EnterprisePM — It’s a hot summer for debt as Sodic closes EGP 343 securitized bond sale

Good afternoon, wonderful people. We have another busy issue for you today, so let’s jump right in.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- The EGX30 closed in the green today, but global markets are feeling a bit unsettled right now. Shares in China are taking a beating for the second day in a row (and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng is now down more than 8% in just two sessions) after Xi Jinping effectively booted foreign investors out of the education industry. The Chinese leader’s move is a “bid to assert the Communist party’s supremacy,” the Financial Times writes. Chinese tech stocks are also feeling the pinch, falling for a third straight day as fears mount about a widening regulatory crackdown on Big Tech in the world’s second-largest economy.

European markets from London to Frankfurt, Paris and the Stoxx600 are all comfortably in the red as we inch toward the closing bell.

US investors look like they’re happy to sit on the sidelines today, with futures pointing to a lower open on Wall Street as investors wait for earnings after today’s session from Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Investors in US equities are fretting about everything from “the Delta-variant of Covid-19, supply-chain problems, a spike in inflation and cooling economic growth,” the Wall Street Journal writes in its lead story this afternoon.

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

• Egyptian economy to grow 5% this fiscal year -Reuters poll: The figure is slightly below the 5.4% targeted by the government and the 5.2% forecast by the IMF, but significantly higher than 2020-2021 growth forecasts.
• Contact makes first sukuk sale this year: Contact Financial Holding closed its second sukuk issuance worth EGP 2.5 bn which will carry a seven-year tenor and be used to finance the expansion of Contact Credit and its subsidiaries.
• Food exports rose 13% y-o-y during 1H2021: The value of food exports reached USD 2 bn against USD 1.8 bn in the same period last year, with Arab countries being our biggest export markets.

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YOUR MANDATORY COVID STORY- Antibodies from the Sinovac vaccine fall below a key threshold roughly six months after the jab is administered, a study from China found, Reuters reports. Among participants who took the two doses two weeks apart, only 16.9% still had substantial antibodies after six months, with the figure rising to 35.2% for those who took the vaccine doses four weeks apart. It is still unclear to scientists how far the decrease in antibodies will affect the shot's effectiveness, as the global health community has yet to specify a threshold of antibodies needed to prevent the virus. It’s also unclear how effective the Sinovac jab is in helping create the memory cells that are the cornerstone of long-term immunity after antibodies fade.

WHY THIS MATTERS to us- Cairo was set to receive 1 mn doses of the Sinovac vaccine this month, and Made-in-Egypt Sinovac jabs will soon be administered to individuals in the country. State-owned Vacsera aims to produce as many as 80 mn doses of the Chinese vaccine by the end of the year.

A Sinovac booster shot could be the answer: The study found that patients who received a third dose of the Sinovac jab six months after the second showed around a 3-5 fold increase in antibody levels.

Countries worldwide have been experimenting with offering a third booster shot for Sinovac recipients, with Indonesia, Thailand, and Turkey offering the choice of another Sinovac jab, or Pfizer or Moderna. Meanwhile, regionally, both the UAE and Bahrain have attempted the same for another Chinese jab, Sinopharm. Bahrain is giving a Pfizer booster shot while the UAE is giving a third “supportive” Sinopharm jab to help increase the vaccine’s effectiveness.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Startups have until this Thursday, 29 July, to apply for round two of the Green Works Growth Acceleration Program, which aims to support green enterprises in Egypt. The 10-month program is supported by Hivos and implemented by Nahdet El Mahrousa and will see 10 startups receive financial and non-financial support. Chosen startups will be eligible for up to EGP 250k in funding. You can read more about eligibility requirements and the program here (pdf) and register using this form.

The Clean Energy Business Council will host a webinar focused on female entrepreneurs in the MENA renewable energy scene at 3 pm on Wednesday, 28 July.

Egypt will host the Africa Food Manufacturing exhibition at the Egypt International Exhibition Center on 2-4 August.

The Central Bank of Egypt will meet to review interest rates on Thursday, 5 August.

???? FOR YOUR COMMUTE-

The US Federal Reserve’s stimulus program may have widened the gap between rich and poor, with wealth inequality reaching record levels since the beginning of the pandemic, UBS analysts told the Financial Times. The Fed’s stimulus in 2020, which was meant to buoy the US economy in the face of an economic downturn, has contributed to firing up the value of assets held by the wealthy instead. Currently, the top 1% has a net worth that is 26 times bigger than their liabilities, while the net worth of the bottom 20% is just five times larger.

Big Pharma is lobbying to be exempted from the 15% minimum global corporate tax that forms the core of a global tax pact agreed by G20 nations, according to the Wall Street Journal. The manufacturers are pushing their status of saviors of the pandemic with their swift rollout of covid-19 vaccines to win Brownie points in their lobbying efforts in the US and Europe, saying that higher taxes could “crimp the sort of risky research and development that led to the quick deployment of covid-19 vaccines,” the WSJ writes. Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer are reportedly among those leading the push.

The International Olympic Committee is being called on to provide more financial support to refugee athletes, according to the Associated Press. The issue was put under the spotlight after Time Magazine released an article detailing the Refugee Olympic Team’s being denied access to sponsors and suffering from a controlling management style in a training camp for runners in Kenya. The committee has since said it would adapt its program, with the spokesman giving a vague statement saying “we are learning through this process.”

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

Season two of Ted Lasso broke the record for the most viewers of any Apple TV+ series or movie debut to date after its release on the streaming platform last weekend, according to Variety. The show follows the titular Ted Lasso (played by Jason Sudeikis) as he suddenly catapults from being a small-time American football coach to the coach of a high-level soccer team in England. Knowing next to nothing about the sport, Lasso dives into the role with a ton of unfounded positivity and wit in a true underdog storyline that will lift your spirits and make you laugh for days. Ted Lasso also made history as the most Emmy Award-nominated freshman comedy series, racking in 20 nominations.

Season two is getting strong reviews — check out NPR and the Guardian — with the caveat that fans of season one will need to push through the first 15 minutes before the season premiere starts firing on all cylinders.

???? TODAY IN THE TOKYO OLYMPICS-

Table tennis player Omar Assar is going to the quarter finals after he won an intense match in the round of 16 against Chinese Taipei’s Chuang Chih-yuan right before dispatch. This is the biggest achievement for Egypt in table tennis to date.

Dina Meshref lost to Britt Eerland of Netherlands 4-3 in round 3 of competition in women’s singles table tennis.

Triathlete Basmla Elsalamoney was taken out of the running after being lapped in the cycling portion of the event.

Archer Youssef Tolba lost to Kazakhstan’s Denis Gankin 6-4 in the round of 32.

Badminton player Doha Hany won’t qualify for the next round of women’s singles after her 5-21 defeat at the hands of Turkey’s Neslihan Yigit in the final game of the Group A.

Hany and fellow Badminton player Hadia Hosny lost in today’s women’s doubles match for Group B to Canada’s Rachel Honderich and Kristen Tsai.

Judoka Mohamed Abdelaal was taken down during the men's 81kg elimination round, losing to Italy’s Christian Parlati.

The Egyptian 10mm air rifle mixed team finished second to last, with shooters Alzahraa Shaban and Osama Elsaied failing to qualify for the next round.

The 10mm air pistol mixed team finished third to last and Samy Abdel Razek and Radwa Abdel Latif are out of the running.

Swimmer Ali Khalafalla was eliminated from the competition after finishing the qualifications in the 30th position out of 71 contestants. Khalafalla will still compete in the men’s 50m freestyle on Friday.

Swimmer Marwan Elkamash didn’t make it to the final after he came in third in the men’s 800m freestyle race Heat 3, finishing with a time of 7:52.76. He will also be competing in the men’s 1500m freestyle starting on Friday.

Sailor Aly Badawy finished second to last in race 6 of the Laser event.

Sailor Khouloud Mansy finished 41 out of 44 in today’s Laser Radial race 6.

WORLD STANDINGS- The US and China are neck in neck for the top spot, with both boasting nine gold medals while the US has the slight advantage of 22 medals in total while China has 21. Japan tops out the top three, also holding nine gold medals with 17 in total.

WHAT TO WATCH tonight and tomorrow-

• 2:00am: Maggy Ashmawy will play in the shooting women's trap qualification round.
• 2:50am: Ahmed Zaher is playing in the shooting men’s trap qualification round.
• 3:00am: Egypt’s fencing team is competing against Japan in the men's team sabre round of 16.
• 4:27am: Amal Adam is playing against Jang Minhee in the archery women’s individual round of 32.
• 7:15am: Egypt’s handball team is competing against Japan in the preliminary round for the men’s tournament.
• 7:27am: Abdelrahman Oraby is going up against Britain’s Benjamin Whittaker in the boxing men's light heavyweight round of 16.
• 12:07pm: Farida Osman is competing in the swimming women’s 100m freestyle.
• 1:00pm: Egypt’s football team is up against Australia for a Group C game in the men’s tournament.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Sagra takes Italian cuisine and adds a twist, and while blue pasta might sound sacrilegious, it’s their biggest hit. Open in the Drive by Waterway, their various pizzas, pastas, and calzones are not to be missed. We always appreciate places that aren’t stingy with their cheese, and with fresh ingredients and their signature blend of herbs and spices on most of their dishes, Sagra is a great place for an authentic Italian snack. We love their rigatoni al ragu pasta and bufalina pizza. For a delicious low calorie option, try out a colorful salad like their panzanella caprese.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

Singer and songwriter Shahira Kamal is performing tonight at The Room New Cairo at 9pm.

Mohamed Salama is giving a talk on architecture photography at El Sawy Culturewheel today at 7pm.

Wolf Fang Midi is celebrating the release of their EP at Cairo Jazz Club in Agouza tonight at 9pm, with the duo playing their 80s synth pop-inspired mixes.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Newly released, The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit, looks right up our alley. Psychologist and author John V. Petrocelli defines BSing as “communicating with little to no regard for truth, established knowledge, or evidence” and blames the act for polluting our communicative climate. BSing can have major consequences: Consider Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward (bns in wealth vaporized on the one hand — and 36 mn dead from starvation on the other). Petrocelli talks to people he calls ‘BS artists’ such as those who work in used car, real estate, wine, and diamond industries to point out the red flags, buzzwords, and emotional language often used to convince people of intangible products or ideas. His book aims to help readers hone in on their critical thinking defense tactics and stop misinformation in its tracks.

Petrocelli also gave a Ted Talk on the subject, which you can check out here (watch, runtime: 13:31).

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☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect daytime highs of 41°C in the capital city and nighttime lows of 24°C, while Sahel has highs of 32°C and lows of 23°C tomorrow, according to our favorite weather app.

Upmarket developer SODIC has closed a EGP 343 mn securitized bond sale backed by a receivables portfolio of nearly EGP 384 mn that includes future installments from 753 delivered units in Eastown Residences and Caesar, the company said in a statement (pdf). The bonds were issued in two tranches with tenors of 13 and 36 months and ratings of AA+ and A.

Advisors: EFG Hermes acted as the financial advisor, arranger, manager, promoter, and co-underwriter for the transaction alongside CIB, the National Bank of Egypt, AAIB, and the Suez Canal Bank. White and Case was legal advisor, while KPMG was financial auditor and CIB had custodian duties.

BACKGROUND- The securitization market has been lukewarm so far this year: Sodic, Palm Hills Development, Premium International and Arabia Investments Holding subsidiary Rawaj are so far the only companies to close issuances of asset-backed securities this year.

But the pipeline is deep: Everyone from Sodic, Misr Italia and Edge Holding to EFG Hermes, Contact Financial Holding (formerly Sarwa Capital) and Raya have announced plans to securitize parts of their portfolios.

And the wider debt market is still thriving, as underscored most recently by last night’s announcement that Contact had closed its second EGP 2.5 bn sukuk offering in less than a year.

Online grocery shopping service GoodsMart has secured USD 3.6 mn in funding in a round led by Sawari Ventures. The company will use the proceeds to grow its presence across the local market with a view to expanding its services to East Cairo in the coming months, according to a press release (pdf). The funding will also go towards expanding the GoodsMart team.

The company had previously secured investments from Algebra Ventures, raising USD 750k in 2017, and a follow-on investment in 2019.

GoodsMart is a household shopping app that delivers groceries to a pre-installed box at customers’ doorstep. The company says it has added more than 100 suppliers, hired new staff and added a marketplace section in the past two years.

OTHER STARTUP NEWS- Onsi Naguib Sawiris-led VC firm HOF Capital took part in South African payments platform Yoco’s USD 83 mn Series C funding round. The VC firm has invested an unnamed sum in South African e-payments and software platform, Yoco, alongside the likes of Breyer Capital, The Raba Partnership and 4DX Ventures, according to a press release (pdf). Funding from this most recent Series C round will be put towards growing Yoco’s business platform and launching its cross-border services.

Background: Yoco has so far raised some USD 107 mn since its founding, from investors like Partech, Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, Orange Ventures and Quona Capital. HOF Capital’s current portfolio includes investments in Alibaba, Uber, UiPath, Klarna and Stripe.

Canadian miner Barrick Gold has inked four gold exploration contracts with a combined USD 8.8 mn with the Oil Ministry, according to a ministry statement, which said this is the Toronto-listed miner’s first investment in Egypt. According to the terms of the agreement, Barrick will search for and mine gold in 19 new exploration blocks across the Eastern Desert. The contracts were signed under last year’s Oil Ministry tender, which awarded eleven mining companies the rights to 82 gold exploration blocks in the Eastern Desert. Reuters also had the story.

Who else is digging for gold? Earlier this month, the government signed four gold exploration contracts with Canadian miner B2Gold and Australian gold miner and Sukkari operator Centamin, with investments exceeding USD 17 mn. Last February, the government signed 10 gold exploration contracts worth a combined USD 11 mn with four mining companies: Naguib Sawiris-backed Akh Gold, Red Sea Resources, the North Africa Mining and Petroleum Company (NAMC), and Al Abadi Mining. In January, five other contracts worth a combined USD 13 mn were signed with three companies: Canada’s Lotus Gold, Mining and Manufacturing Company (MEDAF), and Egypt’s Ebdaa for Gold.

Still in the pipeline: UK’s firm SRK also received exploration awards from the tender, but seems to be the only one left that is yet to sign a contract.

Background: The contracts were signed under the first tender to be launched since amendments to the Mineral Resources Act offering investors more attractive terms. The blocks have been awarded on two-year exploration licenses that can be renewed either two or three times depending on the circumstances.

OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Esraa Ahmed, economist at Pharos Holding (Linkedin).

My name is Esraa Ahmed and I consider myself a late entrant into the field. I graduated from university in 2007, and while I was working in economics, I had no passion for the jobs I was doing and kept switching jobs. I finally found myself in the capital markets field and switched to MubasherTrade in 2016. Right before I was hired as an economist, the float of the EGP happened, so I had to handle being new to the job as well as the job itself reinventing itself when everything changed suddenly. I was forced into battle right away [laughs]. However, my then-boss Amr Elalfy was a constant mentor and made sure that I kept up with every new development. Some people are born teachers and I’m very lucky to have started in the field with one. I’ve since moved to Pharos Holding as an economist and I’ve been at the job for a bit over a month now.

The best part of my job is that you get a bird's eye view of the economy and society. You’re always learning new things and how they interact and connect to each other, whether it's consumer behavior, politics, geography, trade, or macroeconomic factors. Our job forces us to look at news from a very different lens and link it to the present, past, and future of the market.

The worst part of my job is the stress. Needing to be quick on your feet all the time isn’t easy. Especially as an economist in a brokerage firm, where every piece of news needs to be analyzed and tagged with a forward outlook. When the phones start ringing, I have minutes to determine the impact of a decision, which is also very hard since I believe that macroeconomics as a field isn’t meant to materialize as fast as the stock market does. Macro is more like a slow-release tablet; it’s very rare to see an instant impact, but investors all need a story right when the news breaks so they can act on it.

Work from home was a gift and a curse. I focus better at home and it’s been amazing not to have to commute for hours every day. However, the office is where constant communication forces you to look at different opinions, news, or perspectives. People are always coming up to me with questions and sometimes vocalizing my thoughts makes me understand things more.

The questions I get asked most by analysts all revolve around the USD and FX. They always want to know the expected movement and how it will impact us locally. I also get asked about the interest rates before every meeting so that analysts have a jumpstart on their research.

To judge the health of the economy, the factor I look at the most is somewhat unconventional… human capital. I think human capital is something Egypt is really lacking, and that has a negative impact on the whole economic equation. Other than that, I also look at the transparency of the government and institutions in the market as well as the coordination and research that takes place before new laws and regulations are put in place.

I think fintech is a sector on the rise in Egypt. The government has really funneled their efforts into ensuring that financial inclusion is at the forefront of banking and NBFS policy. It’s in the state’s best interests, and you can see them roll out new initiatives that give them a better outlook on the market, such as the recent e-invoice system. The covid-19 pandemic has helped the government in that aspect, accelerating adoption of fintech products among consumers locally.

Meanwhile, I have full confidence that tourism will rebound with strength in the next two years. The way I see it, the worst has passed, and as long as there aren’t sudden surprises, the sector has great potential for the coming period. Vaccine rollouts are progressing steadily internationally and vaccinated individuals are starting to consider traveling again, which could also be a boost to the sector.

However, I’d like to see GDP rise through other sectors as well. I think manufacturing and agriculture are the biggest priorities as they provide sustainable growth for the country as well as the prospect of exporting surplus.

I don’t think 2021 will be Egypt’s year, but it could be a good pivot point for next year. I think we’re doing very well in a number of indicators, but I worry about the possibility of a negative view towards all emerging markets in the coming period. A lot of foreign institutions are regarding EMs as risky due to slow vaccine rollouts and recoveries, and if this continues it could eventually affect Egypt. I think it's also very important that we stay aware of potential hikes in interest rates and inflation globally and put measures in place preemptively so that we can ride the impact here smoothly.

The TV show I’m most into now is El Le’ba (The Game). The duo of Shiko and Hesham Maged never fails to make me laugh and that’s exactly what I need these days. With everything going on, I can’t handle anything too serious when I sit down to relax [laughs].

My favorite author is the late Ahmed Khaled Tawfik. I’ve been reading his books since I was a child, and his writing style has always spoken to me. My favorite book of his is Al Singa.

In my downtime, I like to draw portraits. I draw anyone I feel inspired by whether they’re onscreen or offscreen, and depending on the person I try new drawing techniques. I also spend a lot of time with my son Kassem who is now a year and a half old. I heard that this is the age where kids develop their vocabulary and linguistic skills, so I try to talk to him about anything and everything. He doesn’t understand much but he seems to enjoy it.

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MARKET NEWS-

GlaxoSmithKline will set up a new subsidiary in Egypt to market consumer health products as part of its new strategy to restructure operations by separating its pharma business from its consumer healthcare business, the company announced in a disclosure to the EGX (pdf).

Raya Contact Center will establish a new 100% owned subsidiary in the US state of Delaware as part of its expansion strategy for its call center and outsourcing business, according to an EGX filing (pdf).

MARKET WATCH-

The EGX30 rose 0.6% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.06 bn (41% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 0.8% YTD.

In the green: MM Group (+4.0%), Telecom Egypt (+3.1%) and Fawry (+3.0%).

In the red: Orascom Development Egypt (-1.6%), Emaar Misr (-1.3%) and AMOC (-0.6%).

The hardest thing to hear is silence: With appliances running in the background, road traffic making itself known (especially in Cairo), and airplanes flying through the sky every few minutes, there’s a near-constant stream of noise at all times that effectively blocks out natural soundscapes, writes the BBC. That’s exactly the problem that acoustic ecologist, Gordon Hempton, is trying to bring to light. Hempton has circled the globe three times in the last 41 years, trying to find glimpses of “silence,” which he defines as the sounds of nature when it is undisturbed by man-made noise pollution.

Why is silence important to save for the sake of the environment? When you save silence you end up saving everything else too, explains Hempton. From habitat restoration, climate change, and endangered species, the pursuit of silence is a path that covers all environmental bases. Noise pollution threatens the survival of more than 100 different animal species, according to a report published in The Royal Society's Biology Letters journal. Traffic increases butterfly caterpillar heart rates, compressor station noise makes it difficult for owls to locate prey, and birds and frogs have even adapted their calls to be heard over the man-made commotion. Wolves, elk, and many types of marine life are experiencing increased stress from noise pollution, while dolphins and whales are becoming stranded en masse due to the din from shipping, deep-sea mining and seismic surveys that prevent the mammals from navigating using echolocation.

Humans are affected by noise pollution too: Environmental noise is causing an increased burden of diseases and conditions, ranging from cardiovascular diseases and cognitive impairment in children, to sleep disorders and tinnitus, according to a study by the World Health Organization. The long-term exposure to noise pollution could be responsible for the loss of more than 1 mn years of full health among Western Europeans, it found. Meanwhile, noise pollution contributed to 48k cases of heart disease and 12k premature deaths across the continent each year, the European Environment Agency found. It also has well-established effects on mental health, exacerbating depression and stress, writes the Guardian.

How fast are we losing our silence? Alarmingly fast apparently, especially in countries that are rapidly urbanizing green spaces. In the US during 1900, around 75% of the continent had so-called silence, but by 2010, that number was reduced to a mere 2%, Les Blomberg, executive director of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, told the BBC. The speed at which silence is drifting away comes alongside an increase in the global population, which brings about an increase in shipping, air, and road traffic.

Want to help silence out? Go on a trip: Hempton launched Quiet Parks International (QPI) in 2018 with the hopes of becoming “the Unesco of quiet.” He and his team identify the most remarkable, acoustically unblemished soundscapes around the world and offer them as tourist destinations… adding economic leverage to the preservation efforts. The QPI team finds the so-called “Quiet Places” by finding places without light pollution, flight paths, mining operations, power lines, and railroads. They have so far identified 250 “Quiet Places” and aim to locate 50 more by 2030. In 2019, the organisation certified the world's first "Wilderness Quiet Park" in a mn-acre plot of land in the Amazon Rainforest. This month alone, they designated six more, starting with London's Hampstead Heath and five nature reserves in and around Stockholm. They also pinpoint other quiet stays, quiet trails, and quiet parks, adding a soundbite from each place to highlight the kind of silence you can hear there.

They’re not just quiet, they’re also beautiful: Smithsonian Magazine also looked up Hempton and produced a fantastic photo essay of the destinations the acoustic ecologist determined as quiet places.

Others in search of silence: Trevor Cox wrote The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World which follows people’s travels on Earth and in orbit as they all look for some peace and quiet. You can read an excerpt of the book on American Scientist. For a not so silent meditation on quiet, you can refer to the Simon and Garfunkel classic.

Mid-July: Legislative session expected to end.

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

27-28 July (Tuesday- Wednesday): The Federal Reserve meets to review interest rates.

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.

9 August (Monday): Russian flights to Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada resume.

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.

21-22 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): The Federal Reserve meets 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.

11-17 October (Monday-Sunday): IMF + World Bank Annual Meetings.

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.

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.

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

2-3 November (Tuesday-Wednesday): The Federal Reserve meets to review interest rates.

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.

14-19 December (Tuesday-Sunday): The Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater.

14-15 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): The Federal Reserve meets to review interest rates.

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.