Hilton looks to expand in Egypt to capitalize on nascent tourism recovery

We’re in the final stretch of summer, folks: Some schools are due to head back into session as early as next week, and we’re just three weeks away from the first day of the Eid Al-Adha vacation.

The central bank’s shakeup of management at state-owned banks is still in the cards and could come to pass in the coming few weeks as proposed amendments to the CBE and banking acts make their way through the system, a source told Al Masry Al Youm. The CBE is looking to appoint new board members and chairmen at the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and the Egyptian Arab Land Bank. New boards could be announced next month and appointed for three-year terms, the source adds. The shake up is reportedly part of the holdup on the IPO of Banque du Caire, which requested another six-month window in which to list after missing its original deadline.

Speaking of the banking act: The Federation of Egyptian Banks is set to send the CBE its comments within two weeks, the source tells AMAY. Further progress was reportedly made on controversial issues such as term limits to managing directors, the CBE representation at meetings of banks’ boards, and a proposal that banks kick in 5% of their bottom line for an industry development fund, the source adds. Take that assertion with a cup or two of salt.

Random thought of the morning: You have to admire Abu Dhabi. Where Dubai deploys bombast, AD quietly and decisively cuts straight to the chase, with the FT reporting that Western banks with large Qatari investors are being quietly and firmly boycotted in the capital of the UAE.

In our lazy TBR pile for this weekend: We know not all of you share our fascination with space, but the Financial Times’ video The bn’aire space raceis totally worth watching as it explores whether government or big business will fund the future of space exploration. The WSJ’s Simon Nixon looks back at the origins of the global financial crisis to conclude in one golden paragraph that ten years on, it’s those still in the workforce (and younger people in particular) who are paying the price of the global financial crisis. Got a great idea for a new tech product? Facebook will copy it — and crush you. And in the realm of the real: They’re remaking the resort that inspired “Dirty Dancing.”

Want more? Here’s what Goldman Sachs is telling customers about bitcoin and a rundown on everything Apple is due to release in the second half of 2017, including the iPhone 8 / iPhone Pro, which has reportedly entered mass production for a launch about a month from this week, plus or minus a few days.

Public Service Announcement #1: David Letterman is returning to “television” with an hourlong show for Netflix due to premier next year. And speaking of Netflix: It is about 81 days and change before Halloween, when the service is due to release the second season of Stranger Things. Did you miss the second trailer for Stranger Things, released at Comic Con in late July? We’ve got you covered (watch, run time: 3:03).

Public Service Announcement #2: Water service will be interrupted in certain areas in Giza for 12 hours starting 8pm CLT on Friday night for maintenance at the main station serving the neighborhoods, according to Al Mal.

The most-clicked stories in Enterprise in the past week included:

• Kourtney Kardashian in Egypt. (People, US magazine)
• Mark Zuckerberg and the perils of livestreaming. (Financial Times)
• Nobody drinks a goblet of wine like Game of Thrones’ Lena Headey. (Jimmy Kimmel on Youtube)
• How to Eat Breakfast Like a Fitness Expert (Esquire)
• We have a new EGX boss (AUC bio, Linkedin page)
• Saudi Crown Prince and U.A.E. Heir Forge Pivotal Ties (Wall Street Journal)

We were looking forward to hearing overnight that the Ismail cabinet had signed off on the executive regulations of the Investment Act yesterday. That didn’t come to pass — cabinet postponed the meeting on the regs until next week, Investment Minister Sahar Nasr said, according to AMAY. The expectation is that regulations should come into effect before the end of August.

Also next week: The cabinet will also conclude talks on the new Leasing and Factoring Act, and we’re still waiting to hear details of the 600 projects that make up the government’s investment map.

The Supreme Judicial Council should be nominating its picks for the National Elections Commission in the next days, according to Al Masry Al Youm.

August should be an interesting time for the nation’s healthcare sector, as the Universal Healthcare Act will be reviewed by the cabinet at the end of the month, with an eye to completing the act and presenting it to the House during its next session in September.

Pharma companies should also expect some disappointment this month as the government looks set to do away with a price increase on meds. Not to be outdone in populism, the House Economics Committee will do its level best to drive a dagger into the heart of the idea when they meet this month to discuss it. A committee created by the Ministry of Health met Wednesday with the Pharmacists Union in an attempt to end a six-day strike. The union presented a list of demands to do with pricing and regulating pharmacies and it was agreed they would meet again next week after compiling more data.

The House of Representatives will be focusing on tax-related legislation when it reconvenes this fall, according to Budgeting Committee MP Yasser Omar, who tells Al Borsa that amendments to the tax code will be geared towards increasing collection.

Some in the House of Representatives want to lower the minimum age for marriage to 16 from 18 years old. That was the highlight of a random night on the airwaves.

Masaa DMC host Osama Kamal spoke to the brains behind the proposal, Rep. Ahmed Samih, who said the change would help formalize scores of undocumented marriages in rural Egypt. He explained that the laws prohibiting the registration of marriage contracts for those under 18 do not prevent families from marrying off their underage children in places where the practice is culturally acceptable (watch, runtime 7:04).

Deputy Health Minister Maissa Shawky felt differently though. She told Kamal that: a) It’s unlikely the legislation will pass the House, and b) reducing the age for marriage could create a baby boom in Egypt and escalate our already-alarming population growth levels, since fertility is higher at younger ages (watch, runtime 10:40).

Kamal then moved on to building code violations. House Housing Committee Chair Alaa Wali told Kamal that as many as 25% of buildings in Cairo and Giza governorates have building code violations that make them structurally unsound (watch, runtime 4:10).

Over on TEN TV, Amr Abdel Hamid was on about efforts to reign-in the tuktuk, which House Transport Committee member Mohamed Zein said would be “quite impossible to ban.” The committee has been drawing up legislation that would regulate the tuktuk, he said, and proposals on the table include drug testing drivers periodically and restricting tuktuks to specific streets and locations (watch, runtime 4:13).

Meanwhile on Hona Al Asema, Dina Zahra (who’s filling in for Lamees Al Hadidi) spoke to Daqahliyah Governor Ahmed Shaarawy about the New Mansoura City, where construction should begin in about 10 days. The first phase of the city, which is expected to be home to 650k residents, should be ready in two years’ time (watch, runtime 8:57).

Over on Yahduth fi Misr, political commentator Mostafa El Fekki resumed his regular slot to tell Sherif Amer that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has a good chance of winning the May 2018 presidential elections.

Hilton plans expansion into Egypt thanks to upswing in tourism and the EGP float: Hilton plans to expand its number of managed hotels in Egypt to 30 from a current 17 over the next seven to ten years, vice president of MENA operations Mohab Ghali told Reuters in an interview yesterday. “If things remain stable, within the next six months, in the 2018 winter season, we can see pre-2011 numbers returning, with more revenues now because of the devaluation,” Ghali added. The float of the EGP had also helped a revival in occupancy rates, particularly in Hurghada and Marsa Alam, he said. Ghali had said last month that Hilton will open its first hotel under its new contract to manage seven establishments at the end of 2018. Four of these hotels will be in Cairo with the rest in Ain Sokhna, Damietta, and the new capital. The company is also planning to expand into Morocco and Tunisia.

The Hilton’s baseline assertions are backed by recent tourist arrival figures, as Egypt reportedly received 532k visitors in June alone,Italy’s ANSAmed reports. The increase in arrivals was likely driven by the Egyptian Tourism Authority’s subsidy program, which offers affordable charter flights that make it easier for tourists to fly in, especially Italians, of whom we have lately seen an influx. Air Cairo will be launching a Milan route soon, the story adds.

Emirates Airline will also be adding four new flights a week to its Cairo roster starting 29 October, The National reports. “We will continue to invest in Egypt, empowering the local economy and helping it expand its business and tourism presence,” Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ senior VP of commercial operations for Africa. The new flights mean that Emirates will fly to Cairo three times a day.

Also on the tourism front: Saudi’s plan to build resorts on 50 virgin islands in the Red Sea doesn’t have Tourism Minister Yehia Rashed concerned, according to ANSAmed. The minister says the plan will benefit the region and won’t necessarily compete with Egypt’s tourism offerings.

Israeli firms developing the Leviathan gas field are trying to find a way around the financial disputes blocking their export agreement with Egypt, according to Bloomberg. The developers are reportedly discussing ways to reroute the gas through a pipeline in neighboring Jordan, operated by Jordanian Egyptian Fajr for Natural Gas Transmission & Supply. While the detour would be more costly than the straight line through Sinai on the Arish-Ashkelon pipeline, it would bypass the issue of Egypt having to pay a USD 2 bn judgement to Israel’s state electricity company, which has held up an export agreement. Egyptian businessmen Alaa Arafa’s Dolphinus Holdings is looking to purchase 3 bcm a year from Israel’s Delek Group Ltd. and Houston-based Noble Energy Inc., but the additional costs are creating an issue, Arafa tells Bloomberg. The deregulation of Egypt’s natural gas sector already has people on the Israeli side eying a return to one of their key markets, as development of the Leviathan is expected to cost USD 3.75 bn. Israel already exports gas to Jordan from other fields.

CABINET MEETING ROUNDUP- Prime Minister Sherif Ismail directed ministers to draft their fall legislative agenda. Other developments at yesterday’s rather boring weekly meeting of the Council of Ministers included:

• Approving amendments to the Penal Code that allow for a rehabilitation and reintegration program for convicts;
• Approving a USD 10 mn agreement signed in May between the government and the Islamic Development Bank to fund efforts to combat bird flu;
• Ratifying a 2016 MoU with China to mitigate the effects of climate change.

A number of leading public figures signed a petition on Wednesday backing former Bibliotheca Alexandrina head Ismail Serageldin, who was recently sentenced to a three-year term in prison on graft charges, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The list of signatories includes ex-foreign minister Amr Moussa, former National Council of Women chief Moushira Khattab, NASA scientist Farouk El Baz, and scores of other former and current politicians, writers, and intellectuals. Serageldin, who is being accused by his former staff of squandering some EGP 20 mn in library funds, had denied the charges, saying he would appeal the verdict. The Associated Press has taken the story global.

MPs pull the mother of gaffes when addressing the US: Now they’ve done it. It’s bad enough that MPs embarrass us on a regular basis at home, but this is ridiculous. Eighteen members of our House of Representatives who lashed out in a letter to the US Congress (pdf) over the US State Department’s 19 July travel warning on Egypt drew a connection between the murder of Copts at the hands of terrorists and victims of gun violence in the US. It was somehow a bid to say that “perception is always worse than the truth in this part of the world.” Says a former State Department official: “All it does is irritate Americans enormously. … It’s dumb and all it’s going to do is irritate people and it’ll make [the authors] look sort of stupid in Congress.”

MOVES- Mastercard announced the appointment of Beatrice Cornacchia as Head of Marketing and Communications for Middle East and Africa. “The Middle East and Africa is one of Mastercard’s fastest growing regions. Having recently inaugurated its 14th regional office, Mastercard is continuously investing in the best talent and technologies to better serve the needs of its stakeholders,” Mastercard says.

EARNINGS WATCH- Amer Group Holding’s net profit fell to EGP 63 mn in 1H2017, from EGP 75 mn in 1H2016, driven by a surge in finance expenses, according to an EGX filing. Revenues rose 8% y-o-y in the first half to 1.034 bn.

Amer Group also announced signing an agreement with BNY Mellon to set up a GDR program, according to a regulatory filing.

Qatar Airways is evaluating whether it will use air routes opened to it this week by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain, the airline’s CEO told Reuters. “Qatar Airways is looking at ‘the flexibility and benefit’ of one ‘very short route’ while another route off the Egyptian coast was ‘useless’ to the airline, Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker said at a Doha press conference. Al-Baker did not say where the short route was or when the airline would decide if it would use the routes.” The UAE’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed Qatari-owned aircraft have given access to airspace over international waters managed by the UAE.

Qatar is initiating a program that will allow nationals from 80 countries through its borders sans any visa requirements, according to Reuters. The effort comes as the country tries to fill the gap that has been left from the Saudi-led boycott. Nationals of 33 countries will be allowed stays of up to 180 days and the other 47 for 30 days. Hotel occupancy in the country has dropped, since Saudis are Doha’s normal fillers. The country is aggressively trying to find alternatives for its airline and hospitality segment.

Emerging markets have been driving global growth, in no small measure thanks to exports to other EMs, Jonathan Wheatley writes for the Financial Times. EM exporters have traditionally relied on demand from developed markets, particularly the US, where consumption has failed to take off. This has largely been a function of global trade volumes increasing substantially across EMs, particularly over the past eight or nine months. “The key difference between now and earlier periods when EM growth was looking better is that it is broad-based across the globe,” says Maarten-Jan Bakkum, senior EM strategist at Dutch investment firm NN Investment Partners.

Look who’s getting a taste of his own medicine: A bunch of enterprising young men have found Koftagate’s Ibrahim Abdel Atty — feasting on, of all things, some kofta. We would like to wish him a speedy recovery from the myriad of illnesses that kofta can cure.

Hilton Hotels’ plan to nearly double its number of facilities in Egypt over the next seven to ten years appears is topping international headlines this morning, with most coverage focusing on how the announcement signals the return of health to this ailing sector. A close second: The visit of a Kardashian to Egypt.

Other coverage on a very slow news morning:

• Sheikh Imam and Ahmed Fouad Negm’s Richard Nixon-mocking song “Sharaft ya Nixon Baba” lived on to become “a rallying cry in Tahrir Square in Cairo” in 2011, Tafline Laylin writes for OZY.
• Egypt’s accumulate foreign currency reserves could be used to improve citizens’ food security, Benjamin Walsh comments for Future Directions International.
• Regional unrest has Egypt stocking up on weapons and bolstering its naval capabilities, Shounaz Mekky writes for Arab News.
• The Committee to Protect Journalists says that “Egyptian authorities should stop censoring Al-Mesryoon newspaper and harassing its journalists.”
• “Egypt’s outer space ambitions face real world setbacks,” suggests Al-Monitor in a piece that left us scratching our heads.

Egypt’s neutrality makes it a reliable partner for peace in Syria: Russia’s request that Egypt act as mediator on Syria peace talks is a vindication of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s multi-polar foreign policy, writes Emad Gad for El Watan. Beyond seeing eye to eye on the basic principle of sovereignty of the state and its institutions, Egypt has proven to be a reliable partner for peace by virtue of it not being a regional pariah such as Qatar or Turkey, as well as its strong relations with the GCC, says Gad.

Attack of the cyborg beetles — the latest hairbrained scheme of Ernst Stavros Blofeld: Because we cannot seem to let nature be, we’ve gotten cloning in the back and now we’d like to turn insects into drones (the helicopter kind — not males of insect species). Vice’s Motherboard travelled to Singapore, where a research team is hijacking the nervous systems of insects to control them remotely — ostensibly to turn use them in search and rescue operations. From the what the researchers said, the test subjects are consciously attempting to resist the control signals but can’t. Sounds a lot like the plot of a James Bond villain (watch, runtime: 2:56).

Egypt and the UAE are “maneuvering to bring Mohammed Dahlan back to Gaza,” Michelle Dunne and Jake Walles write for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Dunne and Walles point out that getting Dahlan back could carry the short-term benefit of a “more economically stable and less desperate Gaza.” However, they note that “outside powers such as Israel, Egypt, and the UAE can try to promote certain choices (Dahlan), constrain others (Hamas), and prevent still others (Barghouti), but in the end such plans often go awry. Local factors might still prevent Dahlan from gaining dominance, and even if he were to do so, he might prove to be far less tractable than his outside patrons expect.”

The Russian industrial zone that will be developed in Port Said is expected to draw in about USD 7 bn in new investments during its three construction phases, a Russian Industry Ministry official tells Sputnik’s Arabic service. Of the total, USD 6 bn will be provided by investors in the zone, while the company managing the project will inject around USD 500 mn, the source says. The project will take about 13 years to complete and reports had suggested earlier that ground could break on the new zone by December 2018. Cairo and Moscow could sign the agreement for the industrial zone in September, Russia’s Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Georgy Kalamanov had said last month.

Petrojet CEO Salah Ismail met with top officials from Italy’s Rosetti Marino Group on Wednesday to discuss potential cooperation in industrial maritime ventures, Youm7 reports.

The Rafah border crossing will be opened for four days on Monday so Palestinian pilgrims can travel to Saudi Arabia for hajj, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.

The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) signed a USD 109 mn agreement with Mitsubishi Hitachi to upgrade and refurbish two gas turbines in the main station in north Cairo, reports Al Mal. The project will be funded by the Japanese government’s Official Development Assistance Loans, which will be paid back over 40 years and carry a 10-year grace period. The project aims to increase the efficiency and capacity of the station as well as reduce costs and maintenance.

International oil companies’ investments in Egypt increased to USD 8.1 bn in FY 2016-17 from USD 6.6 bn a year earlier, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla told Reuters. El Molla had said in June that arrears to IOCs were reduced to USD 2.3 bn, a sign of confidence for investors. Egypt is planning on repaying all its arrears by June 2019 and not accumulating any more.

DP World and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will form a joint venture to implement development projects in the SCZone, Ahram Online reports. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi approved the company’s founding at a meeting with SCZone Authority Chairman Mohab Mamish and DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem. DP World, which operates the Ain Sokhna sea port in Egypt, is planning on expanding its investments in the country in the coming period, said Bin Sulayem.

The Agriculture Ministry looks set to acquiesce to the demands of countries banning imports of Egypt’s agriculture goods by setting up a “white list” and a “black list” of exporters, government sources tell Al Mal. Egypt’s ports will also be adopting stricter monitoring measures that will include banning exports by any company flagged for sending poor quality goods. Seaports and airports will require exporters to submit reports on the quality of their products, focusing on things such as pesticide content, and land quality and fertility. As we noted yesterday, agriculture export revenues for this current export season are expected to fall y-o-y to USD 2.1 bn from USD 2.2 bn.

Private traders in India are starting to import onions from Egypt, Times of India reports. 2,000 tonnes of Egyptian onions have been exported to India so far. A government official says India “is serious about the price rise issue and keeping watch on onion prices in wholesale and retail markets.”

The Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning and Weaving has reportedly received eight offers from unnamed international companies for its planned cotton mill overhaul, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The suitors come from Turkey, India, the US, Italy, and China.

Industrial services provider Harsco announced that its metals and minerals division renewed a five-year scrap management contract with Ezz Dekheila Steel Company (EZDK). The contract extends Harsco’s scrap management services at the EZDK Alexandria plant. The value of the contract was not disclosed, but Harsco notes is has been “providing on-site steel mill services in Egypt since 1994.”

The real estate industry is slowing down after the latest interest rates hike, said Mamdouh Badr El Din, chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s real estate division. Real estate purchases have also been declining, as customers are now parking liquidity in banks, to benefit from the rate hike, rather than purchasing assets. Badr El Din predicts that demand will increase once interest rates drop, according to AMAY.

Investments by Samy Saad’s Samcrete in Egypt have now totalled EGP 3.2 bn, CEO Hisham El Kheshen says, according to Al Borsa. The company will begin delivering homes at its largest project, Pyramids Heights, in 1Q2020, El Kheshen adds and plans on signing partnership agreements for two projects in East Cairo and in the North Coast before year-end for delivery by the end of 1Q2018. Samcrete wants to expand its land bank in West Cairo from 80 feddans currently and is also studying new investment opportunities in Ain Sokhna.

Local banks will be selling each pilgrim going on hajj next month up to SAR 3,000, Al Masry Al Youm said on Wednesday. The move is a sign of the continued availability of foreign currency in the banking system. The amount would be enough for three medium-sized bags of overpriced clothes from H&M. Or a pair of nice sunglasses. Depends on what kind of shopper you are.

The World Bank Group’s Financial Inclusion Global Initiative is funding the establishment of an regional center for digital financial inclusion in Egypt, according to an ICT Ministry statement. The center will prepare periodic reports on the state of digital financial inclusion in the Arab world, and coordinate between regulators and providers of telecom and financial services. It will also assist authorities in drafting regulations and legislation on financial inclusion, in addition to promoting public-private partnerships in the digital financial services sector.

Residents of the Warraq island will be receiving a “fair” monetary compensation from the government if they choose to willingly remove themselves from the disputed area, officials reportedly told residents in a meeting yesterday, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The South Cairo island was the site of clashes that resulted in one death last month, after security forces attempted to clear the premise from illegal settlements and inhabitants. The government had rebuked rumors that the island was being cleared for a touristic project.

Some parliament members are not happy with the Supply Ministry’s Tuesday decision to introduce a minimum income threshold of EGP 1,500 a month for food subsidy beneficiaries, according to Al Borsa. The minimum income threshold should be raised to EGP 2,000 a month, suggested House Economics Committee MP Mohamed Badrawi, as EGP 1,500 a month is nowhere near enough to cover a person’s needs during times of such high inflation, MP Mohamed El Dessouki also tells the newspaper.

Armtec Countermeasures Company was awarded a USD 18 mn contract to supply Egypt and Iraq with infrared countermeasure flares to protect aircrafts, according to the US Department of Defense. Work will be performed in East Camden, Arizona, and should be complete by 31 May, 2019.

Four policemen were killed yesterday by assailants who fired at a patrol car in North Sinai’s Al Arish, according to Reuters.

18 year-old Mohammed Al Husseini trains for more than 10 hours every day to become Egypt’s first swimmer with Down Syndrome to cross the English Channel, according to Egyptian Streets. Al Husseini will be attempting the feat between 24 August and 4 September and is being aided by the English Swimming Association, the outlet says.

Middle class Egyptians are changing their lifestyles to cope with the economic crunch and increasing prices, Shahira Amin writes for Al-Monitor. Amin presents accounts of people who started using the internet to supplement their income through moves like renting out spare rooms in their houses and selling their own food products.

Al Azhar will open an online portal for expats who have questions about Islam, according to Al Masry Al Youm. Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Nabila Makram made the announcement yesterday, positioning the site as part of the government’s broader push to expose a more moderate side of Islam.