as Carlos Slim. Exactly the same thing took place in Egypt.
The businesspeople connected to the regime were able to
heavily influence implementation of Egypt’s privatization
program so that it favored the wealthy business elite—or
the “whales,” as they are known locally. At the time that
privatization began, the economy was dominated by thirty-
two of these whales.
One was Ahmed Zayat, at the helm of the Luxor Group. In
1996 the government decided to privatize Al Ahram
beverages (ABC), which was the monopoly maker of beer
in Egypt. A bid came in from a consortium of the Egyptian
Finance Company, led by real estate developer Farid
Saad, along with the first venture capital company formed
in Egypt in 1995. The consortium included Fouad Sultan,
former minister of tourism, Mohamed Nosseir, and
Mohamed Ragab, another elite businessman. The group
was well connected, but not well connected enough. Its bid
of 400 million Egyptian pounds was turned down as too
low. Zayat was better connected. He didn’t have the money
to purchase ABC, so he came up with a scheme of Carlos
Slim–type ingenuity. ABC shares were floated for the first
time on the London Stock Exchange, and the Luxo