ALGIERS: Egyptian steel group Al-Ezz Steel has frozen a $1.25 billion 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 into a steel mill at Jijel 360 kilometers east
of Algiers capable of turning out 1.5 million tons 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.
