Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s still a moderately busy day, with capital market news from the homefront gathering pace this afternoon.

BUT FIRST: We just received confirmation (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt that next Sunday, 24 April will be a bank holiday in observance of Coptic Easter. The day is not a national holiday.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? You’ll be breaking your fast at 6:25pm CLT this evening in the capital city, while fajr prayers are at 3:52am.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- Vodafone Egypt makes play on Bee + Masary: Vodafone Egypt has acquired 10% stakes in e-payments firms Bee and Masary — both subsidiaries of non-banking financial services provider Ebtikar — via a capital increase at par value, Ebtikar’s parent, B Investments, said in a disclosure to the bourse (pdf) this morning.

Vodafone is still planning to acquire 20% of each company: A Vodafone spokesperson told us this afternoon that it is sticking to the original MoU signed last year and still intends to acquire 20% of both firms. The acquisition is taking place in two phases, and Vodafone will purchase the remaining 10% stakes at a later date, they said.

#2- Agrifood player Galina Holding could soon revive its IPO plans and raise EGP 500 mn in a private placement on the bourse that would see the company sell 150 mn new shares to specific investment funds, Chairman Abdel Wahed Soliman told Enterprise. If the company doesn’t raise the amount through the private stake sale, it plans to list its shares in a public offering on the EGX by September, Soliman told us.

HAPPENING NOW-

We have the IMF’s latest growth projections — it’s surprisingly good news for Egypt and not-so-great news for the world. Here are the headline figures from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, which the Fund began unveiling at its press briefing just a few minutes before dispatch:

• Egypt GDP upgraded: Counter to our expectations, the Fund has revised upwards Egypt’s growth in FY 2021-2022 to 5.9%, from its previous 5.6% forecast made in January. Meanwhile, it trimmed its FY 2022-2023 projection to 5.0% from 5.6% previously.
• Global growth cut: The IMF says that global economic prospects have “worsened significantly” due to the spillover effects from the Ukraine conflict, and now sees the global economy growing at a 3.6% clip this year, down from 4.4% previously.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia has seized the city of Kreminna as it kicks off its all-out assault on eastern Ukraine in its “Battle of the Donbas” offensive, in an attempt to take full control of Donbas’ two administration regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, Reuters reports. Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky said in a video address overnight that forces could withstand the new assault. The developments on the ground come as Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership is now under consideration, with the bloc expecting to give a preliminary opinion on the membership request in June, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says have knowledge of the matter.

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

• War in Ukraine is set to stall growth of our tourism revenues: “Expectations for Egyptian tourism in 2022 are not higher than last year,” Deputy Tourism Minister Ghada Shalaby said. The loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists — which made up 30-40% of tourist arrivals to Egypt before the war broke out — will challenge the post-pandemic recovery in our tourism industry.
• State cracks down on bakeries: The government has seized goods and equipment — including flour, bread, smart cards, and tills — from bakeries it says engaged in price gouging, with a cabinet statement saying the Interior Ministry has logged more than 14k cases.
• Cairo Angels invests in UAE family activities app QiDZ: The Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund has made an investment in Gulf family entertainment marketplace QiDZ. A representative from the fund declined to disclose how much was invested when we asked, telling us only that it amounted to “six figures” while declining to specify the currency in question.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

PSA- You have until tomorrow to file your ESG report: EGX-listed companies and all non-bank financial services outfits regardless of listing status need to submit their first quarterly ESG questionnaire by tomorrow. The regulator is making it mandatory for companies to publicly disclose their performance on key environmental, social and governance metrics each year when they submit their annual financial statements, starting 2023. Reach out to Moustafa Taalab at InkankIR, our parent company, if you need some help.

Another chance for private firms to get in on PPP language school tender: The government has extended to 25 May its deadline for private companies to pre-register to participate in tenders in the second phase of its program to establish 1k language schools, according to a FinMin statement. A total of 24 language schools have been set up under the first phase of the program and the second phase targets the creation of 57 schools.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect the mercury to rise to 28°C during the day before falling to 13°C at night tomorrow, our favorite weather app tells us.