CAPE TOWN: Solving Africa s power crisis will require greater energy efficiency and countries making better use of renewable resources, the World Economic Forum on Africa heard Thursday. The continent, where 600 million people still don t have electricity, has to think of better ways to promote energy efficiency while reducing enormous losses of energy …

CAIRO: Spend enough time on any Cairo road and you’re likely to encounter a familiar scene: Two men (or, less frequently, women) scuffle over a bent fender or nicked rearview mirror, passersby form an impromptu audience and backed-up traffic blares its frustration. After the quarrel hits its crescendo, apparently verging on blows, a stack of …

CAIRO: The Suez Canal Authority posted a record monthly income of $487 million in May, a 27 percent surge on the previous year, authority chairman Ahmed Fadel said on Wednesday. The income was also an eight percent increase over April, which had itself brought in a record income of $449 million. The earnings followed the …

CAIRO: Measure taken by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) have succeeded in lowering the percentage of e-crimes in Egypt by 60 percent, said IT Minister Tarek Kamel. The ministry has taken considerable measures towards combating e-crimes and is setting a regulatory framework for the intellectual property rights of information and communications technology, …

CAIRO: When the Egyptian pound’s value crumpled in 2003 – idling, for a time, at nearly LE 7 per US dollar – the import-needy auto industry was among the hardest struck. For several months, the price of a car shifted almost daily. Car sellers weren’t alone in the turmoil: Loan financiers, many of them fresh …

CAIRO: If you are seeking over 80 percent chance of success in your enterprise, then franchising is the answer for you, according to experts at the MENA International Franchise Exhibition (MIFE) 2008 held on Wednesday. “Franchising is a very effective business tool that passes on expertise of giant business enterprises with renowned trademarks to small …

CAIRO: The growth of local small and medium businesses can help directly alleviate poverty by increasing income levels and creating jobs, experts said at a recent technology event. “There is huge potential in the small- and medium-business (SMB) market in Egypt, which represents 80 percent of GDP and 75 percent of the labor force, said …

CAIRO: As oil prices continue to rise and the global energy crisis gains momentum, Egypt turned its attention this week on ways the Developing Eight (D8) member states can cooperate to tackle these issues. Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi met with Dipo Alam, secretary general of the D8 organization, to discuss ways member states can …

CAIRO: In the ongoing commotion over steel and cement prices, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, chairman of the General Section of Real Estate Investment (GSREI), lauded the government’s recent decisions taken to cool rapidly spiraling prices. “I believe the government introduced effective procedures to contain the [relentless] leaps in prices of construction material including the cement export …

El Sewedy to build $150 mln plant in Qatar Egypt-based El Sewedy Cables said on Monday it would build a $150 million power cable plant in Qatar with a local partner to tap surging Gulf Arab infrastructure spending. The factory will have an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons, with most of it to be …

CAIRO: Opening up the market to steel imports and facilitating customs entry procedures is crucial to stabilizing the steel market, experts and steel importers said. As soaring steel prices recently hit LE 8,000 per ton, some wholesalers and investors figured that it would cost less to import steel from steel-rich countries than it would to …

CAIRO: While a recent survey finds that global consumer confidence has plunged to a new record low in the past six months, some experts argue that Egypt will shrug off any possible recession and that signs of economic growth have unleashed consumer optimism among the wealthier sectors of Egyptian society. “Egypt is much more broadly …

CAIRO: Delta Air Lines announced the start of its new nonstop flight from Cairo International Airport to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on June 5, the airline said in a press statement. The new service, which will operate five times per week, “is the only scheduled nonstop service operated by a US …

YOKOHAMA: A trade fair aimed at boosting paltry levels of Japanese investment in Africa and increasing commercial ties was Sunday hailed as a success, with hundreds of contacts made. Japanese businesses invested $1.1 billion in the continent last year, accounting for less than 1.5 percent of the total foreign investment of the world s second …

CAIRO: The Dow Chemical Company reported sales of $14.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008, with particularly strong demand in the India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA), the company said in a press statement. Dow’s IMEA sales rose 26 percent from the same period last year to $402 million, setting a new regional record. …

DUBAI: Orascom Hotels Holding, SHUAA Hospitality Fund and Rotana Hotel Management Corporation recently announced a joint venture that will invest $40 million into developing budget business hotels in Egypt. The hotels will be managed by Rotana, one of the leading hotel chains in the Middle East and North Africa region. “The partnership will see the …

CAIRO: Steel costs continued to fluctuate over the weekend, with reports of prices ranging from LE 6,000 to LE 8,000 per ton, despite rules passed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry last week that intended to keep prices much lower, according to analysts and local media reports. Menna El-Hasnawy, a steel analyst at HC …

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates is on course to shed its reputation as a tax haven and become the first oil-rich Gulf Arab state to introduce value added tax, marking a step towards diversifying public revenues. As early as next year, shoppers in the sumptuous malls of Dubai – the city-state whose oil resources …

BEIRUT: In 2006 it was the Hezbollah-Israel war, in 2007 it was the struggle against Fatah al-Islam militants in the north, and this year internal clashes dragged Lebanon to the brink of a new civil war. For three consecutive seasons, tourism revenue, once the country s lifeblood, was reduced to a trickle by violence and …

CAIRO: Egypt’s stock market snapped this month’s losing streaks, with the benchmark CASE30 index advancing 3.65 percent this week to end at 11,057 points, mainly lifted by investor confidence. The market started off the week trading on low volumes, with the CASE30 Index gaining 1.3 percent to close at 10,803.04 points on a turnover of …

CAIRO: Egypt’s communications and information technology sector generated LE 28 billion in the last two years, mainly driven by investments in Egypt’s third mobile operator and 3G mobile licenses, said IT Minister Tarek Kamel on Thursday. “The sector is growing at unprecedented rates, he stated. “Revenues of operators are growing by some 30 percent per …

CAIRO: It has been just over a century since the Belgian Édouard Empain, a part-time Egyptologist and full-time capitalist, broke ground on the sprawling avenues of modern Heliopolis. Since then, the fortunes of foreign entrepreneurs here have followed an erratic path, from the nadir of Nasser-era nationalism to today’s scramble for foreign cash. Last week, …

CAIRO: “I look at the same data as everybody else and I come up with a different answer, said William A. Swope, Intel s corporate vice president, when asked to name the reason behind his success. “Technology can make a difference, Swope, who is also general manager of Intel s corporate affairs group, told Daily …

CAIRO: Fifty-six percent of global consumers think their country is currently in recession and consumer confidence worldwide has fallen to its lowest level in several years, according to the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index. The index measures consumer confidence, major concerns and spending habits in 51 countries. The latest Nielsen Consumer Confidence Index dropped to …

CAIRO: GB Auto released its first-quarter results for fiscal year 2008, reporting an increase in revenues of 30.3 percent to LE 1.1 billion ($201 million), up from LE 847 million during the same period last year. Gross profit grew by 45.3 percent to reach LE 192 million, compared to LE 132 million a year earlier. …

CAIRO: The Dow Chemical Company reported sales of $14.8 billion for the first quarter of 2008, with particularly strong demand in India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA). Dow’s IMEA sales rose 26 percent from the same period last year to $402 million, setting a new regional record, according to a press statement. Price was up …

CAIRO: In a bid to enlarge its family stake, Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) Investment announced Wednesday it acquired the National Bank of Egypt’s shares in mother company TMG Holding in a deal worth LE 1.275 billion. By virtue of the transaction, TMG will acquire 133,604,071 shares in the company, which constitute around 50 percent of …

CAIRO: Will the ripple effects of the US sub-prime crisis touch Egypt’s nascent mortgage finance market? According to Ossama Saleh, chairman of the Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA), the answer is no. “In Egypt, the mortgage finance market is under the supervision of one regulator, which presents more discipline. From appraises, to brokers, to lenders, they …