It’s a busy start to the work week, ladies and gentlemen, with new investment pledges, regulatory changes to the EGX and the UN General assembly dominating local headlines this morning.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY so far-

#1- Healthcare provider Alameda plans to invest EGP 5 bn over the coming 3-5 years: The planned increase will bring the healthcare group’s investments in Egypt to EGP 10 bn, Alameda Chairman Fahad Khater said at a press conference Sunday, according to the local press. The company also plans to expand to the New Administrative Capital, Al Alamein City, Alexandria, Mansoura, and Assiut in the near future.

#2- Following its official launch here earlier this month, what are Amazon’s plans for Egypt? In tomorrow’s AM, Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon MENA, and Omar Elsahy, General Manager of Amazon Egypt, talk to Enterprise about the launch, why Egypt and MENA are strategically important for Amazon, and the overall growth of our e-commerce sector.

^^ We’ll have more on all of these stories in tomorrow’s edition of Enterprise AM.

Trading on EKH shares converted to EGP from USD began today: EK Holding shareholders who converted the trading currency of their shares to EGP from USD (while still being allowed to collect their dividends in USD) were able to begin trading on these converted shares on the EGX today, the company said in a bourse filing (pdf).

HAPPENING NOW- Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is on his way to New York for the UN General Assembly, according to a statement issued today. The statement was vague on Shoukry’s agenda at the assembly, only noting that he plans to meet other foreign ministers and high level UN officials on current regional and international security issues. It is unclear if another push on GERD is coming in light of the UN Security Council taking another tepid stance last week on getting Ethiopia to the negotiating table.

The UN General Assembly is ongoing in New York until 30 September. The general debate will take place from 20-28 September. Leaders from at least 83 countries are expected to attend in person — in contrast to last year, when the meeting was almost 100% virtual. There’s no word yet on whether President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will attend in person or virtually.

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

• E-Finance to IPO this fall: The state-owned fintech platform and digital payment infrastructure provider could become the second company to IPO on the EGX this year after formally announcing its intention to go ahead with a public share sale in 4Q2021.
• CBE leaves rates on hold: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left interest rates on hold for a seventh consecutive meeting on Thursday. Overnight deposit and lending rates were left unchanged at 8.25% and 9.25%, respectively, while the main operation and discount rates remained at 8.75%.
• Egypt is off the UK’s Red List: Starting 22 September, travellers arriving in the UK from Egypt will still need to quarantine on arrival, but won’t need to do so at an expensive government-mandated hotel — and may be able to earn their way out of covid jail a bit early.

CORRECTION- Fertilizer venture Fertiglobe is a JV between OCI NV and Adnoc, not Orascom Construction as we incorrectly reported in our story in this morning’s EnterpriseAM. The story has been amended on our website.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

EFG Hermes’ fourth Virtual Investor Conference continues today, running through to 21 September with the theme of “After Reflation — FEMs in 2022.”

IMF + EBRD webinar: Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik will speak during a webinar hosted by the IMF and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Wednesday, 22 September at 3pm CLT. The gathering is running under title of “State-owned enterprises in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia,” with Tawfik set to speak on the role of the state in the economy alongside five other panelists including the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia head Jihad Azour and the EBRD’s head of external relations Alan Rousso. Check out the agenda here.

The Cityscape real estate investment conference gets underway this week at the Egypt International Exhibition Center. The event runs from Wednesday, 22 September through Saturday.

The Federal Reserve meets to review interest rates on 21-22 September. Pressure has been building on the Fed to take a more hawkish stance to combat inflation by bringing its stimulus programme to a (premature?) end and start raising interest rates earlier than planned. But a slight slowdown in US consumer price inflation last month could give the Fed a breather and relieve pressure for a policy change.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It looks like it’s going to be yet another sunny week ahead, with highs of 39°C tomorrow in the daytime and lows of 23°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.