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Egypt is considering offers from a Blackstone Group unit and Edra Power Holdings Sdn Bhd of Malaysia to take over three power plants co-built by Siemens AG -- a move that could cut the North African nation’s debts while bringing in much-needed foreign investment.
Both Blackstone’s Zarou Ltd. and Edra have voiced interest in the state-owned facilities, according to Egypt’s electricity minister, Mohamed Shaker. The plants, which have a total capacity of 14.4 gigawatts, were inaugurated in July as the latest in a series of large-scale infrastructure projects under President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
“We received an expression of interest from the two companies to take over and operate the power plants and we’re looking into it,” Shaker said in a phone interview. The plants cost 6 billion euros ($6.7 billion) to build and were mainly financed by a consortium of lenders led by Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Holdings Plc and KfW-IPEX Bank AG.
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A deal with Edra or Zarou would also set the stage for the company to assume responsibility for any financial dues. Egypt is seeking to ease the country’s debt burden.
The state-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Co. secured a loan to finance about 85% of the power plants’ cost that was provided by the banking consortium and backed by a sovereign guarantee. Egypt’s 2019-20 budget statement shows debt guaranteed by the Treasury was 20.4% of gross domestic product by the end of 2018. About a quarter of that was owed by electricity companies.
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Egypt has announced that it plans to launch a regular maritime line from the port of Ain Sokhna, east of Cairo, to East African countries in October with the aim of ensuring the arrival of Egyptian goods as well as boosting exports to East African countries and landlocked countries, including Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi
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Construction for the line started this month; the line is to start in October. The government did not announce the cost of the project and said it will be paid for by the Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport.
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Fahmi said the maritime line would facilitate trade between Egypt and Africa as well as boost Egypt’s position as an export hub where logistical services can be provided. “The new maritime route will also help the transfer of goods from Africa to Europe and vice versa through Egypt,” she added.
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At the conclusion of the African Summit in Addis Ababa in February, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said that pushing forward integration and effectuating free trade with Africa are among Egypt’s top priorities in 2019.
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, trade volume between Egypt and the African continent reached $6.2 billion during the period from January until November 2018, up by 26% compared with the same period of 2017.
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Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ezz El Din Abu Steit declared that Egypt has been ranked first in Africa and eighth in the world for its fish farming’s industry after its annual fish production reached 1.8 million tons.
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Steit also put emphasis on the expected benefits of the largest fish farm in the Middle East, which is under construction in Egypt at the present time.
The project consists of a hatchery for fish and shrimp on an area of 17 feddans with a capacity of 20 million fish and two billion shrimp. On top of this, a marine farm will produce up to 3,000 tons of fish per cycle, a shrimp farm 2,000 tons, and a freshwater fish farm will produce up to fish 2,000 tons per cycle.
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Steit also pointed out that the ongoing development of both lakes Baradawil and Manzala would boost Egypt’s fish production in the upcoming period.
Egypt now is looking forward to developing aquaculture that is dependent on seawater and aqua-culturing Egypt’s desert lands for water reuse as well as the improvement of the soil.
In 2018, fish farming represented about 75 percent of Egyptian fish production.
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