{"id":586431,"date":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/05\/11\/privatization-is-dominating-the-news-agenda-here-in-egypt\/"},"modified":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T00:00:00","slug":"privatization-is-dominating-the-news-agenda-here-in-egypt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2023\/05\/11\/privatization-is-dominating-the-news-agenda-here-in-egypt\/","title":{"rendered":"Privatization is dominating the news agenda here in Egypt"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/p>\n

Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY to you all. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/span>PRIVATIZATION is the big story of the morning here at home<\/span>, with suggestions in the press <\/span>that the state\u2019s selldown of its stake in Telecom Egypt could begin any moment now \u2014 and that high-profile Gulf energy outfits are among seven parties said to be interested in buying the country\u2019s two largest wind farms. <\/span><\/p>\n

A stake sale \u2014 any stake sale \u2014 cannot come soon enough: <\/span>U<\/span>pdates and reassurances on privatization are welcome, but the state needs to pull the trigger on transactions. That view, widespread for some time in our community, is now a matter of record in the domestic media after Lamees El Hadidi (the queen of late night talk in Egypt) <\/span>zeroed in on the issue multiple times this week<\/a><\/span>. A big sticker price on the first of these sales would be very nice indeed \u2014 but at this stage, the value (and valuation) is much less important than the simple signal that we are able to transact. Multiple sales in a row would be even better. <\/span><\/p>\n

Government officials are confident we\u2019ll see stake sales between now and the end of <\/span>June<\/span>, sources with first-hand knowledge of the process tell us. And they\u2019re delivering the same message to both international investors and foreign diplomats. <\/span><\/p>\n

Strategic investors have clear appetite for Egypt. <\/span>The reality is that public markets investors <\/span>are looking elsewhere right now, and they\u2019re not coming back anytime soon. Strategics, on the other hand, are committing capital. Witness all the interest in technology, retail, tourism, infrastructure, pharma, and even automotive. <\/span>Our friends at DPI<\/a><\/span> pulled the trigger on two investments in the past month and a bit (Macryl and Kazyon). The <\/span>UAE\u2019s Khazna<\/a><\/span> is partnering with Benya on a USD 250 mn data center this week. <\/span>Kuwait\u2019s Agility<\/a><\/span> is joining with Hassan Allam Utilities to invest in logistics parks. <\/span>We could cite a dozen other examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

ALSO- Not a day goes by that a Saudi, Emirati or European tech player doesn\u2019t move a <\/span>large number of software development jobs to Egypt. <\/span>Most do so very quietly, though we hope a major global assurance outfit that is doing the same will make a loud public announcement of its plans later today. <\/span><\/p>\n

But the market wants to see movement on privatization (and reform) <\/span>\u2014 and they want to <\/span>see big-ticket asset sales, ideally to high-profile GCC investors. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Our inability to transact would have consequences<\/span>, as Moody\u2019s underscored on Tuesday <\/span>when it signaled in a <\/span>statement (pdf)<\/a><\/span> that it could downgrade our credit rating for the second <\/span>time this year if our external position continues to deteriorate. <\/span><\/p>\n

The t<\/span>l;dr on Moody\u2019s: <\/span>\u201cSlower than anticipated progress with the state-owned asset sale <\/span>strategy \u2026 risks undermining Egypt's financing plans, weakening the sovereign's foreign <\/span>exchange liquidity and eroding confidence in the currency\u201d could prompt it to go ahead with the downgrade, it said.<\/span> Our ability to generate FX inflows \u2014 particularly through the privatization program \u2014 is key to it maintaining our rating, it added. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> <\/span>We\u2019re only four days away from meeting with some of you at the Enterprise Exports and <\/span>FDI Forum,<\/span> taking place at the Four Seasons at the Nile Plaza on<\/span> Monday, 15 May. <\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re proud to announce that our friend Shams Eweis, corporate affairs director, Egypt, North Africa and Levant at Mars, is joining us for the forum. Are you?<\/span> Shams Eweis will be speaking on why Mars chose to build its regional export hub here in Egypt and how it successfully managed to export the majority of its output here. She will be joined on stage by <\/span>Tarek Hosny<\/span>, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe, and <\/span>Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, <\/span>CEO of Concrete, who will share their playbook on how they built successful export-led businesses. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who else is speaking<\/span>?<\/span> Among the CEOs, top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are (in no particular order): <\/span>Tarek Kamel<\/span>, CEO of Nestle Egypt; <\/span>Hossam Abou Moussa<\/span>, partner at Apis; <\/span>Hassan Massoud<\/span>, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at EBRD; <\/span>Omar Elsahy<\/span>, general manager of Amazon Egypt; <\/span>Khaled Morsy<\/span>, CEO at DB Schenker; <\/span>Yasmine Khamis<\/span>, chair of The Orientals Group, <\/span>Cheick-Oumar Sylla<\/span>, director for North Africa and Horn of Africa at IFC; <\/span>Shady William<\/span>, managing director of IDG; <\/span>Helmy Ghazi, <\/span>deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; <\/span>Mark Wyllie<\/span>, CEO of Beyti; <\/span>Kareem Abou Ghaly<\/span>, chairman and CEO at Pasta Regina; <\/span>Hossam Sallab<\/span>, CEO and vice-chairman of Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; <\/span>Nada El Ahwal<\/span>, CSO of Transmar; <\/span>Nadia El-Tawil<\/span>, investment officer at AfricInvest; <\/span>Mostafa Bedeir<\/span>, CEO of Giza Seeds and Herbs; <\/span>Abdallah Sallam<\/span>, CEO at Madinet Masr; <\/span>Yassir Zouaoui<\/span>, partner at McKinsey; and <\/span>Mohamed ElGebely<\/span>, team leader at USAID Trade.<\/span><\/p>\n

Topics and live interviews will include:<\/span><\/p>\n