Crypto News: Next Africa: Pyramids and hospitals

Welcome to Next Africa, a daily newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it’s headed. Sign up here. In today’s edition, we look at:

Egypt turns to medical tourism to draw more foreign visitors
Billionaire Aliko Dangote eyes a New York refinery listing
The US takes Eritrea off its list of sanctioned nations

Surgery and a Sphinx

Egypt’s many draws for foreign visitors span ancient pyramids, Pharaonic tombs and Red Sea beaches. Authorities are working on adding some more unexpected ones: its hospitals.

A favored spot for sickly and recuperating Europeans in the 19th century, the North African nation is seeking to revive that legacy in a new age of medical tourism.

A state-backed drive now links together hundreds of healthcare facilities the length of the Arab world’s most populous nation. Some are near world-famous heritage sites.

The pay-on-delivery offerings include everything from cardiovascular and cosmetic surgery to in-vitro fertilization and advanced dental care.

Egypt is expanding into a competitive field. Nearby Turkey leads regional medical-tourism rankings for value and scale — it’s especially known for hair transplants. The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, is ahead for premium care and luxury.

Turkey has made a name by selling quick pay-up-front treatments that include hair transplants. Photographer: Chris McGrath/Getty Images Europe — Turkey has made a name by selling quick pay-up-front treatments that include hair transplants.

Carving out an Egyptian niche is key. The country stands at the crossroads of three continents, can likely offer relatively affordable treatment and has year-round warm weather.

And that’s also where those pyramids and tombs come in.

Areas in the spotlight include Luxor, the ancient city that was once a haunt of authors Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle and famed for its Karnak temple and Valley of the Kings, where Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered. Other tourist spots such as Aswan and Red Sea resorts like Sharm El-Sheikh are also in play.

Egypt’s tourism sector, a major foreign-currency earner, has managed to ride out the worst effects of the Middle East’s recent conflicts. Authorities expect a record 20 million arrivals this year.

The country can “combine medical and traditional tourism,” says Ahmed El-Sobky, chairman of the Egypt Healthcare Authority, which is spearheading the initiative.

It’s a unique pitch: surgery and seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World in a single trip. — Sherif Tarek

A replica statue of an ancient statue in Alexandria, Egypt.

What Everyone’s Reading

Tycoon Aliko Dangote plans to sell shares of his mega-refinery on the New York Stock Exchange after doubling the capacity of one of the world’s largest oil-processing plants. “We are doing a primary listing in Nigeria and then we will also hopefully list in New York,” he said at the Qatar Economic Forum. A secondary listing in the US will help the billionaire broaden his investor base beyond Africa.

Dangote speaks at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Sept. 14.

Insecurity ranks as most Nigerians’ top concern in the lead-up to January elections, a survey shows. The tracker identified the high cost of fuel as the second-biggest worry, with two thirds saying they wanted some form of government support restored. Pump prices have soared since President Bola Tinubu scrapped a decades-old subsidy in May 2023, and the war in Iran has exacerbated the problem.

South African police are questioning three people of interest over the murders of nine women found around Johannesburg, while cautioning that investigators have yet to establish whether the cases are linked. The deaths over the past two months have heightened concern about violence against women.

Botswana is intent on increasing its share of De Beers, the world’s biggest diamond company, when Anglo American divests, but hasn’t settled on a “magic number” for its preferred stake, according to the nation’s vice president. “We can no longer afford to throw money at anything even if we wanted to,” Ndaba Gaolathe, who also serves as finance minister, says in an interview.

Gaolathe was interviewed by Bloomberg’s David Malingha in London.

Watch now — Gaolathe was interviewed by Bloomberg’s David Malingha in London.

Moody’s Ratings cut Mozambique’s credit rating deeper into junk, citing increased risk that the gas-rich southeast African nation will have to restructure its sole eurobond. The government has faced intense fiscal pressures over the past two years, as post-election violence battered an already struggling economy.

Digital-asset companies operating in South Africa have halted billions of rands in deals because of proposed changes to regulations that would place cryptocurrencies under the country’s exchange-control regime and limit their use in cross-border transactions, sources say. At least three deals valued at $135 million have been put on hold because of the suggested changes that may push legitimate transactions offshore or underground, they say.

Image associated with story "Carney, Lula Urge Nations to Join Group to Unite Middle Powers"

Carney, Ruto Urge Nations to Join Group to Unite Middle Powers

Leaders from Canada, Brazil, Kenya and the European Union unveiled a joint diplomatic front on the eve of the UN General Assembly, seeking to shield global cooperation from an increasingly transactional geopolitical order.

Behind the Numbers

It’s a big week for monetary policy in sub-Saharan Africa, with Nigeria and South Africa likely heading in opposite directions, writes Bloomberg Economics’ Yvonne Mhango.

Nigeria’s central bank decides on rates on Tuesday after August inflation surprised to the downside. South Africa releases inflation data and announces its decision a day later.

Shoppers at a weekly market in Abuja, Nigeria.

Softer price growth and the prospect of faster disinflation from the fourth-quarter harvest should clear the way for to resume lowering borrowing costs in West Africa’s biggest economy.

In South Africa, though, inflation likely accelerated as transport, food and housing costs all picked up, prompting another hike in interest rates.

Last Word

The US is letting lapse its five-year national emergency over the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, lifting sanctions on Eritrea’s military, the ruling party and some individuals. The penalty was introduced as fighting intensified between Ethiopia’s federal government and forces from the northern Tigray region, which borders Eritrea to the north. The Horn of Africa nation’s Red Sea coastline gives it strategic importance as the Iran war forces oil suppliers to seek alternative shipping routes to the Strait of Hormuz.