Changing heads THE EGYPTIAN Stock Exchange (ESE) welcomed a new chief this week. Mohamed Abdel-Salam, managing director of Misr for Clearing, Settlement and Depository (MCSD), replaced Sameh El-Torgoman. Abdel-Salam, who will continue in his post at MCSD, has been put in charge of ESE until December, when another chief will be chosen. The most likely candidate to succeed him is Maged Shawqi, who has been appointed to the newly created post of deputy head of ESE. El-Torgoman held the post of chief of ESE since December 1998. He will move on to head the General Authority for Real Estate Finance (GAREF), a move many believe will help strengthen its role and breathe life into the mortgage system. OTH bond issue ORASCOM Telecom Holding (OTH) is warming up to its upcoming bond issue. The company signed an agreement with the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr and the Bank of Alexandria to underwrite its upcoming bond issue. The proceeds of the bond issue, which will be divided into two segments, one of LE700 million and another of $150 million, will be used, according to an OTH press release "to re- finance existing bank debt and to strengthen OTH's financial flexibility". Although details of the bond offering will be announced after approval from the Capital Market Authority, it is expected that the pound-denominated bonds will bear a variable interest rate of 2.5 per cent above the Central Bank of Egypt lending and discount rate. Dollar-denominated bonds will also bear a variable interest rate of 2.25 per cent above the interbank rate in London. The interest rate will be disbursed every six months for the seven-year maturity of the bonds. It is expected that only 30 per cent of the bond issue will be put up for public subscription while the remainder will be subscribed to by the three underwriting banks. An extraordinary general assembly meeting of the company has yet to be held to approve of the financing plans. Boosting Egyptian-Kenyan trade IN AN ATTEMPT to strengthen trade ties between Egypt and Kenya, the Kenyan minister of trade and industry, Mukhisa Kituyi, visited Egypt last week and met members of the Egyptian Businessmen's Association (EBA). Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Egyptian minister of foreign trade and industry, also attended the meeting and emphasised the important role both countries play in the Common Market of East and South African Countries (COMESA). "Egypt and Kenya have always worked closely in international economic forums to get the best results possible for the welfare of both countries and Africa in general," said Kituyi. "Thanks to COMESA, trade between the two countries has grown exponentially," he said. As in Egypt, the Kenyan business community has long been heavily dependent on state-enforced tariffs on foreign goods. "This is not the case now. A new trend is growing and the government is becoming more investment- and trade-friendly," said Kituyi. He also called Egypt's heavy involvement in the Kenyan market, "a wake up call for Kenyan businessmen, before the gates are wide open to the whole world". According to Rashid, facing international competition is one of the most difficult issues for Egyptian traders to accept. "Whether they like it or not, they have to find a way to survive or they will not be able to stand the floods which are inevitably coming," said Rashid. It is worth noting that trade between both countries has almost doubled in the past few years. The most important Egyptian exports to Kenya include fresh and preserved fruits, pharmaceuticals, fertilisers, iron, plastic and white rice, while tea and coffee constitute the bulk of Kenyan exports to Egypt. Gas rig fire LAST WEEK, after the fire on the Al-Temsah natural gas production platform in the Mediterranean Sea, Sameh Fahmi, minister of petroleum, said his ministry has developed a plan to compensate for the interruption of the daily production of 150 million cubic feet of natural gas. "Production will be back [in full] in 50 days, at the end of September," said Fahmi. Production shortfall due to the fire will be met by 17 other natural gas platforms in the area. "We don't consider the halt of production a loss; it is considered a natural gas reserve for the field itself. We will cover the production from the nearby fields," he said. The fire, which started Tuesday 10 August, initially broke out on an exploration vessel, the Adriatica 4, linked to the platform. The vessel was destroyed by an explosion and sank. The fire then spread to the platform through a natural gas overflow. No casualties were reported as the entire 79- member staff was evacuated from the rig. Al-Temsah, one of Egypt's largest natural gas deposits, produces 150 to 180 million cubic feet per day of Egypt's daily production of 3,600 million cubic feet. The platform, which stands about 70 kilometres northeast of Port Said, is operated by Petrobel and owned by Italy's ENI, British Petroleum and Egypt's General Petroleum Corporation. Othman upbeat on economy MINISTER of Planning Othman Mohamed Othman emphasised on Saturday that the performance of the Egyptian economy is improving by leaps and bounds. According to Othman, recent figures show that the balance of payments has registered a surplus of $2.7 billion over the last nine months. The total value of Egyptian exports also rose to $2.9 billion over the last three months, compared to $2.3 billion during the same period last year. The increase in exports reflects the resurgent growth of locally produced agricultural and industrial goods and has helped stabilise the Egyptian pound against the dollar. However, Othman added that the last three months saw imports rise to $4.8 billion, compared to $4.1 billion during the same period last year. He attributed the rise to an increased local demand for foreign capital goods and production inputs.
