Your electricity bill is going up on 1 July — here’s how much you can expect to pay

Good afternoon, wonderful people. We have more covid news than you can shake a stick at, including word that Saudi Arabia has declared us a “high risk” country, the possibility of being Pfizered in Abu Dhabi as a tourist, and Capital Economics’ declaration that our “slow” vaccine rollout could dent our ongoing tourism recovery.

Oh, and you’re going to pay more for electricity starting next month. We have more on all of this below.

HAPPENING NOW- Yet another railway accident took place this morning, injuring at least 40 people after two trains collided in Alexandria, according to statements from the Railway Authority and the Health Ministry. The conductor and other staff members now face investigation. The accident came just hours after a train hit a vehicle in Helwan overnight, killing at least two people and injuring six others.

Shoukry, Aboul Gheit leave Cairo for Berlin 2 Conference: Foreign Ministry Sameh Shoukry and Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit are heading to Germany today ahead of tomorrow’s Berlin Conference on Libya, the second round of the UN-sponsored talks, according to Al Shorouk. This will be the first time that Libya’s transitional government will participate in the peace talks, which will focus on the country’s national elections planned for the end of 2021, reports Deutsche Welle.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• Tawasol-LimeVest consortium launches Alex Medical takeover bid: The consortium has submitted a bid that values the company at more than EGP 740 mn and has submitted a request to go ahead with a mandatory tender offer to acquire a 74.08% stake in the company at EGP 52 per share.
• Private-sector companies will be able to bid for some of Egyptian Iron and Steel’s land bank: The government is continuing the process of liquidating the state-owned company, with the New Urban Communities Authority put in charge of preparing the sale of some of the company’s 6 mn sqm of land.
• The US is giving us more vaccines: Egypt will be getting a slice of a second batch of 14 mn vaccines the US has allocated to 30 priority countries, following an initial batch of 6 mn doses announced last month to be divided between Egypt and 13 other countries.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- It’s taxes and Big Tech as far as the eye can see. The Financial Times, CNBC and and Wall Street Journal are all leading with the news that the European Union has opened an antitrust investigation into Google’s advertising business. Meanwhile, Reuters notes that US companies would still pay lower taxes than their rivals under the Biden administration’s proposed corporate tax hike. The FT is digging deeper into opposition from tax havens to Biden’s other tax proposal — a global minimum corporate tax.

Bermuda’s resistance will sound familiar to Egyptian ears: It’s an issue of sovereignty, they say.

Not good for anybody other than The Platforms: News that Google faces an antitrust probe in the EU comes as a top court in Europe has ruled that Youtube and other online platforms cannot be held liable for uploads that violate copyright restrictions, Reuters reports.

MEANWHILE- A top Fed official is (sort of) trying to spread oil on troubled waters, with the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reassuring investors late yesterday that “the US economy was not yet ready for the central bank to start pulling back its hefty monetary support, even though the outlook has become rosier,” the FT reports, noting that markets are “highly sensitive” to Fed comments. Equities in Asia rallied this morning on the news, and shares in Europe are now following suit. Futures suggest Wall Street will shortly do the same. The central bank suggested last week that it could hike rates twice in 2023, earlier than previously forecast.

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YOUR STATUTORILY REQUIRED COVID STORY- Saudi Arabia’s Public Health Authority has classified Egypt as a “very high risk” travel destination due to covid-19, Gulf News reports this morning, citing travel advisory notices. Residents of Saudi Arabia are advised against travelling to Egypt and 10 other Arab countries in the same classification. EgyptAir had earlier asked vaccinated Egyptian and other non-Saudi travelers to the kingdom to register their immunization data through an online portal (click here), according to a statement.

Many of us can now get Pfizered in Abu Dhabi if we head over for a bit of shopping. You could also take the Sinopharm jab in the emirate, if you prefer. “The vaccines are only available for holders of a visa issued by Abu Dhabi or holders of passports eligible for visa on arrival,” Bloomberg reports.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Want to join the EGX’s board of directors? You can throw your hat into the ring starting 9 am tomorrow.

The CIB PSA World Tour Finals 2020-2021 kicked off today at Mall of Arabia and will run until 27 June. Tickets are currently on sale for the final two days on TicketsMarche.

The Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC) MENA are holding a webinar titled Energy Efficiency in the MENA region: Status and Outlook on 6 July at 3:30pm. The session will focus on energy efficiency developments and provide recommendations for businesses and policymakers. Later on next month, CEBC will also host the webinar Women Entrepreneurs in Clean Energy on 21 July at 3pm in cooperation with the initiative, Women in Clean Energy MENA and WiRE.

The British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) is organizing a virtual education week from 5-6 July with three seminars planned. The first, taking place at 10am on 5 July, will discuss skills-based learning while the future of investment in education will be the topic on the table at 12:30pm the same day. On 6 July, a talk on the digitalization of education in Egypt will be held at 12pm.

???? FOR YOUR COMMUTE-

Coke and Pepsi would so very much like you to know that they are not polluting the planet with all of their plastic, Fortune magazine suggests in Coke and Pepsi eye new sustainability goals after years of failed promises. Don’t get us started on the fact that the story doesn’t mention the words “sugar” or “diabetes” even once.

Cybercriminals are flocking to Monero — a new crypto with no visible transaction trail, according to the Financial Times. The “privacy coin” obscures the sender and receiver as well as the amount exchanged, leading infamous ransomware groups to opt for Monero as their payment method of choice. Between 10 and 20% of ransoms are currently paid in Monero, experts estimate, and that number is likely to rise to 50% by the end of the year. However, Monero’s market capitalisation currently stands at around USD 5 bn, only a fraction of BTC’s USD 727 bn, though it has amassed an increasing number of dedicated followers — it has the third-largest developer community of any cryptocurrency, following BTC and ethereum.

Over 70k people have signed a petition titled “Do not allow Jeff Bezos to return to Earth” — referring to the Amazon founder’s upcoming trip to space on 20 July aboard Blue Origin’s first mission. Another similar petition has garnered over 20k signatures and compares Bezos to Superman arch nemesis Lex Luther, calling him “an evil overlord hellbent on global domination.” Ouch.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

The resident (almost) 14-year-old approves: The first episode of season 5 of Rick and Morty is out: We would have added a dozen exclamation marks if they didn’t cause us to slide into a bad folder in your email client. In the premiere episode, Rick's nemesis Mr. Nimbus is back and the two (unsuccessfully) try to keep things civil. Meanwhile, Morty goes on a date with Jessica, but Rick has other plans for him that force Morty to jump from one dimension to another. You can watch the first episode on Netflix or on YouTube if you’re in the US.

New episodes will be released every Monday on Netflix, with the season having a total of 10 episodes for us to anticipate.

FOR LATER VIEWING- Steven Spielberg has been tapped by Netflix to create several movies for the platform over the course of the next few years, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the slim chance you don’t know who Speilberg is, think E.T., Saving Private Ryan, and Jaws. The agreement with the filmmaker comes as Netflix’s throne is being threatened by a number of fast growing competitors such as Amazon Prime and Disney+.

⚽ It’s Group D-Day: All the Group D teams are hitting the field tonight at 9pm, with Croatia playing against Scotland and Czech Republic taking on England.

Last night’s fixtures: It was a big night for the Euro yesterday. Austria beat Ukraine 1-0 and the Netherlands downed North Macedonia 3-0. Meanwhile, Denmark finally came out on top after its rocky start, sending Russia off 4-1. Finally, Belgium continued its streak, beating Finland 2-0.

In local football, El Zamalek and Misr Lel Makkasa are competing in the Egypt Cup with a match at 7pm.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Authentic Japanese cuisine, anyone? We’re talking sushi, ramen, and all the appetizers your heart can desire. Makino (located in Hilton Zamalek) has a cozy and romantic atmosphere and offers the best Japanese fare we’ve had in Cairo. The menu is diverse and you’ll definitely find a few things that you’ve never heard of before, but the thing we insist you try is their ramen. Few places in Egypt boast true ramen, but Makino is one of them and you get the option of choosing between miso- or salt-based soups with chicken or beef. We also love their gyoza and shrimp tempura appetizers as well as their heaping plate of fried rice. Also on your must-try list: unaju, their signature grilled eel dish on rice. The eel is boned and grilled with dark soy sauce, mirin (sweet cooking rice wine), and sugar and served with sansho pepper as condiment. Also great, even though it’s originally Chinese, is their halal version of mapo tofu.

Bonus: Your eats are prepared under the supervision of Japanese head chefs.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

Egyptian oudist Micheal Onsi will perform at ElSawy Culturewheel tonight at 7pm.

The Bubblegum Kollectiv is hitting the stage at Agouza’s Cairo Jazz Club tomorrow to play ‘retro pop songs’.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Achieve your version of uncommon success: The creator of the popular podcast Entrepreneurs on Fire, John Lee Dumas, has interviewed thousands of business leaders from different backgrounds for the show. He eventually came to the conclusion that while each entrepreneur has an uncommon story of success, they take a similar approach. From there was born the idea for his first book The Common Path to Uncommon Success, which outlines a 17-step road map the entrepreneurs he spoke to all tended to follow. The steps are straightforward and simple and Dumas breaks them down even further to ensure you get to every checkpoint confidently, having overcome the challenges that are likely to face any budding entrepreneur.

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☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Summer is upon us: Look for a high tomorrow of 39°C, with the mercury falling to 23°C at night, according to our favorite weather app. That sets up a string of daytime highs in the 39-43°C range over the coming 10 days.

Your electricity bill is going up on 1 July — here’s how much you can expect to pay: Residential electricity bills are going up by as much as 26% at the start of the state’s new fiscal year on 1 July as the Sisi administration pushes ahead with its plan to gradually phase out electricity subsidies by 2025.

The new pricing structure for household customers:

• The first 0-50 KWh/month will be charged EGP 0.48/KWh, up 26%.
• The next 51-100 KWh/month at EGP 0.58 / KWh, up 20.8 %.
• The next 101-200 KWh/month at EGP 0.77 / KWh, up 18.5%.
• The next 201-350 KWh/month at EGP 1.06 / KWh, up 10.4%.
• The next 351-650 KWh/month at EGP 1.28 / KWh, up 8.5%.
• Those consuming more that 1,000 KWh per month will continue to be charged EGP 1.45 / KWh.

Tap or click here (pdf) the Electricity Ministry’s summary of its plan phase-out electricity subsidies, including figures for the coming fiscal years. Al Mal also has the story.

Background: The government had originally planned to fully eliminate subsidies by July 2022, but decided last summer to push the date to the same month in 2025. The delay came as authorities looked to give state-owned companies more time to adjust as part of planned split of the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company from the Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC). Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker previously said his ministry wants to avoid putting too much pressure on household consumers. Prices rose 16-30% last July and by an average of 15% in 2019.

Egypt’s slow vaccine rollout could see it lose out on a second summer tourist season, with travel restrictions from the likes of the US, UK, and EU likely to stay with us until the start of 2022, Capital Economics said in its MENA Economics Update (pdf). Egypt’s vaccine rollout continues to be outpaced by regional leaders including much of the GCC and Morocco, though the local production of China’s Sinovac jabs is expected to speed up the process — as well as allow Egypt to export doses to Africa in the coming months — the report said.

A“sluggish” rollout is likely to keep foreign visitors at bay: Egypt was recently added to the UK’s red list, making the cost of travel to Egypt prohibitive for British Red Sea holiday makers as they’ll be required to quarantine at their own expense for 10 days upon returning home. This is likely to discourage many UK nationals from visiting what has traditionally been one of their favorite summer holiday destinations. Saudi Arabia’s Public Health Authority has also this week classified Egypt as a “very high risk” travel destination and advised visitors against travel to Egypt, a development which we recap in What We’re Tracking Tonight, above.

Still, the government insists a tourism recovery is in the cards: Egypt has seen 2 mn people visit the country in 5M2021. This is only 40% of the tourist numbers we were getting before the pandemic devastated the sector, but has given the government reason to revise upward its tourism revenue targets for the year to between USD 6-9 bn.

To put things into perspective: Some 4 mn Egyptian residents have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine, which equals roughly 7% of folks eligible for a jab, which includes citizens and other residents aged 18 and over, according to statements by a senior health official this week. It’s a significant improvement from the 2.5 mn people that had received a dose at the start of the month. The government is aiming to vaccinate at least 20% of all citizens before August, with an eye to having covered 40% of the population by the end of the year.

Other countries in the region have fared better: Vaccine superstar the UAE has administered at least 14.5 mn doses to its 9.8 mn-strong population. Assuming every resident requires two doses, this means the Emiratis are well in the lead with over 74% of its folks covid-protected. Other GCC countries have also vaccinated large swathes of their population, with Qatar and Bahrain administering doses to over 50% of its residents and Saudi Arabia some 24%. Outside the GCC, Morocco is also doing well with nearly a quarter of its population already jabbed.

Other highlights from Capital Economics: MENA GDP is expected to grow by 2.8% in 2021, down from 4.3% in 2020, but the recovery is likely to be uneven, with the GCC and Morocco taking the lead and Oman and the non-GCC countries lagging behind.

CATCH UP QUICK-

• SCA renews fee discounts for tankers: The Suez Canal Authority has extended price breaks on container ships and bulk carriers travelling between the Americas and Southeast Asia to average 15-75% until end of this year, local press reports, in a move that aims to draw in more traffic.
• To liquidate or not to liquidate Egyption Iron and Steel? An unnamed Ukranian company has submitted a technical and financial offer to develop and manage Egyptian Iron and Steel — currently undergoing liquidation — through a revenue sharing mechanism, according to a statement (pdf) that did not disclose further details. State-owned Metallurgical Industries Holding is currently reviewing the offer. Don’t hold your breath.

OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Abdelrahman Wahba, senior analyst at HC Securities (Linkedin).

My name is Abdelrahman Wahba and I’ve been at HC Securities for almost two years. I cover industrials on the EGX, including those in energy, basic materials, and petrochemicals. I graduated from the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams and started my career at MB Group, where I mostly did financial planning and budgeting functions. I then moved to MubasherTrade and Shuaa Capital as an analyst before moving to my current position. My first mentors were Amr El Alfy and Mai El Sayed.

The best part of my job is the continuous learning process and finding new ways to tackle challenges. The nature of the job allows me the chance to be published, and I really appreciate this sense of ownership of my work. It incentivizes me to do better and push myself further.

The worst part of my job is it can sometimes become a bit routine. Especially if there is some dummy work on the agenda that you’re forced to get through. I’m not a fan of doing the same tasks again and again.

The pandemic made my job more hectic at the beginning. It took some time to establish a work from home routine that worked, as well as put in place all the online infrastructure such as VPNs to access our server. We’ve had to come to terms with the new normal of replacing meetings with calls and applications such as Teams, but it all worked out in the end. What was even harder than the logistics aspect was needing to reevaluate all of the EGX and industrial stocks based on the changes to global commodity prices that had a large impact on the local market. The curfew at the beginning of the pandemic also caused a lot of disruption to the sector, especially in construction.

I think industrial stocks are partially recovered as of 2021, but more governmental regulations and initiatives could really help bring the sector back up to speed.

My theory of investment is to put myself in the investors’ shoes. I look at what makes sense for them and what they’d want to know and add it in my reports. I always try to search for what forward catalysts could affect the stock price and performance and whether there is any benefit for the investor.

Institutional investors are becoming increasingly selective when it comes to investing in Egypt. They focus on stocks with strong fundamentals, high transparency, and comprehensive disclosures. Meanwhile, retail investors look for higher liquidity stocks and take short-term stances as day traders. This makes them more likely to go for EGX70 stocks.

The factors I look at before recommending an investment are the fundamentals and the credibility of management. In our sector especially, it’s important to note all the macro and international factors that could relate back to our investment climate.

I think the worst has passed for Egypt — and 2021 could pose a recovery across all sectors. It has a lot to do with getting everyone vaccinated, the more the rollout progresses, the better the economy gets as uncertainty abates. It goes without saying that this year is already proving better when compared to 2020.

If I had to switch to cover another industry, I’d choose consumers. It has similar dynamics since it's affected by global commodity prices. Plus, I like that you can relate it to your daily activities.

I’m more of a numbers person. I think it's a more practical approach to making a decision. Everything in our work is dependent on being able to explain the rationale behind the numbers in front of us.

When I’m not working I like to watch TV or football. My favorite TV shows are Game of Thrones, Sherlock, and Casa de Papel and my favorite movies are The Big Short and the Dark Knight trilogy. I usually tune into football as well since I’m a big Barcelona, Liverpool, and Al Ahly fan.

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The EGX30 rose 1.4% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.71 bn (26.1% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 5.9% YTD.

In the green: TMG Holding (+8.5%), Palm Hills Development (+5.7%) and Cleopatra Hospital (+5.3%).

In the red: Ezz Steel (-1.7%), Oriental Weavers (-1.0%) and Orascom Financial Holding (-1.0%).

Entering the BTC mines- Part I: Blockchain. If we were going to try and define the financial zeitgeist during the first half of 2021, we would have a hard time avoiding cryptocurrencies. BTC and its lesser-known equivalents have, perhaps more than any other asset class, led the conversation in the global business press. For sure, a lot of this comes down to the historic rally that has taken place this year. But there’s more to it than that: whether we’re talking about the growing acceptance of digital currencies among policymakers and investors, global covid stimulus measures fuelling a boom in retail trading, or Elon Musk’s wielding of internet meme culture to stoke the markets, a confluence of factors have helped crypto to hit the big time in 2021.

But now half of the world’s mines are being closed as the Chinese government cracks down on cryptocurrency use within its borders. This has dealt a serious blow to the asset class, which was worth almost USD 59k in early May before plunging more than 40% in just two weeks. Since then, the government has moved to shut down BTC mines, and the latest announcement yesterday that it had closed another 26 mines sent the currency falling another 10%.

All of this got us thinking: How many of our readers who live outside the tech and bitcoin bubbles know what it means to “mine” a BTC? Many of us can explain how bonds work, or what gives a particular stock its value. But when it comes to crypto, how many of us can explain the significance of closing a BTC mine?

Unfortunately, understanding mining requires that we understand a bit about the architecture of cryptocurrencies — and for those of us who aren’t tech-literate or are new to the concept of cryptography, this might be daunting. Stay with us though: In part 2, we’ll explain why bitcoins have to be “mined” into existence.

First things first: If you want to peek under the hood of the bitcoin network, you’re not going to get very far unless you wrap your head around the concept of blockchain — the system upon which bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are based.

Let's get one thing out of the way: Bitcoin ≠ blockchain. Cryptocurrencies including BTC use blockchain, but they are not one and the same. Blockchain technology has a range of other applications beyond finance whether for security, in healthcare or for logistics.

But BTC is the world’s most famous public blockchain network: As of January this year, BTC was estimated (pdf) to have some 71 mn users — and that was before the Musk / Tesla-fuelled mania that took off in early February.

Blockchain can be quite the rabbit hole, but let’s try and keep things simple: We can think of a blockchain as a type of database that stores records of transactions. In a way, this is similar to how a bank monitors money that is credited and debited to your bank account. But in another, hugely significant way, it is totally different. A blockchain ledger isn’t controlled or maintained by one person or organization, but by everybody on the network. Unlike a bank which has centralized control, information contained in a blockchain is duplicated and shared across any number of computers on a peer-to-peer network.

The name is actually self-explanatory: A blockchain-based database stores information in blocks. The information contained in these blocks depends on what the blockchain is being used for, but for cryptocurrencies each block contains records of crypto transactions. A BTC block, for example, is a bundle of thousands of BTC transactions. A block can only hold so much data though, and new ones must be created and chained together to form the blockchain.

Right, but how do you create new blocks? Every blockchain network needs a rule. How else are mns of people on a decentralized network supposed to come to a consensus about updating the ledger? This is done via what computer scientists call a consensus algorithm; a rule put in place by the developers that allows everyone in the network to agree on how new blocks will be added. This is super important to understanding what it means to mine a bitcoin, but put a pin on this for now: We’ll go into more detail next week.

Securing the network: The last — and most crucial — piece of the puzzle is what gives cryptocurrencies their name. In order for a blockchain to be decentralized, anonymous and secure, super-strong encryption has to be used. This is even more important in public networks like bitcoin, that don’t prevent people with malicious intent from joining. To prevent people from intercepting communications, falsifying data and tampering with transaction records, all messages sent over the network must be encrypted, authenticated and verified.

This is the BTC network: A group of people using a common rule to share and add to an encrypted record of transactions.

With us so far? Next week we’ll explain what it actually means to mine a BTC, and why this is such a fundamental concept when thinking about how cryptocurrencies are valued.

For more on blockchain:

• Still don’t understand what we’re talking about? One of Wired’s great five-level explainers is dedicated to blockchain, helping you get a grasp of the technology whether you’re 5 or 55 years-old (watch, runtime: 17:49).
• Beyond BTC: CB Insights lists 58 industries that could be transformed by blockchain technology.
• What is 256-bit encryption and why is it so strong? (watch, runtime: 5:05)

22-27 June (Tuesday-Sunday): The CIB PSA World Tour Finals for 2020-2021 will take place in Cairo.

24 June (Thursday): End of the 2020-2021 academic year (public schools).

26 June (Saturday): International Cooperation Ministry and Egypt Ventures’ Generation Next entrepreneurship conference, Cairo, Egypt

26-29 June (Saturday-Tuesday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo, Egypt. The Big 5 Egypt Impact Awards will also be taking place at the event on 27 June.

30 June (Wednesday): The IMF will complete a second review of targets set under the USD 5.2 bn standby loan approved in June 2020 (proposed date).

30 June (Wednesday): 30 June Revolution Day.

30 June- 15 July: The Cairo International Book Fair, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

July + August: Thanaweya Amma exams take place.

1 July: (Thursday): National holiday in observance of 30 June Revolution.

1 July (Thursday): Large taxpayers that have not yet signed on to the e-invoicing platform will suffer a host of penalties, including removal from large taxpayer classification, losing access to government services and business, and losing subsidies.

1 July (Thursday): Businesses importing goods at seaports will need to file shipping documents and cargo data digitally to the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system.

1 July (Thursday): Deadline for 17 EGX-listed companies to file their 1Q2021 earnings.

4 July (Sunday): Ismailia Economic Court to hold hearing on Ever Given compensation case.

19 July (Monday): Arafat Day (national holiday).

20-23 July (Tuesday-Friday): Eid Al Adha (national holiday).

23 July (Friday): Revolution Day (national holiday).

2-4 August (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt is hosting the Africa Food Manufacturing exhibition at the Egypt International Exhibition Center.

5 August (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

9 August (Monday): Islamic New Year.

12 August (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Islamic New Year.

12-15 September (Sunday-Wednesday): Sahara Expo: the 33rd International Agricultural Exhibition for Africa and the Middle East.

16 September (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

30 September-2 October (Thursday-Saturday): Egypt Projects 2021 expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 September-8 October (Thursday-Friday): The Cairo International Fair, Cairo International Conference Center, Cairo, Egypt.

1 October (Friday): Expo 2020 Dubai opens.

6 October (Wednesday): Armed Forces Day.

7 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Armed Forces Day.

12-14 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Mediterranean Offshore Conference, Alexandria, Egypt.

18 October (Monday): Prophet’s Birthday.

21 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Prophet’s Birthday.

24-28 October (Sunday-Thursday) Cairo Water Week, Cairo, Egypt.

27-28 October (Wednesday-Thursday) Intelligent Cities Exhibition & Conference, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski, Cairo, Egypt.

28 October (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

1-3 November (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Energy exhibition on power and renewable energy, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

1-12 November (Monday-Friday): 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

29 November-2 December (Monday-Thursday): Egypt Defense Expo.

12-14 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Food Africa Cairo trade exhibition, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

13-17 December: United Nations Convention against Corruption, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

16 December (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

14-16 February 2022 (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Petroleum Show, Egypt International Exhibition Center, New Cairo, Egypt.

1H2022: The World Economic Forum annual meeting, location TBD.

May 2022: Investment in Logistics Conference, Cairo, Egypt.

27 June-3 July 2022 (Monday-Sunday): World University Squash Championships, New Giza.

**Note to readers: Some national holidays may appear twice above. Since 2020, Egypt has observed most mid-week holidays on Thursdays regardless of the day on which they fall and may also move those days to Sundays. We distinguish below between the actual holiday and its observance.