{"id":555414,"date":"2021-11-14T04:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T04:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/11\/14\/ora-plans-usd-1-bn-africa-expansion-sawiris-pivots-to-battery-metals\/"},"modified":"2021-11-14T04:00:04","modified_gmt":"2021-11-14T04:00:04","slug":"ora-plans-usd-1-bn-africa-expansion-sawiris-pivots-to-battery-metals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/11\/14\/ora-plans-usd-1-bn-africa-expansion-sawiris-pivots-to-battery-metals\/","title":{"rendered":"Ora plans USD 1 bn Africa expansion + Sawiris pivots to battery metals"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> Naguib Sawiris\u2019 Ora Developers is planning to invest at least USD 1 bn over the <\/strong><\/sup>next five years to increase its footprint in Africa<\/strong>, the Egyptian bn\u2019aire told the National<\/a> on the sidelines of a real estate expo in Dubai last week. This includes building a seven-star hotel in Senegal and developing resorts in several countries across the continent, including Ghana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Sudan, he said. Ora is also eyeing Pakistan, with a residential project in Islamabad already in the works and a high-rise project in Karachi on its radar.<\/p>\n

Sawiris trims gold exposure, eyes battery metals:<\/strong> The celebrity bn\u2019aire is looking to invest in battery metals and reduce his exposure to gold, he told several media outlets during the conference. Sawiris\u2019 La Mancha gold fund will offload its controlling stake in Canadian miner Golden Star Resources<\/a> and reinvest the proceeds into metals used to make batteries \u2014 raw materials that investors expect to experience a boom in the coming years as the global auto industry transitions away from fossil fuels to electric vehicles. \u201cThe new funds and the cash coming from the sale will be reinvested,\u201d Sawiris said in an interview with Reuters<\/a> Thursday. \u201cWe\u2019re trying a bit to diversify into other metals near gold. We're looking at nickel and zinc and titanium and lithium \u2014 battery materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Golden Star <\/strong>said on 1 November<\/a><\/strong> that it had reached an agreement with the Chinese firm to sell the company for USD 470 mn<\/strong>. La Mancha holds a 33.4% stake<\/sup> in the company, which according to our calculation should net it almost USD 160 mn when the transaction closes in January.<\/p>\n

Sawiris has been quite the gold bug in recent years<\/strong>, announcing in early 2020 that he had invested half of his capital into gold<\/a> and earlier this year setting up his USD 1.4 bn gold fund<\/a>. \u201cI am just trying to hedge my gold position a bit,\u201d Sawiris separately told Bloomberg<\/a>. \u201cI have an extremely high exposure to gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

La Mancha\u2019s Altus Strategies should soon acquire licenses for another five gold exploration concessions<\/strong> in the Eastern Desert, Sawiris told Reuters. The company acquired four exploration licenses<\/a> earlier this year in the first government bid round under new, more investor-friendly terms<\/a>, and bid for another five in a second round held this year.<\/p>\n

Also from Sawiris:<\/strong><\/p>\n