Well, schools are out and everyone's making plans for the summer already, but when will Marassi owners get to enjoy their investment?
Well, schools are out and everyone's making plans for the summer already, but when will Marassi owners get to enjoy their investment? Dubai-based Emaar paid a handsome sum to oust Egyptian partner Shafik Gabr and his ARTOC Group. After a spate of rumors that the government would reclaim the land on which the Dubai property giant is to build its flagship North Coast development, the deal was done. Buyers who feared losing their investments have seen their fears quelled as Emaar moved in with its own team.
Rumor has it that the team Gabr had put in place to run Emaar Misr has left with his 60% stake, a notion given credence when word emerged at press time that the development's managing director had left the company.
Have you been to Akkad Mall lately and noticed that local supermarket chain Zahran wasn't open for business? Rumor has it that Saudi investors are buying a stake in the mall and will usher in a new hypermarket to feed the country's growing hunger for shopping. Bad news for Zahran, but great news for shoppers.
Meanwhile, rumor has it Orascom and Weather tycoon Naguib Sawiris is considering buying the rest of the shares in Greek telecom operator Tellas, the company in which he bought a major stake earlier this year. In other telecom rumors, internet service provider Nile Online is said to be in top-secret negotiations with unnamed bidders planning to acquire the whole company.
The rumormonger is confused on this one, because Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been going back and forth on whether or not there will be a causeway built from Sharm El-Sheikh to Saudi Arabia to ease pressure on Red Sea passenger transports. Is it to be or not to be? Dogged by rumors that the structure would become Egypt's own $3 billion 'Bridge to Nowhere' (lack of finance, security concerns and objections from Israel have all been cited as obstacles), it seems the project is off for now.
Another internationally flavored rumor was declared untrue last month as President Hosni Mubarak soundly quashed talk that Egypt was about to forgive Baghdad the $800 million in debt it owes Cairo.
The latest conspiracy theory to hit the streets: Facebook.com increasingly popular in the Arab world is a front established by the American Central Intelligence Agency to collect information.
If you thought Naguib Sawiris had a lock on the key 18-38 age demographic with his OTV network, think again. Remember Shebab Alla El-Hawa (Youth On Air, 2002), the locally produced flick that starred then-up-and-comers Ahmed El-Fishawy, Mona Zaki and Hanan Turk? Inspired by the Christian Slater hit Pump Up the Volume, Shebab was the story of five young mass communications grads out to prove themselves. Stymied by corruption, they set up their own youth-oriented channel to expose what's really happening in the country. Rumor has it that if you scan your satellite dial late at night, you'll find exactly the same thing happening in real life right now.
Meanwhile, word on the street is that the former Ebeid cabinet's obsession with moving all major Downtown government offices and ministries to New Cairo 25 kilometers from the heart of the city -- has been rekindled. Sources close to the Nazif government say the state is preparing a new plan to be unveiled this fall.
Further south, rumormongers claim the Ministry of Health and Population has axed 1,200 "employees" in the Assiut area in recent months. Rumor has it that the staff was appointed as temporary staff, not full-time employees, and had been collecting salaries long after their temp contracts had run out. Gossip also holds that the state is investigating the qualifications of 1,435 full-time state employees in the area to see whether they're really qualified to hold their current posts.
Finally, rumor has it Egypt is negotiating a deal to become the heart of renewable energy production and research -- for the European Union. Word in the local press is that the EU hopes Egypt could one day produce 20,000 megawatts a year of electricity from solar and wind sources within three decades. Scribes claim the EU is willing to pick up the tab to help Egypt develop a renewable energy industry as long as it can lock in a guaranteed source of clean, inexhaustible energy.
By BT Staff
© Business Today Egypt 2007
