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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 16 - 22 December 1999 Issue No. 460
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Debate Focus Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Private support
CARANA Corporation, a leading US-based international management con-ultancy with extensive privatisation ex-erience, inaugurated the Privatization Co-rdination Support Unit (PCSU) in Cairo last week in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Develop-ent (USAID).PCSU was established by CARANA in June 1999 to monitor and support the Egyp-ian government's efforts to accelerate the privatisation process.
In cooperation with the Management and Technical Advisory Group (MTAG), lead-ng Egyptian management consultants, CA-ANA has formed a Cairo-based team of 19 US and local professionals with privat-sation capacity-building skills.
According to Robert Wagner, managing director of CARANA's Middle East and North African operations, the project's pri-ary aim is to support privatisation process management and coordination.
"CARANA will work closely with seven ministries [economy and external trade, public enterprise, transportation, tele-ommunications and information, power, housing and new urban communities and industry and technological development] whose portfolios include privatisation ac-ivities, with the aim of developing privat-sation databases and improving ministerial capacity for use of alternate privatisation methods," said Wagner.
The project will also advise on pre-privatisation measures including seg-entation, debt restructuring, cost reduction and financial controls.
"The inauguration of the PCSU project marks the strong US support to the Egyp-ian privatisation process," said Richard Brown, USAID mission director. He added that privatisation is not an end in itself, but rather a means of increasing the country's competitiveness.
Future challenge
THE EUROPEAN Commisson in Egypt's Private Sector Development Programme (PSDP) organised a seminar in Cairo last week to discuss its experience in Egypt and to identify privatisation challenges in the next millennium.PSDP -- a five-year programme es-ablished by the European Commission and the Egyptian government in 1996 -- is de-igned to provide key technical assistance to Egypt's private sector companies to pro-ote economic growth and development.
"We witnessed a substantial increase in the demand on the programme services from Egyptian private companies who want us to assist them in looking for potential European partners," said Philip Corish, project manager at PSDP.
"And among the challenges facing the Egyptian private sector are enhancing ex-ort quality, recruiting efficient personnel and increasing market competitiveness," he added.
The Egyptian private sector needs to in-est more in the skills of its personnel and in acquiring knowledge of business prac-ices on both the local and international lev-ls, stressed the participants. "Human re-ources are the most valuable asset in any business. Failure to develop such resources pose a serious handicap," said Yasser Shamsi, chairman of Dalydress, the cloth-ng retail company.
Ringing up success
THE EGYPTIAN Company for Mobile Services (MobiNil) has announced that it has paid off the $490 million bridging loan it took out in April 1998 to meet its obliga-ions in gaining a license to operate Egypt's first mobile phone network. The loan con-isted of a $390 million international syn-icated loan and an LE340 million do-estic loan.MobiNil announced that the repayment of the loan had been facilitated by the $670 mil-ion long term financing package it an-ounced earlier this year. The package is mostly in Egyptian pounds and consists of a LE1.19 billion domestic syndicated loan, a LE340 million subordinated bond issue and a $220 million international syndicated loan.
The company has performed impressive-y on the stock market since its debut in February 1998. Initially offered at LE10, MobiNil shares have registered a 1,400 per cent increase since then, reaching LE150 last week.
The company's subscriber network reached half a million in November and plans are afoot to expand its network and services. The projected investment figure for next year is LE1 billion, a 20 per cent increase over the 1999 figure.
