The market's EGX30 index broke the 6,800 points mark this week, its highest level since mid-May. The revival came on the back of news of Orascom Telecom's deal with Vimpelcom, which alone pushed the index 1.5 per cent on the day the deal was announced. Market analysts expect the index to continue heading upwards to a new high of 6,950 to 7,000 points. Meanwhile analysts predict that should the index head south, the decline will not be steep. The most it may drop to, analysts say, is to the 6,550 points mark. On the macro economic level, the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) net international reserves went up by 7.9 per cent in August as compared to this time last year, to hit 35.5 billion. August marks the 17th consecutive month that the reserves recorded an increase. More good news came from the Ministry of Finance, which revealed a 15 per cent increase in revenues of sales taxes on goods and services compared to the same period last year during July and August 2010, reaching LE9.8 billion. The ministry has also announced plans to reduce dependence on short-term borrowing by 10 per cent in the coming two years, raising the average maturity of its outstanding debt to 3.5 years by 2012 from the current 2.1 years. Sixty per cent of outstanding government debt is in local currency treasury bills, with a maturity of up to one year. THE EGYPTIAN COMPANY FOR MOBILE SERVICES (MOBINIL): Egypt's largest mobile network operator and its parent company Orascom Telecom are part of a consortium set to be awarded a licence to offer triple-play services in closed communities. Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tarek Kamel said that the ministry has previously granted two licences to Teletech company and secondly to a MobiNil and Orascom Telecom- owned consortium that runs Link. PAINTS AND CHEMICALS (PACHIN): Local paints producer Pachin is distributing a LE4.5 per share dividend for its 2009/2010 profits. Full-year net profits at the company jumped 70 per cent to LE154.7 million on net sales of LE703.8 million. In November last year Pachin's chairman said Egypt's paint market was growing by two per cent above the economic growth rate, as housing demand remains buoyant. The market is expected to grow to LE1.8 billion by 2013 from LE1.2 billion in 2008. CITADEL CAPITAL: The leading private equity firm is currently investing $40 million to grow crops in Sudan. The African country is witnessing a revival in the state's agricultural spending as a part of the government's plan to tackle food shortages. Citadel's land investments comprise long-term leases of up to 25 years from Sudan's government via two subsidiaries, Sabina and Concord. Giving presentations during a Euromoney conference last week, senior officials from the two companies spoke of Sudan's rapidly expanding market, its increasingly affluent population and the highly favourable fiscal environment as some of the reasons Citadel chose to invest in the country. Since the north-south peace deal of 2005, Sudan has received many investments from Asian and Arab countries. The economy has benefited by achieving an average growth rate of nine per cent. Sudan's annual deficit in grain production is estimated at 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes. The two subsidiaries aim to grow sugar, corn, cotton, wheat, sunflower and sorghum on 250,000 feddans (260,000 acres). Meanwhile, the Arab National Cement Company (ANCC), a cement-making unit of Citadel, signed a LE1.1 billion loan to finance the construction of a cement plant in the southern Egyptian governorate of Minya. ANCC is a division of ASEC Cement, which aims to double its annual cement output in the Middle East and North Africa to about 12 million tonnes by 2013 by tapping into increased housing and infrastructure demand, according to Reuters news agency. The loan is extended by seven banks, including the Arab African International Bank, the Bank of Alexandria, Bank Audi, the National Bank of Greece and Faisal Islamic Bank. TALAAT MUSTAFA GROUP (TMG): The group made fewer headlines through the week after coming back into the spotlight amid debates on the validity of the new Madinaty contract and the controversial 15-year prison sentence that the group's former head was given. News on TMG this week focussed on a new loan it has been granted. The Arab African International Bank and CIB have led a number of banks to arrange a new LE855 million loan for TMG to fund the group's expansion project at the Sharm El-Sheikh Four Seasons Resort. The research arm of local investment bank CI Capital said it considered the group's acquisition of the loan as good news, as it serves as evidence of TMG's strong financial position. Banks clearly remain confident enough to fund the group's expansion plans despite its recent Madinaty land dispute. Compiled by Sherine Abdel-Razek
