Bid blocked THE ADMINISTRATIVE Court on 10 April turned down Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority's (EFSA) decision to accept France Telecom's (FT) bid to purchase major shares in Mobinil. The ruling hampers FT's attempt to buy a controlling stake in the Egyptian Company for Mobile Services (ECMS), the holding company for Mobinil. The development marks the latest in a series of disagreements that have been ongoing between the joint owners of ECMS, Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) and FT. Earlier this year, OTH announced the refusal of its filing before the Grievance Committee in connection with the decision of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA) to accept the publication of the mandatory purchase offer submitted by an affiliate of FT for the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of ECMS that was issued on 10 December 2009. A case against the decision was immediately filed before the Administrative Court. On 14 January, OTH was granted an injunction to stay the EFSA decision. The purchase offer has now been declared null and void by the Administrative Court. Easier bill payment FAWRY, Egypt's leading electronic bill payment network, announced last week the addition of 700 bill payment and mobile top-up points at various retail outlets across Cairo and Alexandria, supplementing existing service points at Fawry member banks. Through the 700 clearly marked retail outlets, consumers can request and pay their bills for any of the supported services. Consumers will no longer need to pay their bills at the support centres of the given service provider. The adoption of Fawry by retailers highlights strong demand for simplified payment solutions in Egypt. "Fawry represents a dynamic shift from Egypt's current bill presentment and payment model as it is the first true national electronic network that offers Egyptians a simple and secure mean of receiving and paying their bills," said Mohamed Okasha, managing director of Fawry's retail division. In an attempt to make Fawry more accessible, payment points were chosen in popular pharmacies, supermarkets and convenience stores. Fawry is expected to increase its service to reach over 3,000 outlets by the end of 2010 and 12,000 outlets by 2012. When Fawry was first launched last December it secured the support of 10 major banks. Today, four of these banks (National Bank of Egypt, Bank of Alexandria, Banque Misr and Banque du Caire) already offer live services on their ATMs while the remaining six will enable the service during 2010. A major milestone for Fawry has been the activation of its mobile top-up service that gives retailers the ability to offer mobile line recharge facilities for all three operators -- Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat. Furthermore, Fawry has recently added other utility payments for Telecom Egypt, TEData and LinkDSL that will go live this month. Shopping online SOUQ.COM, the largest e-commerce marketplace and auction website in the Arab world, announced Monday the launch of its Egypt portal. As the first online marketplace for Egypt, the new portal will deliver secure online shopping and delivery services. It also offers the only auction service of its kind where buyers can bid on items. According to Ronaldo Mouchawar, CEO of Souq.com, the portal provides complete end-to-end service for both buyers and sellers. "It offers marketing, buying, selling, electronic payment and product delivery in a very easy and secure way so as to enable both individuals and businesses to sell their goods and services to millions of online users," said Mouchawar. A variety of payment methods are also available. "These will allow users to pay for items online safely and without the use of credit cards. A cash on delivery service is also granted for customers who are only willing to pay upon delivery of goods." Souq.com is also aiming to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Egypt with a platform to expand their business online without having to build their own complex e-commerce website. Sellers are able to display all their goods in one location and use powerful, easy to use tools to develop their own brand identity. "The new portal will bring about significant e-commerce capabilities to all Egyptians and will serve as an enabler for growth of future web-based services, helping more Egyptians realise the power of the Internet," said Omar Soudodi, general manager of Souq.com Egypt.
