TL;DR

• “LNG import tender in the offing.
• DHL to slap Egypt promo stickers on 180 mn boxes
• CBE gives banks three years to implement Basel III
• Arabian Cement arrives at settlement with state
• Middle East refinery expansion plans hit snags
• International press weighs in on U.S.-Egypt talks

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

The Emirates NBD / Markit Economics Purchasing Managers’ Index for Egypt will drop today (Tuesday, 4 August) at 06:30 GMT and will be available here. PMIs for Saudi Arabia and the UAE are also due for release today.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING THIS WEEK

Thursday is a national holiday as Egypt celebrates the inauguration of the New Suez Canal.

Also expected this week: A schedule for elections to the House of Representatives is due to be released, and a draft of the executive regulations for the Civil Service Act is also expected.

LAST NIGHT’S TALK SHOWS

On a typically slow summer talk show night, presenters continued to focus their attention on the Suez Canal and John Kerry’s visit to Cairo for the U.S-Egypt strategic dialogue. But the absence of the regular talk show heavyweights resulted in shallow and boring commentary. Rania Badawi on Al Qahira Al Youm gave it her best effort with extensive reporting on the Kerry press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

According to Badawi, “Egyptians are growing tired of hearing the standard U.S. line about Egypt’s fight against terrorism. Kerry said, just like Obama said, that as long as people feel that they don’t have freedom and their basic human rights aren’t respected, they will resort to violence. Why do they always say this to us and yet when the same violence happens in their country it’s just classified as terrorism pure and simple?”

“But despite the underlying tone of criticism that exists whenever a U.S. official is talking to us or about us, I think this visit confirms that U.S.-Egyptian relations are becoming warmer,” said Badawi. “But that doesn’t mean that we should let our guard down. They want Egypt to be weak and they will continue to try and create rifts between us and our Arab allies, particularly Saudi Arabia.

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SPEED ROUND

Egypt is preparing a tender to international companies to import LNG following the contracting of a second FSRU, said Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail. In an interview with Al Ahram, the minister reiterated how gas imported with the FSRU will be prioritized for the industry sector. He went on to discuss a series of projects including the possibility of the EGPC establishing a petroleum products refining plant for the production of middle distillates. Meanwhile, BW Gas is to provide Egypt with its second LNG terminal under a five-year contract worth USD 60 mn per year, an EGAS official told Reuters. The terminal, which converts super-cooled LNG into gas, will have a capacity of 750 mn cubic feet per day and will start operations in mid-October. In April, Egypt agreed to import USD 3.5 bn worth of LNG in FY 2015 / 2016, with oil minister Sherif Ismail telling Reuters in February that he expected Egypt to stop importing LNG by 2020.

Egypt awards five oil and gas concessions worth USD 100 mn: The awarded concessions are “expected to bring in minimum total investments of about USD 100 mn, the oil ministry said in a statement on Monday,” as reported by Reuters. A consortium of Pacific and Hibiscus Petroleum will explore in the Gulf of Suez with an investment of USD 68mn, Kieorn Megawish will also explore in the Gulf of Suez for an investment of USD 23 mn. USD 7 mn in investments in three other concessions were also awarded.

DHL launches initiative to promote Egypt internationally: In cooperation with the ministries of Investment, Trade, and Tourism, DHL will print the slogans “Invest in Egypt,” “Support businesses in Egypt,” and “Visit Egypt” on an estimated 180 mn boxes along with the respective websites to the ministries, Al Malreported. DHL Express also plans on expanding operations in Egypt by opening up a new EGP 500 mn headquarters at the Cairo Airport, according to Regional Manager Nour Salman, who assures investments will double in the coming year, as reported by Amwal Al Ghad. CIT Minister Khaled Negm said he expects the initiative to be met with great demand for how positive a message it sends.

The CBE has given banks three years to implement Basel III protocols, according to an unnamed official speaking to Al Borsa. These protocols place more stringent regulations in terms of transparency of transactions, corporate governance and internal auditing, and financial reporting. The official also stated that banks must be conclude preparations by the end of 2017, adding that all foreign banks operating in Egypt have adopted Basel III.

Investors put up 80% of shares in Emaar Misr Development fund for sale in IPO buyback after one month of trading, Al Mal reports, submitting over 487 mn shares on Monday, or five times the 90 mn shares Emaar stated it would buy back through its stabilization fund. This far exceeded the fund’s stated goal of repurchasing 15% after Emaar’s shares performed poorly since its IPO, Reuters reports.

The New Borg El Arab City Authority will invest EGP 1.9 bn in an ambitious plan laid out for the current fiscal year, said Authority head Ahmed El Dassouki. The plan will involve the development of a city consisting of up to 163 social housing residential apartment buildings with an entire civil infrastructure, in addition to an EGP 50 mn highway linking up the city with Alex-Desert road. The plan also calls for a school and medical facility to be established, with the Authority planning to issue a tender for contractors once specifications have been approved, Al Mal reports.

Government committed to marketing cotton, will not abandon farmers -Minister of Agriculture: The government is committed to buying the 2015 season’s crop in its entirety as mandated in Article 29 of the constitution, which requires that the state must buy and market strategic crops, including cotton, said Minister of Agriculture Salah Helal. Buying this season’s crop will create a profit margin for the farmers, he said, highlighting that the government subsidised the crop at EGP 200 per quintal. The Ministry of Agriculture had previously issued a decree banning the import of cotton, which was objected to by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and eventually overruled by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab. (Read in Arabic)

EBRD partners with QNB AlAhli to finance small firms and boost trade in Egypt: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and QNB AlAhli are seeking to support SMEs in Egypt with a USD 100 mn credit, according to a release on Monday. “The EBRD will continue to place high priority on financing and improving conditions for investment in the private sector, with particular emphasis on increasing the access to finance for SMEs, energy efficiency projects and renewables,” according to the release. (Read)

Arabian Cement Company negotiates amicable settlement with the GOE over pending international arbitration: Arabian Cement Company announced in an emailed statement on Monday that its main shareholder, Spanish investor Aridos Jativa / Cementos La Union, has entered negotiations with the Egyptian Committee of Dispute Resolution, chaired by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and are being overseen by Minister of International Cooperation and Committee member Naglaa Al Ahwany. The arbitration in question is with regard to a suit filed by the Spanish investor against the GOE in 2013 regarding, “among other things, the changes in the procedures to obtain operations licenses that were applied to ACC retroactively.”

Two senior Islamist leaders die in prison: A leader of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya, Ezzat Al-Salamony, reportedly died in Tora Prison’s hospital on Saturday, DNE reports, as did Brotherhood member Ahmed Ghozlan, in Al-Abadeya prison. Both died due to medical reasons, with Ghozlan’s son reportedly posting on social media that authorities had refused to allow treatment provided by Ghozlan’s family to be permitted into the prison.

The Cabinet approved on Sunday an amendment to the rules governing trials in absentia stating that as long as a defendant had legal representation at his trial, defendants will be considered in attendance,Ahram Online reports. Defendants, however, will still retain the right to appeal when they are present.

Middle East refinery expansion plans hit snags: The Wall Street Journal notes the stalled oil-refinery projects across the GCC, which for various reasons have faced delays. “At the end of the day, refineries are an opportunity for the Gulf and if they don’t jump on it, they will remain dependent on imports rather than becoming exporters to countries like Iran, Iraq and Egypt,” said Kamel al-Harami, an independent oil analyst and former chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum International … Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of crude oil, has a goal of becoming the world’s second-largest exporter of refined products by 2017.” (Read, paywall)

Russia merges air force, air defense, anti-missile and space forces in new Aerospace Forces branch: The newly established branch will fall under one command, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Sputnik reports that the command will go to the Russian Air Force’s current Commander-in-Chief Viktor Bondarev.

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A MESSAGE FROM PHAROS HOLDING

El Sewedy Electric Net Profits Could Reach 2008 Peak

2015 has witnessed El Sewedy Electric report solid figures, posting in 1Q15 a recovery in attributable net income to EGP 239.2 mn versus EGP 403.3 mn for the full year in 2014. The recovery comes on the back of decreased provisions and impairment losses on the company’s receivables, fixed assets and goodwill. Despite the drop in international copper prices putting downward pressure on the company’s end product prices, margins remained somewhat stable with the company’s largest contributor to its top line, the cables and wires segment, witnessing only a 120 bps decrease in GPM to 11.9%.

Going into the second half of 2015, the company’s backlog of turnkey projects is expected to surge to the EGP 14-15 bn mark. If El Sewedy Electric’s full year attributable net income comes in the vicinity of EGP 800-900 mn, a plausible scenario and would be close to its 2008 peak of EGP 824.4 mn, the company’s projected earnings would be capitalized at 12.2x. Click here for more details.
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EGYPT IN THE NEWS

Glenn Greenwald’s The Intercept was heavily critical of the Sisi administration, the American administration, and the US Embassy in Cairo — in that order — in his reporting on Sunday’s bilateral talks: ‘U.S. Government Celebrates Its Arming of the Egyptian Regime With a YouTube Video.’ Greenwald writes: “Despite that repression — or, more accurately, because of it — the Obama administration has lavished the regime with aid, money and weapons, just as the U.S. government did for decades in order to prop up Hosni Mubarak … But this week, the U.S. government not only proudly touted its sending of weapons to the Cairo regime, but published a video celebrating it. The official Twitter account of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday actually posted this: ‘The US delivered 8 new F16s to the Egy Air Force this week – watch them fly over Cairo #تحيا_مصر .'”

… While the New York Times writes on the talks: “American officials [have] also signaled that they would not let their concerns with human rights stand in the way of increased security cooperation with Egypt”, the piece’s main focus is on the negative impact of perceived civic abuses, particularly the risk of radicalization. Kerry, however, is described as “careful in his public remarks not to criticize the Egyptian government too harshly” and trying “to balance Egypt’s efforts to confront the Islamic State with human rights concerns.” (Read)

Harvard law professor Noah Feldman argues in an article for Bloomberg View that John Kerry’s recent visit to Egypt is actually a mistake, arguing that the US is ceding its leverage to no reciprocal gain. “George W. Bush’s presidency was devoted to disrupting the stability that had been the traditional American regional interest since the Cold War; now the U.S. would badly like to put the genie back in the bottle. How can Egypt contribute to that goal? The most basic way, of course, is by the regime becoming stable. Sisi is gambling that arrests, sham trials and some executions will achieve that goal. There’s reason to doubt that he’s correct, but for the moment let’s assume he knows his (repressive) business. The point is that the U.S. shouldn’t have to make any concessions to Sisi in order to encourage him to make Egypt stable — because stability is already in Sisi’s interests.” (Read Why is the US cozying up to Egypt?)

The BBC reports on the postponement of the mass trial of more than 400 defendants, specifically 19 year-old Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, until 4 October. Halawa, the son of the most senior Muslim cleric in Ireland, was arrested during the siege on Al-Fath mosque in 2013. The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs has expressed frustration of the adjournment of the trial for the eighth time. Halawa’s lawyers have also complained of not being allowed to enter the courtroom, claiming that “not allowing a lawyer to access his client’s hearing is gravely concerning and belies any suggestion that fair trial requirements are being met.” (Read)

Suez and security: Forbes weighs in on the opening of the new Suez Canal and its wider outlook for Egypt. The piece is largely positive, with the Canal’s predicted USD 13.2 bn generated by 2023 mentioned along with the writer’s general sense that “stability has returned…business can grow,” but that “it shouldn’t be forgotten that its stability today is fragile.” The Al Jazeera three have somehow found their way into the piece as well, with their trial being slammed as a “mockery of judicial process.” (Read Egypt’s Suez Canal Achievement Shows Economic Progress – But What About Security?)

Daniel Tiluk of the Bleacher Report tries to find out why Chelsea FC manager Jose Mourinho is likely to let go of Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah. The article claims that “perhaps this glimpse into Salah’s makeup is why Mourinho is willing to let him leave Stamford Bridge,” referring to the footballer seemingly ignoring the fact that his agreement with Fiorentina FC is 18 months, opting instead for a possible move to AS Roma. A move that is likely to see FIFA step in. “A GBP 6.4 mn profit simplifies the equation, but is a player who bucks the system and creates his own rules a footballer the Portuguese manager wants to work with? Probably not,” adds Tiluk. (Read: What happened to Mohamed Salah’s Chelsea career?)

WORTH READING

Peter Hessler has a massive c.7,500-word essay in The New Yorker examining the lives of Chinese traders specializing in women’s undergarments in Upper Egypt as well as the lives of those who work for them. Hessler manages to get some good quotes out of his subjects: “[Chinese men] can look at the item and give it to the woman, and that’s it. An Egyptian man would look at the item, and then look at the woman, and then he might make a joke or laugh about it,” says a young Egyptian woman employed in one of the aforementioned stores. Hessler also poses some great questions: “I can’t help thinking: Here in Egypt, home to eighty-five mn people, where Western development workers and bns of dollars of foreign aid have poured in for decades, the first plastic-recycling center in the south is a thriving business that employs thirty people, reimburses others for reducing landfill waste, and earns a significant profit. So why was it established by two lingerie-fuelled Chinese migrants, one of them illiterate and the other with a fifth-grade education?” (Read)

DIPLOMACY

Sameh Shoukry to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 4 August to discuss the latest developments on the Palestinian front. Their meeting is also expected to set the agenda for the Arab Peace Initiative Committee meeting scheduled for 5 August at the Arab League Headquarters. Abbas is expected to arrive in Cairo to participate in the New Suez Canal opening ceremonies on 6 August 6. (Read in Arabic)

ENERGY

Homes and shops consume 56.8% of total electricity produced
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
Homes and shops used up to 56.8% of total available electricity in the second half of the last fiscal year, which combined make them the highest electricity-consuming sector in Egypt, according to recently published statistics from the Ministry of Electricity. Industry and manufacturing are in second place at 25.6%, with public utilities and agriculture consuming 8.3% and 4.6%, respectively. (Read in Arabic)

EGAS denies any delays in gas imports
Al Mal | 02 Aug 2015
EGAS Chairman Khaled Abdel Badei dismissed rumors that imports of natural gas have been delayed, stating that the import schedule is regimented and is becoming as regular as imports of petroleum products. Abdel Badei was discussing the 110 shipments of natural gas which consist of 145k – 170k cubic ft of natural gas. Among the concession winners in the most recent tender was Algeria’s Sonatrach. (Read in Arabic)

Petrochemicals and Petroleum projects are part of the Suez Canal Axis Development Plan
Al Shorouk | 02 Aug 2015
In an interview with Al Mal, Petroleum Minister Sherif Ismail spoke extensively on the upcoming projects which will be part of the development plan for the new Suez Canal Axis, including projects to expand storage capacity and transportation for petroleum products destined for the local market. Among these is the Arab Petroleum Pipelines Co. (SUMED) project on the Gulf of Suez. (Read in Arabic)

Sea Dragon to increase dependence on Egyptian services companies
Al Mal | 02 Aug 2015
Canadian E&P Sea Dragon seeks to expand its reliance on Egyptian services companies and contractors as it develops its concessions, said Ahmed Moaz, who heads Sea Dragons operations in Egypt. He added that this aspect of its operations is of the “utmost priority.” (Read in Arabic)

Five bank consortium looks to issue a USD 150 mn to UEEPC
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
NBE, QNB, CIB, Banque Misr, and ANB have joined in a consortium and entered negotiations to provide the state-owned Upper Egypt Electricity Production Company with a loan of USD 150 mn (c. EGP 1.2 bn), in order to supply the company which much needed liquidity. The company operates five power stations with a combined production capacity of 2.8 GW, which will undergo a major round of maintenance and refurbishing by GE. (Read in Arabic)

** Further reading in Energy: Wamda profiles Egyptian biogas startup Taqa Solutions and the challenges it faces in Building Egypt’s biogas market.

INFRASTRUCTURE

EGP 58.5 mn cost of road works last year, says Roads Directorate in Giza
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
The Giza governorate has completed EGP 58.48 mn in development and paving works on roads and bridges in FY 2014 / 15. This includes EGP 46.8 mn as part of the governorate investment plan, EGP 6.68 mn from the Social Fund for Development, and EGP 5 mn in maintenance jobs on roads and bridges, according to head of the Roads and Bridges Directorate in Giza, Mamdouh Ismail. (Read in Arabic)

The Holding Company for Roads aims to complete EGP 15 bn in projects
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
The Holding Company for Roads, Bridges and Land Transportation Projects aims to complete EGP 15 bn in infrastructure projects over the coming four years, of which EGP 8.5 bn have already been completed over the last three years, according to company president Ramzy Lasheen. The company has an EGP 3 bn investment plan for FY 2015 / 16, compared to EGP 2.3 bn last year. Part of the investments will go into the General Nile Company for Construction and Paving to speed up the process of buying raw materials and equipment in light of accumulated debts, he added. (Read in Arabic)

EGP 700 mn allocated to renovate Cairo University’s surrounding areas
Al Borsa | 03 Aug 2015
The Ministry of Housing allocated EGP 700 mn to renovate Cairo University’s surrounding areas by constructing traffic tunnels to connect incoming traffic from Giza and Nahda Squares. The renovation project will take 12 – 18 months to complete under the supervision of the Greater Cairo Reconstruction Authority (GCRA). The GCRA will look to either issue a tender or directly assign construction of the project, while not ruling out commissioning the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces to complete construction. The renovation project aims to help alleviate traffic congestion around Cairo University, especially with the presence of three major traffic intersections in the area. (Read in Arabic)

MANUFACTURING

Abu Qir Fertilizers announces halted operations in two factories
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
The Abu Qir Fertilizers and Chemicals Industries Company announced it halted operations in two urea factories, urea factories 1 and 3, in a statement on Sunday due to a shortage in gas supply. The gas shortage will negatively impact production rates and stock sold to the local market, the company said. Abu Qir Fertilizers made EGP 652.1 mn in profits in the nine months ending in March 2015, an 18.5% drop from the year before. (Read in Arabic)

ASCOM sells 300k shares in Misr Cement Qena for EGP 25.5 mn
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
ASCOM sold 300,000 of its shares in Misr Cement Qena at EGP 25.5 mn on Sunday, according to head of investor relations at Misr Cement Qena, Ahmed Abdel Hamid. ASCOM shares in Misr Cement Qena dropped from 3.95% to 2.5% of the total 29.878 mn floated shares. (Read in Arabic)

HEALTH & EDUCATION

Pharmaceutical companies incurred EGP 3 bn losses due to MoH lab delays
Amwal Al Ghad | 03 Aug 2015
The total losses incurred by pharmaceutical companies have amounted to EGP 3 bn, (without specifying over what period of time the losses were incurred) due to delays in analyzing samples sent to the Ministry of Health by the companies, according to head of the pharmaceuticals division in the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, Ali Auf. 10% of produced drugs are sent to the labs for testing before they ever hit store shelves, but then remain at the labs until the stockpile is expired, he added. (Read in Arabic)

80 pharmaceutical factories halted by lack of MoH permits, says chambers of commerce
Amwal Al Ghad | 03 Aug 2015
Operations to establish 80 pharmaceutical factories have been halted by Ministry of Health stubbornness over permits and registration, says Ali Auf, head of the pharmaceuticals division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce. The ministry is refusing to register the drugs from these companies, in addition to requiring them to deposit of 10% of the company’s total capital in the bank to be granted an operating license. (Read in Arabic)

REAL ESTATE & HOUSING

Ministry of Housing to issue tender to build 50k houses between 2015 – 2016
Amwal Al Ghad | 03 Aug 2015
The Ministry of Housing will issue a tender to build 50k houses as part of the social housing project during FY 2015 / 16 at an estimated cost of EGP 7.5 bn, as well as 107k houses currently being built at a cost of EGP 13.4 bn. (Read in Arabic)

Housing and Development Bank reserves 5k parcels of land for middle-income homeowners
Al Borsa | 03 Aug 2015
The Housing and Development Bank has started reservations for 5k pieces of land that were allocated through a public draw by the Ministry of Housing for middle-income homeowners. The draw has resulted in the sale of 55k tendered documents across ten cities. As a result of high demand, the bank expects sales to reach EGP 890 mn until reservations cease on 27 August. (Read in Arabic)

Ministry of Urban Renewal cancels decision to remove 9 homes in Maspero Triangle
Amwal Al Ghad | 02 Aug 2015
The decision to remove nine homes from the Maspero Triangle area has been overturned after consultation with the Arab Contractors due to conflicting reports, Minister of Urban Renewal and Informal Settlements Laila Iskandar said on 3 August. The Ministry of Urban Renewal instead issued a decision to remove 10 homes and renovate 6 homes as part of efforts to redevelop the area following the damage caused by the bombing of the Italian Consulate. In an effort to quell any fears of displacement among the area’s residents, the ministry’s operations manager Soad Naguib confirmed that the renovation plans exclude the possibility of forced eviction. (Read in Arabic

TOURISM

Holding Company for Tourism investing EGP 2 bn in 6 developments
Amwal Al Ghad | 02 Aug 2015
The Holding Company for Tourism intends to complete development works in six touristic projects with an investment of EGP 2 bn by the end of FY 2015/16, according to company chairman Laila Hatba. The development works include the Tahrir and Shephard hotels, as well as the Elephantine Hotel in Aswan. The company recently completed building extensions to the Novotel Cairo Airport, the Mövenpick Resort Cairo Pyramids in 2013, and the Nile Ritz-Carlton, at a total cost of EGP 940 mn. (Read in Arabic)

AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSPORTATION

Domestic assembly takes biggest hit from price spikes and dollar shortage
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
Domestically assembled car sales dropped substantially in the first five months of this year, with the sales growth rate at a mere 4.9% going up to 114k units from 108.8k. This slump has been caused by a shortage of foreign currency on the local market and an inability from the banking sector to secure the car manufacturers’ USD requirement to pay back international companies. (Read in Arabic)

Metro and non first class train carts gratis for 3 hours on Suez Canal ceremony day
Al Shorouk | 03 Aug 2015
The metro and non-first class train cars will operate at no charge between the hours of 4pm and 7pm local Cairo time on Thursday, to celebrate the opening of the New Suez Canal, according to Ministry of Transportation spokesperson Ayman El Sherei. The second air conditioned metro will also begin operating on the first line to coincide the with opening, he added. (Read in Arabic)

EGP 14.7 bn total car sales in 1H15
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
Car sales have amassed to EGP 14.7 bn in the first half of 2015, with cars with a litre capacity between 1500cc and 1600cc taking up 41.6% or EGP 6.1 bn, followed by cars between 1300cc and 1500cc at 22.8% or EGP 3.34 bn, and SUV’s over 2000cc at 15% or EGP 2.19 bn. (Read in Arabic)

EGP 176 bn needed to redevelop transportation system, Minister of Transportation says
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
In a phone interview on CBC Egypt, Minister of Transportation Hany Dahy said that the Ministry of Transportation needs EGP 176 bn to redevelop the transportation system in the upcoming 10 years. Dahy said: “The Ministry will add 20 new air-conditioned underground metro trains as part of the redevelopment process.”(Read in Arabic)

LEGISLATION & POLICY

Water Resources Ministry issues new deadline to floating hotels to clean septic tanks
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
Floating hotels will have a grace period of three months to ensure that their septic tanks meet the environmental codes and conditions specified in the executive regulations of the Environmental Protection of the Nile Law of 1982, following an issued by the water resources ministry. The Cabinet had set the initial deadline for 28 July 2015. The order was published in the official gazette and Al Mal. (Read on Arabic)

EGYPT POLITICS + ECONOMICS

ECRF calls for return of dismissed GUC students
Al Mal | 03 Aug 2015
In a statement on 3 August, The Egyptian Commission of Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) condemned The German University in Cairo’s (GUC) decision to expel seven students, including GUC Student Body Vice President Hazem Abdel Khalek, following a strike in response to the death of GUC student Yara Tarek in March 2015. ECRF said that GUC violated Article 8 of University Regulations, which stipulates the responsibility of the University Disciplinary Board, not the University’s Crisis Management Department, to issue student dismissals. ECRF added that the dismissed students have a right to “freely express their opinions” and that GUC has had a history of unwarranted student dismissals. (Read in Arabic) (Read ECRF Arabic Statement Here)

NATIONAL SECURITY

Court drops lawsuit requesting Ultras be designated terrorist groups: Zamalek football club chairman Mortada Mansour’s request to withdraw his lawsuit calling for a terrorist designation against Ultras groups was accepted by the Cairo Administrative Court on Monday, Ahram Online reports. “In a ruling on the case in May, the Appeal Court for Urgent Matters banned all Ultras groups and their activities on the basis of the evidence that they were involved in riots, but did not rule the groups to be terrorist organisations.”

Senior judge survives assassination attempt: Head of Khanka Court judge Mohamed Abdullah survived an assassination attempt on Sunday after an IED exploded under his car, according to Youm7 and as reported by Cairo Post. There were no casualties reported as having resulted from the explosion.

ON YOUR WAY OUT

Dubai reveals plans for a 3.6 mn square meter residential project: United Arab Emirates Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced plans to build a 3.6 mn square meter residential project in Dubai dubbed “Midan 1” on his Twitter account on 3 August, in a series of tweets. Completion of the first phase of the residential project is expected by 2020. The project is expected to have a carrying capacity of 78k people, a 4 km seaport, a 1.2 km ice rink, 25k sq meters in sports facilities and a conference building with a capacity to hold 8000 visitors. (Read in Arabic)

Ancient Egyptian underwater treasures to be exhibited for the first time: “Across a vast site in Aboukir Bay near Alexandria, the seabed has been giving up secrets from a lost world in an excavation led by Franck Goddio, a French marine archaeologist … Goddio’s initial discovery of the site in 2000 was one of the greatest archaeological finds of recent times … The exhibition, titled Osiris, Sunken Mysteries of Egypt, will feature more than 290 artefacts. It will be staged at the Arab World Institute in Paris – headed by Jack Lang, France’s former minister of culture – from 8 September until 31 January.” (Read in The Guardian and view Christopher Gerigk’s photography of the artifacts)

BY THE NUMBERS

USD CBE auction (Sunday, 2 August): 7.7301 (unchanged since Sunday, 05 July)
USD parallel market (Sunday, 2 August): 7.88 (unchanged from Sunday, 26 July, Reuters)

EGX30 (Monday): 8,087.54 (-0.87%)
Turnover: EGP 445.2 mn (5% below the 90-day average)

WTI: USD 45.17 (-4.14%)
Brent: USD 49.59 (-5.02%)

TASI: 8,820.7 (+0.2%)
ADX: 4,821.3 (+0.6%)
DFM: 4,120.1 (+0.4%)
KSE Weighted Index: 415.8 (-1.1%)
QE: 11,750.3 (+0.8%)
MSM: 6,498.6 (-0.9%)