Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 3 July 2022

Last Night’s Talk Shows: Of debt, houseboats and a cigarette shortage

No single story dominated the conversation on the airwaves over the weekend, with the nation’s talking heads devoting coverage to an assortment of issues from the government’s decision to demolish houseboats on the Nile to Mo Salah’s fat new contract at Liverpool.

On the econ front, economist Hany Tawfik joined Amr Adib on El Hekaya to discuss the increase of the country’s debt burden, which he warned was outpacing the growth of state revenues (watch, runtime: 12:23).

Also getting play on the airwaves last night:

  • Could the parliament save the Nile houseboats set for demolition? MP Amira Saber has issued an urgent statement to Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and the water resources and environment ministers protesting the decision to demolish the Nile houseboats and highlighting their historical significance. Saber was on El Hekaya to discuss the issue with Amr Adib (watch, runtime: 5:56).
  • Gold prices will not be affected by the recent VAT increase on gold craftsmanship, Nagy Farag, advisor to the Supply Minister for the gold industry, told Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 5:38). The gold jewelry division of the Cairo Chambers of Commerce announced last week that as of 1 July, a 10% rate of VAT will be applied to gold craftsmanship.
  • Mo Salah’s huge new contract with Liverpool got some airtime: Liverpool star Mo Salah will become the highest-paid player in the club’s history after signing a huge GBP 350k-per-week contract, keeping him at Anfield until 2025. El Hekaya had coverage (watch, runtime: 2:42).
  • Who’s to blame for the shortage of cancer sticks? The government, according to Ibrahim Imbabi, Head of the Tobacco and Cigarette Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, who told Amr Adib that policymakers need to hike prices by EGP 1-2 in order to address supply issues (watch, runtime: 5:19).

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.