CAIRO: Visa announced today that Joseph W. Saunders has been named Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Visa Inc. In this position, Saunders will be responsible for leading Visa’s transition to a global public company. He will also help recruit a chief executive officer and board members for Visa Inc. “Joe will play …

A number of Egyptian banks will jostle their way to providing a loan to third mobile phone operator Etisalat Egypt valued at $1.75 billion. Bankers say that the National Bank of Egypt, CIB Egypt, and the National Societe Generale Bank will top the list of banks that will contribute to the loan. Mohammad Emran, chairman …

CAIRO: A new free Pan-Arab satellite channel Al Aan recently hit the airwaves, adding to the ever-growing number of regional offerings. Fast, real and modern are the tools by which the Dubai-based channel hopes to win over a slice of the Egypt’s TV-holics. Zoya Sakr, head of corporate communication at Al Aan, believes Egypt is …

CAIRO: Egyptian exports of natural gas and its derivatives collapsed by nearly 25 percent to $233 million in November 2006 compared with $296 million a year earlier, according to a recent report by the Cabinet Information & Decision Support Center. Based on data from the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum, the report notes rising local consumption …

China changing the global economic order, minister says CAIRO: Human capital in Egypt is more important than any other industry said the Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohammed Rachid. “We need to break the vicious circle that Egypt’s high population is a negative thing. We must learn from China and India, the minister said. …

Monetary Policy Committee, analysts show careful optimism CAIRO: The annual inflation rate stood at 12.4 percent in January, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (Capmas) announced Wednesday. The figure breaks a nine-month streak of increases that saw the rate rise from the 3 percent mark into double digits on the back of fuel …

LE 500 million capital venture to provide ‘Sharia-compliant’ financing CAIRO: An Egyptian-Gulf consortium led by the United Arab Emirates Amlak Finance (AF) has been licensed as the fourth mortgage finance company, the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) announced late Monday. Amlak Finance and Real Estate Investments is due to open its Cairo office this month with …

CAIRO: Emirates Telecommunications Corp. (Etisalat) is looking to raise LE 10 billion in long-term finance, the company s chairman said on Tuesday. The cash will be used to pay off a bridging facility and shareholder loans, Mohammed Hassan Omran said at a conference in Dubai. Banks are expected to begin syndication in the next few …

CAIRO: The Financial and Economic Committee at the Shura Council (Upper house of Parliament) has approved a permission for the government to borrow $1 billion from the World Bank and the African Development Bank to finance the restructuring efforts at state-owned insurance companies and banks. Khallaf Abul Gaber, head of the Shura Council’s Financial Committee, …

NEW YORK: Moody s Investors Service has announced an agreement with Finance and Banking Consultants International (Finbi) to form a joint venture to provide credit rating and research services in Egypt. The venture will provide services in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. Pursuant to the agreement, the parties intend to jointly form a credit …

CAIRO: Public sector s holding companies and their affiliates achieved a net profit of LE 3 billion this year, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin was reported to have said. He added that those companies debts decreased to less than LE 10 billion compared to LE 31.5 billion during the past year. Mohieddin indicated that in …

RED SEA: Dedicated to the memory of the former president of the American University in Cairo (AUC) John D. Gerhart, who was a lifelong educator and environmentalist, the university recently inaugurated the John D. Gerhart Field Station in El Gouna. This station will serve as an environmental studies research center while offering a variety of …

CAIRO: Profit-taking pushed Egyptian shares to end down for the first time in four sessions on Monday, but El Sewedy Cables bucked the trend after announcing its expansion plans in Libya. Traders said retail investors had triggered the sell-off to capitalize on the market s bullish run in the last three days. It was mainly …

Slight mutation to Avian Flu virus discovered in 13th fatality CAIRO: Minister of Agriculture Amin Abaza said Saturday a joint government-private sector task force has developed a strategy to fight the spread of the Avian Flu virus and protect the poultry industry. Abaza s comments followed Friday s announcement of the 13th Avian Flu-induced death, …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on the Egyptian pound was steady at 8.8 percent on Monday in a very quiet market dominated by interest in a central bank auction of 51-day deposits worth LE 4 billion ($702 million) . The average on Sunday was 8.799 percent. Traders said that banks had plenty of liquidity …

CAIRO: The Turkish Sabangi Group in Turkey has announced it will build a new plant for the manufacture of buses in Egypt with joint investments from Egyptian partners. The chairman of the Turkish group said the investments for the first phase would amount to LE 150 million and the plant would be built on 80,000 …

MCQ transactions still under investigation, shares holding above LE 71 mark CAIRO: Arab Swiss Engineering Company (Asec) submitted an offer Sunday to acquire 100 percent of Misr Cement Qena (MCQ) at LE 75 per share, or a total deal value of LE 2.25 billion. The Capital Market Authority (CMA) announced the broad lines of the …

ATHENS: Egyptian businessman Naguib Sawiris is interested in buying the remaining stake he does not already own in Greek telecom Tellas if it comes up for sale, Greek daily Imerisia reported on Thursday. I want all of Tellas, Sawiris was quoted as saying in an interview with Imerisia. Our biggest challenge is to create a …

CAIRO: Egypt plans to repay in kind farmers, whose birds are culled in areas affected by bird flu, following the failure of a previous financial compensation scheme, a health ministry official said Tuesday. The ministry is currently looking at this plan, whereby farmers would be given new, vaccinated, chicks when they lose their birds to …

CAIRO: Shares rose for the third straight session on Thursday, with Ezz Dekheila gaining nearly 10 percent on unconfirmed reports the company may buy treasury stocks, traders said. Traders said Ezz Dekheila had released an official statement saying it may buy the stock stocks at its next general meeting for shareholders, pushing the price of …

CAIRO: The Ministers of Education, Finance and Investment issued a joint announcement Wednesday for the construction and maintenance of 2210 schools to be built throughout the country, in an attempt to reactivate the dormant public-private partnership (PPP) system in executing basic infrastructure projects. The value of the government s school initiative is estimated at LE …

MCQ shares up nearly 40 percent in 10 days CAIRO: Misr Cement Qena (MCQ) shares stabilized Thursday just above the LE 71 mark despite the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange s (CASE) announcement it is investigating transactions made over the past week on suspicion of insider trading on the stock market. The Ministry of Investment …

Over 2,000 students are currently learning via this powerful alternative to personal tutoring CAIRO: OstazOnline is an e-learning service for students from K4 to K12 studying the Egyptian curriculum. OstazOnline has adopted state-of-the-art technology to provide the educational system in Egypt with a new tool to enhance education. This project is considered a step towards …

CAIRO: Bureaucracy is a major obstacle to development, Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid told a gathering of businessmen Tuesday. At a press conference organized by the Egyptian-French Business Association at the Semiramis Intercontinental hotel, Rachid said that more effort should be exerted to allow the average Egyptian citizen to feel the fruits …

CAIRO: Shares rose across the board on Wednesday, with strong interest from foreign investors in construction and telecom shares such as regional telecoms giant Orascom Telecom. There is a general positive sentiment in the market, said Ahmed El-Hifnauy of EFG-Hermes. What is very interesting is that retail and Arab Gulf investors are net sellers, and …

CAIRO: The median overnight interbank rate on Egypt s pound edged down fractionally to 8.805 percent on Thursday from 8.812 percent on Wednesday as many banks steered clear of central bank deposit auctions, traders said. They said rates were depressed in the absence of auctions for certificates of deposit, and that traders were still unenthusiastic …

SYDNEY: The Australian government said on Tuesday it would not ban live sheep exports to Egypt despite new evidence of what it called appalling treatment in that country, but would take the issue up with Egyptian authorities. Animal rights group Animals Australia has given Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran video evidence which it says shows Australian …

NICOSIA: Five international companies have contacted the Cypriot government over the possibility of exploring oil and gas deposits off the Mediterranean island s coast, the commerce minister said Tuesday. Antonis Michaelides said companies with a traditional presence in the oil industry paid 35,000 dollars each to acquire government information on seismic survey on possible reserves …

CAIRO: Net profits of the Egyptian insurance companies surged significantly to LE 2.73 billion during the fiscal year 2006, or up 46.6 percent from LE 1.86 billion a year earlier. Elhamy El-Kady, the General Secretary of the Insurance Federation of Egypt, attributed the upsurge in profits to exceptional revenues from the sale of insurance companies’ …