Nile Radio Productions (NRP)

Nile Radio Productions (NRP) owns Nogoum FM, Nile FM, Nogoum Records Company, NRP Music Company and NRPD Digital Agency. NRP activities are concentrated in the management of radio stations, music production and related services for artists. Nile Radio Productions was founded in 2002 by Taher Helmy, who also used his influence to establish Nogoum FM, the first private radio station. At the time, a 10-year contract was signed between Nile Radio Productions and the State-owned Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU – now the National Media Authority-NMA), allowing NRP to broadcast Nogoum FM to broadcast on state-owned waves.

In 2012, as the contract was renewed to allow Nogoum FM and Nile FM to broadcast, the MP Essam Soltan submitted a request to the Minister of Information to investigate the case, stating that this agreement was a conflict of interest as President Hosni Mubarak, Taher Helmy and Emad El Din Adeeb had common relations and interests. Adeeb is a well-known media professional and businessman, one of the owners of Good News Group which includes several companies for musical, film and radio production. At the time, Hala Hegazy, managing director of NRP explained that NRP had 28 shareholders, without specifying their identities nor their shares.

The investigation transformed into a legal complaint in 2013. Businessman Taher Helmy was accused of liquidating his business at the NRP, evading accountability for its contract with the ERTU. At the time of the complaint, it was stated that Helmy owned Tetrad International Corporation, to which he transferred his NRP shares. However, no information is available as to the outcome of this investigation. It is therefore unclear whether Taher Helmy still owns some shares of NRP.

Another controversy over the NRP hit in 2017. According to a report published by the state-owned Al Ahram Al Ektesadi website, the contract between ERTU and NRP has been terminated. The report said that NRP capital is 100 million USD, and it is owned by a group of close associates and former employees of Taher Helmy, according to official documents. The report also stated that a lawsuit was filed against the NRP and the now NMA to cancel the contract due to suspicions of corruption.

According to a report published by Veto, there is a possibility that the contract could not be renewed and that Nogoum FM and Nile FM’s frequencies would be granted to the Ministry of Interior and a private emerging radio. In 2016, Veto already published a report according to which Tarek Abu Al Saud, who was responsible for El Radio 9090 FM at the time, tried to convince the management of El Radio 9090 FM to obtain the frequency of Nogoum FM, and to exclude it from the market to control the private radio sector.

Nogoum FM and Nile FM are still broadcasting and the NRP reached an agreement with the Ministry of Transportation through which it obtained the exclusive right to broadcast the radio content on an underground network called "El Metro Nogoum FM" in May 2017. Transportation Minister Hisham Arafat attended the company's conference to announce the launch of its underground radio station.