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| ROUND UP: The month at a glance |
NAZIF SIGNS DEALS WITH U.S. FIRMS
Minister of Communications & Information Technology Ahmed Nazif
signed agreements between the Egyptian government and US information-technology
companies on April 5. The minister signed an agreement with Microsoft
to beef up Egypt’s governmental networks and to help eliminate
software piracy of Microsoft products. Nazif also signed agreements
with five other US info-tech companies to participate in the development
of Egyptian “smart villages.”
O.T. AIMS FOR TUNISIA
The second GSM license in Tunisia is being bid for by Orascom Telecom.
Final bids are being submitted by May 5 and decided on in June.
The license will be granted for a 15-year period. Tunisia’s
current network is government owned and has 150,000 subscribers,
targeting 400,000 by the end of the year.
SHAKANKIRI LOSES LIBEL SUIT
Egypt’s former official wheat buyer Samir Shakankiri lost a
libel case over government claims he purchased US wheat unfit for
consumption. A court on March 31 found Minister of Supply &
Internal Trade Hassan Khedr not guilty of libeling Shakankiri in
public statements. The verdict said wheat bought by the General
Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) in 1999, when Shakankiri
was its vice-chairman, contained iron filings.
FTA STEPS ANNOUNCED
In March, the US administration announced three proposals to enhance
economic cooperation with Egypt and set the stage for negotiations
for establishing a free-trade area (FTA). The proposals address
e-commerce liberalization, capitalizing on the Trade and Investment
Framework Agreement (TIFA) and Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) programs
that already exist between Egypt and the United States.
PETROLEUM GIANTS TO EXPORT LNG
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) agreed with British
Petroleum (BP) and Italy’s Eni in March on commercial terms
for setting up an estimated $1.5-2 billion liquefied natural gas
(LNG) export project. BP and Eni, which share gas fields off the
Nile Delta, will buy gas from EGPC. LNG deliveries are scheduled
to start in the second half of 2004.
O.C.I. BOND PLANNED
In order to reduce short-term financing of long-term investments,
Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) announced April
1 a new $52 million corporate bond offering on the local market.
The offering will be underwritten by Commercial International Bank
(CIB) and the Arab Banking Corporation (ABC). The bond offering
will be split into four-year and five-year tranches.
INVESTMENT BANKS BID ON CLICK IPO
Six investment banks have made presentations in bidding for the
mandate to arrange an initial public offering (IPO) for GSM Vodafone
Click. The six banks involved are JP Morgan Chase & Company,
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Schroder
Salomon Smith Barney and the local EFG-Hermes. The decision will
be announced in early May.
SUEZ TENDER EXTENDED
Suez Cement extended its tender-offer deadline on April 10 to increase
its paid-in capital by 25 percent because it had only received one
official offer. Heidelberger Zement, Buzzi Unicem and Ciments Francais
have expressed interest in bidding for the capital increase, but
only Ciments Francais submitted an offer. Heidelberger Zement requested
an extension of the deadline to allow for internal procedures.
INDICATORS SHOW IMPROVEMENT
The Central Bank of Egypt on March 21 released December 2000 macroeconomic
indicators that show an inflation rate of 2.3 percent, compared
to 3.2 percent for December 1999. Market liquidity rose to £E
270.9 billion in December 2000, up 11 percent compared to the same
period in 1999, while the balance of trade fell 15.5. percent, to
£E 9.3 billion ($2.4 billion), for second quarter 2000/01.
Total bank deposits rose to £E 275.7 billion, up 12.1 percent
compared to the same period last year.
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