VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Emerald-colored tea bushes blanketing the rolling hills of Nandi County have long provided a livelihood for small-scale farmers, helping make Kenya one of the world's biggest tea exporters.

Aabar Investments INPTV.UL has acquired a 5.1 percent stake in Egypt's second-largest listed real estate developer Palm Hills (PHDC.CA), Palm Hills said in a statement on Sunday.

Shareholders holding 56 percent of Egyptian snack maker Bisco Misr have agreed to sell their shares to United Arab Emirates-based Abraaj Investment Management, Bisco Misr said.

Egypt signed contracts with six international firms on Saturday to carry out dredging of the new Suez Canal, the flagship project in President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's program to revive an economy battered by years of political turmoil.

Manuel Medina-Mora, head of Citigroup Inc's (C.N) consumer banking and chairman of the company's troubled Mexico unit, is preparing to leave in the coming months, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation.

Egypt has paid back $500 million to Qatar and will soon return the remainder of the money the Gulf state deposited into the Egyptian central bank after the 2011 revolution, the bank's governor said on Saturday.

Dubai construction company Arabtec ARTC.DU is close to completing the planning and design stage of its $40 billion deal to build one million homes in Egypt, the company said on Sunday.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi prepared Egyptians on Saturday for more blackouts after lights went out across much of the country this week, saying it would take time and cost the cash-strapped state $12 billion to upgrade the decrepit power grid.

Egypt plans to build a new Suez Canal alongside the existing 145-year-old historic waterway in a multi-billion dollar project aimed at expanding trade along the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Shanghai, China-based university applicant mentoring startup ChaseFuture bagged $400,000 in its seed funding round led by Banyan Partners and Harbor Pacific Capital to assist international students in university admission tests.

Paris, France-based digital publishing firm Webedia added Lebanon-based digital media firm Diwanee for an undisclosed amount to help the latter reach out to women in the Middle East.

Lisec Group disclosed expansion plans directed to entering the Nigerian glass market, reported Ventures Africa.

Kenya's investment firm TransCentury has sold 34 percent of the stake it holds in Rift Valley Railways to Citadel, reported Ventures Africa.

Twitter is now offering an alternative way of sending Tweets via SMS after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lambasted social media for linking him to a corruption scandal and blocking the social network in the country.

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates-based natural gas firm Dana Gas inked a deal to acquire the North El Arish (Block 6) Concession Area located in Egypt as an addition to its growth portfolio.