EnterprisePM — Kuwait’s SWF eyes new acquisitions in Egypt’s pharma, food sectors

Good afternoon, wonderful people, and happy almost-almost-THURSDAY. It’s a brisk but unremarkable afternoon, but there’s big news around the corner that has us sitting on the edge of our seat:

HAPPENING NOW- Finance nerds have plenty to watch as two of the most hotly anticipated IPOs in forever speed toward the finish line. The Financial Regulatory Authority greenlit today the listing of 45.8% — or some 264.5 mn shares — of Macro Pharma, Egypt’s largest and fastest-growing cosmeceutical and neutraceutical company, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). The shares will be offered in a secondary sale and are scheduled to start trading on the EGX on 19 April. The company has priced its initial public offering at EGP 5.30-6.15 per share, which would value the company at between EGP 3.3 and 3.6 bn. The subscription period for the retail portion of the offering is slated for 8-14 April.

Get the rundown on Macro, the transaction and its fundamentals here.

FOR TOMORROW- Multi-brand education platform Taaleem will make its trading debut on the EGX on Wednesday. Shares in the higher education management company will open at EGP 5.75 under the ticker TALM after the IPO met strong appetite from global institutional investors, local firms and retail investors.

Get the rundown on Taaleem, the transaction and its fundamentals here.

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To borrow from Mr. Twain: Reports of the end of the jaw-fest in Kinshasa were greatly exaggerated. Egypt and Ethiopia are still talking GERD in the DRC, with talks that reportedly wrapped up yesterday extended until this evening as Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia wrangle over the wording of the post-meeting press release, Al Arabiya reports. Cairo and Addis Ababa don’t see eye-to-eye on when and how to hold the next round of negotiations. Ethiopia remains opposed to bringing outside mediators including the US, UN, and EU to the table, preferring to stick with an African Union-led process.

We’re keeping an eye out: The talks are currently underway in the Congolese capital. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said this week on the sidelines that this is the last chance for Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam before the rainy season kicks in. Previous reports have suggested that leaders could step in for a higher level summit if those meetings continue to fail.

That joint statement may not be coming? The Foreign Ministry issued a statement just as we were hitting “send” on this afternoon’s edition saying that talks (on re-starting talks) had failed as Ethiopia rejected a joint proposal from Egypt and Sudan. We’ll have the full story in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

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CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from this morning’s issue of EnterpriseAM:

• Higher tax revenues will be used to subsidize increased government spending in the coming fiscal year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said yesterday.
• The Health Ministry will start today vaccinating registered tourism workers at two centers in South Sinai and Red Sea.
• An agricultural company and a petrochemicals firm will offer shares on the EGX this year, bourse chairman Mohamed Farid said, offering no further details. Also potentially in the IPO pipeline (but without a timeline): Naguib Sawiris’ Ora Developers

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- Credit Suisse is taking a USD 4.7 bn hit thanks to the Archegos meltdown, forcing it to slash its dividend and sack the chief of its risk and investment banking units. The story leads the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times. Reuters is leading with a grim milestone: 3 mn global deaths from covid-19, while Bloomberg reports that Iran has started “tough nuclear talks in Vienna” with “world powers” including the US, France, Germany, the UK, Russia, China and the EU.

Also making headlines abroad:

• Eurozone bond issuance broke records in 1Q2021, as governments took to the debt markets to cushion their economies from the impact of covid-19, the Financial Times reports.
• The French government will be the biggest shareholder in Air France after a EUR 4 bn capital hike to recapitalize the airline more than doubled the state’s stake to almost 30%, reports Reuters.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The French Chamber of Commerce is hosting a webinar at 4pm today that will take a deep dive into the Madbouly government’s program to create a national ID for all residential and commercial properties and to digitalize the country’s building permit system. The gathering runs until 5:30pm and you can sign up here.

ITIDA is hosting a “Hangout with VCs” this Thursday, 8 April in collaboration with The Next Web, a unit of the Financial Times, according to a press release (pdf). Startups can submit applications until the day of the event here.

???? FOR YOUR COMMUTE-

For the Olds among us: Alice in Chains’ original front man, Layne Staley, died 15 years ago yesterday. Rolling Stone has a rundown of 10 of his best performances. One link is busted: The full recording of It Ain’t Like That and Would? from the band’s appearance in Cameron Crowe’s Singles. The man’s live voice was nothing short of stunning. Watch and listen here (runtime: 8:42).

SIGN OF THE TIMES #1- We ain’t Bernie Bros, but the US senator hit a nerve when he noted recently that Nike, FedEx, Zoom, Salesforce and Booz Allen are on a rogue’s list of major global corporations that paid zero income tax to Uncle Sam last year. Janet Yellen’s suggestion of a global minimum corporate tax (see this morning) isn’t a bad idea, but the devil is in the details of enforcement (and closure of loopholes) more than it is on the absolute rate.

SIGN OF THE TIMES #2- Peak 2021? This is probably a bit gendered(? or just revealing that we’re … old?), but Paris Hilton loves BTC. Just sayin’. She (and the Wachowski sisters of Matrix fame) will be even more excited to know that Microsoft has filed for a patent to mine crypto using human brain activity.

For bio(chem) nerds: Trim your belly fat to make it through the next pandemic — and maybe even dodge cancer. Two papers have bent our minds lately as we’ve fallen down biochemistry rabbit holes. First, and most accessible to folks for whom biochem sounds about as fun as a root canal without anesthesia: Metabolic health and lifestyle medicine should be a cornerstone of future pandemic preparedness, by Thomas Wood and Guðmundur F. Jóhannsson, which makes a compelling case that fixing our nation’s metabolic health is probably the best way to minimize the hell of future pandemics. What’s more, your metabolic health probably plays a big role in cancer. The common culprit? Sky-high insulin levels, argues this review in the Diabetes and Metabolism Journal: Hyperinsulinemia in obesity, inflammation, and cancer.

A bit more prosaically, the Economist is out with a thought-provoking package on the future of work. Among the pieces worth a read:

• A bright future for the world of work
• The rise of working from home will have a big impact on … managers
• Maybe the robots don’t want your job? Robots threaten jobs less than fearmongers claim

From Fortune, a lesson in corporate renewal: McFamily Feud: Scandal, lawsuits, and cultural upheaval at McDonald’s, which says that “Former CEO Steve Easterbrook supersized the company's performance—until he was fired amid a scandal. Now his successor, Chris Kempczinski, must persuade the company's many stakeholders to reunite.”

The US and UAE will work together to finance green initiatives across the MENA region, following US climate envoy John Kerry’s visit to the UAE as part of the MENA climate dialogue in Abu Dhabi, according to a joint statement. The two countries will focus on areas including hydrogen, renewable energy and low carbon urban design and work to strengthen the implementation of the Paris Agreement and promote the success of COP26 in Glasgow.

Sunday’s climate dialogue also saw another statement signed by Egypt alongside Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Sudan, the UAE and the US. The signatories pledged to accelerate climate action, mobilise investment in a new energy economy and help the world’s most vulnerable cope with climate change, according to a separate statement.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

A throwback worth watching: Death Becomes Her. The 1992 film stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, with the two female leads acting as hyper-competitive frenemies who always try to one-up each other personally, professionally, and looks-wise, writes The Guardian. When the two women fall for the same guy, a plastic surgeon (played by Bruce Willis in full smarm), one of the women takes a magic potion that promises at least a decade of perfect, unchanged beauty. But as they soon find out, beauty comes with its own sacrifices. The film has been applauded for being ahead of its time and Streep once famously referred to it as a documentary on LA’s obsession with hiding natural signs of ageing. You can watch Death Becomes Her on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

The Champions League is back on today with two big matches at 9pm. Mo Salah’s Liverpool will play against Real Madrid while Manchester City will go up against Dortmund.

The Egyptian Premier League is also on, with Ghazl El Mahala currently on the field against Smouha while Aswan will play against Enppi at 5pm.

The Squash Challenger Tour is being played in Egypt this week with women and men’s draws in a Challenger 5 level tournament running from Thursday, 8 April, until Monday, 12 April, according to PSA World Tour. A similar event last month saw Fayrouz Aboelkheir snag the women’s title, while Moustafa El Sirty took home the men’s title. Both players will be hitting the court for this week’s event. The US and Malaysia are also hosting squash events this week that you can check out.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Flaming Nashville fried chicken is a must-try at Inferno. With fried chicken recently becoming a huge trend all over the country, Inferno has added their own flavor to the mix — a super spicy one. The chicken comes almost intimidatingly red and isn’t for the weak hearted, but the plate is definitely a sight to behold, topped with pickles and served with fries and a piece of garlic butter toast. There are three spice levels to choose from for the chicken, and there’s even an option of spicy coleslaw. If you want to go with less-spicy-loving friends, Inferno also makes regular fried chicken sandwiches and a lot of their sides come fried in Cheetos batter, which isn’t as harsh as the house spice blend. You can find Inferno in Maadi, Masr El Gedida, and Alexandria.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

Adsum Art Consultancy is holding a discussion with Aleya Hamza on Gypsum Books and their experience producing gallery and photobook Ahmed Morsi: The Printmaking Years. The talk will take place at 7pm in Sheikh Zayed’s Walk of Cairo.

The third session of RDNA Salon: Economy of Love is taking place today at 6:30 at KMT House in Maadi. The series is exploring how we can create a global commercial system that allows us to care for each other, the planet and meet everyone’s needs.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Civilization in Overdrive wonders “what does the future look like?” with author and journalist Konrad Stachnio talking to 17 experts in fields including AI, finance, economics, technology, world order, military, cultural change and more. a book that includes interviews with everyone from the author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man to an associated editor of the WalL Street Journal via an ex National Security Agency official? We’re in.

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???? TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for even more heat tomorrow, with daytime highs of 35°C and nighttime lows of 15°C.

The current forecast for the first day of Ramadan (next Tuesday, if you’re keeping count): 25°C with sunny skies, according to our favourite weather app. You’ll have until 4:01am to scarf down sohour. Magreb prayers on the first day are at 6:21pm.

The Egyptian economy’s cyclical rebound from the pandemic “keeps getting postponed,” Credit Suisse head of MENA research Fahd Iqbal said on Bloomberg Daybreak this morning (watch, runtime: 8:47). “There are only a handful of countries in the Middle East where we really started to see the vaccine rollout go through in a meaningful way,” meaning that Egypt — a country relatively slow in its vaccination program — could see “a lag” in this upturn. A delay in vaccinations would also slow down how quickly a global rebound from the covid-19 crisis translates into gains for trade and tourism and for Egyptian equities, Iqbal said. “The upcoming [EGX] earnings season is going to be quite critical in terms of seeing whether or not that cyclical recovery is indeed manifesting itself,” he added.

But is a cyclical recovery enough? Egypt needs a “better structural growth outlook,” Iqbal points out. This has to happen through more support to the private sector, a portion of which feel it is being “crowded out” of macroeconomic gains, he says. Policymakers need to ensure Egypt is supportive of enterprise growth and develop “a regulatory environment at ease,” as well as make an effort to improve private sector access to capital. “The fact that it is being addressed is certainly an encouraging first step.” But historically for many parts of the MENA region, the delivery of such policies “has been a bit more underwhelming versus what the market was expecting,” Iqbal adds.

DIVE DEEPER- We’ve recently covered a research report by HSBC’s Simon Williams, who says the country’s economic challenges stem from structural issues including heavy state involvement, weak capital formation, weak national savings, and poverty.

Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund KIA is planning to acquire minority stakes in four to five companies in Egypt over the next two years, said Ashraf El Khatib, who heads the M&A division of KIA investment arm Ekuity Holding. KIA is eyeing companies operating in food and pharma, El Khatib said. The news comes on the heels of Ekuity participating in Cairo-based VC firm Sawari Ventures’ recent closing of a new tech fund that raised USD 28 mn (EGP 440 mn) from a handful of local institutional investors. Ekuity was the only regional investor to contribute to the fund’s closing. Ekuity, which owns close to 50% of prominent local lender the Arab African International Bank, acquired 30% of Egypt’s Nile Aluminum and Metals Company (AluNile) back in 2019 after buying out a stake that was held by the Ezdehar Egypt Mid-Cap Fund.

OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS- Kima wants to get in on bitter blocker production: The Egyptian Chemical Industries (Kima) is planning to set up a new USD 350 mn JV with the Arab Organization for Industrialization and an unnamed private sector partner focusing on bitter blockers, Kima's VP Walid El Rasheed tells Al Mal. The feasibility study of the new company — in which Kima will hold a 15% stake, valued at USD 50 mn — has been conducted and the establishment phase began, El Rasheed said.

The tender for a license to set up Egypt’s second tobacco company appears to be scheduled to go ahead later this month, after the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) decided over the weekend to shelve the tender, the local press reported, citing an unnamed IDA source. Two industry sources who spoke with Reuters over the weekend suggested the bidding round — which was originally scheduled for today — would be put on ice for a while longer, saying at the time it was postponed “indefinitely.”

The deadline for lodging bids is now likely to be set on 18 or 20 April, with the auction for the license slated for 6 June, the IDA sources say. We reached out to the IDA, Federation of Egyptian Industries and Eastern, but nobody’s talking.

Why the postponement? The authority wants to address some companies’ inquiries on the terms of the license and amend the conditions amid allegations that the authority set unfavorable terms, the source added.

Background: A tender for the license was launched in March, bringing with it the prospect of ending state-owned Eastern Company’s monopoly on the tobacco industry. The sale stopped in its tracks a few days later, when tobacco players submitted a complaint with the competition watchdog alleging that the license violated antitrust rules, before another complaint was filed to the Federation of Egyptian Industries demanding that the IDA put the tender on ice and revise its terms.

OUR ANALYST OF THE WEEK- Mayar El Ashry, senior associate at Pharos (Linkedin).

I’m Mayar El Ashry and I've been working in sell-side research for six years. I started my career at Pharos right after graduating from the American University in Cairo, where I majored in business administration with a concentration in finance and had a double minor in economics and history. I started off as an equity analyst and I’m now a senior associate with a focus on the real estate sector. I chose real estate because there's a lot of coverage that comes with that sector in terms of the number of companies.

The best part of my job is the learning that comes from my interaction with corporates, investors, and managers. I’m constantly getting to know different people with different perspectives. When I bounce my own ideas off of these other parties, I love to be countered with other opinions and different angles and I try to always learn from them.

The most challenging part of my job is being creative during the writing process. Don’t get me wrong, I love writing — it was actually one of the reasons I went into research. When it’s a regular part of the job, it becomes more challenging to tap into that creativity on a daily basis. However, when inspiration kicks in, you have to pull me away from the computer and it's an enjoyable process for me to type away.

Given the nature of the research job, working from home was quite efficient. I wouldn’t say it is better than working at the office, but it is part of the package that comes with the current circumstances. I do miss travel as well, but I think it will pick up again once the pandemic subsides. As analysts, our work depends on our connections and interactions with other people.

My theory of investment is to look at the fundamentals, the experience, and the cashflow that’s being generated. I like to think of these things as stories and it’s important that it all fits together in a way that makes sense.

If I limit it to real estate, the most important thing I look at before recommending an investment is if there is a monetized asset generating cashflow. If there is prior history of that monetization of the assets and how it translates into cashflow, that's always a good starting point. If that’s not applicable, I start to think whether I have reason to believe that it will be monetized anytime soon in a sustainable manner. Of course, all this has to be rooted within an economic framework that supports and enables this growth.

Things are in the right place and are moving in the right direction in 2021. I’m very optimistic about the year when looking at Egypt’s economic framework and investment climate. For real estate, I think it’s going to be a stable year. 2020 was definitely tough given the circumstances, but the sector made it through and held their ground in terms of sales performance. I think any sector that weathered the storm with positive results proves its resilience.

For people thinking of working in the finance sector, my advice is to always be on top of news and developments. Read a lot of articles and be comfortable to discuss them and voice your opinions. That is an essential skill working as an analyst as you always need to present your investment ideas and reports to clients. Finally, always try to seek causality in the news to get a sense of how things affect other things.

I consider myself to be both a numbers and a words person. I specifically studied finance at university because it was sort of a common ground between business and math. That’s something else someone thinking of going into the industry should understand. It’s constantly needed to link both together to create a story and accurate depiction. You can calculate all you want, but then how do you present those numbers in a way that is a narrative that can be sort of communicated as an investment idea? And vice versa, if you have an investment idea where are the numbers to back up your arguments?

The last great thing I watched was the Pharaoh’s Golden Parade last weekend. It was sensational and everything was truly spectacular including the music, choreography, attire and makeup, documentaries, museum tour, cannon salute, the vehicles carrying the mummies, and the entire procession through Cairo. I was moved to tears from the beauty of it all and I’ve been replaying the video of the parade over and over because I love the music. As more of an everyday watching experience, I enjoyed season four of The Crown. Maybe it’s the history enthusiast in me, but there’s something about the setting and the angle that just speaks to me.

The last great thing I read was Face Paint: The Story of Makeup by Lisa Eldridge. The book talks about the history of makeup, but then also the business side of it. So it's fascinating.

When I'm not working, I like to exercise, watch movies, spend time with family, and cook. I make a mean apple pie. I’m also always listening to music, it’s a big part of my life. I’m into rock music mostly so bands such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are a part of my daily routine. I also really like Eric Clapton.

I’m a very organized person. I don't like clutter. So in terms of physical things like my desk or my files on the computer everything is organized, filed correctly, and labelled. It’s the same in my professional life. I hate the feeling of having something I still need to do linger over me, so I always set deadlines for myself and try to finish everything beforehand.

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The EGX30 rose 0.1% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 888 mn (37.2% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 5.4% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+2.2%), Emaar (+1.8%) and Fawry (+1.1%).

In the red: Pioneers (-3.2%), Qalaa Holding (-3.0%) and Abu Qir Fertilizers (-2.0%).

The pandemic may have inadvertently brought about the age of the ambivert: While society has long valued and celebrated extroverted personality traits, blending introvert and extrovert qualities can make you indispensable in the office. Research suggests that the most successful employees are ones who can engage in a flexible pattern of talking and listening — aka ambiverts — writes Bryan Lufkin for the BBC. With covid-19 changing workplace dynamics, those poised to succeed were those most able to easily adapt, with ambivert personalities now highly in demand.

The ambivert advantage: A 2013 study looked at 340 sales call center employees and found the best revenue performers fell directly in the middle of the bell curve, with introversion and extroversion on opposite ends of the graph. “Ambiverts are likely to express sufficient assertiveness and enthusiasm to persuade and close a sale," the report said, while also being "more inclined to listen to interests and less vulnerable to appearing too excited or overconfident."

Around 20% of CEOs are true ambiverts, but the pandemic is making more: The unprecedented circumstances and uncertainty of the pandemic has forced leaders to connect with the various parts of their organizations to find the ideas that are working, and build on them, writes associate professor of management Karl Moore based on 350 interviews he conducted with C-suite executives for his upcoming book on ambivert personality types. Bosses needed to listen and provide flexible and empathetic work environments, but they also needed to broadcast clear and demonstrative enthusiasm to rally and guide the team into the unknown.

It’s about adapting, not overhauling your personality: Cultivating an ambivert personality is less about working on perceived weaknesses, and more about building up the ability to push outside your comfort zone by practising behaviour in micro-doses, experts tell the BBC. This can mean consciously being quiet in meetings for extroverts, or contributing more for introverts. But beware of burnout, experts say, as going against your natural preference takes mental effort, and it’s important not to push yourself too far where it feels disingenuous, and to take breaks to recharge.

Central bankers may have righted the ship, but investors are struggling to find returns and diversify their portfolios as stimulus distorts markets and fuels more debt, John Plender writes in this piece for the Financial Times.

Risk perception is out of whack: As ultra-low interest rates and stimulus squash bonds yields, turning many of them negative, the chances of investors making an equal return after reinvesting in similar assets is dwindling. This so-called reinvestment risk is pushing investors to enter riskier assets just to avoid seeing a fall in returns. This is what has allowed Italy — for all intents and purposes the new sick man of Europe — to sell 10-year bonds at a coupon of just 0.6%, or Greece — on the brink of default for half of the previous decade — to see its bonds turn negative.

Valuations are high across the board: The influx of liquidity into the system has also pushed up valuations across a range of asset classes and regions, making portfolio diversification increasingly challenging. Economists at the Bank for International Settlements point out that since 2018 the price of US treasuries, the traditional safe haven that pays off during a stock market sell-off, has actually dropped as equities have fallen. With only expensive derivative products or zero-income commodities to choose from, how are small-time investors meant to hedge effectively against stock market volatility? The answer is that many cannot.

And global debt is at record highs: Rock bottom interest-rates have also encouraged companies and governments alike to saddle up with even more debt. Global debt increased by USD 24 tn in 2020 alone, according to an Institute of International Finance Global Debt Monitor Report (pdf) bringing the total global debt figure to a stunning USD 281 tn by the end of the year, or more than 355% of global GDP.

This places central banks in a bind: They know that they need to raise interest rates to prevent the debt piles from growing, but doing that risks precipitating the exact storm they are hoping to avoid. You only need to look at the “taper tantrum” of 2013 — when an announcement by the Federal Reserve that it would begin phasing out its crisis-era bond-buying program prompted panic selling and a rise in US treasury yields — or 2018’s sharp stock market sell off in reaction to what was only a modest tightening cycle, to understand how the panic induced by rising interest rates in post-2008 markets.

“Investors’ most pressing financial concern should be the reality that the world economy is hostage to debt and wayward monetary policy,” Plender writes. In such a world, retail investors would be better served looking at real assets such as property and commodities, rather than government debt, which at best pays very little. The question for the meantime is whether a surge in productivity can begin to chip away at the debt pile, or whether central banks will instead depend on inflation to bring it under control.

We get it. The Ever Given was … amusing, if you squinted the right way. But the global press needs to let go of the stopwatch timing every ship’s passage through the Suez Canal. An oil tanker reportedly faced some “engine trouble” while entering from the south end of the Canal, “slowing down traffic” until the Suez Canal Authority sent tugboats (of which they now have plenty…) to get the vessel moving again. The issue was cleared up in a matter of 10 minutes, but it appears the PTSD from the Ever Given is still very real. Reuters and Bloomberg have the story.

April: The government’s fuel pricing committee is scheduled to meet for its quarterly review of prices

5-11 April: The Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group will take place virtually.

5-6 April (Monday-Tuesday): Cityscape Egypt virtual conference on real estate investment.

6 April (Tuesday): French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Egypt working breakfast with Sovereign Fund of Egypt CEO Ayman Soliman.

6 April (Tuesday): French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Egypt will host the “Egyptian Government’s Real Estate Wealth Inventory and Management Project” webinar.

7 April (Wednesday): British-Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) webinar on digital banking and fintech.

7 April (Wednesday): Uber Ignite virtual panel on Data Privacy and Security.

8 April (Thursday): The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) will host a matchmaking virtual event, dubbed “Hangout with VCs.”

8-10 April (Thursday-Saturday): The TriFactory’s Endurance Festival at Somabay.

12 April (Sunday): Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Egypt for GERD talks (watch: runtime: 1:28).

13 April (Monday): First day of Ramadan (TBC).

25 April (Sunday): Sinai Liberation Day.

29 April (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Sinai Liberation Day (TBC),

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

1 May (Saturday): Labor Day (national holiday).

2 May (Sunday): Coptic Easter Sunday.

3 May (Monday): Sham El Nessim.

13-15 May (Thursday-Saturday): Eid El Fitr (TBC).

25-28 May (Tuesday-Friday): The World Economic Forum annual meeting, Singapore.

1 June (Tuesday): The IMF will conduct a second review of targets set under the USD 5.2 bn standby loan approved in June 2020 (proposed date).

7-9 June (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Petroleum Show, Egypt International Exhibition Center, New Cairo, Egypt.

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

17-20 June (Thursday-Sunday) : The International Exhibition of Materials and Technologies for Finishing and Construction (Turnkey Expo), Cairo International Conference Center.

24 June (Thursday): End of the 2020-2021 academic year (public schools).

26-29 June (Saturday-Tuesday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 June (Wednesday): 30 June Revolution Day.

30 June- 15 July: National Book Fair.

1 July: (Thursday): National holiday in observance of 30 June Revolution.

1 July (Thursday): Large taxpayers that have not yet signed on 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

1 October (Friday): Expo 2020 Dubai opens.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.