Happy Tuesday afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The news is back in full swing on this hump day, with big news and interesting stories to keep us busy.

We’re taking the pickup in pace as the news cycle’s birthday present to us, as we celebrate EnterprisePM’s first full year around the sun. It is an honor to write to each and every one of you, and doubly so to write to you twice each day.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

The EGX has executed the sale of shares to investors who subscribed to Macro Group’s IPO, which saw it offer a 45.8% stake to institutional and retail investors over the past week, the bourse said today. Macro raised EGP 1.3 bn in the IPO, which saw it sell 264.5 mn shares at EGP 4.85 apiece, valuing the company at around EGP 2.8 bn. The institutional offering — which was allocated 95% of the shares — was 1.8x oversubscribed,

while the retail component saw stronger demand, closing on Monday 102x oversubscribed.

Shares will start trading Thursday under the ticker MCRO.CA at EGP 4.85 each, the EGX confirmed.

HAPPENING NOW- The World Bank is unveiling its updated outlook for the Egyptian economy at an event being attended by International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat, Communications Minister Amr Talaat, and the World Bank’s country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, Marina Wes. We’ll have coverage in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

Meanwhile, it’s a busy day at the House of Representatives, where several important bills are up for discussion at the general assembly and within House committees. On the docket for today:

• Changes to the Real Estate Registry Act that aim to simplify property registration procedures, which received the green light from the House’s Legislative Committee last week (general assembly);
• Amendments to the Income Tax Act (House Planning and Budgeting Committee);
• Amendments to the Capital Markets Act that would introduce future flow securitization to the Egyptian market (House Planning and Budgeting + Constitutional and Legislative committees).

The House struck down proposed amendments to the Education Act in its plenary session today for being unconstitutional, Ahram Gate reports. The amendments proposed imposing a EGP 500-1k fine on parents whose children miss school without sufficient reason, among other things. The House Education Committee had struck down the amendments last week, saying in its report (pdf) that the bill had several unconstitutional clauses.

TODAY is your last day to apply to join the Fortune Global Women's Mentoring Program, which will take place from 8-28 May 2022. The program aims to bring emerging women leaders from around the world to the US to meet and learn from the Fortune Most Powerful Women community, which includes executive women mentors from companies such as Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, and Aetna. The deadline to apply for the program is 8 February. You can begin your application by signing up here via our friends at the US Embassy in Egypt.

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

• Orange Egypt snapped up 30 MHz of new bandwidth for USD 440 mn from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, as a continuation of the 2020 government tender that saw 80 MHz in new frequencies sold to mobile operators for almost USD 1.2 bn.
• MM Group for Industry and International Trade will sell Apple products in Egypt from 3Q2022 after signing an agreement with Apple Trading Egypt.
• More ITFC financing: The Madbouly government plans to finalize as early as this month a new financing program for 2022 with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, with part of the funding earmarked for supporting MSMEs.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- Ukraine is back in the spotlight this afternoon, albeit with few material developments to speak of. The country’s eastern border is seeing yet more military build-up, with the Financial Times saying Ukraine is invoking former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s “blitz spirit” as it deploys more forces on its border with Russia, while the Kremlin is denying that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised French President Emmanuel Macron there would be no further military action on the border, according to Reuters.

Also getting some digital ink: Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai walking back on her previous allegations that a former Chinese official [redacted] assaulted her, after allegedly disappearing for several weeks. Her denial coincides with the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Financial Times has the story.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Inflation figures are due out this Thursday, 10 February. Annual urban inflation rose to 5.9% in December from 5.6% in November. While analysts we spoke with expect prices to continue rising, they don’t see them going outside the central bank’s target range of 7% (±2%) by 4Q2022.

The Finance Ministry has begun holding public consultations on the draft budget for next fiscal year with the next round due to take place on Thursday, 10 February at 5pm CLT.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will be in town this Friday, 11 February for a two-day visit that will see her meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other officials for bilateral talks, the German Embassy in Cairo said in a statement. Baerbock is also expected to discuss potential collaboration between the two countries on the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh this November.

Egypt will host the Arab League’s Arab Sustainable Development Week from Sunday, 13 February to Tuesday, 15 February. Held at Arab League headquarters in Tahrir Square and the Nile Ritz-Carlton, the forum will bring together ministers, senior officials, policymakers and private sector players from across the region to discuss ways to strengthen sustainable development. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Planning Minister Hala El Said, and IMF Executive Director Mahmoud Mohieldin are among those set to speak at the conference.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s going to be a slightly cooler (albeit still sunny) Wednesday afternoon, with the mercury peaking at 18°C during the day before falling to a nighttime low of 11°C, according to our favorite weather app.