EnterprisePM — Egypt’s economy is projected to grow c.5.2% this year by the IMF (Eid Mubarak)

Good afternoon, wonderful people — we hope you’re all looking forward to a week off as much as we are. It literally could not have come a moment too soon.

REMINDER- Sunday is technically a workday (good luck finding anyone at their desks), but banks and the stock exchange are closed Monday-Thursday in observance of Eid El Adha. Saturday, 24 July, is a holiday for government folks and the private sector alike in observance of the 23 July Revolution. We’re bridging, so you can next expect Enterprise in your inbox at 6am on Sunday, 25 July.

THE BIG STORY TODAY- The IMF thinks our economy is in line for a strong rebound in FY2021-22, saying that solid fiscal and monetary policies over the past twelve months will help propel us to a 5.2% GDP growth in the current fiscal year from 2.8% in the last one. We have the full rundown in this afternoon’s Speed Round, below.

THERE’S LOTS HAPPENING NOW-

GOOD NEWS- The World Health Organization (WHO) says Egypt is now “low-risk” for the continued spread of covid-19 spread, Health Minister Hala Zayed said, according to a cabinet statement. Egypt has so far administered 4.85 mn doses of covid-19 vaccines to citizens, according to the WHO country dashboard. Egypt was not one of the countries mentioned in WHO’s MENA report this week that pointed to the “catastrophic” surge of cases in the region.

So maybe you can take us off that red list now, ya Engleez?

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Maadi folks are not going gently into that good night as opposition mounts to the Transport Ministry’s plan to blast a highway through the middle of the historic neighborhood. Your recommended reading on that front today is Nadine Khaled’s piece in Egyptian Streets, which includes pointers to a new Instagram feed for people objecting to the plan.

What can you do? The folks behind the Save Maadi Instagram feed are suggesting people file complaints with shakwa.eg (the government’s official “unified complaints” portal) or the state’s hotline: 16528. We’ve also heard that there’s an anti-highway marathon in the works.

Two rays of hope: MPs have picked up on the unpopularity of the highway (watch, runtime: 8:07) and a Change.org page we noted yesterday continues to rack up signatures.

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More GERD talks today: South Sudan’s Irrigation Minister Manawa Peter Gatkuoth is in Cairo today for talks about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to El Shorouk. Egypt has been stepping up GERD talks, with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry holding meetings with his European counterparts following Egypt’s unsuccessful bid to get the spineless buggers at the UN Security Council to intervene in the dispute.

The prospect of a water shortage has Egypt putting desalination on the front burner — a development that’s attracting plenty of foreign interest. Among those sniffing around: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly met with the CEO of Norwegien renewable power producer Scatec, Raymond Carlsen, according to a cabinet statement. The two were joined by officials from Orascom Construction and Metito — the pair that recently delivered a USD 130 mn seawater desalination plant in East Port Said. No concrete announcement came out of the meeting, but Madbouly is pushing the government and businesses alike to push ahead with new projects.

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

• ADQ snags 99.9% of Amoun Pharma in MTO: Amoun Pharma shareholders have agreed to sell a 99.9% stake in the company to Abu Dhabi sovereign fund ADQ in a mandatory tender offer with shares at EGP 37.8 a piece.
• Egyptian events startup Eventtus acquired by US’ Bevy: Bevy will integrate Eventtus’ technology into its services and bring its 20 staff members, including founders Mai Medhat and Nihal Fares, onto the Bevy team.
• Russia still seems wary about direct flights to the Red Sea: Russia is proposing to set up a Russian-Egyptian group that will conduct “round-the-clock monitoring” of the situation in Egypt to protect Russian tourists.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- As big a news day as it is for us here in Egypt, things are slow internationally. China’s warning of “economic uncertainty” despite relatively strong growth in 2Q dominates headlines everywhere from the Financial Times to the Wall Street Journal. Reuters, meanwhile, notes that more than 20 are dead and dozens missing in Western Europe “as record rainfall in western Europe caused rivers to burst their banks, swept away homes and inundated cellars.” You have climate change to thank.

What’s the issue with China? The country’s post-pandemic recovery slowed down in the quarter that ended 30 June. GDP grew 7.9% y-o-y in the second quarter, according to the state’s National Bureau of Statistics, down sharply from the first quarter of this year, where 18.3% y-o-y growth was in no small part thanks to a low base effect. The warning bell: On a quarterly basis, China’s economy grew 1.3% in 2Q2021 — down from 5% q-o-q in the first quarter. Even the National Bureau of Statistics has said that while the economy had continued to “recover steadily,” the rebound was “unbalanced,” according to the FT.

KUDOS-

Our friends at CIB were named Egypt’s best bank in the 2021 Euromoney awards. CIB is “a powerhouse in its market and, increasingly, the wider region,” Euromoney’s website notes, dubbing the bank as “integral” to Egypt’s economy. The bank’s quick reaction to the pandemic and support to its retail and corporate clients was also acknowledged, along with its acquisition of a 51% stake in Nairobi’s Mayfair Bank.

HSBC was named Egypt’s best investment bank. Euromoney specifically noted two transactions in the past year in which HSBC was involved, namely Egypt’s USD 750 mn green bond facility and a triple tranche bond of USD 3.75 bn issued by the Finance Ministry, which attracted USD 13.7 bn in orders.

Emirates NBD took home the gong for best bank in the Middle East while Citi was dubbed the region’s best investment bank. You can find Euromoney’s full awards list for the Middle East here.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

China’s foreign minister is due in town on Saturday for a three-day visit, according to an exclusive from Al Ain newspaper. Neither Cairo nor Beijing have said much about the agenda, but expect GERD, GERD and GERD to be on the agenda alongside trade and development finance.

Expect a decision on fuel prices in the coming days: The government’s fuel pricing committee has been in talks since the beginning of the month over whether to raise, cut or leave on hold fuel prices during 3Q2021. We were expecting to hear something yesterday but a government official had suggested that a decision could instead be made later in the month.

Today is your last chance to visit the Cairo International Book Fair at the Egypt International Exhibition Center. The event will run through 15 July and the fair’s committee has now allowed the exhibition ground to operate at 70% capacity.

The Clean Energy Business Council’s webinar Women Entrepreneurs in Canada and the Middle East is taking place on 28 July at 3pm, showcasing female entrepreneurs working in climate tech in the two regions, and highlighting the challenges they face.

???? FOR YOUR COMMUTE-

Inflows into exchange traded funds are on track to surpass 2020 figures, clocking in at USD 659 bn in 1H2021, according to the Financial Times, citing data from independent ETF and ETP research and consultancy firm ETFGI. To put it into perspective, ETFs raked in USD 767 bn in inflows in all of 2020. Equity-based ETFs alone in 1H2021 managed to outpace inflows from both last year and the year before, bringing in USD 459 bn, up from USD 366 bn in all of 2020. They even outperformed pre-pandemic years, with 2019 equity ETFs scoring USD 283 bn.

What’s driving the appetite? For one, there’s the rebound of asset prices following the lows of the pandemic. Then, there’s an increased adoption of them across the board. This is particularly the case when it comes to traders who initially had been looking to beat the market, said Todd Rosenbluth, head of mutual fund and ETF research at CFRA. Adoption is also increasing among insurance companies and other institutional investors, he notes. We also noted earlier this month that US retail investors bought nearly USD 28 bn of stocks and ETFs in June, the highest figure since at least 2014.

Guess what else is drawing investors into ETFs? The popularity of ESG investing appears to be a major development as investors increasingly push forward ESG mandates on asset managers, the salmon-colored paper notes.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

Is it even Eid if you don’t watch a classic play with the family? You can watch all your favorites on Netflix during the holiday. The streaming platform added some of the biggest classics last year including Madraset el Moshaghbin, Shahid Mashafsh Haga, Al Motzawgoon, and El Wad Sayed El Shaghal.

That’s only if you’re tired of watching Al Resala, which will make its usual Eid reappearance on Amazon Prime and Shahid.

Egyptian filmmaker Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers was awarded the Nespresso Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and is still in the running for the Camera d’Or award, according to Deadline. The surrealist film sees a strict father turned into a chicken after a magic trick goes wrong at a children’s birthday party. The prominent festival will run until Saturday night. Feathers made its debut at Cannes, but you can check out the trailer for the film here (watch, runtime: 01:50).

⚽ The CAF Champions League final is this Saturday at 9pm, where Al Ahly and South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs will go head-to-head for the trophy at Stade Mohamed V in Casablanca.

???? The Suns and The Bucks will compete three more times before we come back from the holiday, with matches to take place on Sunday at 3am, Wednesday at 3am, and Friday, 23 July at 3am. The two are currently tied 2-2 in the NBA finals after the Bucks snagged a win yesterday.

???? The Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony is taking place on Friday, 23 July. Egypt is set to compete in 23 sports from football and archery to cycling and gymnastics, according to Kingfut. We wrote all about the past, present, and future of the Olympics in June’s issue of Your Wealth.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

The Sinatra Show by Gaby Bishara will be on at The Room in Garden City tonight at 9pm.

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☀️ THIS WEEK’S WEATHER- Cairo will be an open-air oven for most of the break, with temperatures in the range of 39-42°C, our favorite weather app tells us. Are you heading to Sahel along with the other half of Cairo? You can expect daytime highs of 31-34°C through Thursday.

The IMF expects Egypt’s economy to “rebound strongly” in FY2021-2022, with GDP coming in at 5.2%, according to a statement last night in which the institution praised Egypt’s covid-19 policies (and gave itself a pat on the back for the assist). “As a result of the government’s swift and prudent policy response, coupled with IMF support, the Egyptian economy showed resilience in the face of the pandemic,” the statement notes.

What the IMF likes: “Over the past 12 months, the authorities’ commitment to prudent policies and their strong performance under the IMF program have helped mitigate the health and social impact of the pandemic while safeguarding economic stability, debt sustainability, and investor confidence,” the statement reads.

What were these prudent policies?

• The economic reform program provided us with a good buffer to withstand the shock of covid;
• Fiscal support included relief for businesses and workers in the hardest-hit sectors, including tourism and manufacturing;
• The postponement of tax payments and the expansion of cash transfer programs to poor households and irregular workers;
• The central bank cut interest rates by 400 bps in 2020;
• The CBE increased access to credit at preferential interest rates and imposed a six-month break on payments for borrowers.

A warning: “But the outlook is still clouded by uncertainty related to the pandemic, including regarding the full recovery of tourism,” the statement notes. The IMF also pointed to “Egypt’s high public debt and large gross financing needs,” saying that this will leave it vulnerable to external shocks, such as higher costs of borrowing at the global level as developed economies gradually withdraw their economic stimulus.

Recommendations: It called on policymakers to make reducing public debt a priority and institute policies that will further drive private sector growth.

Egypt is one of 23 countries in which the UN believes food insecurity was driven by conflict or climate extremes in 2020. Other countries on the list include Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and Yemen, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said in its first report showing the wide impact of the pandemic on global hunger.

Oddly enough, the WFP includes Egypt in the insecurity due to conflict bucket (see page 186, annex 5) but doesn’t explain what that conflict might be. The report also noted that Egypt was one of just nine countries in its sample set that saw its economy grow last year.

It’s not just the UN: Bloomberg Economics’ food vulnerability scorecard says Egypt is among the 15 emerging economies most at risk of food shortages. Sudan, Lebanon, and Yemen are currently the “weakest links” in terms of food insecurity and rising prices, it added.

Many countries in the region are suffering in that respect: The average price of wheat flour in Lebanon soared 219%, while Syria saw cooking oil jump 440% — with many basic foodstuffs becoming too expensive for the average citizen in the MENA countries.

Higher food prices are here to stay: Food prices jumped to their highest in a decade in 2021, almost near their 2011 peak. “The recent sharp increase in international food prices has already slowly started to feed into domestic consumer prices in some regions as retailers, unable to absorb the rising costs, are passing on the increases to consumers,” the International Monetary Fund said last month. Last year, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s price index surged 34% due to droughts in key exporting nations and as some governments stockpiled food reserves. Developing economies were deeply affected by higher prices due to their dependence on agricultural imports and less processed food.

Food prices are continuing to hurt us here on the inflation front in 2021: Despite food prices in Egypt only edging up 0.2% m-o-m in June, food prices are up 3.4% over last year. Food prices rose 1.5% m-o-m between April and May contributing to May’s 4.8% increase in annual headline inflation, according to Capmas data.

World hunger jumped to a 15-year high in 2020: The number of people going hungry globally surged to its highest level since 2005 last year as the covid-19 pandemic drove food prices higher and slashed household incomesBetween 720 mn and 811 mn people were undernourished in 2020, while the number of those who lacked access to nutrition rose by 320 mn to almost 2.4 bn — a third of the global population. The increase is equivalent to the increases witnessed in the previous five years combined.

Malnutrition in children is becoming a serious problem: Among children globally, 22% under the age of five experienced stunted growth due to malnutrition while 6.7% were too thin and 5.7% overweight. Egypt is above the global average in terms of malnutrition, with stunting in young children under five falling slightly from 22.5% in 2012 to 22.3% last year while wasting in children came in at 9.5% in 2020.

But we’ve been seeing improvements in many metrics: Prevalence of undernourishment in the total population fell to 5.4% in 2018-2020 compared to 6.4% in 2004-2006, the UN report showed. Meanwhile, the prevalence of severe food insecurity in the total population also went down to 6.7% in 2018-2020 compared to 8.4% in 2014-2016.

What has Egypt been doing to combat food insecurity? During the pandemic, Egypt was quick to ramp up cash subsidies to the neediest segments of the population and to implement a no-questions-asked wage protection program for day workers. The government also ensured that our strategic wheat reserves were sufficient to guarantee at least six months of consumption. Wheat tenders and local wheat production were primetime news. Food security has been a regular topic of discussion in diplomatic meetings with international entities and a few years back Egypt signed an MoU with the World Food Program to support the country’s 2018-2023 food security strategy.

You can read more from the report in Bloomberg and the Financial Times.

Ghazl El Mahalla FC is looking to make an EGP 200 mn EGX debut, Prime Holding CEO Mohamed Maher tells us. Prime is quarterbacking the company’s listing on the bourse.

Wait, how can the company know the value of the transaction before it even gets the green light for the IPO? In a standard initial public offering, a company would set out to offer a certain percentage for sale, then go on to price the shares (based on market feedback to its investment bankers and a separate fair value report), then allocate shares to interested buyers.

But Ghazl El Mahalla FC will be listing as a new company with initial capital of EGP 200 mn. Prime will place EGP 37 mn worth of shares via a private placement to institutional investors, while another EGP 98 mn will be earmarked for sale to individual retail investors.

That means the company expects to rake in EGP 135 mn in cash from new shareholders, while El Mahalla Spinning and Weaving Company, the football club’s current operator, will make an EGP 65 mn in-kind contribution to the company’s capital.

The in-kind contribution includes the 20-year concession for the stadium, training areas and player premises.

Isn’t it unusual for a company with no financials and no track record to list on the EGX? Yup. But Maher says Ghazl El Mahalla FC can go ahead provided it checks certain boxes, including having an FRA-approved business plan and at least 1k shareholders. Also: 40% of the new company’s capital will be subject to a two-year lockup agreement. Shares that are part of the lockup will include those held by El Mahalla Spinning and Weaving and a part of the private placement shares.

The minimum of 1k shareholders is definitely doable, Maher tells us. The company itself has 15k employees and the government is very keen on the offering.

Public subscription is expected to take place before the new season of Egypt’s Premier League in October, Maher added. Al Mal had previously noted that the IPO could go to market in the next two months as the club finalizes procedures with the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) ahead of the sale.

The IPO would make Ghazl El Mahalla the first publicly traded Egyptian football club. The owner, El Mahalla Spinning and Weaving Company, completed in recent months a restructuring of the club and upgraded its facilities.

Luxury hotels operator General Hotel Management (GHM) will team up with Orascom Hotels Management (OHM) to bring us the Chedi El Gouna, according to a GHM press release. The new Red Sea hotel will be under the Chedi brand name which has seen GHM and OHM develop five-star hotels including Chedi Andermatt in Switzerland and Chedi Luštica Bay on the coast of Montenegro, with the El Gouna location to be their third effort. “Given Orascom’s deep roots in Egypt and in El Gouna, a place on the Red Sea was all but inevitable,” GHM CEO Tommy Lai commented, explaining the decision of launching in Orascom Development´s flagship town.

IN OTHER TOURISM NEWS-

Dubai-based airline flydubai will operate flights to Sohag three-times a week starting from 25 July, according to a press release. The flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, with a short layover in Sharm El Sheikh. The carrier also operates flights to Alexandria.

EGX-listed Rameda Pharma has acquired an new anticoagulant molecule, the company said in a press release this morning (pdf). The company didn’t name the molecule, but said the acquisition was part of its strategy to grow its portfolio by buying drugs with “an established market presence.” The company said the acquisition will be its largest to date and will see the company “benefit from a large and fast-growing therapeutic area that has displayed a 3-year CAGR of c.67% between 2017 and 2020.”

FACT CHECK- Azimut has not yet committed to starting an FX fund, but is simply mulling the idea, Azimut MD Ahmed Abo El Saad tells us, refuting a story that broke yesterday in the local press.

Dana Gas is, for once, happy with our arrears payments, reporting in a release (pdf) that 1H2021 collections from Kurdistan and Egypt have increased 106% y-o-y to USD 185 mn — the highest level in more than five years. Dana, which routinely complains loudly about the pace at which Egypt pays it, was reported in April to be in arbitration with IPR Wastani after Dana reneged on an agreement to sell most of its on-shore Egypt assets in a USD 236 mn transaction.

Raya to consolidate Aman subsidiaries into a holding company following FRA approval: Raya Holding gained approval from the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to create a holding company for its subsidiaries Aman for E-Payments, Aman for Microfinance, and Aman for Financial Services, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf) released today. The holding company will be under the name Aman for Technology, NBFS, and Electronic Payments and will help increase investments in the company and expand its activities.

Aman is working to roll out two new subsidiaries, Aman for Consumer Finance which will be established with EGP 110 mn in capital as well as Aman for Securitization with a capital of EGP 5 mn, the disclosure added.

MARKET WATCH-

The EGX30 fell 0.4% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.61 bn (24.9% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 2.6% YTD.

In the green: AMOC (+4.3%), Cleopatra Hospitals (+0.9%) and Sodic (+0.9%).

In the red: TMG Holding (-2.5%), Export Development Bank of Egypt (-2.5%) and Fawry (-2.3%).

With summer season now in full swing, a lot of us are probably thinking about planning our next vacation. Whether it's zoning out on a beach somewhere or embarking on a thrilling new experience, chances are you could be doing it a little more sustainably.

The astronomical toll global tourism takes on the planet and local communities has been well documented over the past couple of years, particularly if you’re lucky enough to step foot on a plane and set off to far flung destinations in search of your fix. Travel related consumption at vacation destinations has been estimated to contribute ​​1 kg of CO2 for every dollar spent, according to a 2018 study published in Nature, which puts the total GHG contribution of tourism at 8% of the worldwide total.

Covid-19 brought a halt to much of our global gallivanting: Peak tourism in 2019 slowed down significantly over the last year as travel bans and lockdown restrictions brought the industry to a standstill. Flight bookings to Egypt remained more than 50% below 4Q2019 levels in May and had dipped to near-zero in March and April last year.

But many people are feeling the itch to get moving again. If this sounds like you then here are a few things to consider to make your travel plans at least a little less burdensome for the planet and more mindful of local communities and ecosystems.

Try staying local: The number one thing you can do to reduce your travel footprint is to never set foot on a plane. The aviation industry is estimated to contribute 5% of global greenhouse emissions and is on track to have that figure grow by at least 25% by 2030, according to the UNWTO. While that number may not seem particularly alarming on its own, the difference between emissions caused by air travel and other transport is. In Europe, a single person’s air travel contributes 285 grams of CO2 per mile, compared with the 158 grams per passenger mile from cars and the 14 grams per passenger produced by rail, according to the European Environment Agency.

So maybe consider one of a number of local destinations (that could really use your money right now) like Hurghada, Nuweibaa, Marsa Allam, Sharm El Sheikh, Taba, Ras Sedr. Even Sahel is better than stepping on a plane and heading to an animal sanctuary in East Asia.

Consider how you get there: If you intend on travelling by car, consider carpooling with other friends to reduce mileage or better yet use Ditto to find people heading to similar destinations. Maybe consider ditching the car altogether and packing your stuff into a bus. GoBus, BlueBus and East Delta all offer services to most Red Sea destinations and you can even catch a comfortable sleeper train through Memphis Tours, or Watania if you’re heading South to Luxor and Aswan.

Where you stay matters: Cruises and resorts often top the list of the least sustainable accommodations for tourists, with a single cruise contributing as much particulate matter as 1 mn personal cars. Shying away from either of those energy intensive and ecologically invasive options would probably be best.

Opt instead for a stay at an eco-lodge, like Taziry in Siwa, Anakato in Aswan, Al Tarfa in El Dakhla Oasis or any one of the many campsites in Nuweiba all of which are very low carbon alternatives compared to traditional travel options.

If you insist on (and are able to board) a plane, purchase a carbon offset offered by your airline. This voluntary option requires you to spend a little extra cash that will contribute to sustainable initiatives spearheaded by the company — like planting trees or constructing solar panels — which in theory should make up for the emissions contributed through your plane ticket.

For some local sustainable travel inspiration: Omar Samra’s sustainable travel company Wild Guanabana organizes socially and environmentally friendly tours, while Dayma organizes eco-journeys and learning experiences ranging from full fledged trips to bird-watching excursions. If you’re the outdoorsy type, hiking the newly established Sinai trail with a local guide is a great way to explore the wonders of the Sinai mountains, and to bring much needed income to local communities.

Want more on where to travel and stay sustainably? You can also consult the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s site for certified sustainable stays around the world. For a more exhaustive list of tour operators who have committed to a sustainable action plan you can check out Tourism Declares Climate Emergency’s site.

July: The government’s fuel pricing committee will meet to announce 3Q prices.

Mid-July: Legislative session expected to end.

19 July (Monday): Arafat Day (national holiday).

20-23 July (Tuesday-Friday): Eid Al Adha (national holiday).

23 July (Friday): Revolution Day (national holiday).

23 July-11 August (Friday-Wednesday): Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

28 July (Wednesday): Clean Energy Business Council’s webinar Women entrepreneurs in clean energy (3pm)

2-4 August (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt is hosting the Africa Food Manufacturing exhibition at the Egypt International Exhibition Center.

5 August (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

9 August (Monday): Islamic New Year.

12 August (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Islamic New Year.

3-5 September (Friday-Sunday): The World Karate Federation will hold the third competition of the 2021 Karate 1-Premier League in Cairo.

12-15 September (Sunday-Wednesday): Sahara Expo: the 33rd International Agricultural Exhibition for Africa and the Middle East.

15 September (Wednesday): The CFO Leadership & Strategy Summit is taking place in Egypt.

16 September (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

30 September-2 October (Thursday-Saturday): Egypt Projects 2021 expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 September-8 October (Thursday-Friday): The Cairo International Fair, Cairo International Conference Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 September: Closing of 2021’s first oil and gas tender in the Gulf of Suez, Western Desert, and the Mediterranean.

1 October (Friday): Businesses importing goods at seaports will need to file shipping documents and cargo data digitally to the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system.

1 October (Friday): Expo 2020 Dubai opens.

1 October (Friday): State-owned companies and government service bodies selling goods and services to customers that have not yet signed on to the e-invoicing platform will suffer a host of penalties, including removal from large taxpayer classification, losing access to government services and business, and losing subsidies.

6 October (Wednesday): Armed Forces Day.

7 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Armed Forces Day.

12-14 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Mediterranean Offshore Conference, Alexandria, Egypt.

18 October (Monday): Prophet’s Birthday.

21 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Prophet’s Birthday.

24-28 October (Sunday-Thursday) Cairo Water Week, Cairo, Egypt.

27-28 October (Wednesday-Thursday) Intelligent Cities Exhibition & Conference, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski, Cairo, Egypt.

28 October (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

30 October – 4 November (Saturday-Thursday): The first edition of Race The Legends, Egypt.

November: The French-Egyptian Business Forum is set to take place in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

1-3 November (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Energy exhibition on power and renewable energy, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

November: Egypt will host another round of talks to reach a potential Egyptian-Eurasian trade agreement, which can significantly contribute to increasing the volume of Egyptian exports to the Russia-led bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

1-12 November (Monday-Friday): 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

29 November-2 December (Monday-Thursday): Egypt Defense Expo.

12-14 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Food Africa Cairo trade exhibition, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

13-17 December: United Nations Convention against Corruption, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

16 December (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

14-16 February 2022 (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Petroleum Show, Egypt International Exhibition Center, New Cairo, Egypt.

1H2022: The World Economic Forum annual meeting, location TBD.

May 2022: Investment in Logistics Conference, Cairo, Egypt.

27 June-3 July 2022 (Monday-Sunday): World University Squash Championships, New Giza.

**Note to readers: Some national holidays may appear twice above. Since 2020, Egypt has observed most mid-week holidays on Thursdays regardless of the day on which they fall and may also move those days to Sundays. We distinguish below between the actual holiday and its observance.