PM — The joys of allowing for chaos

Happy hump day, friends. We have a relatively slow news day so far here at home, while yesterday’s earthquake in Turkey and Syria is still driving the conversation abroad.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Aman Financial Services is tapping the securitization market this month: Raya Holding’s non-banking financial services outfit, Aman Financial Services, will move forward with an EGP 400 mn securitized bond issuance after the Financial Regulatory Authority gave it the greenlight, Al Borsa quotes Aman Financial Services CEO Hazem Moghazi as saying.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The devastation caused by the Turkey-Syria earthquake remains front-page news around the world as the death toll surpasses 5k people. The total number of fatalities could reach 10k, the US Geological Survey said. International rescue teams from the EU, South Korea, Switzerland, Azerbaijan and Lebanon along with emergency supplies are arriving at the quake zones to assist search and rescue efforts to clear rubble and reach people buried under buildings. More than 5k buildings have collapsed since Monday’s earthquake and its aftershock, according to Turkey’s disaster management agency. Evacuation efforts that are currently underway are being hampered by damaged road and airport infrastructure, as well as a massive snow storm that has left many victims in subzero temperatures.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi offered to send aid earlier today, while the Foreign Ministry said it is monitoring the situation of Egyptians in both countries.

The story is leading the front pages of Bloomberg | Reuters | FT | Washington Post | WSJ

TAKE OUR JANUARY ENTERPRISE READER SURVEY and get a chance to break bread with us: Give us your thoughts on how 2022 panned out for your business and industry, and what you’re expecting in the year ahead in our Enterprise Reader Survey.

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

• Could BdC IPO in the first half — or will we “just” see the sale of a stake to a strategic investor? Or will United Bank go first? What about Semadco? Chatter about which companies are on the auction block (and which aren’t) as part of the state asset program is reaching a crescendo a bit more than 24 hours ahead of the presser Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has said would take place after Wednesday’s cabinet meeting.
• Some senators want the Investment Ministry back: The Senate Financial and Economic Affairs Committee and GAFI officials yesterday called on the government to bring back the Investment Ministry.
• A streamlined capital increase process: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has amended rules governing capital increases in a bid to make it easier for EGX-listed firms to raise fresh capital, the FRA said in a statement yesterday.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Inflation: The CBE and Capmas are expected to publish inflation data for January on Thursday.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will be in Dubai next week to attend the World Government Summit, which runs 13-15 February. Twenty heads of state will be in town for the Davos-like gathering, which will see policymakers from around the world discuss global trends, according to Emirati state news agency WAM.

Petro-show next week: Oil and gas industry figures from Egypt and the region will congregate at the Egypt International Exhibition Center for the Egypt Petroleum Show (Egyps) starting next Monday. The three-day conference runs 13-15 February.

The Senate is out of session for two weeks: Senators will reconvene on Sunday 19 February.

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

COME TO OUR NEXT ENTERPRISE FORUM-

We’re excited to unveil our next C-level event: The Enterprise FDI + Exports Forum, where we will take a deep dive into two of the most critical topics affecting our community.

Exports and foreign direct investment (FDI) have never been more important to our economy — or our businesses — than in the wake of the float of the EGP. We think we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to build an export-led economy that makes us a magnet for FDI and all the benefits that will come with it for our nation.

Want to join the conversation? Drop us a line on events@enterprisemea.com.

????️TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re looking at a mostly cloudy day tomorrow with just a few peeks of sunshine expected to get through. Temperatures will hit 15°C during the day before falling to 7°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

Tidiness guru Marie Kondo has “given up” on being so tidy: Japanese organizational consultant Marie Kondo, who crafted a popular personal brand centered on tidiness, has put orderliness on the back burner following the birth of her third child, she told the Washington Post at a recent media webinar. Kondo shot to fame with best-selling books like The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and her hit Netflix show Tidying up with Marie Kondo. “Up until now, I was a professional tidier, so I did my best to keep my home tidy at all times,” she said. “I have kind of given up on that in a good way for me. Now I realize what is important to me is enjoying spending time with my children at home.”

And it’s only elevating her brand: By accident or design, Kondo’s revelation has served to make her more relatable, endearing her to supporters and fans, Fast Company writes. “Flaws are humanizing,” an entertainment strategist told the newspaper, saying that Kondo has essentially wielded a variant of the blemish effect, a marketing strategy whereby small problems are leveraged to underscore a product’s good qualities.

Kondo’s statement isn’t a malpractice of what she preaches: Her latest book, Marie Kondo Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life, is centered on the Japanese concept of Kurashi, which translates to “way of life.” It delineates how you can create routines that fill you with joy. “Tidying up means [coping] with all the ‘things’ in your life,” she writes in the book. For Kondo, this involves relishing time with her kids even if it means forgoing some tidiness.

Are mummies museum-appropriate? Some art historians are arguing that human remains should never be on public display, the Telegraph reports. “The idea that we would ever have a body on display as an art object is something I think we need to sit with and question — why is that appropriate?” says art historian Alice Procter. This follows recent shifts in mummy language, such as the use of the term “mummified humans” and the elimination of imperialist descriptions on museum labels, which Procter believes should be a stepping stone towards the abolition of mummies entirely.

It’s a mixed bag of viewpoints: Still, some experts believe that mummy exhibitions offer an invaluable source of knowledge, providing information on the population data, biology, and funerary beliefs of ancient times. Daniel Antoine, a curator at the British Museum, cites the discovery of cardiovascular disease — which was thought to be a modern development — among some of the museum’s 140 mummies. Salima Ikram, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, shares Antoine’s view, adding that “mummies are often [Egypt’s] best ambassadors abroad, and also our best teachers and educators about ancient Egypt.”

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

The Banshees of Inisherin needs no introduction: The tragicomedy starring Colin Ferrell has already racked up an accolade of awards and nominations, including receiving the Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) award and Best Screenplay awards at this year’s Golden Globes, and a nomination for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The film centers around a male friendship that goes sour in old-days Ireland after an older man (played by Brendan Gleeson) decides to cut off his more childish companion. With a fable-like quality and some hilarious scenes, the film manages to “masterfully explore the complications of a platonic friendship,” in an equally tragic and comedic manner, The Guardian’s Mark Kermode writes. You can watch it on Disney+, and check out the trailer here (watch, runtime: 1:30).

⚽ Club World Cup semi-finals: Saudi Arabian team Al Hilal faces Brazilian team Flamengo at 9pm tonight. Al Hilal qualified after beating Wydad Casablanca in the second round, and if they win tonight, they will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Real Madrid and Al Ahly in the tournament final.

Today in the Egyptian Premier League:

Smouha v Al-Masry (2:45pm)

El Gaish v Pyramids (5pm)

Future v National Bank (7pm)

Serie A: Salernitana play Juventus at 9:45pm.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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Savor some contemplative artwork at Safarkhan Art Gallery in Zamalek. Zāt, an exhibition showcasing artist Karim Abd Elmalak’s ​​paintings and sculptures, opens today and runs through 1 March.

Jordanian singer, composer and producer Aziz Maraka is performing alongside his band tomorrow at Cairo Jazz Club 610. Maraka is credited with creating Razz, an Arabic Rock-Jazz fusion music style.

“An Archive of Love”: Digitent’s Cairo Photo Week exhibition Middle East Archive is running from 9-18 February at The Hanger in Downtown Cairo. The curated collection of photographs is a “a sincere visual exploration and celebration of love in the Middle East and North Africa.” Get tickets to Cairo Photo Week here.

Amir Sharara, Benjemy and A.Salah take the stage at Cairo Jazz Club this Friday at 9pm. Benjemy, a multi-instrumentalist and music producer, will make his CJC debut, alternating between classical and electronic music while fusing techno with poetry. Amir Sharara will kick off the evening with a diverse set and A.Salah's signature sounds will keep the night going.

Do something new this weekend: Head over to L’Appart in Maadi for a candle-making workshop with The Melting Studio this Saturday, 11 February. Book a spot through their Instagram page here.

AUC’s Alumni Folklore Group is back with Reviving the Art Vol. III this Saturday at 7 pm at Ewart Memorial Hall in the Tahrir campus.

Art Cairo kicks off at the Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday 11 February and runs through next Tuesday, 14 February. The art fair will feature more than 30 international galleries from around the Middle East.

We’re two weeks away from Kevin Hart’s standup comedy show in Cairo on Tuesday, 21 February. Some ticket categories are still available here.

Don’t miss Cirque du Soleil’s OVO next month. The event features 100 performers taking the stage with their acrobatic acts. OVO will host 16 shows between 8-18 March at Cairo international Stadium Hall, courtesy of real estate developer Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (pdf).

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Take a moment to consider your relationship with nature: Best-selling essay collection by botanist and indigenous activist Robin Wall Kimmerer Braiding Sweetgrass is a rallying call to reconsider our relationship with the natural world, highlighting the many ways in which all living things are inextricably linked. Kimmerer’s book draws on indigenous (American) principles to inform this worldview — to think of nature as a reciprocal relationship with an ultimately unified fate rather than as something to be managed and extracted from.

The EGX30 rose 1.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.0 bn (9.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 15.8% YTD.

In the green: Oriental Weavers (+8.6%), Ezz Steel (+7.3%) and Qalaa Holdings (+6.2%).

In the red: Palm Hills Developments (-1.8%) and e-finance (-1.1%).

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK– Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Mona El Kheshen (LinkedIn), co-founder and COO of UNLOCK.

My name is Mona El Kheshen, and I’m the co-founder of UNLOCK. I studied economics at AUC before moving on to do my master’s degree at Cambridge University in the UK. My entire career has been devoted to strategic marketing and brand development. I was fortunate to have worked with many well-known brands, including Cadbury, Schweppes, and Johnson & Johnson. So I spent the first part of my career working with multinational corporations on consumer marketing before moving on to B2B marketing. Prior to founding UNLOCK, I worked as the marketing director for a large life sciences company in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

I am very passionate about bringing people together in ways that provide value and have a beneficial effect on both their personal and professional lives. I first got the idea for UNLOCK while I was working in the UK. I actually started EPN — what I referred to as my passion project. It was essentially a network for Egyptian professionals. I founded it on Facebook with the intention of connecting business executives and professionals in Egypt for networking, cooperation and knowledge sharing. It was through EPN that I met my co-founder at UNLOCK, Fady Younan (LinkedIn).

Within a few months, Facebook contacted us and informed us that it had been recognized as one of the most impactful communities on their platform, out of 30 mn Facebook groups worldwide in 2020. In the same year, Facebook named me one of the top 20 most influential females on social media.

At UNLOCK, we leverage technology by looking at the services procurement platform and using AI matching technology to connect the best service providers with the most relevant client brief, in order to help both providers and clients throughout the entire process, all the way through to service delivery. We have created our own internal match management service to assist in viewing the matches.

We’re also addressing a major issue in the market when it comes to B2B payment options. It’s always a hassle in the market, and many service providers frequently struggle to collect their own invoices on time. Another concern for clients is having to pay upfront and then not receiving the expected delivery. UNLOCK solves this problem by serving as a trusted third party and platform that helps to moderate those transactions. So, in a nutshell, we do three things: AI matching, match management, and we make the payment process easier for them.

Because our model is commission-based, our most important KPIs are the accuracy and effectiveness with which we can make matches, the type of transaction conversion and the project conversion ratio, as well as the number of onboarded service providers, and the number of clients served.

Over the last year, the number of transactions on our platform has increased by 3.5x, and we have handled service requests worth more than USD 3 mn. Last quarter, UNLOCK raised an undisclosed sum in its first angel round. We are very proud to have some notable investors on board, including our lead investor Tarek Roushdy, founder and managing partner at UI Investments and a member of the AUC angel investors, Hanan Abdel Meguid, founder and CEO at Kamelizer and co-founder and managing partner at Consoleya, Nader Bassit, CEO of Wakira Investments and an active member at Dubai Angel Investors, and a few other private angel investors. We will be raising a pre-seed round in 2023, which we are currently planning and will announce soon.

The best aspect of my job is seeing talented service provider agencies grow and our clients’ businesses thrive as a result of our connections. I also appreciate the fact that we assist Egyptian service providers in exporting their businesses overseas and bringing foreign currency into the country.

One of the most challenging aspects of my job is that Egypt still lacks many B2B payment regulations. There are options for simplifying and facilitating payment services; however, there is a time lag between the regulations and the market’s most recent technological offerings.

We have very ambitious growth plans. We are, at heart, a tech startup, and we have only just begun to scratch the surface of our technology roadmap. We previously doubled our conversion ratio in 2022, and we intend to do so again in 2023 using improvements in matching technology. We are also taking steps to become an international cross-country platform, which will assist both service providers in exporting their services and clients in gaining easier and better access.

If I could only give one piece of advice to someone, it would be to have an agile and growth mindset. You may believe you have discovered an idea or have the answer or solution to a problem, but it is critical to remain open-minded, agile, and learning throughout the process. It’s also critical to focus on breaking even sooner rather than later, as well as having a good cashflow.

I believe we are extremely fortunate to have some truly amazing mentors to learn from whenever we face a difficult problem. Some of them are younger than we are, while others are a little older. They all, however, have excellent insights and a very strategic way of thinking.

If I were to exit my company tomorrow, I would do so through an acquisition that adds value to our stakeholders and moves UNLOCK faster than we could. I’d like to stay on as an employee because our journey is just beginning, and we have so much potential that we’d like to realize in the coming years.

I come from a family of entrepreneurs and they were all very excited about UNLOCK. I was probably the last one to jump the ship from the corporate world, and join the entrepreneurship world. My children in particular are very proud.

The last great thing I watched was The Playlist on Netflix, which demonstrated how it fundamentally altered the music industry as it was known a few years ago. I also recently read the Shoe Dog, a biography of Nike told by its founder and written by Phil Knight. I also listen to the podcast This American Life. It features stories from different walks of life.

I am a people person who values family, so I spend a lot of time with my two children, Hannah, 14, and Adam, 11, as well as our family dog. I also spend a significant amount of time with my extended family and friends. I enjoy trying new and unusual experiences — I travel both locally and internationally whenever possible. I also love playing board games.

Inspiration can come from anyplace and at any moment, often even at the most unexpected occasions. But if I had to pick one, I would say that local and regional founder stories motivate me. I love hearing stories of resilience and creativity.