PM — Al Ahly faces Real Madrid tonight

Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s one of those Wednesdays that seem to be off to a slow start, but promises to pick up the pace in the next few hours.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

All eyes are on Madbouly’s privatization presser: The Madbouly Cabinet kicked off its weekly meeting just a few minutes ago, after which Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly is expected to hold a press conference to unveil the list of 20+ state-owned companies in which the government plans to offer stakes to strategic investors and / or on the EGX this year, Youm7 reports.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD

China not happy with Biden’s State of the Union speech: Detailed breakdowns of US President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address are front page of the foreign press — including Biden’s seven mentions of China as he called for the country “to seek competition, not conflict” with the US. His comments made pointed references to the balloon shot down over the US on the weekend, which were met with applause from Congress. China maintains that the balloon was an unmanned civilian airship for meteorological research. China’s response has declared its own right to defend the country’s sovereignty, security and development and refutes that the US-China relationship should be defined by competition entirely. Over 73 minutes, Biden covered climate change, immigration, healthcare and the economy among other topics, establishing the basis of what several papers reported will form the beginnings of his 2024 stump speech, with the refrain “Finish the job,” hinting at a campaign slogan.

The story got ink from: Bloomberg | WSJ | New York Times | AP | Reuters

ALSO GETTING INK- With a death toll of more than 11k, the aftermath of the Turkey-Syria earthquake continues to get top billing in the international business press. Frustration is growing in the quake stricken areas, more than 50 hours on from the initial tremor, as logistical impediments have slowed the efforts of local and international aid and rescue workers. (NYT | Washington Post | Financial Times)

Two Egyptians have been found among the victims of the earthquake, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday, without disclosing their identities or any other details. Egypt has sent five planes of emergency military aid to the quake zones to help with recovery efforts, reported the state-run MENA news agency.

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

• El Said calls on Qataris to invest + Is ADQ mounting rival bid for Vodafone Egypt acquisition? Planning Minister Hala El Said again invited Qatari business leaders to step up their investments in Egypt during talks in Doha yesterday, while the QIA and Telecom Egypt are reportedly not seeing eye-to-eye over how much of VFE should be on the table.
• Moody’s downgraded Egypt’s credit rating for the first time since 2013 to B3 from B2 and changed its outlook to stable from negative, due to “reduced external buffers and shock absorption capacity.”
• B Investments finalizes exit from TotalEnergies Egypt, after completing the sale of its entire 6.38% stake in TotalEnergies Egypt to TotalEnergies Marketing Afrique (TEMA) for USD 27.6 mn.

FOR TOMORROW-

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

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Hey, agri-tech startups: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has launched its AgVenture challenge, offering startups operating in the agri-tech sector the chance to snag up up to EUR 80k worth of advisory services and additional grants worth EUR 10k. Eligible startups have until 1 March to apply.

Who’s eligible? Startups that have been operating in the agri-tech sector for less than 5 years, have an annual turnover of less than EUR 1 mn, and who operate primarily in countries where EBRD has a presence.

Fuel price announcement when? We’re still waiting to hear what the government plans to do with fuel prices this quarter. Its fuel pricing committee was supposed to meet at the beginning of January to set prices for 1Q. The government has increased prices at the pump by 23-28% since April 2021, and decided on a rare fuel oil price hike last July.

Expect prices to rise: The government has committed to changing local fuel prices in line with movements in the global markets under the USD 3 bn loan agreement with the IMF.

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

COME TO OUR NEXT ENTERPRISE FORUM-

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

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

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

????️TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 17°C tomorrow and a nighttime low of 8°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Uber riders in Egypt will stop struggling with drivers’ hatred for credit payments: Our friends at HSBC have teamed up with Uber Egypt to roll out “on-demand cashouts” for Uber drivers, according to a statement (pdf). The digital solution, named Flexpay, allows drivers outside the banking system to access their full earnings on-demand, the statement notes. Flexpay will help drivers save around 5% of their earnings by providing them with a cost effective way to receive their earnings, the statement says. Digital payments through Uber have been a thorny issue for drivers, who were previously unable to instantly receive earnings for completed rides where the customer paid through a debit or credit card, and led to many drivers to decline noncash rides.

More countries want to co-host the 2030 World Cup: Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay have officially announced a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, to bring the tournament back to “where football was born” — alluding to the first-ever World Cup being held in 1930 in Uruguay’s Montevideo, Reuters reports. Bolivia will also be invited to join “this dream,” Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said on Twitter. “The 2030 World Cup is not just another World Cup; it deserves a celebration with recognition for 100 years,” Alejandro Dominguez, president of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said. Although not unheard of, multiple nations hosting the tournament is still unusual. Mexico, the US, and Canada will jointly host the next World Cup in 2026.

KSA + Egypt + Greece bid? Saudi Arabia reportedly offered to fully underwrite the costs for new stadiums in Greece and Egypt, if they agree to a joint bid for the 2030 World Cup, reported the Daily Mail. All the KSA wants in return is to host three-quarters of the matches. The suggestion reportedly came during private conversations between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, last year — however, there’s no indication that any offers have been accepted.

We said it first: Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy said in November that Egypt is working on joining a bid with Saudi Arabia and Greece to host the World Cup in 2030 or 2034, and Saudi Tourism Minister Ahmed Al Khateeb echoed similar statements last year, saying it would be a “successful” bid if selected.

Move over, ChatGPT? Google plans to launch a new AI tool, Bard, to trusted testers, with a public roll-out expected in the coming weeks, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in a blog post. “We’ll combine external feedback with our own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high bar for quality, safety and groundedness in real-world information,” Pichai said. He stressed Google’s progress in AI as his company makes efforts to catch up with the success of Open AI’s ChatGPT.

But the chatbot competition is heating up, as Microsoft unveiled a “smarter” ChatGPT, PC Mag reported. An enhanced version of the popular chatbot will run on the Bing search engine and Edge browser as a limited preview, CEO Satya Nadella announced at a special event yesterday at Microsoft headquarters. Featuring improved summarization capabilities, personalized recommendations and answers to complex questions about today's topics, Nadella called it your personal “co-pilot” for everyday needs: making life easier by delivering instant results in intelligently crafted lists and summaries, rather than forcing you to scroll through endless pages of search results.

And China will soon have its own chatbot, too: China is joining the race to integrate an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT to its search engine (Baidu), a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. The “unnamed” chatbot — which will deliver conversation-style search results similar to ChatGPT — will roll out to the public next month.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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Limbo is a powerful exploration of the refugee experience. The film follows a Syrian refugee who is stuck on a remote Scottish island while his asylum application is processed. It’s a moving look at the current refugee crisis around the world, showing how hard it is for people who have to leave their homes to find safety. The film stars Egyptian actor Amir El-Masry as the main character, bringing nuance and depth to a role that could have easily been one-dimensional. He captures the character’s desire for connection, as well as his frustration and despair over his uncertain future. The film is emotionally engaging, with parts that are funny and lighthearted interspersed with parts that are sad and make you think. The music is haunting and adds to the mood of the movie, and the cinematography is stunning, capturing the rough beauty of the Scottish landscape.

Fun fact: El-Masry earned a BAFTA for his excellent performance in Limbo. He was named best actor at the 2021 Scottish edition of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards (BAFTA Scotland). The movie is available to stream on Netflix (watch trailer, runtime 2:34)

⚽ Al Ahly will face Real Madrid in the Club World Cup semi-finals at 9pm tonight, in a rematch of the 2001 friendly game in which the Red Devils won 1-0. Al-Ahly made it to the semifinals by beating the champions of Oceania, Auckland City, and the champions of North America, Seattle Sounders. After finishing third three times, Al-Ahly players are determined to come out ahead and qualify for the final for the first time.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal earned a spot in the final after a historic 3-2 victory against Brazil’s Flamengo. They will battle it out with the victor of the Al-Ahly v Real Madrid match.

And over in the English Premier League: Manchester United play Leeds tonight at 10pm. Join Enterprise's Fantasy Premier League by clicking on this link or entering this code: 8o4sut.

French Cup:

Lyon v LOSC Lille (7:15pm)

Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (10:10pm)

FA Cup: Sunderland v Fulham (9:45pm)

German Cup: Bochum v Dortmund (9:45pm)

???? LeBron James is now the all-time top scorer in NBA history: During last night’s LA Lakers v Oklahoma City Thunder game, James scored the 38,388th point of his career, CNN reported. This broke the record held by six-time NBA MVP Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 39 years. The game was stopped for about ten minutes after James’ record-breaking shot, and Abdul-Jabbar went onto the court and passed the ball to James — a ceremonial passing of the torch. Despite LeBron’s heroics, the Lakers were defeated by the Thunder by a score of 133-130.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Ikigai introduces the Japanese proverb of living life with purpose: Authors Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles look at a Japanese village filled with people over 70 to find out how to live a longer, happier life. Through interviews, food recipes, and even the daily work structures of this community, they uncover the key to living a satisfying life: Having a reason to get up every morning. The authors break down the philosophy of ikigai into three cornerstones: passion, mission, and vocation — all three must be present for someone to feel fulfilled and find balance in their life. They also discuss the importance of interconnectedness within the community for each individual’s success, as evidenced by how the villagers greet one another every morning and share meals together. This fascinating read contains unique insights into Japanese culture as well as practical advice on how we can all benefit from implementing ikigai's principles in our own lives.

MARKET NEWS-

Raya Holding for Financial Investments is paying out dividends of EGP 0.035 per share on its earnings from FY2021-2022, the company said in an EGX disclosure (pdf).

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 rose 0.3% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.93 bn (5.1% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is up 16.1% YTD.

In the green: Mopco (+3.0%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (+2.1%) and CIB (+1.9%).

In the red: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Egypt (-5.2%), Juhayna (-5.1%) and Qalaa Holdings (-3.9%).