16 Vol. 19/18, May 2018
q WE STAND AT A
NEUTRAL DISTANCE
FROM ALL SIDES,
ESPECIALLY THAT
WE REPRESENT THE
LEBANESE STATE”
Lebanese minister of interior and
municipalities, Nouhad MachnoukEgyptian
billionaire put
half his net
worth into gold
SOME BIG INVESTORS SEE
warning signs ahead for
markets but are holding
their positions. Egyptian
billionaire Naguib Sawiris,
for instance, has reportedly
put half of his $5.7bn net
worth into gold.
He said in an interview
last Monday that he believes
gold prices will rally further,
reaching $1,800 per ounce
from their $1,300 levels,
while “overvalued” stock
markets will soon crash.
“In the end, you have
China and they will not stop
consuming. And people also
tend to go to gold during
crises and we are full of
crises right now,” Sawiris
said at his office in Cairo.
“Look at the Middle East
and the rest of the world and
Mr Trump doesn’t help.”
If a North Korean peace
deal can be reached, his
investments there may
finally pay off. After 10 years
of waiting to repatriate all
his profits easily and control
his mobile phone company,
Egypt’s second-richest man
says an accord would let him
reap some of his returns.
Egypt’s fi nance minister said
he is confi dent the $23bn
that foreigners invested in
Egyptian Treasury bills will
stay in the country, thanks
to its improved credit profi le
and rising global liquidity.
The trade-off between risks
and returns remains attractive,
and investments have been
rising in “recent weeks and
months,” Amr El Garhy said in
an interview with Bloomberg TV.
Credit rating companies, which
haven’t signifi cantly upgraded
Egypt’s junk rating in the past
two years, should give Egypt a
“better look,” El Garhy said.
Rising global interest rates,
coupled with lower yields inside
Egypt, have fuelled concerns
about the nation’s ability to
continue to attract money from
abroad. The funds have played
a key role in bridging the gap in
Egypt’s fi nances with the outside
world, and have helped boost
the nation’s foreign reserves to
record levels.Minister
confi dent
debt infl ows
won’t fl ow outFashion brand
Missguided to
open 15 storesin MENA
ARAB WORLD
EGYPT EGYPT
CairoBeirutLEBANON
Naguib Sawiris’ Midas touch, fashion brand eyes MENA
growth and Iraq’s stolen antiquities to return home
$22.16m
Orascom Development’s net
profi t for 2017
u Minister Amr El GarhyUK-BASED ONLINE FASHION
brand Missguided has
collaborated with Lebanon-
based retail giant Azadea
Group on a franchise deal to
open 15 stores in the region in
the next three years, including
online stores and an app.
The brand, which sells
fast, affordable fashion,
is primarily online but
currently has three
concessions within physical
Selfridges stores in the UK.
It is set to open in Dubai
first by the end of this year,
followed by Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and Lebanon.
Nitin Passi, founder and
CEO, explains the firm’s
expansion to brick and
mortar: “[Physical stores]
are a great showcase for
the brand. We don’t have
plans to open hundreds of
physical retail stores, but
we want to open a couple of
flagship stores. Online is our
focus and that is what our
business is about,” he said
in an exclusive interview
with Arabian Business.
“Our customers want to
shop online retail, but it is a
great opportunity for us to
open a [physical] franchise
in the UAE.”
Missguided offers
international shipping to
the UAE and is available
on local platform Namshi.Lebanese
expats in Ivory
Coast vote in
fi rst election
Hundreds of Lebanese
expats in Ivory Coast
voted last Sunday in their
country’s fi rst parliamentary
election in almost a decade,
though turnout was low in
the home of Africa’s largest
Lebanese diaspora.
The Middle Eastern country
has not held a parliamentary
poll since 2009 and a new law
now allows Lebanese living
abroad to vote for the fi rst time
since independence in 1943.