Good afternoon, friends, and happy Thursday-equivalent. Stay bundled up this weekend, although the piercing cold is expected to get just a touch more bearable.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

OIH closes sale of its Pakistan subsidiary: Orascom Investment Holding has offloaded its entire stake in Pakistan internet subsidiary Transworld Associates (TWA) in a USD 35 mn (c. EGP 550 mn) transaction, according to a company statement (pdf). Last year, the company announced plans to sell its entire 51% stake in TWA, Pakistan’s only internet service provider and owner of a 1.3k km submarine cable connecting the UAE, Oman and Pakistan.

Raya subsidiary Aman and Qalaa Holdings’ Taqa Arabia are setting up a new energy joint venture through which they will invest EGP 300 mn in the next three years, the two companies announced at a presser today, according to Hapi Journal. The new JV is expected to begin operations in 1H2022.

HAPPENING NOW-

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in the UAE today to meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The pair will discuss bilateral cooperation, and regional security and stability. This comes a day after El Sisi met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune here in Cairo to discuss the situations in Libya and Palestine.

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

• It’s privatization, the speed-metal version: The Madbouly government is planning to sell stakes in state-owned companies every month or two, said Planning Minister Hala El Said.
• Egypt bucks the trend as IMF downgrades global growth: The IMF downgraded its projection for global growth in 2022 to 4.4% in its World Economic Outlook update, down 0.5 percentage points from its last outlook report in October, while revising upwards its growth forecast for Egypt to 5.6% in FY2021-2022.

The Cairo International Book Fair kicked off today at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem inaugurated the fair, according to a statement. Members of the public will be allowed to enter without providing proof of vaccination, the Culture Ministry said last week. The two-week event runs through to 7 February.

Also happening today, the US Federal Reserve is on the second and final day of its Open Market Committee meeting, at the end of which it is widely expected to confirm that it will begin raising interest rates in March. The markets are currently pricing in four 0.25-percentage-point interest rate hikes this year, in what would be the bank’s most aggressive tightening cycle in decades as it tries to get a hold on inflation.

IN MEMORIAM- Former editor-in-chief of Akhbar El Yom Yasser Rizk passed away at the age of 57 from a heart attack, the state-owned newspaper reports. Rizk, who had a storied journalistic career, also recently released a book titled “The Years of the Khamaseen: Between Anger in January and Salvation in June,” chronicling details of the period between the January 25 Revolution and the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

KUDOS- Our friends at Etisalat was named the strongest telecom brand in the world in 2022 by Brand Finance, becoming the first company out of the MEA region to take the title, according to a press release (pdf). With a portfolio of USD 12.5 bn, the company retained its position MEA’s most valuable telecom portfolio as well as the strongest brand across all categories in the region. Brand Finance also included Group CEO Hatem Dowidar to the Elite List of Brand Guardians globally, with Dowidar jumping 4 places compared to last year’s ranking.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Picking up where we left off this morning, the global press is still fixating on the prospect of Europe facing a cold winter without Russian gas supplies. Carbon pricing in Europe is at a seven-week high as the continent could be forced to switch to dirtier fuel sources than natural gas, of which Russia is Europe’s main supplier, as tensions over Ukraine continue to mount, Bloomberg reports. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is due in Washington, DC next Monday to discuss, among other things, “ensuring the stability of global energy supplies,” the White House said. Qatar, which is one of the world’s biggest natgas producers, has previously signaled it wouldn’t be able to step in to fill a supply gap.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are in a war of words over sanctions that the US is threatening to slap on Russia, with Biden telling reporters yesterday he could consider imposing personal sanctions on Putin. Moscow shook off the threats, saying sanctions against Putin would be “politically destructive” but would not affect him personally. Reuters and Bloomberg have the story.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Startups have until next Sunday, 30 January to apply for the spring 2022 cycle of EGBank’s Mint Incubator. The incubator offers two tracks: A sector-agnostic track for startups at the MVP stage, and a fintech track that accepts early-stage startups both at the ideation and MVP stages. Main founders must be between 16-35 years old. You can apply here.

OPEC+ will meet next Wednesday, 2 February to decide on another modest oil production increase, hiking supply by 400k bbl / day in March, unnamed officials tell Bloomberg. Planned production increases by the cartel have so far failed to meet the recovery in demand as several member countries struggle to up their output. The potential tightening of the oil market has pushed prices to a seven-year high and Brent could breach the USD 100 / bbl mark this year unless supply is increased.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The cold front will slightly ease during the long weekend: Expect daytime highs in the range of 14-16°C in the coming three days while nighttime lows will be between 6-8°C, our favorite weather app tells us.