Egypt | - Part 19

Egypt Approves Tougher Penalties on Black Market Dollar Traders

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Egypt approved tougher measures against illegal foreign currency traders as authorities seek to ease dollar shortages that are contributing to economic weakness. The government increased jail time for black market trading to as long as 10 years and raised fines, the cabinet said in an e-mailed statement. Other amendments to the central bank law give the governor the authority to suspend currency bureaus’ licenses and impose fines for violations. The…

Egyptian Stocks Drop on Missing Airliner; Mideast Markets Slump

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Egyptian stocks declined after the nation’s flagship airline said one of its passenger planes went missing on the way back to Cairo from Paris. Most equities dropped across the Middle East as oil retreated. The EGX 30 Index fell 1.8 percent to 7,499.49 at the close. About 538 million Egyptian pounds ($61 million) of shares traded, 21 percent less than the market’s full day average over the past three months. Qatar’s QE Index lost…

Attijariwafa Said to Work With UBS on Bid for Barclays Egypt

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Casablanca, Morocco, Capital Markets in Africa: Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco’s biggest lender, is working with UBS Group AG on a potential bid for Barclays Plc’s Egyptian business, people familiar with the matter said. The U.K. bank has received limited interest for the business after reaching out to Gulf-based banks, two of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The British bank has yet to receive any non-binding offers, they said. Chief Executive Officer Jes…

Desperate for Dollars, Investors Line Up for a Sure-Fire Loser

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: The hot trade in Egypt’s stock market is a sure thing — a guaranteed money-loser. Clients have been snapping up shares of Commercial International Bank Egypt on the Cairo market, paying in Egyptian pounds, only to turn around and sell them in London for dollars at a loss of as much as 30 percent, brokers say. Big international companies are so desperate to get dollars that they’re willing to…

South African economy not the second largest in Africa anymore

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: New data from the International Monetary Fund shows that Egypt is now Africa’s second largest economy after Nigeria, pushing South Africa into third place, according to a KPMG on Wednesday (May 11). South Africa has been known as the continent’s second-largest economy since Nigeria rebased its gross domestic product (GDP) data in early 2014. However, the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) released in mid-April provided more sobering GDP statistics for…

Devaluation Bets Send Egyptian Stocks Rising to August High

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Market in Africa — Egyptian stocks surged to an eight-month high on speculation that authorities will devalue the currency for the second time this year. Local investors fueled a fifth day of gains as a persistent dollar shortage forced the Egyptian pound to a record low in black market trading. The nation’s decision to weaken its currency by the most in 13 years last month has so far proved insufficient to attract foreign investment…

Egypt Approaches JPMorgan, FGB as Bank Markets Local Debt

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa — National Bank of Egypt officials met with banks in the United Arab Emirates, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., as the North Africa nation seeks to attract foreign investors to its local-currency debt market after the biggest one-time devaluation of the pound since 2003 last week. Senior executives, including the bank’s treasurer, also met with First Gulf Bank and other investors to “explain” and market its product for hedging foreign-exchange risk aimed…

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