Egypt, Under Fire, Gets German Mediation Offer and French Cash
- Hollande and Gabriel raise human rights issue with El-Sisi
- French companies sign new deals valued at over EU1.4 billion
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Egypt signed business deals worth more than 1.4 billion euros ($1.6 billion) with French companies and received a German offer to mediate with creditors, but didn’t escape rebukes over its human rights record.
The deals and offers were extended by French President Francois Hollande and German Energy and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel during simultaneous visits to Egypt, which is struggling to lure investors to help revive its flagging economy. Net foreign reserves are tenuously holding at about $16 billion, while a dollar crunch is hammering businesses and threatening to drive up prices in the impoverished nation.