What we’re tracking this week and beyond
El Sisi to hold meeting on GERD in China this Saturday? President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is reportedly scheduled to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on the sidelines of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in Beijing this coming Saturday.
Contracts for the USD 4.4 bn Hamrawein coal-fired power plant to be inked while the president is in Beijing: The EEHC received cabinet approval yesterday to sign the contracts for the 6 GW facility, which is being built by a consortium that includes Shanghai Electric, Dong Fang and Hassan Allam.
Egypt is planning to invite China to invest in the construction of ten textile industrial zones in Upper Egypt, a member of the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council tells the domestic press. The first of the zones would apparently be in Minya.
The China-Africa summit runs 3-4 September. You can check out the website for the gathering or dive deeper into how China’s propaganda machine builds up its relationship with Africa.
Busy fall season for diplomacy: The China trip is the first big meeting of El Sisi in what looks set to be a busy fall on the diplomatic front, with both French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian PM Narendra Modi so far confirmed as due in town before year’s end. The president is also due to meet Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in October.
Government to receive report on shorter work weeks before the end of September: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly expects to receive in three weeks’ time a study from the Central Authority For Organization & Administration (CAOA) on the impact of shortening civil servants’ work week to four days, CAOA boss Saleh El Sheikh said yesterday, Al Masry Al Youm reports. We had heard that CAOA was studying several proposals, including one that would see civil servants work longer hours in exchange for a shorter week.
Orange Egypt shareholders will vote on 25 September to delist the company’s shares from the EGX. Orange’s board of directors approved on Monday a decision to delist the company’s shares from the EGX as the company no longer meets listing requirements.