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Tuesday, 4 February 2020

Last night’s talk shows for Tuesday 4 February 2020

The talking heads took a break yesterday from regional politics, and shifted gears to business and econ. On the agenda: The kickoff of a plan to list military-owned companies and Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) bid to acquire Vodafone Egypt.

Sovereign Fund, Defense Ministry sign agreement on privatizing military companies: Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal took note of a cooperation framework inked yesterday between the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the Defense Ministry’s National Service Projects Organization that will pave the way for listing military-owned companies (watch, runtime: 3:30). We have chapter and verse in this morning’s Speed Round, below.

Lamees had some analysis of STC’s bid to acquire Vodafone: Al Kahera Al Aan’s Lamees El Hadidi phoned Shuaa Securities’ head of research Amr El Alfy and former vice minister of finance minister Amr El Monayer for their input on Saudi Telecom Company’s planned acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt (watch, runtime: 13:57).

The transaction would be subject to a 0.3% stamp tax and possibly a tax on capital gains, El Monayer said. The stamp tax will be paid regardless, equally by the buyer and seller, and calculated on the total value USD 2.4 bn value of the transaction. The capital gains tax, which stands at 22.5%, would only come into play if the seller is not incorporated in a country with which Egypt has an agreement to prevent dual taxation.

World Bank’s Mohieldin on coronavirus and the global economy: The impact of the coronavirus outbreak on China’s global growth will most certainly be felt by other markets, World Bank Group Senior Vice President Mahmoud Mohieldin told Al Hekaya’s Amr Abib (watch, runtime: 7:17). The outbreak came amid adverse political conditions and at a time when global economic growth is already weak, says Mohieldin.

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