability.” Some of the partners in the fund are reported to be Riyadh Financial Capital, General Pension Fund and General Investment Fund.

Germany raised the prospect of intervention in Libya, warning that a North African “Axis of Terror” could result in more refugees. When asked about the possibility of deploying troops in Libya, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said “Germany will not be able to evade responsibility for contributing its share,” Reuters reported. The minister didn’t give further details on the nature of involvement but said “implementing law and order was the most important goal in Libya,” according to the wire.

Making lemons out lemonade: “Oil price falls below USD 28 a barrel, or less than the cost of an actual barrel” reads a headline from the Independent. With the lifting of sanctions off Iran, more cheap oil is set to flood the market, sending prices only one direction: down. The piece rounds up Tweets listing a variety of things currently cheaper than a barrel of oil. “A barrel of WTI crude is 3 times cheaper than a steel drum to put it in,” says one Tweet. “Two large pizzas” says another. And what costs USD 1,850 per barrel? Perrier, according to a tweet.

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

• Children as young as seven are being used in the hazardous mining of cobalt for use in smartphone and automobile batteries, according to a report jointly published by Amnesty International and DRC-based Afrewatch yesterday evening. While the firms themselves are not being accused of wrongdoing, the product of child labor is thought to have made its way into the supply chains of firms including Apple, Samsung and Volkswagen, among many others.
• Widening gap in institutional trust between elites and the masses: One might think that elite “informed publics” would have less trust in their country’s institutions than do the masses, but the opposite is actually the case, according to a survey of 28 countries (not including Egypt, unfortunately) by the world’s largest independent PR firm Edelman in their recently released 2016 Trust Barometer survey, as noted by Reuters. The difference in trust in national institutions between elites and mass populations is widening in most countries surveyed, with a double-digit divide in a number of developed countries, led by the United States, United Kingdom and France, respectively. “The consequence of this is populism — exemplified by Trump and Le Pen,” Edelman president and CEO Richard Edelman told Reuters.

PARLIAMENT WATCH

The House of Representatives passed 11 key pieces of economic legislation, including amendments to the investment, capital markets, income tax, joint stock companies, and real estate finance acts. These were part of the 200 bills and amendments approved by parliament during last night’s vote. The House will vote again on amendments to the Competition Protection and Anti-trust Act as it failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority to pass, according to a MENA news agency statement in Al Borsa. Parliament also passed legislation ratifying the FY2014-15 and FY2015-16 state budgets, which Speaker of the House Ali Abdel Aal characterized as a formality.

Last night’s voice brings the current tally of acts voted on to 248, with 94 left to go, according to AMAY.

Parliament’s rejection of the Mineral Resources Act was praised yesterday by the Head of the FEI’s Petroleum and Mining Division, Tamer Abu Bakr, and Head of the Construction Materials Division, Ahmed Abdel Hamid. The two attacked the legislation’s executive regulations, which place a 14% royalty on quarries when the global average is 5%, charges rent at EGP 9 per sqm and places further restrictions on the allotment of space within quarries. Investors associations had reached an impasse with the Local Development Ministry over amending the act’s regulations, said Abu Bakr, while Abdel Hamid called on the parliament to hold on to its position until the regulations are amended, AMAY reports.

The government is looking into amending five articles of the Civil Service Act, said Planning Minister Ashraf Al Araby, who didn’t specify which articles might be tweaked / scrapped / replaced. The act failed to pass muster at the House of Representative’s Economic Committee last week.

The Universal Health Insurance Act might also have trouble getting parliamentary go-ahead after seven political parties and the Doctor’s Syndicate refused to endorse it, according to Al Borsa. The current form of the draft law must do more to guarantee the rights of patients and ensure the quality of hospital care, said Head of the Doctor’s Syndicate Hassan Kheiry. Other syndicate officials criticized articles that exempt only individuals earning under EGP 250 per month and families with income of under EGP 300 per month from paying into the state health insurance fund. They argue that those earning below the minimum wage of EGP 1,200 per month must be exempt.

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Bestselling novelist Alaa Al Aswany is in the Financial Times in a piece headlined “Openings: Revolution in the air at Egypt’s elite enclave,” that concludes: “Now it appears that even in the Gezira Club, that redoubt of the wealthy, the young people are defending the principles of the revolution: ‘Bread, freedom and social justice.’” (As of 5:45am CLT, the piece doesn’t appear paywalled — a rarity at the FT — for those non-subscribers among you interested in checking it out.)

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has revoked the citizenship of a dual Egyptian-Israeli national because she served in the IDF without permission from the Egyptian Defense Minister, Arutz Sheva reports. The 24-year-old Dena Ovadia immigrated to Israel 10 years ago with her family. It’s hardly earth-shattering news, but it does beg the question: Doesn’t this imply that Egyptian Jews under the age of 90 were living in Egypt in recent history? Someone should probably tell Time.

Egypt’s Culinary Gems: Whenever the nebulous concept of “upholding the Egyptian identity” is invoked, we’re never really sure what that really means other than being late to everything and having a genetic predisposition to molokhiyya. Slow Food just gets us. An EU-funded initiative set to help “prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat,” ran a piece on Egyptian cuisine on Monday, saying “Egypt’s rich food culture tends to be undervalued internationally.” (Editor’s note: Koshary will nevertheless remain banned at Enterprise Global Headquarters.)

German state media outlet DW has a scathing look at Egypt in ‘Five years on: Egypt after the Arab Spring: Imprisoned journalists, terrorist attacks and a silenced opposition: Where is Egypt today ahead of the 5th anniversary of the Arab Spring?’

DIPLOMACY + FOREIGN TRADE

Commencement of technical studies on GERD delayed, studies will not be completed before completion of the dam: Despite reports from Daily News Egypt stating that studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam were set to be complete by next month, the signing and commencement of such studies has yet to take place, as we have noted for several months and as reported by Al Shorouk and Ahram Online, among others. The latter gives a total timeframe for said technical studies of approximately one year from commencement to completion. As noted previously, the GERD is set to complete construction by 2017.

… Moghazy has been making some rather, um, interesting comments in the press over the past several days, calling the Declaration of Principles signed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia an “umbrella that holds a positive vibe between the three countries,” according to the aforementioned Ahram Online piece. On Monday, Moghazy also claimed that an enormous aquifer has been discovered in Minya that stretches across Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Eritrea and could provide Egypt with water to last 100 years.

The UAE’s Minister of State Sultan Al Jaber is visiting Cairo next week, according to Al Masry Al Youm. He did not give more details about his visit, but assured the newspaper that the UAE continues to support Egypt economically and to partner in development projects.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Al Dairi is in Cairo to discuss political reconciliation in his country, Al Ahram says. Al Dairi met with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and both discussed issued including the formation of a national unity government.

ENERGY

16 consortiums qualify for West Nile wind farm tender
Sixteen companies and consortiums have qualified for a tender issued by the NREA to build a 250 MW wind farm in the West Nile area, sources within the Ministry of Electricity tell Al Mal. The list includes Saudi Arabia’s ACWA Power and UAE’s Masdar. The tender was restricted to companies that have built at least three wind farms at a minimum capacity of 50 MW each, the source adds. The project is the second of three renewable energy projects announced last August to add a total production capacity of 500 MW. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS + COMMODITIES

GASC imports 35,500 tons of sunflower oil for the Supply Ministry
Egypt’s General Authority for Supply Commodities bought 35,500 tons of sunflower oil in an international tender, Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy says. The oil will be added to the ministry’s ration system to ensure adequate supplies domestically and reduce import costs. Hanafy says deliveries will begin on 10 February and added that the government is developing a cooking oil depot in Alexandria to increase its capacity to 72,000 tons. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

No new investments before gas, FX shortages are resolved, says Solb Misr
The Solb Misr Group has suspended new investments in 2016, citing gas and FX shortages, according to group head Gamal El Garhy. Solb Misr recently received an operational license for a steel factory with a capacity of 1 mn tons, he says, but has been unable to begin production. El Garhy seems optimistic, however, that the shortages will be resolved in 2016 due to the CBE’s governorship. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH + EDUCATION

Indian university, hospital in Egypt soon, says Indian ambassador
A joint Indian-Egyptian university will be inaugurated in Egypt soon, says Sanjay Bhattacharyya, the Indian ambassador to Egypt. There are also talks about building a hospital, using Indian investments, as well as a car production plant, he adds. (Read in Arabic)

EGP 34.6 bn expected size of pharma sales this year, says Pfizer Egypt
Pfizer Egypt expects pharma sales to grow 14% to EGP 34.6 bn this year from EGP 30.4 bn last year, public relations head Ashraf El Kholy tells Al Borsa. The market achieves an annual growth of 12-14%, making it an attractive market for investors despite issues with pricing and registration, he notes. Pfizer ranked seventh in terms of sales in 2014, according to an IMS Health report, with Novartis ranking first and GSK second. (Read in Arabic)

REAL ESTATE + HOUSING

Egyptians spent EGP 5.1 bn on real estate in Dubai in 2015
1,390 Egyptians spent around EPP 5.1 bn on real estate in Dubai in 2015, according to a UAE government report. This puts Egyptians in second place after Jordanians in terms of Arab real estate investment (excluding GCC nationals). The total number of real estate investors in Dubai was 55,928, while the total market size was the equivalent of EGP 283 bn. Among GCC investments, Saudi Arabia was second, with 3,259 investors and the equivalent of EGP 18.8 bn invested out of a total of EGP 93.81 bn from the Gulf. (Read in Arabic)

TOURISM

The Pyramids of Giza site is expected to get a facelift, according to reports from a meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and the ministers of tourism, antiquities and housing, AMAY reports. The meeting discussed renovations to the site to help make it more tourist-friendly. No word yet on exactly what the renovations entail, but may we suggest we rethink having one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World overlook a KFC and Pizza Hut?

BANKING + FINANCE

Banque Misr announces SME financing package
Banque Misr plans to issue new SME loans with a 5% interest rate, Al Mal reports. The bank also plans to provide letters of credit and guarantees to new startups in addition to financial consulting services as part of its move to have SMEs constitute 20% of its loan portfolio by 2020, in accordance with CBE directives. (Read in Arabic)

OTHER BUSINESS NEWS OF NOTE

Fishermen to blame for dead fish, says Environmental Affairs Ministry
Fishermen and illegal fishing are to blame for the large number of dead fish floating along the Nile in Kafr El Sheikh, says the Environmental Affairs Ministry. Fishermen are employing irregular feeding patterns and sinking cages to the bottom of the river bed to dodge regulators, both of which are causing dissolved oxygen levels in the water to drop, hence killing the fish. (Read in Arabic)

LEGISLATION + POLICY

Goods imported by trademark owners will be released if registration is complete
Goods that are imported by registered trademark owners will be released if their importers and international manufacturers abroad complete registration with the General Organization for Export and Import Control. Amwal Al Ghad adds that finished goods imported will not be released until all of the registration requirements are met. The documents required for registration, in accordance with Law 992/2015, can be found here. (Read in Arabic)

NATIONAL SECURITY

Russian team in Egypt to assess airport security, potentially restore flights
A team of Russian experts arrived in Cairo to begin assessing airport security measures nationwide, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The assessment will include checking airport halls, planes, baggage handling areas and airports’ perimeter security and will involve a team of representatives from the Russian Embassy in Cairo. The newspaper says the results of the inspection will determine whether or not flights between Egypt and Russia will be resumed. (Read in Arabic)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

Whatsapp has dropped its USD 1 annual subscription fee and will look at new ways of making revenue this year that don’t involve ads, the company said in a blog post. How will it generate revenue? “Starting this year, we will test tools that allow you to use WhatsApp to communicate with businesses and organizations that you want to hear from. That could mean communicating with your bank about whether a recent transaction was fraudulent, or with an airline about a delayed flight.”