Good morning, nice people, and happy FRIDAY. Ramadan is officially less than two weeks away, so we’re cherishing the last days of morning coffee and nice, big Friday breakfasts — we hope you are too.

Enterprise Weekend comes out each Friday at 9:00am CLT. We’ll be back on Sunday at 6am with EnterpriseAM. Until then: Enjoy the weekend.

LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS-

It was a busy week in the news, with plenty of updates on the Madbouly government’s privatization program, a EGP 190 bn social support package, and more scrappy ways to address our ongoing FDI crisis.

PROGRESS ON PRIVATIZATION-

Expect stake sales in pre-IPO fund firms in April: The Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s (SFE) pre-IPO fund is set to offer stakes in 2-3 state-owned companies to strategic investors or via public share sales in April.

Eleven companies are headed to the pre-IPO fund in total: Stake sales in 11 of the 32 companies in the government’s privatization program will be managed through the pre-IPO fund.

We’re about to find out who’s buying into the state-owned hotels company: The government will “within days” make an announcement on stake sales in the seven hotels it bundled into one company ahead of a sale.

Could the gov’t field offers for up to 20% of TE in the next two weeks? The government reportedly hopes to wrap up a roadshow and receive offers for a 10-20% stake in national telecoms provider Telecom Egypt (TE) before the start of Ramadan. Officials are said to be looking to onboard several new investors to TE, capping each stake sale at no more than 3% of the company.

The latest in the bidding war for Pachin: The shareholders of Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin) will not consider National Paints Holding’s (NPH) revised acquisition offer until two other bidders (Compass Capital and Eagle Chemicals) in the race respond to the latest from the Emirati company.

CBE wants advisors for United Bank sale: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has sent investment banks — including several Western banks — a request to pitch for an advisory role in the sale of United Bank of Egypt, which was almost sold to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund before talks stalled, apparently on a dispute over the valuation.

PLENTY OF MACRO NEWS-

Inflation soared much faster than expected to a fresh five-year high of 31.9% in February (more on that in Sunday’s EnterpriseAM), which has also pushed the non-oil private sector to contract for the 27th consecutive month, albeit at a slower pace. Meanwhile, our net foreign reserves were effectively flat at USD 34.35 bn in February compared to USD 34.22 bn in January. Reserves fell 20% last spring on the back of the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions.

MORE ATTEMPTS TO BRING IN FDI-

The Madbouly government moved to make it easier for foreigners to become green passport holders, saying it will grant citizenship if they purchase assets worth no less than USD 300k using hard currency transferred in from abroad (down from a previous USD 500k), or if they establish a solo or joint investment project with an USD 350k investment in addition to depositing USD 100k at the state treasury. They can also get in line for citizenship by depositing a refundable USD 500k into a zero-interest account at an Egyptian bank, or a non-refundable deposit of USD 250k into the state treasury.

In another move to get FDI, the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) will reportedly hand investors a 15% break on the price of land if they pay the total sum up front using hard currency held abroad.

A CUSHION AGAINST INFLATION-

The Madbouly cabinet approved an EGP 190 bn package of social support measures that includes raising public-sector wages and pensions as well as a modest measure of tax relief by raising the income tax exemption threshold. The measures are aimed at mitigating the impact of soaring inflation on the public. We expect they will soon be followed by a move to raise the top tax rate for wage tax to 27.5% on gross wages over EGP 800k per year.

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GOOD NEWS FOR FINTECH- The CBE has issued new regulations allowing contactless card payments via mobile apps, a system that could allow Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, among other e-wallets.

AND FOR GREEN HYDROGEN– China Energy could start working on a USD 5.1 bn green hydrogen facility in Egypt in May, the company’s CEO, Ye Jianming, said during a meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

SCZone heads to Vietnam: The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) is heading to Hanoi from 12 to 17 March in the latest stop on its roadshow to drum up FDI to the zone, according to an SCZone statement. SCZone CEO Walid Gamal El Din is set to discuss potential investment with Vietnamese textile, auto, tire and communications companies.

We’re also definitely keeping an eye out for more privatization news, as the state continues its roadshow for Telecom Egypt’s stake sales, the procedures for which it plans to start before Ramadan.

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

YOUR MOST CLICKED LINKS-

• We’re grateful to see that many of you took the time to read about the departed father of our friends Amr and Hassan Allam, Essam. Essam helped build Hassan Allam Holding into a giant. He passed on to his sons the human decency, competitive drive, and innovative spirit that characterize the business today. (Ahram Gate)
• Plenty of you wanted to know what your “office personality” was from this NY Times quiz. (New York Times)
• A lot of you took interest in HSBC’s global supply chains report, which is essential reading given the ongoing global realignment of supply chains gives Egypt a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rebuild an export-oriented economy. (Survey, pdf)
• The CBE’s move to allow contactless card payments via mobile apps piqued your interest. (pdf)
• Reuters’ report on Egypt’s economic woes also got a lot of attention.

☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND- We’re in for another warm weekend: Temperatures will hit daytime highs of 28°C today and tomorrow, while overnight temperatures will hover around 13°C and 12°C.