Politics pervaded the airwaves once again as the talking heads pored over Turkey’s rejection of Egypt’s maritime border demarcation agreement with Cyprus (we have the full story in Diplomacy + Foreign Trade, below).

A welcome exception to the rule was SODIC CEO Magued Sherif’s interview on Extra News’ Mal wa Aamal.

Sherif told Extra News’ Dina Salem that the company will spend around EGP 3 bn during the year on various projects, including East Town, Villette, and SODIC East — which is being developed in partnership with Heliopolis Housing — as well as smaller-scale work on SODIC West and the North Coast development Caesar Bay. SODIC will also pay EGP 950 mn in land instalments to the New and Urban Communities Authority, he added.

SODIC is also expecting sales revenues to grow to EGP 8.7 bn in 2018 from EGP 5.6 bn in 2017, according to Sherif. Despite the challenging economic backdrop, the market has responded well to the rise in home prices in the year following the EGP float (which are up c. 45% since), thanks largely to positive demographics and strong market foundations. With almost 900k marriages a year and strong population growth, Egypt has consistent demand for real estate across the income segments, Sherif said, explaining that demand usually far exceeds supply.

Other plans include drafting a new dividend payment scheme. Sherif said that the company will not be distributing any dividends from its 2017 earnings, but plans to put a clear mechanism in place this year.

On working with the state, Sherif told Kamel that SODIC would be more than willing to partake in the development of affordable-housing projects in partnership with the government if an opportunity were to present itself. SODIC is also now seeing more merit to investing in the new administrative capital, now that they have more clarity on the project, which Sherif described as the “natural extension of East Cairo.” You can watch the full interview here (runtime 34:47).

Meanwhile on Yahduth fi Masr, Cyprus’ ambassador to Egypt expressed his appreciation for Egypt’s Foreign Ministry’s “clear and principled” response to Turkey’s statements on the maritime border agreement (watch, runtime 1:03). Host Sherif Amer also spoke to former Oil Minister Osama Kamal, who stressed that the agreement adheres to international conventions and is no longer up for negotiation or objections. Kamal also noted that IOCs would not have poured bns into Eastern Mediterranean operations if the demarcation agreement was in doubt (watch, runtime 11:00).

Masaa DMC’s Osama Kamal agreed with the former oil minister of the same name and read out written commentary from pundits including energy expert Mahmoud Abdel Moneim and international lawyer Amr Al Naggar, both of whom said Egypt is legally in the right. Kamal also wondered out loud why Ankara would purse such a policy line with Egypt’s oil and gas activity if it continues to enjoy healthy relations in other areas, such as trade and economic cooperation (watch, runtime 3:50).

Over on Al Hayah Al Youm, Nahawand Serry called up Turkish Magazine Awrak’s Editor-in-Chief Mohamed Abdel Kader, who said Turkey’s hostile position stems from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan viewing Zohr as a threatening geostrategic shift that will strengthen Egypt’s economic and military ties (watch, runtime 4:30).

Kol Youm’s Amr Adib naturally didn’t hold back one bit, slamming Turkey’s statements as “thuggery” that signals Ankara is on the brink of a gas shortage crisis (watch, runtime 2:41). Pharos University Petroleum engineering professor Ramadan Abu El Ela called up Adib to say that Turkey is simply trying to instigate feelings of uncertainty for oil companies in Egypt (watch, runtime 4:25).

Adib also took note of Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour’s touchdown in Cairo, and said that Sudanese-Egyptian relations are faring much better now than a month ago (watch, runtime 1:16).

As is her Wednesday custom, Hona Al Asema’s Lamees Al Hadidi took a break from the news world and spent her evening paying tribute to Egyptian belly dancer Tahiya Karioka.