Egyptian Businessman Alaa Arafa made an EGP 20m donation to Tahya Masr (Long live Egypt), giving Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb the first cheque totalling EGP 5mn late Tuesday. The remaining amount will be paid in instalments over the next two years Arafa is the founder of Arafa Holding, a leading global textiles and apparel manufacturer and retailer based in Egypt. Members of the Chemicals and Fertilizers Export Council (CEC) came to a decision in its meeting on Sunday to donate half of its assets amassed from the donations of its members to the Tahya Masr "Long Live Egypt Fund". The CEC deposited some EGP 1m in a bank the same morning. Members of the CEC also decided to give a price to the questionnaires given to exporters on a regular basis. The price that was decided was EGP 50 for each questionnaire, and this money will also be transferred to the fund. The amount will be collected every three months. On Monday, member of the board of directors of the fund Salah Diab told the Daily News Egypt that the fund would be open to donations from the secretary-general of Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party and steel tycoon Ahmez Ezz. Ezz was reported to have announced his willingness to donate half of his wealth to the Long Live Egypt Fund after his release from jail on bail on Thursday. Following the inauguration of Al-Sisi in June, governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) Hisham Ramez announced the opening of the Long Live Egypt Fund, whose name is based on the slogan of Al-Sisi's presidential campaign.
