Egypt - Two international cigarette companies are competing to buy a stake in Eastern Company, the largest cigarette manufacturer in Egypt. The Holding Company for Chemical Industries, which owns 50.95% stake in Eastern Company, said in a disclosure on Tuesday that it had received several offers from foreign investors to buy a stake not exceeding 30% of its share in Eastern Company, and negotiations are underway to choose the best offer. According to sources who spoke to Daily News Egypt, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and United Tobacco Company, in which Philip Morris International controls the majority of its shares, submitted offers to obtain a stake in Eastern Company. Eastern Company owns about 24% of United Tobacco Company, and is represented on its board of directors. The sources indicated that the share that United Tobacco Company aims to acquire in Eastern Company amounts to about 33%, but after deducting the share of Eastern Company, it will be less than 30%.

Egypt’s non-oil trade deficit decreased by 10.7% to $7.5bn during the second quarter (2Q) of 2023, compared to about $8.4bn during 2Q 2022, due to a decrease in non-oil imports. According to the Information and Decision Support Center of the Cabinet, the value of non-oil exports declined to $8.4bn during 2Q 2023, compared to about $9.2bn during 2Q 2022, a decline of 8.7%, while the value of non-oil imports amounted to $15.9bn, compared to about $17.6bn, a decrease of about 9.7%. According to the report, the value of the non-oil trade exchange between Egypt and the COMESA countries reached $390.7m during 2Q 2023, compared to $306.8m during 2Q 2022, an increase of 27.3%. Libya came at the forefront of the COMESA countries importing non-oil Egyptian commodities by $312.7m during 2Q 2023, followed by Sudan by $137.4m, then Kenya by $78.1m, while Eritrea came as the least importing COMESA country from Egypt by $0.3m. With regard to Egyptian non-oil imports from COMESA countries during 2Q 2023, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) came at the forefront, as Egypt imports non-oil goods of $130.3m from DRC, then Kenya by $70.8m, while Burundi came as the least of the COMESA countries from which Egypt imports non-oil goods during 2Q 2023.

CAIRO - 24 August 2023: The "BRICS" group has decided to expand its membership by inviting Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates(UAE), Argentina, Iran, and Ethiopia to join starting from January 2024. This step will transform the group into a bloc that holds control over about a third of the global economy. When combined with the $26 trillion GDP of the existing five countries in the group, this constitutes a significant economic force. He emphasized the need to speed up the expansion process to include more countries, considering that "the acceleration process will bring many countries into the BRICS family." He pointed out that BRICS countries should act as nations and enhance international cooperation.

CAIRO - 24 August 2023: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared an invitation to Egypt, Argentine, Saudi Arabia and UAE to be full members at BRICS. South African Minister of Small Business Development Stella Tembisa Ndabeni-Abrahams said small and medium sized enterprises are vital for changing the current economic situation in Africa. She said If heads of state and the business council of BRICS prioritized small businesses, the economic situation in African countries will completely change. Africa's GDP stands at dlrs 1.4 trillion, she said, noting that if policies changed to encourage cooperation among African countries, the African free trade zone agreement will be spearheaded. The minister said a number of African countries managed to encourage entrepreneurship, citing Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana as examples in this regard.

A private plane en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg crashed in the Tver Region on Wednesday, killing all 10 people on board, Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said. Local reports said that Wagner Group private military company leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was listed among the passengers on board. However, the ministry did not confirm this information. The plane, a Cessna Citation M2, crashed at a site to the northwest of Moscow, the ministry said in a statement. The cause of the crash was not immediately known.

Gamal Moharram, founder of the Egyptian Factoring Federation, will cooperate with an international financial institution to establish a new company that will apply to obtain a licence for credit rating of securities, sources revealed. The sources told Daily News Egypt that the consortium was awaiting the announcement of the licence criteria, explaining that there is interest from several other investors to obtain the licence. Last Tuesday, the Board of Directors of the FRA approved criteria for granting a licence for credit rating of securities. He explained that the licensing criteria aims to achieve transparency, as the selection criteria include all the details of the comparison between the applicants. He added that the credit rating agencies play a vital role in the stock markets, and contribute to the efficient capital allocation to serve investment opportunities according to their return and risk, because they evaluate and classify the quality of the various securities traded in the financial markets.

Johannesburg — India has expressed its full support for the expansion of the BRICS group, while Brazil is not as enthusiastic about the idea. The comments from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi came at the second day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg. Russia and China are championing the expansion, with South Africa also in support. Lula said that BRICS countries are ready to join efforts to seek an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. The Prime Minister is scheduled to deliver a speech on behalf of Egypt at the high-level dialogue session on Thursday.

The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) issued decision No. 150 for 2023 to amend the Authority’s decision No. 1 for 2017 regarding the standards for financial evaluation of enterprises, by developing some methodologies and models that suit the nature of start-ups to help them access the necessary funding for growth, expansion, and business development. The decision also stipulates that the target investment multiplier is estimated using the direct form method, or by calculating the target return upon exit. Farid added that the process of developing standards comes in light of the Authority’s management’s keenness to complete efforts to provide an enabling environment for economic entities to explore opportunities for growth and business development through the services provided by non-banking financial markets and the entities operating in them.

CAIRO - 23 August 2023: Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, earlier Wednesday to attend the 15th summit meetings of the BRICS. Madbouli is due to attend the summit, themed “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism”, on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. The BRICS meetings kicked off here Tuesday and will last until Thursday. CAPMAS records highlight a trade value increase between Egypt and BRICS, which increased by 10.5 percent from 2021 to 2022, reaching $31.2 billion in 2022 from $28.3 billion in 2021. While imports from BRICS countries to Egypt experienced an increase recording $26.4 billion in 2022 as opposed to $23.6 billion in 2021.

the government stressed that these reports were unfounded, and called on all media outlets and users of social networking sites to adhere to accuracy and objectivity in their stories, and to communicate with the concerned authorities to double check their reports before publishing. Legal Disclaimer:MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.

CAIRO - 23 August 2023: Counselor Walid Hamza, head of the National Elections Authority, said that the authority’s board of directors stated in previous statements that the judges are present from the moment of preparing the timetable up of the presidential elections until sorting and announcing the results. He indicated that the required quantities of phosphorus ink used in the electoral process have been determined. He added that the number of those registered in the voters’ lists increased, commenting: “We provide all the health requirements to the voters during the process.”And when asked about coordination with civil society organizations for monitoring the process, as well as the media coverage permits for the elections, Hamza said during a phone call to Good Morning Egypt TV program on Channel One, “we have already registered organizations that have previous permits, and the official website of the authority provides the possibility of registeration for organizations, as we welcome any local or international organization that wants to be present according to the conditions and permits that are issued by the authority,"And he continued, that the timetable and all procedural dates will be announced.

The Egyptian government has denied reports about setting new entry procedures that require foreigners to obtain a visitor visa from the Egyptian embassy in their countries or apply for a tourist visa electronically through the Egyptian government portal, according to the State Information Service. The government stressed that these reports were unfounded, and called on all media outlets and users of social networking sites to adhere to accuracy and objectivity in their stories, and to communicate with the concerned authorities to double check their reports before publishing.

Cheiron has announced a new oil discovery in the Geisum & Tawila West Concession in the Gulf of Suez. The discovery was made through the exploration well north of Geisum North, GNN-11, and the well came across 165 feet of net high-quality vertical layers in the Nubian Formation dating back to the pre-Miocene era. The well was drilled through the recently installed early production facility in the north of North Geisum field and the well was successfully put on production at a rate of over 2,500 barrels per day. The well is the fourth well to be completed through the early production facilities. Moreover, Cheiron and Kufpec plan to drill an additional number of exploratory wells in the concession area and expand the north of North Geisum field (GNN) development.

Egypt - The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has announced that the trade exchange between Egypt and the BRICS countries increased to $31.2bn in 2022, compared to $28.3bn in 2021, a growth of 10.5%. The BRICS countries are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The agency said that the value of Egyptian exports to the BRICS countries increased to $4.9bn in 2022, compared to $4.6bn in 2021, an increase of 5.3%, while the value of Egyptian imports from BRICS countries amounted to $26.4bn compared to $23.6bn, an increase of 11.5%. According to the agency, India came at the top of the list of the highest BRICS countries importing from Egypt during the year 2022. It explained that the investments of the BRICS countries in Egypt amounted to $891.2m during the fiscal year 2021/2022, compared to $610.9m during the fiscal year 2020/2021, an increase of 45.9%.

Your fashion style and the way you dress up tell us a lot about your personality. Rather than following trends blindly, it is important that we pick trends that reflect our identity and find the pieces that best suit us. For some, building a personal style might sound a bit overwhelming1. Pick the Right Trends for YouMore important than following trends, is finding the trends that would best suit you. Keep an eye on latest fashion trends around you and pick the ones that you feel are close to your personality.