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AD Ports Inks Deals for Major Projects Along Egypt’s Coastline

Abu Dhabi Ports Group and Egypt's Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a term sheet and a head of terms agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
Abu Dhabi Ports Group and Egypt's Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a term sheet and a head of terms agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
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AD Ports Inks Deals for Major Projects Along Egypt’s Coastline

Abu Dhabi Ports Group and Egypt's Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a term sheet and a head of terms agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat
Abu Dhabi Ports Group and Egypt's Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a term sheet and a head of terms agreement. Asharq Al-Awsat

Abu Dhabi Ports Group and Egypt's Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a term sheet and a head of terms agreement for the development of major port projects along Egypt's coast.

The Abu Dhabi entity will develop, operate, and manage a multi-purpose terminal in Safaga Port in a consortium with the Red Sea Ports Authority and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals Company, the commercial arm of Egypt’s Ministry of Transportation.

The agreement was signed by Major General Mohamed Abdel Rahim, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Red Sea Ports Authority; Rear Admiral Abdel Qader Darwish, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals, and Saif Al Mazrouei, the CEO of the Ports Cluster of AD Ports Group.

The Safaga facility on the Red Sea will likely be completed in 2024, offering berths of up to 1,000 meters and capable of handling all types of general, dry, and liquid bulk cargo.

The new joint venture will provide port users with a wide range of marine services, including services related to vessel traffic management, dangerous goods control, provision of navigation aids, anchorage, dredging, pilotage, towage, and mooring and unmooring solutions.

The memorandum was signed by Major General Mohamed Abdel Rahim, the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Red Sea Ports Authority, and Saif Al Mazrouei, the CEO of the Ports Cluster of AD Ports Group.

The second agreement covers the development, operation and management of cruise ship berths and terminals at Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Safaga ports, and to provide support services to help extend cruise tourism in Egypt. In addition, AD Ports Group will develop plans for cruise ships lines linking Abu Dhabi, Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh and Aqaba.

The agreement permits the group to carry out development work to enhance the experience of visiting tourists.

The venture aims to transition Egypt into a “global trade and logistics hub through the development of Egyptian ports at the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea coasts, and the constructive cooperation between Egyptian and UAE ports,” said Lieutenant-General Kamel El-Wazir, Egypt’s Minister of Transport.

“The Ministry of Transport has ambitious plans to boost maritime trade and transportation, and AD Ports Group stands ready to leverage its expertise and experience to support these vital development projects,” said Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Managing Director and Group CEO, AD Ports Group.

The agreements are among a series of deals between AD Ports Group and maritime organizations in Egypt, including an agreement with the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals for the joint development and operation of Egypt’s Ain Sokhna Port.

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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
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Expert: Türkiye Anti-inflation Steps Don’t Go Far Enough

People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters
People shop at a bazaar in Istanbul. Reuters

Although Turkish inflation slowed in September, it is still raging out of control with the government avoiding difficult decisions that could help tackle it, experts told AFP.

Türkiye has experienced spiraling inflation the past two years, peaking at an annual rate of 85.5 percent in October 2022 and 75.45 percent in May.

The government claims it slowed to 49.4 percent in September.

But the figures are disputed by the ENAG group of independent economists who estimate that year-on-year inflation stood at 88.6 percent in September.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said Ankara was hoping to bring inflation down to 17.6 percent by the end of 2025 and to “single digits” by 2026.

And President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently hailed Türkiye’s success in “starting the process of permanent disinflation.”

“The hard times are behind us,” he said.

But economists interviewed by AFP said the surge in consumer prices in Türkiye had become “chronic” and is being exacerbated by some government policies.

“The current drop is simply due to a base effect. The price rises over the course of a month is still high, at 2.97 percent across Türkiye and 3.9 percent in Istanbul.

“You can’t call this a success story,” said Mehmet Sisman, economics professor at Istanbul’s Marmara University.

Spurning conventional economic practice of raising interest rates to curb inflation, Erdogan has long defended a policy of lowering rates. That has sent the lira sliding, further fueling inflation.

But after his reelection in May 2023, he gave Türkiye’s Central Bank free rein to raise its main interest rate from 8.5 to 50 percent between June 2023 and March 2024.

The central bank’s rate remained unchanged in September for the sixth consecutive month.

“The fight against inflation revolves around the priorities of the financial sector. As a result, it is done indirectly and generates uncertainty,” explained Erinc Yeldan, economics professor at Kadir Has University in Istanbul.

But raising interest rates alone is not enough to steady inflation without addressing massive budget deficits, according to Yakup Kucukkale, an economics professor at Karadeniz Technical University.

He pointed to Türkiye’s record budget deficit of 129.6 billion lira (3.45 billion euros).

“Simsek says this is due to expenditure linked to the reconstruction in regions hit by the February 2023 earthquake,” he said of the disaster that killed more than 53,000 people.

“But the real black hole is due to the costly public-private partnership contracts,” he said, referring to infrastructure contracts which critics say are often awarded to firms close to Erdogan’s government.

Such contracts cover construction and management of everything from motorways and bridges to hospitals and airports, and are often accompanied by generous guarantees such as state compensation in the event they are underused.

“We should question these contracts, which are a burden on the budget because this compensation is indexed to the dollar or the euro,” said Kucukkale.

Anti-inflation measures also tend to impact low-income households at a time when the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since January, he said.

“But these people already have little purchasing power. To lower demand, such measures must target higher-income groups, but there is hardly anything affecting them,” he said.