Our friends at Shahid Law Firm are setting up shop in Khartoum in association with Sudanese lawyer Yousra Elhassan Badi’s firm, according to a statement from Shahid. The Khartoum office, which begins operations on 1 February, comes after the US lifted its sanctions on Sudan, creating a window for Shahid to grow its regional presence in a market with a “changing economic and political landscape.” The firm will have a full range of services available, the statement reads.

CIB is disclosing its carbon footprint through the global nonprofit organization Carbon Disclosure Project, and completed last year the project’s climate change and water security questionnaire, the bank said in a statement. Some 9.6k companies have signed up to the CDP, which tracks the environmental impact of businesses around the world.

Also earning some kudos on this fine Christmas Eve:

• Egyptian photographer Somaya Abdelrahman’s work on FGM, which recently earned the Emerging Photographers Fellowship Award from international nonprofit Too Young to Wed and Canon USA, is getting some digital ink in the Washington Post.
• Upper Egypt’s first woman mechanic Lekaa El Kholy, who runs her own car maintenance repair shop in Luxor and organizes workshops for women in Tanta is being recognized by Reuters.
• Producer, scriptwriter and head of Cairo International Film Festival Mohamed Hefzy has been named in the Variety500 annual list of media and entertainment’s most influential business leaders.