Investors lobby gov’t to liberalize energy market for manufacturers: Industry is looking to push the government to liberalize the energy market for factories, head of the Egyptian Businessmen’s Association’s (EBA) energy division Osama Guindy tells the local press. The division has sent formal requests to the energy and oil ministries to impose an automatic pricing mechanism for natural gas that would peg the cost to global prices. Factory owners have been complaining for months of high prices, which the EBA says could be resolved with an open energy market and increased competition. This system would allow factories to select energy suppliers based on competitive pricing, rather than being tied to a single source, Guindy says.

Energy prices have long been a concern for industry: The government said last year it would periodically review the price at which it sells energy to industry, following repeated requests from the Federation of Egyptian Industries for lower gas prices. The committee mandated with the review last met in October, when it lowered natgas prices by up to 25% for three types of factories.