The supervisor of privatization efforts in Egypt announced that privatization of state owned industries will cease, the local media reported Thursday. The move comes along a major administrative reshuffle, as well as an institutional one. The Ministry of Investment is being discontinued, and the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) will now be under the direct supervision of PM Essam Sharaf. GAFI played a role in the oversight of privatizations in the past. There are 147 public companies left in Egypt after a major privatization drive in beginning in the 1980s as Egypt transitioned from a central planning to a more market economy. Telecom Egypt, the state owned company has a 45 percent stake in Vodafone Egypt, one of the country's two largest mobile operators. The other, Mobinil is privately owned. The Postal Authority of Egypt has a 20 percent stake in Etisalat Egypt, the country's third largest mobile provider. The halting of privatization is a result of increased pressure from protesters, who have demonstrated against the privatization of National industries, and in some cases calling for their Nationalization. This marks a divergence from the path Morocco has taken as a result of the protests, which was to sell off a 7 percent stake in Maroc Telecom to redirect funds to the subsidy portion of its budget. BM
