Naguib Sawiris’ Ora Developers is planning to invest at least USD 1 bn over the next five years to increase its footprint in Africa, the Egyptian bn’aire told the National on the sidelines of a real estate expo in Dubai last week. This includes building a seven-star hotel in Senegal and developing resorts in several countries across the continent, including Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan, he said. Ora is also eyeing Pakistan, with a residential project in Islamabad already in the works and a high-rise project in Karachi on its radar.

Sawiris trims gold exposure, eyes battery metals: The celebrity bn’aire is looking to invest in battery metals and reduce his exposure to gold, he told several media outlets during the conference. Sawiris’ La Mancha gold fund will offload its controlling stake in Canadian miner Golden Star Resources and reinvest the proceeds into metals used to make batteries — raw materials that investors expect to experience a boom in the coming years as the global auto industry transitions away from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. “The new funds and the cash coming from the sale will be reinvested,” Sawiris said in an interview with Reuters Thursday. “We’re trying a bit to diversify into other metals near gold. We're looking at nickel and zinc and titanium and lithium — battery materials.”

Golden Star said on 1 November that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese firm to sell the company for USD 470 mn. La Mancha holds a 33.4% stake in the company, which according to our calculation should net it almost USD 160 mn when the transaction closes in January.

Sawiris has been quite the gold bug in recent years, announcing in early 2020 that he had invested half of his capital into gold and earlier this year setting up his USD 1.4 bn gold fund. “I am just trying to hedge my gold position a bit,” Sawiris separately told Bloomberg. “I have an extremely high exposure to gold.”

La Mancha’s Altus Strategies should soon acquire licenses for another five gold exploration concessions in the Eastern Desert, Sawiris told Reuters. The company acquired four exploration licenses earlier this year in the first government bid round under new, more investor-friendly terms, and bid for another five in a second round held this year.

Also from Sawiris:

• Reducing the carbon footprint: Sawiris’ mining companies will transition to using only solar power and is considering investing in a renewable energy fund, he told the National, without disclosing further details.
• Sawiris isn’t fazed by political turmoil in Sudan: “We are not frightened by the political risks or the turmoil there, and we are very keen to come in,” he told the newswire. Sudan is one of Africa’s biggest gold producers and is working to open up its gold trade, Reuters notes.
• BTC who? Sawiris has no intention of entering the crypto market, despite some saying gold has lost out to BTC. “I’m still very bullish [on gold] and it is a safe haven. People now are comparing BTC with gold; it’s a wrong comparison,” he told the National. Crypto is too volatile and too much of a “speculative” investment, especially since regulations for crypto are still taking shape.
• Possible exit from Euronews? The Sawiris family’s Media Globe Networks is planning to divest its 88% stake in Euronews between now and the beginning of 2022, the b’naire told the National.