Good afternoon, wonderful people, and welcome to COP27 Day One. It’s one of those rare days when the international and local press converge to focus on the same story, with COP27 leading the conversation everywhere.

BUT FIRST- We wanted to thank our friends at Mashreq Bank, who join us today as a pillar sponsor of EnterprisePM alongside Palm Hills Developments, Etisalat Misr, and CIRA Education. It is through their generous support that we are able to continue to provide your afternoon reads without charge.

THE BIG STORY AT HOME + ABROAD

COP27 kicks off — and we already have some solid progress to report: The start of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh is leading the conversation both here at home and in the international business press this afternoon. The summit hit the ground running with a “breakthrough” agreement between international leaders to formally discuss loss and damage as an agenda item, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said at his opening speech, according to a ministry statement. The agreement “creates for the first time an institutionally stable space on the formal agenda of the COP and the Paris Agreement to discuss the pressing issue of funding arrangements needed to deal with existing gaps in responding to loss and damage,” Shoukry said. Reuters and Bloomberg have the story front-and-center this afternoon, while the Wall Street Journal claims the war in Ukraine is taking attention away from COP27.

CIRA Education closes Egypt’s maiden EGP 800 mn future flow issuance: EGX-listed education provider CIRA Education has closed its maiden EGP 800 mn future flow issuance as part of a larger EGP 2 bn future flow securitized bond program, the company announced in a press release (pdf). The full program will take place over the course of three years.

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

• Everything you need to know as COP27 kicks off: Today is the first day of the two-week UN climate summit and Sharm El Sheikh is glowing green as it welcomes over 40k participants who registered to take part in the event.
• Activity in Egypt’s non-oil private sector continued to contract in October, remaining effectively unchanged from the month before as inflation, supply disruptions, and falling demand abroad continued to weigh on businesses.
• UAE’s National Paints makes play for Pachin: Dubai-based National Paints Holdings (NPH) has launched a takeover bid for Paint and Chemical Industries.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Techne Summit continues at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina today, bringing together entrepreneurs and investors from various sectors in the Mediterranean region. The global multi-industry gathering runs until Tuesday as a hybrid event.

New int’l wheat tender: State grains buyer GASC is seeking an unspecified amount of wheat in an international tender this week, Reuters reported. The deadline for offers has been set for Monday, 7 November, it said. Shipping is set for 15-30 December and/or 1-15 January.

Fifteen global green startups will pitch at COP27 as part of the government’s ClimaTech competition: The International Cooperation Ministry has selected its 15-strong shortlist from the 422 startups that applied to the ClimaTech Run competition — which is supported by our friends at USAID through their Business Egypt program. Finalists will pitch their businesses to a judging panel composed of top UN officials as well as representatives of Afreximbank, Microsoft, and Google during the climate summit’s Youth Day, the ministry said last week.

The Knowledge Hub Universities and Nova University Lisbon’s newly inaugurated Cairo campus will host the QS Reimagine Education awards and conference from 6-7 December. The hybrid event will also take place online and at the Wharton School campus in Pennsylvania, and offers awards of up to USD 50k for innovative projects in higher education.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a sunny and pleasant 28°C daytime high tomorrow and a nighttime low of 17°C, according to our favorite weather app.