Egypt-Algeria football row extends to investment

Egyptian steel group freezes 1.25 billion dollar investment in Algeria over football row.

• Egyptian steel group Al-Ezz Steel has frozen a 1.25 billion dollar investment in Algeria mainly over an attack on the Algerian football team’s bus outside Cairo last year, a minister said Thursday.
• “We had started discussions with Al-Ezz but the events between Algeria and Egypt following the football match and international economic crisis led to a total suspension of the project,” Industry Minister Hamid Temmar was quoted as saying by the APS news agency.
• Relations between Algeria and Egypt have been tense following a series of clashes involving the two countries’ supporters starting when a bus carrying the Algerian football team in Cairo was pelted with stones.
• After Egypt was defeated 1-0 by Algeria, Cairo was outraged when football fans ransacked and burned the offices of Egyptian companies in Algiers, including telecommunications giant Orascom.
• The tensions led to Cairo withdrawing its envoy to Algiers.
• Al-Ezz was supposed to invest 1.25 billion euros into a steel mill at Jijel 360 kilometres (225 miles) east of Algiers capable of turning out 1.5 million tonnes starting from this year.
• With talks with Al-Ezz frozen, Temmar said that offers from other companies were being considered to develop the site, namely European giant ArcelorMittal, Mitsui of Japan and Cevitel, an Algerian group.

• “But the limited space will only allow us to accept two,” he said.