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High-tech trains are coming to Cairo

11 May 2023 Comments (0) Featured, Technology

Egyptian Passengers will soon be able to travel through their country aboard a high-speed train. Indeed, the German group Siemens deals to construct 2,000 kilometers of high-speed rail lines across Egypt. The project aims to connect 60 cities by train, at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.

Rail travel is the most important method of passenger transportation in Egypt with 800 million passenger miles annually. Most of the network connects the densely populated urban areas of the Nile delta with Cairo and Alexandria as switching points. Train fares in commuter trains and 3rd class passenger trains are subsidized by the government as a social service.

Egyptian rail before

The history of Egypt under British rule lasted from 1882 to 1956 (the Suez Crisis), and we all know that Britain was a huge promoter of rail infrastructure: witness the 60, 000 km of line in India. The British introduced rail to Egypt in 1854.  Egypt has less than 20% of India’s rail length, yet it will soon have a rail network availability that any country would be proud of.

The development

Between September 2021 and May  of 2022, the German industrial group Siemens Mobility deals to construct 2,000 kilometers of high-speed rail lines across Egypt. The deal is worth over €8 billion and includes 41 high-speed trains, 94 regional trains, and 41 freight trains. It will connect 60 cities by train, at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, providing rail access to around 90% of the population. The maximum speed is 250 km / h but the operational speed of electric express trains is 230 km / h. The safety and speed factors offer any business transporting goods huge incentives to switch from road to rail as their network of choice.

The network from Abu Simbel to Cairo

Egypt will have the largest and most modern high-speed rail network in the Southern hemisphere! The City of the Dead, Cairo Necropolis, will soon be bustling with activity. The second stretch of track will connect Cairo with Abu Simbel.

Trains offer many advantages over other forms of travel. The check-in times are almost non-existent when compared with the two hours required on flights. Given a maximum speed of 250 km/h, that means that one could travel a distance of almost 1000 km in just over four hours! Baggage limits are generous, and the comfort factor on trains is a huge bonus.

Travelling through the desert at speed in an air-conditioned carriage gives one an opportunity to see a huge area of the country, an advantage not possible when flying commercially. When people choose to travel by express train rather than by car, it reduces traffic congestion. Trains also have a very good safety record, and the impact on the environment is less damaging to the environment than road travel. In addition, the new lines will aid in the economic development of existing and previously inaccessible towns.

Other benefits of the network

The benefits are not all about travel – over 500 new jobs will be created, and construction and technical staff from Siemens and associated companies will train staff from Orascom and other Arab contractors. The benefits to the nation of skilled technicians cannot be understated. Over 90% of the Egyptian population will soon have access to fast, cheap, and safe transport! That statistic is something for Egyptians to feel proud of, and it is a figure unmatched anywhere in Africa, and indeed even by several developed western countries.

Egypt presently has a population of almost 110 million, giving a population density of over 100 per square kilometer, which gives rise to frequent traffic jams and much pollution. An estimated 30 million passengers will travel annually on the new line that reduces travel time by 50%. It is hoped that volume of freight by rail will increase from the present 5% to 15%. 

The modernization of public rail travel in Egypt is on the fast track!

Photo : travelandleisure.com

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Bringing tourism back to the Middle East

27 November 2017 Comments (0) Middle East

tourism-middle-east

Long heralded as the must-see tourist destinations of the Middle East, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey are feeling the blow to their once prosperous tourism sector, as holidaymaker’s head to safer shores. Terrorist attacks, kidnapping and political unrest has seen a decline in tourism in the region, however, some countries are finding ways to bring the people back.

Saudi Arabian Islands Make-over

The recently announced Red Sea Project will see Virgin airlines founder and entrepreneur Richard Branson invest in turning 50 Saudi Arabian islands into luxury tourist destinations. This comes as Saudi Arabia announced its plans to turn 13,127 square miles of coastline into luxury resorts in early August. “This is an incredibly exciting time in the country’s history,” Branson said in a statement released by the Information Ministry. As one of the world’s most conservative countries, where alcohol is prohibited and women have only just been given permission to drive, Saudi Arabia is determined to change its image in the international community.

According to Arabian Business, since the appointment of Prince Mohammed bin Salman as successor to his father’s empire in June, the country has launched a media offensive aimed at pulling the country out of its dependence on oil and diversifying its revenue. The Saudi Public Investment Fund, which is headed by Prince Mohammed, will provide the initial investment to the Red Sea Project, with plans to start construction in 2019. Branson is the first international investor to commit to the project in what the ministry called “a clear sign that Saudi Arabia is opening its doors to international tourism.”

Egypt Partners with CNN

Egypt is also set to launch a tourism media campaign with cable television channel CNN, after visitor numbers fell dramatically due to the Arab Spring uprising, which overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, and the Russian passenger jet which crashed in Sinai in 2015, killing all onboard. Russia, which was the number one source of tourists to Egypt, suspended flights to the country pending tighter security measures at Egyptian airports. In order to lessen the impact of these reports, Egypt will launch an advertisement to be aired on CNN’s weather forecasts in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to attract tourists during the winter season. International advertising and marketing agency J. Walter Thompson, said the aim of the campaign was to attract tourists in winter to Egypt’s consistently warm weather.

According to Egyptian news site Ahram Online, Egypt was receiving as many as 14.7 million visitors back in 2010. Before the Arab Spring, tourism represented 13% of the country’s gross national product, bringing in some $20 billion a year in revenue, according to government figures. In contrast, the first seven months of 2017 have seen just 4.3 million tourists visit the country’s historic sites and arid landscape. Although tourism revenue has increased in Egypt, for the same period, by 170%, reaching $3.5 billion, it is still nowhere near the pre-2011 figures.

Future of Middle Eastern Tourism

While travel and tourism sectors of the regions usually popular destinations have suffered, not all the Middle East has been badly affected. Certain ‘safe haven’ destinations have actually profited in recent years. According to figures from the UN World Tourism Organization, visitors from the UK have increased in the UAE. Dubai saw a 5% increase in UK tourists in 2016, and Abu Dhabi was up 3%. Russian tourists have also flocked to the country after visa-on-arrival was implemented, which saw a rise of 14%. Oman has also seen a steady growth in numbers from Europe, with Britain and Germany among the top five tourism generating source markets, followed closely by India.

According to Trade Arabia, London’s World Travel Market event, to be held in November, will expect to see a strong contingent of exhibitors from the Middle East. WTM Senior Director Simon Press said according to figures from the World Travel and Tourism Council, in 2016 the total contribution to GDP from travel and tourism in the Middle East was $227.1 billion. This figure is forecast to rise by 5.2% in 2017, and 4.8% per annum to make $381.9 billion by the year 2027. “There are exciting times ahead for the Middle East,” Press said.    

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Egypt FDI likely hit $8 bln-$8.5 bln in fiscal year just ended -minister

16 July 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

By Ehab Farouk

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian Planning Minister Hala al-Saeed told Reuters on Saturday that she projected foreign direct investment in the country had reached $8 billion to $8.5 billion in the 2016-17 fiscal year which ended in June.

Speaking on the sidelines of a news conference, Saeed said the government was targeting a 20 percent increase in foreign direct investment in the 2017-18 fiscal year which started this month.

Foreign direct investment in Egypt rose 12 percent in the first nine months of the 2016-17 fiscal year to $6.6 billion compared with $5.9 billion in the same period a year earlier, the investment ministry said earlier on Saturday.

Saeed told a news conference that the economic growth rate for 2016-17 would not fall below 4 percent and for the fourth quarter of 2016-17 not below 4.5 percent.

The government had projected a growth rate of 3.8-4 percent for the full fiscal year 2016-17.

Saeed said she expected the initial budget deficit for 2016-17 to come in at 10.4 to 10.5 percent. The real deficit for the 2015-16 fiscal year was 12.5 percent.

 

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

 

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Egypt to halt flour subsidy and cut wheat imports by up to 10 pct

12 July 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt, the world’s largest wheat buyer, will stop subsidising flour for its sweeping bread subsidy programme next month in a move expected to cut wheat imports by up to 10 percent by curtailing smuggling, the supply ministry said on Wednesday.

Egypt is looking to tighten its finances as it pushes ahead with a $12 billion three-year International Monetary Fund loan programme tied to ambitious reforms such as subsidy cuts and tax increases.

Austerity-hit Egyptians faced with inflation above 30 percent have increasingly turned to the state’s cheap subsidised bread to make ends meet, increasing the country’s food subsidy bill as well as its wheat imports. In the financial year to June 30 wheat imports reached 5.58 million tonnes, up from 4.4 million the preceding year.

In an attempt to reduce waste the state will next month stop subsidising flour used by bakeries offering the cheap bread. Instead, it will restrict subsidies to the actual bread offered to consumers, Supply Ministry spokesman Mohamed Sweed said.

Subsidy card holders currently obtain each loaf of bread for 0.05 pounds, less than a tenth of the cost of production, via an electronic smart card that allocates a maximum daily ration to citizens and compensates bakeries for the production cost shortfall with every swipe.

Unscrupulous bakers have long bought up cheap subsidised flour and sold it on the black market, costing the state millions of dollars a year in squandered subsidies.

Sweed said the new measure will remove the incentive for smugglng flour, cutting down on waste and helping to save the state up to 8 billion Egyptian pounds ($447 million) from its 2017-18 food subsidy bill, which had been set at 85 billion pounds.

He said that lower flour consumption would translate directly into reduced imports.

($1 = 17.9100 Egyptian pounds)

 

(Reporting by Eric Knecht; Editing by David Goodman)

 

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Remittances from expatriate Egyptians rise by 11.1 pct since float

19 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) – Remittances from expatriate Egyptians rose by 11.1 percent between the currency float in November and the end of April, the central bank said on Sunday, with economists suggesting recent reforms have begun restoring confidence in the banking system.

Expatriate remittances from November until the end of April have reached $9.3 billion, a central bank statement said.

Egypt’s central bank floated the pound in November to unlock foreign currency inflows and crush a black market for dollars that had discouraged people from channelling foreign currency through the banking system.

“The float is encouraging transfers through official channels, now that the parallel market no longer offers a premium above the official rate,” said Hany Farahat, a senior economist at CI Capital.

The currency float is part of a $12 billion International Monetary Fund lending programme aimed at putting Egypt on the road to recovery after years of turmoil that drove foreign investors and tourists away.

The three-year IMF programme also includes subsidy cuts intended to narrow the budget deficit and the removal of strict restrictions on bank transactions to attract foreign investors.

 

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; writing by Arwa Gaballa; editing by Giles Elgood, Larry King)

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Egypt’s foreign reserves rise to $31.126 billion at end-May

4 June 2017 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s foreign reserves jumped to $31.126 billion at the end of May from $28.641 billion at the end of April, boosted by last month’s Eurobond sale, the central bank said on Sunday.

Egypt, which has been struggling to revive its economy since a 2011 uprising, sold $3 billion of Eurobonds in May, twice as much as targeted.

That confirmed growing foreign appetite for the country’s debt as it follows through with economic reforms aimed at cutting a budget deficit and luring back investors.

In November Egypt abandoned its currency peg of 8.8 per dollar and floated the pound, which then halved in value. It also raised its key interest rates by 300 basis points, helping Egypt to clinch a $12 billion International Monetary Fund programme.

Last month, the central bank raised its key interest rates by another 200 basis points after inflation reached a three-decade high.

The moves helped the country lure back foreign investors to its treasury sales. Foreign investors in Egyptian government securities rose to 136 billion Egyptian pounds ($7.52 billion) in May from 120 billion pounds a week earlier.

Last month’s Eurobond sale, which reached Egypt’s central bank on May 31, was the second such sale this year. Egypt had earlier raised $4 billion at a Eurobond sale in January that also exceeded expectations.

The steady climb in Egypt’s foreign reserves since it floated the pound brings them closer to pre-2011 levels of around $36 billion.

 

($1 = 18.0800 Egyptian pounds)

 

(Reporting by Eric Knecht and Arwa Gaballa; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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The race to succeed to UNESCO leader Irina Bokova has started

12 October 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Middle East

unesco-Moushira Khattab

At the end of her second mandate as head of the UNESCO, Irina Bokova will no longer occupy her position as Director-General of UNESCO in 2017. Eight years after her first nomination, will the Arab world manage to access the presidency of the United Nations body?

Since summer, rumors have gone strong, and the idea of nominating a representative from the Arab world as head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has resurfaced. No country from the Arab region has ever managed to arise their candidate to the top of this organization. Against a backdrop of anti-Semitism Egypt former Minister for culture Farouk Hosni missed the opportunity by next to nothing in 2009 faced with the current Director-General at the fifth round of the ballots.

In 2009, the Egyptian press and Cairo’s intellectual circles spelt out against what they identified as pressures from “Jewish lobbies”, the United States and the polarization between the North and the South. On the same occasion, Farouk Hosni’s director of campaign condemned member states’ intention to block a cultural movement. So what? Under the pretext that European officials had been elected several times, would the UNESCO be in need of quotas established by Egyptian representatives themselves?

Moushira Kattab on the run to take the succession

Now that Egypt is reassured, it seems like it is willing to give a it go once again after the candidature for nomination of Moushira Khattab was made official on last July during a ceremony with grand apparat. Under Hosni Moubarak, Moushira Khattab was responsible for the Ministry of Family and the people from 2009 to 2011 and had no governmental role since the fall of the former President after the Arab Spring. From 2017 onwards, the diplomat – highly sensitive to children’s rights – will have to prove herself and legitimize her candidacy and that of her country.

Interviewed by Al Monitor in August 2016, Moushira Khattab was aware that there still was a long way to go. She has focused the arguments of her campaign on two major pillars to set sights on the presidency of the organization: Egypt’s legitimate demand and her past experience. On her background first: she can hardly compete with that of her competitors especially in the field of cultural affairs which she has barely dealt with along her career.  But most importantly, she bears an unforgiving burden, that of her government’s reputation and that of a country beset by many problems, in particular in terms of fundamental rights.

Egypt to head the UNESCO: still a long way to go?

Official member of the UNESCO since 1946, Egypt is nonetheless far from respecting the organisation’s premises. Freedom of the press is under threat, human rights regularly challenged and artistic freedom censored under the pretext of “religious exception”. The idea of nominating an Egyptian representative as head of a body like the UNESCO would send a rather paradoxical message. Current political and legislative affairs of the country hardly comply with both the moral values and the ideals of an organization that seeks for example to “protecting freedom of expression”, “building intercultural understanding” or even “learning to live together”, all of it put together on a bedrock of the defense of human rights. These are advocacy fields upon which shadow is cast in Egypt.

The country continues to evolve under a very restrictive vision of freedom of the press and freedom of expression. In 2015 still, Sissi’s government passed a law seeking to harshly sanction journalists who would cover terrorist attempts without strictly referring to official information released by the government. A law that not only constitute a move backwards for freedom of the media, but also applies to social media networks that are under strong scrutiny. This law was made official in a judicial report handed to the Egyptian state council in last September. Such a decision reminds repression to limit the role of social networks during the Arab spring and infringes the freedom of expression of an entire people whose liberties in the end are never really set in stone.

The announcement sparked outrage among human rights’ observers and defenders from all across the world. The candidate has not expressed her opinion about these measures, but she will certainly have to during her campaign to win the nomination to the UNESCO.

 

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Egypt’s telecom regulator approves revised terms for 4G licences

17 August 2016 Comments (0) Business, Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s telecoms regulator has approved revised terms for 4G mobile broadband network licences, and said it will send them out to operators on Sunday.

The government offered four 4G telecom licences in June, to Telecom Egypt and to the country’s three mobile services providers – Orange Egypt, Vodafone Egypt and Etisalat – but only Telecom Egypt accepted the terms. The regulator, keen to prioritise existing carriers, decided to revise them.

A senior official at the Telecommunications Ministry told Reuters on Wednesday that the revised terms include additional frequencies but there is no change in the pricing or the condition that 50 percent of the payment for the licences must be made in U.S. dollars.

“The telecom regulator approved the final terms of the 4G licences yesterday,” the official said, adding that companies would have until midday on Sept. 22 to accept them.

The National Telecom Regulatory Authority later issued a statement confirming it approved the final terms and that the companies had until Sept. 22 to accept.

The government, which is grappling with a shortage of hard currency as economic and political turmoil in Egypt in the past few years has deterred foreign investment, has said it hopes to raise 22.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($2.5 bln) in total in licence fees.

 

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Ola Noureldin; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Susan Fenton)

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A new capital for Egpyt

27 July 2016 Comments (0) Business, Featured, Middle East

Egypt's new capital city (plan)

The Middle Eastern nation builds a new capital near Cairo as it seeks to boost its economy and house a growing population.

Egypt is moving forward with plans to build a massive $45 billion new city east of Cairo that will function as the nation’s government and business capital.

Planners said the new city, which does not yet have a name, would be home to 2,000 schools and colleges, 600 health care facilities, a central business district with hotels, shopping centers and offices, and 20 residential districts with housing for at least five million residents.

Covering more than 250 square miles, or an area slightly larger than the City of Chicago, the new city will also have an international airport larger than London’s Heathrow, an amusement park four times the size of Disneyland and a public park larger than Central Park in New York City.

The plan for a new city is a centerpiece in President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi’s efforts to boost Egypt’s struggling economy. Sisi, who seized power three years ago in a bloody military coup, has proposed several mega-developments amid a slowing of tourism and direct foreign investment in the Mideast nation.

Cairo’s population will double

Planners say the project will create more than one million jobs and take about 12 years to complete.

Egyptian Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly said one goal of the development was to ease congestion and crowding in Cairo. The city of 18 million is expected double in 40 years.

The Egyptian parliament and its government departments and ministries, as well as foreign embassies, would move to the new city, he said.

“We are talking about a world capital,” Modbouly said.

China aids development

Model for new proposed airport

Model for new proposed airport

The project got a boost earlier this year when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Cairo to boost economic ties and announced the Asian nation’s willingness to support construction of the new city. China agreed to support the new capital project with loans, grants and other support that state media reported were worth $15 billion.

China also agreed to loan Egypt’s central bank $1 billion to increase its reserves, which stand at $16 billion, less than half the reserve at the time of the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak during Arab Spring in 2011.

The new city is a showpiece for China’s “One Belt One Road” strategy to strengthen the country’s global position with foreign aid and investment. The strategy has prompted China State Construction to accelerate its international contracting work, building apartment houses, stadiums, roads and hotels in Africa and the Middle East.

Construction began in April

The first phase of construction of the new capital city began in April, including development of roads and communications and sanitation infrastructure on the desert site 30 miles east of Cairo.

An Egyptian-Chinese partnership that includes Arab Contractors, the Petroleum Projects and Technical Consultations Company and the China State Construction is working on the initial construction.

Modbouly said the country would also be seeking bids from private companies for portions of the first phase. Chinese companies will provide financing for the construction of a number of new buildings, including 14 government buildings and a large conference center. Estimated cost of the initial phase is $2.7 billion.

According to China State Construction, the initial phase will include a parliament building, a national meeting center, exhibition halls and offices.

Prior to Chinese involvement, the development bogged down last year over disagreements about costs and how long it would take to complete the new capital. A United Arab Emirates company that had been announced as the lead developer pulled out as Egypt cancelled its contract citing “lack of progress.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, some experts are skeptical of the project.

“Egypt needs a new capital like a hole in the head,” said David Sims, an economist and urban planner who has studied development in Egypt.

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Egypt says close to securing 3-year IMF loan programme

27 July 2016 Comments (0) Business, Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt said on Tuesday it was close to agreeing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) lending programme to ease its funding gap and restore market stability and was seeking to secure $7 billion annually over three years.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail ordered the central bank governor and minister of finance to complete negotiations for the programme with an IMF team that will visit Egypt in the next few days, the cabinet said in a statement.

“We are resorting to the IMF because the budget deficit is very high, between 11 and 13 percent within the past six years,” finance minister Amr el-Garhy, said in a phone interview with presenter Lamis El-Hadeedi on a private TV channel late on Tuesday.

In Washington, the IMF welcomed Egypt’s request for financial support and said it would send a mission to Egypt for about two weeks from July 30.

The cabinet statement, after a five-hour meeting, was the first official confirmation that talks with the IMF were under way. The statement said talks had been ongoing for three months.

“The prime minister stressed the need to cooperate with the IMF through the support program to enhance international confidence in the economy and attract foreign investment, and therefore achieve monetary and financial stability … targeting $7 billion annually to fund the program over three years,” the cabinet statement said.

The government is seeking $12 billion from the IMF, $4 billion a year, which will carry an interest rate of 1 or 1.5 percent, el-Garhy said. The package includes issuing $2-3 billion in international bonds which will be offered as soon as possible, between September and October, he added.

Economists welcomed the news, which came after a turbulent few weeks for Egypt’s currency, the pound, which has plummeted to new lows on the black market as confusion mounted over the direction of monetary policy.

“It’s great. Finally,” said Hany Genena, head of research at Beltone Securities Brokerage. “Confidence will be restored in the government and central bank. Secondly, we will see flotation of the pound, if not tomorrow, next week, the week after.”

Genena said he expected the Cairo stock market to surge after the news and for the currency to strengthen on the black market. The black market had already strengthened slightly from lows near 13 to the dollar on Monday.

Two black market traders contacted by Reuters said they were selling dollars at about 12.80 to 12.85 pounds after the IMF deal was announced.

“I think the stock index will hit 8,000 in the next couple of days,” Genena added. The benchmark EGX30 <.EGX30> closed up 0.3 percent at 7,540 on Tuesday.

Egypt’s economy has been struggling since a mass uprising in 2011 ushered in political instability that drove away tourists and foreign investors, both major earners of foreign currency. Reserves have halved to about $17.5 billion since then.

The dollar shortage has forced Egypt to introduce capital controls that have hit trade and growth, while the value of the Egyptian pound has plummeted on the black market in recent weeks as expectations of a second devaluation this year mount.

The government has pushed ahead with its reform programme, including plans for a value added tax (VAT) and subsidy cuts that were put on hold when global oil prices dropped.

A VAT bill is in its final stages of preparation but has faced resistance in parliament due to concerns over inflation, which has touched seven-year highs since the currency was devalued by 13 percent in March.

Egypt’s ambitious home-grown fiscal reform programme formed the basis of a $3 billion three-year loan deal with the World Bank that was signed in December. But the cash has yet to be disbursed since the World Bank is waiting for parliament to ratify economic reforms including VAT.

A cabinet minister told Reuters last month that Egypt had started negotiations with the IMF and that the central bank was leading the talks.

A statement released by Capital Economics, an independent economic research company, also welcomed the news.

“If approved, this would help to plug Egypt’s external financing requirement and improve the economy’s growth prospects,” it said. “This would make a sizeable dent in Egypt’s gross external financing requirement, which we estimate to be around $25 billion over the coming year.”

 

(Reporting by Amina Ismail and Lin Noueihed; Additional reporting by David Lawder in Washington; Writing by Lin Noueihed; Editing by Tom Heneghan and James Dalgleish)

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