Visa on arrival cancelled for all nationalities. Arabtec deal within 10 days? GB Auto wins bus tender. Egypt to be self-sufficient in energy by 2018? Regulations on new cement licenses within 10 days.

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Who exactly won Israeli general elections? Exit polling as of early this morning indicates nothing certain, with PM Netanyahu’s Likud party in a tight race with his opposition the Zionist Union. This, of course, did not stop Netanyahu from declaring victory. Meanwhile, the NYT has an interesting piece which points out that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman inadvertently supported the unification of disparate Arab Israeli parties into one coherent bloc called the Joint Arab list, which has managed to come in third. Netanyahu isapparently rather unhappy about that particular development.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS MONTH

The 18th COMESA Heads of State Summit is set to take place in Addis Ababa from 30-31 March, with a number of preparatory meetings preceding it, including the 34th Meeting of the Administrative and Budgetary Committee on 20 March, followed by the Intergovernmental Committee (IC), the COMESA Business Council (CBC) forum, the Council of Ministers, EPA Council of Ministers and the 14th Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs. (Read)

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

Egypt’s post-EEDC news hangover continues, with an epically slow news day extending to last night’s talk shows. Lamees El Hadidy aired a number of previously recorded interviews that were conducted on the sidelines of the EEDC with prominent businessmen including Qalaa Holdings Chairman and Founder Ahmed Heikal and BG COO Sami Iskander.

“It is now up to the government to make sure that they hold on to every investor that has shown interest in investing in Egypt. These investors are the ones who can create jobs very quickly,” said Heikal. “At ERC, our under construction refinery in Mostorod, we will go from 3,000 employees today to 14,000 employees within 3 months” during the construction phase.

“Investors who have had a good experience in Egypt are ultimately the best ambassadors for the country. They will attract more investment. This is what we at Qalaa have done and what we will continue to do.”

“What do you say to people who claim that we are selling out the country to the highest bidder at this conference,” asked El Hadidy.

“Anyone who does not see that FDI is good for the country has a serious problem. We are not talking about privatization, these are people investing in new projects. Look at the amount of cranes that we have in Egypt right now. Look at what Majid Al-Futtaim is doing or what we are doing in Mostorod — this is not privatization; these are new projects that will create new jobs. We do however have to recognize that at this stage in our economic reform process, there will be segments of the population who will face some pressure, which is why I have always called for the establishment of a social safety net. Cash subsidies and an increase in government pension plans are going to be essential. By removing subsidies you are taking from the rich and giving to the poor,” said Heikal.

Heikal noted that the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), Qalaa’s USD 3.7 bn refinery is now 50% complete and first product will be ready in May 2017.

“BG is the only energy company that did not stop investing in Egypt after 2011,” said Iskander. “We consider ourselves Egypt’s partners. After 2011 we invested USD 3.5 bn; today, we are investing an additional USD 1.5 bn and we have just announced that we will be investing USD 4 bn over the next two years. Energy investments are crucial at this point because there can be no economic development without energy.”

On the controversial issue of importing gas from Israel, Iskander said, “Before we talk about importing gas from Israel — or Cyprus for that matter — we need to answer one important question: Are gas imports good for Egypt? In light of the current energy crisis, the answer is clearly, ‘Yes.’ Egypt has the potential to be a regional hub for energy and we already have the infrastructure in place to import gas. We can go to Cyprus or Israel and purchase the gas for an attractive price because we already have that infrastructure in place.”

Iskander also highlighted the need for more energy efficiency in Egypt: “Conservation has never been on our minds because energy was cheap. This is no longer the case, it is neither cheap nor available.”

SPEED ROUND

<RANT> WE NEVER REALLY WANTED 20 MN TOURISTS A YEAR ANYWAY, RIGHT? Aside from the Israeli general election, the other neck-to-neck competition the world is watching this morning is the race to the bottom for the worst possible idea ever: the announced end of tourist visas on arrival in Egypt versus Starbucks launching their “Race Together” campaign, whereby the coffee chain’s baristas willconduct meandering discussions with customers on race relations in the United States while other people standing in line behind them wait. All of this is unfortunately real.

On the tourist visa front, all visitors from all nations, without exception, will need to obtain a visa from an Egyptian diplomatic mission prior to departure, with a single exception of some form for pre-approved tour groups. A media advisor to the Ministry of Tourism confirmed the decision to Reuters, and a photo of the U.S. version of the announcement is circulating on Twitter. The reasoning behind the decision, according to unnamed security sources speaking to Reuters, is “to give intelligence services more time to assess individuals who want to visit Egypt, where security has suffered from an Islamist insurgency centered in the Sinai region … Security sources said another reason for the change in visa rules was to put stronger controls on visits by Western human rights activists who have been highly critical of Egypt’s tough crackdown on Islamists and liberal activists.” Mada Masr and Ahram Online have takes in which Federation of Tourism Chambers chief Elhamy El-Zayat is almost audibly trying not to lose his mind over the change.

The news comes just days after Reuters profiled the Tourism Ministry’s “20 mn tourists generating USD 20 bn annually by 2020” plan, which we noted a couple of weeks back. How’s industry media covering this? Look no further than the ever-influential Skift: Egypt Makes It Harder for Tourists to Visit While Indonesia Opens Up. Meanwhile, who just created a visa-on-arrival program? India. (And if the cancellation of the visa regime sounds familiar, that’s because we tried it once before. For a couple of days in 2011.)

On a related note: Maybe our next international tourism campaign can feature red tape? Egypt will hold an international pitch for an agency to run Egypt’s inbound tourism promotion account through 2018, Aswat Masriya says, citing Tourism Minister Khaled Rami’s remarks on Tuesday. The campaign will seek to target “principal and promising markets,” according to statements made by the minister to state news agency MENA. The deadline for submitting tender applications is 31 May.

With regard to the Starbucks fiasco, traditional and social media have been unified in ruthlessly lambasting the idea, with most publications simply posting screenshots of mocking tweets. The Twitter backlash was so unrelenting that the Starbucks Senior Vice President of Global Communications Corey DuBrowa deleted his Twitter account on Monday rather than having to deal with it all. Both The Washington Post and Salon have articles which are simply collections of some of the funnier tweets. </RANT>

EK Holding to invest USD 1 bn in a fertilizer plant? Investment company EK Holding is set to invest USD 1 bn to build a fertilizer plant in Abu Tartour, according to the head of Phosphate Egypt. The project was presented at the EEDC with technical studies conducted by Worley Parsons and Jacobs. The first phase of the plant is set to produce 500,000 tons of phosphoric acid and 700,000 tons of phosphate-based fertilisers, Al-Shorouk reports.

Agreement with Arabtec to be signed within 10 days, government says: The Ministry of Housing has agreed with Arabtec on some of the terms of the 1 mn affordable homes project and will sign a final contract within 10 days, according to a government spokesperson. The two parties are yet to agree on the percentage of units that will be allocated to the government in lieu of payment for land, but the spokesperson noted it will be more than 7%. Arabtec executives will visit Egypt to sign the contract within 10 days, she said, per Reuters.

Export giant Oriental Weavers reported an uptick in net profits to EGP 377 mn with its FY2014 earnings, up from EGP 369 mn the year before, per its filing with the EGX. Sales rose to EGP 5.67 bn from EGP 5.52 bn the previous year.

NUCA has approved the settlement with real estate developer Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) over the Madinaty land dispute, according to Minister of Housing, Moustafa Madbouly on Tuesday. Egypt’s general prosecution reached an EGP 9 bn settlement in March, according to a statement by the general prosecutor’s office. The settlement makes use of an amendment to the investment law which prevents third parties from challenging contracts between government and investors, reneging a 2010 administrative court’s ruling against the Madinaty land deal. (Read)

GB Auto subsidiary wins Alexandria bus tender: A subsidiary of automotive manufacturer, assembler and distributor GB Auto has won a tender to provide the Alexandria Public Transport Authority with 150 buses, says Al-Mal, citing a company statement. The win comes after the company was tapped last year to supply some 300 buses to the mass transit system in the Greater Cairo Area.

Prosecutor General makes news with reports on three high-profile killings.

• Reuters reports that the Prosecutor General’s Office released a report stating that the shooting death of socialist activist Shaymaa El Sabbagh on the eve of this year’s anniversary of 25 January was caused by a policeman firing birdshot in an attempt to disperse the peaceful march in which El Sabbagh was participating. The charges carry a potential of 3-7 years in prison, according to Ahram Online.
• The same newspaper also noted yesterday that: “Egypt’s banned Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood and Zamalek’s hard-core fan group the White Knights were behind the football disaster that killed 20 fans, as part of a scheme to blight this month’s economic conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, said the general prosecution on Tuesday.”
• “Egypt’s prosecutor-general said on Tuesday that the death of political activist Mohamed El-Gendy, who was killed in February 2013 after suspected police torture, was due to injuries caused by a hit-and-run car accident.” (Read)

State council administrative court ruling to unfreeze assets of alleged Ikhwan-linked NGO: The State Council’s administrative court issued a ruling Sunday compelling the government to unfreeze the funds and assets of the 138 branches of the NGO Al-Jamia Al-Shariya. The assets had been frozen since December 2013 over the NGO’s alleged affiliation with the Ikhwan. (Read)

In news that makes one wonder just exactly what the Ministry of Awqaf has been up to for the past two years, it has recently announced that it will ban imams associated with the Ikhwan from giving sermons, although the list of actual individuals has yet to be released. The endowments ministry had previously banned all imams without a degree from Al Azhar from giving sermons before Friday prayers, only to walk back that particular ban as long as preachers agreed to abide by the authority of the ministry. (Read)

Ziad Bahaa El Din’s latest op-ed, originally published in Tuesday’s Shorouk in Arabic and translated in Ahram Online asks: ‘With the success of Egypt’s economic conference, what’s next?’ (Read)

New Egyptian national team coach arrives: Argentina’s Hector Cooper arrived in Cairo on Tuesday night to begin his job as the Egyptian national team’s head coach. Accompanying Cooper is his Spanish assistant Jose Carlos, who will serve as the team’s general manager. The two are expected to remain in their positions until the next World Cup, which will be held in Russia in 2018. (Read in Arabic)

If you’re flying Lufthansa today or tomorrow, you may want to call your PA / travel agent:Reports the WSJ: “Deutsche Lufthansa AG pilots on Tuesday said it would expand a strike to target long-haul and cargo flights … The pilots union … called on members to walk off the job Thursday on all long-haul flights and … is already planning to strike on Germany-wide short- and mid-haul flights at Lufthansa’s passenger airline Wednesday.”

America’s European allies say they’ll join China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank: The United States’ closest European allies have defied U.S. pressure in declaring they will join the Chinese-founded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an institution which the United States views as being in competition with the World Bank. (Read)

Turkish film director Mustafa Altıoklar, who is charged with insulting Erdoğan after calling him insane on a television show, has defended his remarks in court as having been an actual medical diagnosis, which, as a physician by training, he is qualified to make. Altıoklar graduated from İstanbul University’s Cerrahpaşa medical Faculty in 1984. (Read)

DIPLOMACY

The Venezuelan deputy foreign minister for African affairs, Reinaldo Bolivar, arrived in Cairo on Monday night to meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

EGYPT IN THE NEWS

News of plans to rescind tourist visas on arrival was the lead story on Egypt in the foreign press this morning, followed closely by reports that a policeman is being charged with the unintentional slaying of leftist activist Shaimaa El Sabbagh.

The proposed new administrative capital continues to bleed negative coverage, with pieces in The National Post and Ikhwangi publication Middle East Eye getting in on the action.

***
A MESSAGE FROM PHAROS HOLDING: Pharos is proud to have presented three mega-projects at the EEDC with an aggregate investment cost of USD 22.5 bn, including a hydrocracker complex in Assiut, a high-end residential and commercial project in Sheikh Zayed, and a USD 20 bn mixed-use urban development in Sixth of October. The latter, the 42 km2 October Oasis, was the subject of an MoU signed at EEDC between Abu Dhabi-based SWF Aabar, the Egyptian real estate developer Palm Hills Developments, and the Government of Egypt. Learn more about these projects here.
***

ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY & SUBSIDY REFORM

Egypt to reach energy self-sufficiency by 2018
Interfax | 17 March 2015
Egypt will reach energy self-sufficiency by 2018 driven by new concessions awarded last year and new discoveries being made, the oil minister, Sherif Ismail, told Interfax. Ismail added that Egypt “will begin exporting gas as soon as possible provided it receives supplies from Israel or Cyprus” noting that Israel remains a real option. An anonymous EGAS source told Interfax that new offshore Mediterranean gas discoveries are set to be the foundation of Egypt’s medium-term energy security. (Read)

Islamic Development Bank to finance importing of energy products
Al Masry Al Youm | 16 March 2015
EGPC expects shortages in gasoline, diesel, and natural gas are expected to wane following a USD 3 bn agreement signed with the Islamic Development Bank to finance imports. The agreement will also result in an increase of the government’s reserves of energy products as the government plans to increase purchases and benefit from the price drop. (Read in Arabic)

OIL & GAS

EGAS finalizes deal to import LNG from Gazprom
Reuters | 17 March 2015
EGAS signed a deal to import 35 cargoes of LNG from Russia’s Gazprom, Reuters reports. The agreement has shipments beginning “in the second half of 2015, with seven cargoes arriving per year.” (Read)

Enppi to expand power station at Apache’s Karama field
Al Mal | 17 March 2015
Enppi was contracted to do the works necessary to expand the power station at Qarun’s (Apache’s JV in Egypt) Karama field. The agreement requires Enppi to conduct the engineering design process for the expansion and adding three turbines. (Read in Arabic)

Sidpec targeting EGP 3 bn in sales in 2015
Amwal Al Ghad | 17 March 2015
Sidpec is targeting sales revenues of EGP 3 bn in 2015 through the sale of 225 thousand tons of polyethylene and 5 thousand tons of bitumen. The company told Amwal Al Ghad that 70% of its production will go to the domestic market with the rest being exported. This year, Sidpec aims to expand into newer African markets, the company’s head said. (Read in Arabic)

BASIC MATERIALS & COMMODITIES

Grain logistics hub should be completed in 18 months
Al Shorouk | 17 March 2015
The grain storage and logistics hub in Damietta is expected to be completed in 18 months’ time, according a Ministry of Supplies’ spokesperson. The hub is expected to allow for a larger storage capacity for grains and includes a deal with an Emirati investor to create commercial centers. (Read in Arabic)

Italy and Egypt sign 10 mn euro agricultural agreement
ANSAmed | 16 March 2015
An agreement was signed by the Italian ambassador to Egypt Maurizio Massari and the International Cooperation Minister Naglaa El-Ahwany on the sidelines of the EEDC to launch an Italian-EU co-funded EUR 22 mn initiative to help mechanize the agricultural sector in Egypt, according to the Italian embassy in Cairo on Monday as reported by ANSAmed. (Read)

EMRA to tender a gold exploration concession
Amwal Al Ghad | 17 March 2015
The Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) is preparing to issue an international tender to look for Gold in the Eastern Desert. The tender is expected to be out in 2H15 but the specifics are yet to be agreed on. The head of EMRA believes that the mountain range along the coast of the Red Sea hold substantial amounts of gold. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

IDA to set new regulations for cement factory licenses
Al Borsa | 17 March 2015
The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) is finalizing a new set of regulations regarding the issuance of cement factory licenses and will present them to the cabinet within 10 days. The IDA is preparing to issue 12 new cement factory licenses this year. The new licenses are set to allow for the production of 21 mn tons from Upper Egypt. (Read in Arabic)

REAL ESTATE

PHD and Aabar to begin Al Waha project after contracts are finalized
Al Borsa | 17 March 2015
Palm Hills Developments said it awaits the signing of the final contracts to being implementing the Al Waha project with Aabar in Sixth of October. An MoU for the project was signed at the EEDC that set the estimated investment cost at USD 20 bn giving PHD and Aabar the exclusive rights to the project. (Read in Arabic)

Real Estate Tax Authority completes its issuance of exemptions
Al Borsa | 17 March 2015
The Egyptian Real Estate Tax Authority has completed its issuance of  tax exemptions for 2 mn households. The authority had previously decided to apply the tax on 6.3 mn residential units and 1.3 mn commercial units. According to the Minister of Finance, 25% of the revenue generated from real estate tax will be used to finance governorate-specific projects. (Read in Arabic)

TELECOMS

Communications quality to improve from June – NTRA
Al Borsa | 17 March 2015
The quality of the services provided by the local telecom operators is set to improve starting next June, according to the NTRA. The services provided have not yet reached the desired levels of quality despite improvements, the NTRA chairman said. He also praised the undisrupted telecommunications services provided at the EEDC. (Read in Arabic)

OTHER BUSINESS NEWS OF NOTE

Ministry of Transportation set to issue international tender for electronic rail signals
Al Mal | 17 March 2015
The Ministry of Transportation will be issuing an international tender for a feasibility study on an electronic railway signals for lines connecting Assiut and Naga Hamadi. According to a ministry advisory, the World Bank previously agreed to provide the government with a USD 160 mn loan to finance the project. The ministry will likely issue the tender within the next two months.(Read in Arabic)

Egypt to re-export equipment used at EEDC
Al Borsa | 17 March 2015
All of the equipment used at the EEDC will be re-exported as per an agreement signed between the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Ministry of Finance. The re-exporting will exempt the conference organizers from paying customs duties on the equipment, which was mostly imported from France, according to Al Borsa. The customs authority has prepared new protocols to expedite the process. (Read in Arabic)

REGIONAL

Tunisia dismantles jihadi cell attempting to recruit Tunisian Islamist militants to send to Libya
Reuters | 17 March 2015
Tunisia said on Tuesday it had dismantled a recruiting cell sending Tunisian jihadis to fight in Libya and arrested dozens in part of their ongoing struggle to both contain Islamist militants within the country and to prevent their spillover in both directions of their border with Libya. “Security officers and the army arrested ten terrorists trying to sneak into Libya to join the armed groups in Libya,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement. (Read)

ON YOUR WAY OUT

The Holding Company for Water and Wastewater recorded a deficit of EGP 2.7 bn in FY 2013/14 due to increases in electricity and energy prices, Al Borsa reports.
20 plots of industrial land were awarded to investors through direct allocation, with 125 more granted through a lottery, the head of the New Assiut city council told Al Borsa.

Lafarge Egypt and Orascom Telecom signed an MoU at the EEDC to build a waste managementfacility for municipal and agricultural waste to lock-in supplies of refuse-derived fuel for the latter. (Read)

Nassef Sawiris gifted USD 20 mn to create the Onsi Sawiris Scholar Program at the University of Chicago in order to provide financial aid for academically gifted students from Egypt. The fund was announced during the EEDC, according to a press release from the University. The funding is available for one of year funding, and will also be available for Masters and PhD students from Egypt. (Read)

Fall in prices of surveillance cameras: The price of surveillance cameras has fallen by 5% to 7% since January 2015, due to a fall in consumer demand. According to an employee of a store that sells surveillance equipment, the fall in demand is a result of the increase in security personnel on the street. (Read in Arabic)

Kiosks available for rent at Martyr’s metro station- for EGP 140,000 rent per year: A group of young Egyptian businessmen have won the right to rent a 1 meter by 1.5 meter fragrances kiosk at the Martyrs stations of Cairo Metro. Rent for the kiosk will be EGP 140,000 per year. The Cairo Metro suffers from a sharp budget deficit and, as such, is searching for new ways to generate revenue. (Read in Arabic)

Egypt’s gold medal-winning Olympic wrestler Karam Gaber will reportedly represent the UAE at Rio de Janeiro 2016. According to the wrestler’s brother, Gaber decided to represent the UAE due to his ongoing dispute with the President of the Egyptian Wrestling Federation. (Read in Arabic)

The Interior Ministry has denied reports that the Egyptian Champions League is back, and announced that a decision on the matter will be made tomorrow.

BY THE NUMBERS

USD CBE auction (last sale Monday, 16 March): 7.5301 (unchanged since Monday, 02 Feb)
USD parallel market (Tuesday, 17 March): -no quote-

EGX30 (Tuesday): 9,561.33 (+0.34%)
Turnover: EGP 505.4 mn (21% below the 90-day average)

WTI: USD 42.63 (-1.91%)
Brent: USD 53.44 (-2.25%)

TASI: 9,303.1 (-1.4%)
ADX: 4,330.6 (-0.8%)
DFM: 3,534.3 (+0.4%)
KSE Weighted Index: 439.4 (-0.6%)
QE: 11,687.2 (-0.6%)
MSM: 6,222.9 (-0.6%)