Last night’s talk shows for Monday, 17 February 2020
The slow news day seeped into the airwaves, giving the talking heads little to chew on last night. Among the highlights were a chat Lamees El Hadidi had with Shuaa Securities’ Amr El Alfy on the latest with the Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) bid to acquire Vodafone Group’s stake in Vodafone Egypt.
The ball is in TE’s court: Telecom Egypt, which holds a 44.8% stake in Vodafone Egypt, still has three possible courses of action to decide how to respond to STC’s bid to acquire the other 55% stake, El Alfy tells Al Kahera Alaan’s El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 12:58). Whether TE will decide to offload its stake, keep it, or use its right of first refusal to claim the stake STC is eyeing remains unclear.
A planned industrial zone in Banha would create more than 3.5k direct jobs, cabinet spokesman Nader Saad told Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 9:03). Such zones will contribute to creating a stronger manufacturing base, allow Egypt to maintain economic growth levels, and keep unemployment rates from rising, Saad added.
Wuhan rescue mission accomplished: The Egyptian expatriates the government brought home from Wuhan earlier this month spent two weeks in quarantine and were scheduled to return home yesterday, Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed tells Assal (watch, runtime 6:41). El Hadidi (watch, runtime: 9:38), El Hekaya’s Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 5:46), and Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 6:51) all reported the news.