YBG acquitted of corruption charges

A Cairo Criminal Court acquitted Mubarak-era finance minister Youssef Boutros Ghali of (frankly unjust) corruption charges in a retrial, according to the local press. This is the most recent acquittal in the case, dubbed the “license plates” case by the domestic press. Former prime minister Ahmed Nazif and interior minister Habib El Adly were both convicted in related cases; their convictions were later reversed in retrials.

Dr. Youssef is one of the good guys. It would be good to see him back home and able to contribute once again to public life.

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

• e-Finance’s new cloud computing service will run on IBM servers under an agreement announced yesterday. (Company statement, pdf)
• Shell will start drilling for gas in some of its new concessions in 1Q 2023. (Oil Ministry statement)
• Egyptian auto marketplace Contact Cars will develop an automated pricing tool for Toyota Egypt’s pre-owned vehicle arm Automark. (Company statement, pdf)
• ADIB Egypt has set up a new microfinance firm that will begin providing services starting January. (Al Mal)