Another slow night on the airwaves: The only business / econ-related news on the airwaves last night was provided by Ala Mas’ouleety host Ahmed Moussa, who spoke to the spokespeople from the oil and public enterprises ministries about Eni’s investment plans and the partial privatization of Eastern Company (more on both of those stories in the news well, above).

Timing the Eastern sale: The quick timing of announcing the Eastern Company stake sale a few days after the government updated the state ownership policy sends a positive message to investors,Public Enterprises Ministry spokesperson Mansour Abel Ghani said on the program (watch runtime: 13:25).

Cheer up, smokers: The additional USD 150 mn provided as part of the acquisition agreement “will be used to significantly up production and overflow the market with 10 mn packs a day or more to end the current market shortage and price manipulation by local retailers,” he said. There will be no imminent official price hikes to tobacco products, he added.

Eni’s investment pledge: Oil Ministry spokesperson Hamdy Abel Aziz appeared on the show to discuss Eni’s announcement that it will invest USD 7.7 bn alongside its partners in its Egypt operations over four years (watch runtime: 3:28 | 3:18).

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