PM — An end to global inflation in sight?

Good afternoon, wonderful people. We have a brisker news day to bring you than we did yesterday — plus your usual roundup of everything you need to know to stay on top of the World Cup in Qatar.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

A peek into the CBE’s plan to shore up FX supply? The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is mulling a handful of options as part of its strategy to increase FX liquidity, after CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla met with the heads of the nation’s banks yesterday, Bloomberg Asharq reports, citing sources it says attended the meeting. The proposed options include offering service and funding incentives in exchange for tourism facilities and hotels depositing their FX in local banks, launching USD-denominated savings schemes for Egyptian expats, easing banks’ regulatory requirements for customers making USD deposits, and mulling the use of USD derivatives, Asharq reports.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The ongoing protests in China against the country’s covid-zero policies continue to lead the conversation in the international business press this afternoon. The Financial Times and Reuters are following the play-by-play of events, while the Wall Street Journal and CNBC are focusing on the fallout in global markets.

Some of the biggest names in Egypt’s climate industry are appearing at our inaugural Enterprise Climate X Forum, which takes place on Tuesday, 6 December at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Are you?

Hydrogen: What is it, what does a “hydrogen economy” look like and how will we know it’s becoming real? Jorgo Chatzimarkakis, CEO of industry association Hydrogen Europe, is flying in to help us unpack it.

Three industry leaders will talk about climate as the biggest (and most important) business opportunity of our generation: Mohamed Mansour is co-founder and CEO of Infinity. Amr Allam is co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding. Jointly and separately, they’re building and operating GW worth of renewable energy projects, charging stations, desalination, wastewater, and more. They’ll be joined on stage by Sherif El Kholy, partner and head of MENA at private equity giant Actis, who has a passion for investing in green businesses — and for helping conventional businesses put ESG at the core of what they do.

How are we going to pay for it all? Todd Wilcox, CEO and deputy chairman of HSBC Egypt; Tarek El Nahas, group head of international banking at Mashreq; Khaled Hamza, director and head of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and Nader Abushadi, group treasurer at Dar Group, will help us get our heads around topics including green, sustainability-linked, blended, and concessional finance, as well as how much you need to know about your supply chain.

We’ll also be meeting Shift EV’s Aly El Tayeb and Algebra’s Karim Hussein, the guys who want to be Egypt’s first climate bn’aires. They’ll be talking with USAID Egypt Mission Director Leslie Reed as well as EFG Hermes Head of Strategy Simon Kitchen, who’s flying in from London to talk with us about how business leaders across frontier and emerging markets are getting their heads around climate.

** Have you confirmed your attendance? We’ll be sending you on Sunday, 4 December the QR code you’ll need to gain admission to the Grand Egyptian Museum, along with a Google Maps link and some other pointers.

Tap or click here for the full agenda.

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

• Why McKinsey’s Jalil Bensouda thinks we could “go bigger and faster” than even Morocco on FDI and exports: After reading our five-step recipe for turning Egypt into a global export hub and FDI magnet, participating CEOs — including McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Jalil Bensouda — agreed to answer two questions on the record.
• Some 60% of Egyptian adults have access to the financial system: Egypt’s financial inclusion rate — the percentage of citizens above the age of 16 who hold a bank account, mobile wallet or pre-paid card — has grown 131% between 2016 and 2022 to reach some 40 mn adults.
• Senior government officials say they’re taking seriously a slowdown of the pace at which imports are clearing ports after Central Bank Governor Hassan Abdalla and Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly discussed the issue yesterday.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

PSA- The deadline to apply for the Chicago Booth Executive Program in El Gouna has been pushed one week to next Sunday, 4 December. The two-week program, which kicks off in March 2023, offers executives from Egyptian public and private sector the skills to help them “become a better leader for your organization and support Egypt’s growth in the years ahead.” You can find more information here.

Payment and fintech conference Pafix is being held as part of Cairo ICT 2022 through Wednesday at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo. The conference kicked off yesterday.

The US and Russia will hold nuclear talks in Cairo this week: Washington and Moscow will discuss resuming mutual nuclear inspections during week-long talks from tomorrow until next Tuesday, 6 December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to CNN.

EGX-listed Pachin will brief shareholders on acquisition offers it has received in its ordinary general assembly on Tuesday, 20 December, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). Dubai-based National Paints Holdings is offering to purchase 100% of Pachin for EGP 29 per share — far outbidding earlier offers from Universal Building Materials and Chemicals (Sipes) and Saybad Industrial Investment that have since been withdrawn.

Pachin’s board gave the Emirati firm the greenlight to conduct due diligence on 13 November, Al Mal reports, citing an EGX disclosure.

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 pleasantly sunny day in the capital city tomorrow, with a daytime high of 24°C and a nighttime low of 14°C, our favorite weather app tells us.

The wave of global inflation that has battered economies over the past several months appears to have peaked and could begin to decelerate over the coming months, the Financial Times reports, citing key indicators and economists. Several indicators — including the prices at which manufacturers are selling their goods to retailers and shipping rates — have begun to cool down, indicating that “price pressures on global supply chains are easing,” the salmon-colored paper writes. “Inflation is likely at its apex,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics said. A cool off in price pressures and supply delivering restrictions “presage the coming moderation in consumer prices,” he said.

Qatari owners want to see PSG valued at EUR 4 bn ahead of stake sale: Paris Saint-Germain’s Qatari owners are in talks with potential investors — including two US funds — over the sale of a 15% stake in the football club based on a EUR 4 bn valuation, PSG President Nasser Al-Khelaifi tells the Financial Times. PSG’s prospective valuation would far outpace the EUR 2.5 bn at which Chelsea FC was purchased earlier this year.

Such a high valuation could boost price expectations among other big clubs: Liverpool FC, Manchester United, and Inter Milan are already looking at selling stakes or the entire teams, while keeping a close eye on Paris Saint-German to determine how much to ask for, the FT reports.

The EGX30 fell 0.7% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.94 bn (36% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 8.1% YTD.

In the green: Qalaa Holdings (+2.2%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (+1.3%) and Alexandria Containers and Cargo Handling (+1.3%).

In the red: Talaat Moustafa Group (-3.4%), Heliopolis Housing (-2.6%) and Juhayna (-2.3%).

The pandemic might be over for most of the world, but its impact on people’s mental health is still going strong: The first year of the covid-19 pandemic drove up global despair and anxiety by 25%, with one in every eight people facing some form of mental illness, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The briefing from the organization also found that women and children were the most susceptible to mental health issues caused by the pandemic and appeared to develop these issues at a faster pace than men. People with chronic illnesses, including asthma, cancer, and heart diseases also had higher incidence rates. Similarly, The OECD reported that by early 2020, mental health issues increased sharply, with a 50% increase in anxiety and depression tracked in countries like Belgium, France, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK and the US than before Covid 19 hit.

Mental disorders were also on the rise in Egypt as a result of the pandemic: A study published in August 2020 found that 41% of the sample size of Egyptian adults reported a “severe” psychological impact from the pandemic, with more than a third reporting an uptick in work-related stress, more than half reporting increasing financial stress, and nearly two-thirds saying stress from home also increased because of covid-19. Around half of those surveyed “felt horrified and helpless,” the study said.

Unsurprisingly, mental health and physical health are a two-way circuit: Mental health issues also had an impact on individuals’ physical health and their ability to recover from the disease, according to the WHO. Individuals who had preexisting mental health concerns were shown to be the most likely to suffer from severe illness or death as a result of covid-19.

So what’s been causing the spike in mental health issues? Stress is a major culprit: Depression and anxiety rates have increased significantly since 2020 due to the increasing prevalence of stress-inducing life conditions, including social isolation, unemployment, loss of loved ones, and financial instability, among others, according to the OECD. “High risk calls have now become a daily occurrence, ranging from child or adult safeguarding concerns to someone who might have taken a significant amount of pills, or they might be standing on a bridge,” CEO of British mental health provider Health Assured Bertrand Stern-Gillet told the Financial Times.

This surge in mental health conditions prompted a widespread government response: “Concerns about potential increases in mental health conditions had already prompted 90% of countries surveyed to include mental health and psychosocial support in their COVID-19 response plans,” according to the WHO.

But the growing demand for mental health support also led to shortages on the service supply side: “For much of the pandemic, services for mental, neurological and substance use conditions were the most disrupted among all essential health services,” the WHO said. However, by the end of 2021, it seems that many people who need care have also turned to online support, but digital resources remain scarce in developing countries. This gap has led global organizations such as the WHO and OECD to develop levitra generique and mental health support plans, with the WHO publishing awareness material geared towards different age groups and updating the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 with support indicators for mental illness. OECD countries have developed support lines, improved access to mental health services, and promoted programs in schools and workplaces to raise awareness about mental health issues and how to handle them.

What better time to promote mental health than when the entire world is watching the same global event? The WHO is capitalizing on the World Cup in Qatar to promote mental health awareness and wellbeing, with a new initiative to set up “Friendship Benches” across key locations in Doha, according to a UN statement. The idea behind this project was to shed light on the significance of mental health and well-being, and according to WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, “The bench is a simple yet powerful vehicle for promoting mental health, from park benches where people gather to football stadiums where players and staff watch their teams play for the joy and promise of sports and success.”