Legislation that would impose harsher penalties for FGM earned approval (somewhat begrudgingly) from the House Legislative Committee yesterday, after the Senate had signed off and shipped the bill back to the House of Representatives. A handful of MPs in the committee proposed scaling back the penalties, suggesting that the attempt to clamp down on the practice would encourage families to resort to barbers and midwives to carry out the procedure outside of clinics. The representatives suggested that community outreach initiatives and awareness campaigns would be more effective in curbing the practice.

Other things we’re keeping an eye on this morning:

• Ports in Alexandria, Dekheila and Sharm El Sheikh were closed yesterday due to bad weather, a day after four Red Sea ports were shuttered. All Red Sea ports apart from Ain Sokhna were reopened yesterday (here and here).
• The Arab International Bank will increase its stake in SAIB Bank to 50.43% from 46.07%, purchasing 655,466 shares in a USD 2.9 mn transaction after receiving regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Egypt.