Back to the complete issue
Monday, 5 June 2017

London terror attacks, mobile payments framework, and Tiran and Sanafir agreement

After a spell of Ramadan-itis, Egypt’s media power couple were back on the airwaves last night, and both were concerned with Saturday night’s terrorist attacks in London. Lamees Al Hadidy, the better half of the two, also recapped reactions from the banking sector on the government’s new mobile payments strategy.

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib suggested that the London attacks will help sway the international community on officially designating the Ikhwan a terror group (watch, runtime 2:06) and attempted (rather unsuccessfully) to analyze British Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech after the incident. He criticized the UK for failing to take tougher measures against terrorism sooner (watch, runtime 6:04).

Lamees also stressed the need for the UK to take serious action against terror groups and their financiers and sympathizers, accusing the country of acting as a “safe haven” for the Ikhwan on her biweekly Ramadan spot on CBE Extra News.

She then spoke with CIB Chairman Hisham Ezz Al Arab about the National Payments Council’s decisions from Saturday. Ezz Al Arab, who is also head of the Federation of Egyptian Banks, says he expects mobile payment solutions to be widely adopted. Ezz Al Arab said that he expects forthcoming legislation on mobile payments will see the replacement of archaic banking rules from 1960s that are still in place today and that mandate keeping paper records.

The National Bank of Egypt’s head of retail banking Hazem Hegazy also told Lamees that the draft law will include clauses to regulate electronic payments and utility bill payments (watch both call-ins, runtime: 14:33).

Lamees also spoke to MP Salah Hasaballah about the handover of Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia. Hasaballah told the host that many MPs are against the agreement and will ask House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal to live broadcast the plenary session vote so that people would know who’s for and who’s against.

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.