Back to the complete issue
Wednesday, 15 February 2017

Sawiris says he’s making a political comeback

Is Naguib plotting his return to political life? Naguib Sawiris announced at a press conference that he was returning to politics to “press for more freedoms” now that his spell of frustration has waned, AFP says. The businessman criticized various legislations that passed the House while he was away (such as the legislation against religious contempt), and said lawmakers do not “have to agree with the authorities on everything.” Surprisingly, Sawiris’ remarks at a Cairo news conference were not picked up by the local press.

Meanwhile, Naguib has reportedly sold a 25% stake in Euronews to NBC, Bloomberg reports. Sawiris owns a majority stake in the France-based news service. NBC paid USD 30 mn for the stake in a bid to strengthen its international coverage. NBC News President Deborah Turness will head the company’s international news operation, according to a statement from the network Tuesday.

This came as Sawiris investment vehicle OTMT Investments has exited its stake in Paris- and Cairo-based Accelero Capital, Al Borsa reports. The exit will also see OTMTI withdraw most of its assets being managed by Accelero. OTMTI will remain, however, as an investor in the Accelero managed ACDC fund which is partnered with US-based Switch to develop data centers in Nevada. Accelero is a vehicle founded by LinkdotNet founder and Sawiris loyalist Khaled Bichara, who was tapped early in 2016 to become CEO of Orascom Housing and Development and seconded there by Accelero.

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.