State grain buyer GASC has called off a wheat tender as prices offered were higher than expected Reuters reported. The tender was due for shipment between 23 November and 3 December. This is the fourth time Egypt has called off a tender in recent months, with average wheat prices jumping by as much as USD 100 per tonne since the season began. GASC bought 240k tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat in a tender earlier this week for shipment in the second half of November, and at an average price of USD 320.51 per mn tonnes FOB and USD 351.61/mt CFR. The transaction came as high tariffs on exports impact the Russian grain trade and imperil one of the main supply lines for Egypt, the world’s biggest wheat importer. That said, we have been relying less on Russian wheat, which accounted for just 20% of all grain imports by August this season, a seven-year low. Bloomberg also has the story.

Americana Holding Egypt has acquired a 53% stake in Cairo Poultry after consolidating three separate stakes that were held by sister companies or subsidiaries — Americana Group Kuwait, the Egyptian Company for International Tourism Projects (Americana Egypt), and Americana Group, according to four separate EGX disclosures (here, here, here, and here — pdf). The three companies each held 4.4%, 15.3%, and 33.8%, respectively.

Four Nile City shareholders offload their entire stakes: Amusement Touristic and Real Estate Investment has sold its entire 28.2% stake in Nile City in a EGP 703 mn transaction, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). Minority shareholders Golden C for Real Estate and Touristic Investments and Trigger Bay for Real Estate and Touristic Investments each sold their 4.98% stakes in the company, worth EGP 124.3 mn apiece, while Gazelle sold its 0.016% holdings, according an EGX disclosure (pdf). The shares were sold at EGP 344.28 apiece.

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

• Egypt is among 32 low-income countries that lost USD 126 bn last year as a result of the digital gender gap, according to a report on the costs of women’s digital exclusion by web pioneer Tim Berners-Lees’ World Wide Web Foundation and the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI).
• Eighty unemployed Egyptians are getting training for maintenance of rolling stock for Cairo Metro Line 2, courtesy of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Hyundai Rotem.