PM — A calmer start to the week

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It’s one of the slowest Sundays we can remember in recent history, which is quite the departure from where we were this morning.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

CBE extends cash cover for foodstuffs: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is extending (pdf) the exclusion period for rice, lentils, and fava beans from their 100% cash cover for another year, ending 15 March, 2023. The CBE has extended the exclusion period twice in the past two years (here and here) since it first introduced the exemptions in 2019.

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

• Georgieva says IMF is talking with Egypt: “I worry for Egypt. If we have sustained high food and energy prices, how this is going to impact people in Egypt,” International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday.
• A first look at the long-awaited automotive strategy: Cabinet reviewed last week the final version of a national strategy to develop the automotive industry.
• Gov’t has incentives for green economy: The Madbouly government is introducing incentives to spur investments in the green and AI sectors, including projects in green hydrogen, green ammonia, EV manufacturing and charging, plastics alternatives, and waste management

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia’s latest attack target in Ukraine: A military base in Yavoriv. Russian forces fired 30 rockets (some of which were intercepted) at the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security — which usually houses joint drills with NATO — located in Yavoriv, near the Polish border, Reuters reported. The attack killed 35 and injured 134 others.

Could chemical weapons be next? Russia may use chemical weapons next, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “We have heard absurd claims about chemical and biological weapons laboratories,” Stoltenberg said.

Putin is ramping up efforts to restrict Russians’ access to news: Russia is threatening to block Instagram after calling its parent company, Meta Platforms, an “extremist organization.” the Wall Street Journal writes. Russia had already restricted access to Twitter and Facebook and passed a law that criminalizes “fake news.”

Is peace (take four) actually on the horizon for the Ukrainian-Russian crisis? Ukraine is currently in talks with Israel and Turkey, which stepped in as mediators in the crisis, to determine a location and framework for renewed peace talks with Russia, Reuters quoted Ukrainian presidential adviser and negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak as saying. “When it is worked out, there will be a meeting. I think it won't take long for us to get there,” he said on state TV, without providing further details.

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IN MEMORIAM- Former member of parliament and Al Nas Children’s Hospital CEO Anissa Hassouna passed away today after a battle with cancer, Masrawy reports. Hassouna, a leader in the world of philanthropy and charity work, is known for speaking publicly about her struggle with illness, and chronicled her journey fighting the disease in her memoir, “Bedoun Sabeq Enzar” (Without Prior Warning).

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FOR TOMORROW- AUC will hold its annual Business Forum from tomorrow through this Thursday, 17 March. The virtual forum will see founders, business players and policymakers from Egypt, Africa and other parts of the world discuss investing in tech startups, corporate learning and development, and the role of multi-stakeholder collaboration in fueling inclusive sustainable development, among other topics. Keynote speakers will include Planning Minister Hala El Said, and American economist and Nobel Prize Laureate Abhijit Banerjee. You can register here.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Green energy forum: The German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce is hosting the Egyptian German Green Energy Forum next Tuesday, 22 March. Planning Minister Hala El Said, Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk, and German Ambassador Frank Hartmann are among those slated to attend. The event runs 5:30-9pm CLT at the InterContinental Cairo Semiramis.

Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt will hold its next monetary policy meeting on Thursday, 24 March.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s going to be a windy, cold week — especially early in the morning and late at night — according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority’s latest forecast. Expect highs of 19°C and lows of 9°C over the next five days in the capital and Alexandria.

Is getting a degree abroad giving African startup founders an edge with securing investments? That’s what a recent analysis by The BigDeal, a newsletter covering African startup investments, suggests. The analysis found that Africa-educated CEOs raised less — both in number of funding rounds (44%) and in amount (28%) — than their foreign-educated counterparts, with US-educated CEOs leading the charge, followed by their UK-educated peers. While the analysis does not provide reasons for the disparity, Quartz Africa suggests that CEOs “studying in and understanding the cultural dynamics of where most funding comes,” helps give them an edge when working with foreign investors, who last year accounted for a bulk of investments in Africa’s megarounds.

The good news: Egypt is bucking the trend, along with South Africa, with some two-thirds of funding raised and the total volume of rounds in both countries involving locally-educated CEOs. The American University in Cairo also got a special mention, ranking third in terms of number of alum CEOs who raised funding in Africa last year, after South Africa’s University of Cape Town and Stanford.

SIGN OF THE TIMES- Amid the global chip shortage, Taiwan is rushing towards setting up specialized all-year round chip schools to train younger semiconductor engineers, Reuters reported. The plans have proven crucial as chip companies spend bn(s) of USD into capacity expansion to make the chips, which act as the brain of every electronic device in the world. Taiwanese leading chip firm TSMC, for example, is set to spend up to USD 44 bn and hire over 8k employees in the workforce, while Samsung is building a USD 17 bn chip plant in Texas. Four semiconductor graduate schools have been established in Taiwan’s leading universities last year, with a combined capacity of around 100 masters and PhD students, while another has been approved.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

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Up for another new mystery drama? One of Us is Lying keeps us on our toes throughout its eight episodes. Based on Karen M. McManus’ New York Times best-selling novel under the same name, the series follows five high school students who walk into detention, with one dying under suspicious circumstances as he is about to reveal secrets about the others in an online gossip group. All the other students have the motive to kill their classmate, kicking off a probe to discover which one of the high schoolers is lying about their innocence.

⚽The Premier League’s Gameweek 29 resumes today with six games, five of which are about to get underway, with kickoff at 4pm: Chelsea v Newcastle, Leeds United v Norwich City, Everton v Wolves, West Ham v Aston Villa, and Southampton vsWatford. The last EPL game of the night will see Arsenal vs Leicester City going head-to-head at 6:30pm.

In La Liga, Barcelona is looking to clinch third place in the league with a victory against Osasuna at 10pm. Real Betis will play against Athletic Club at 5:15pm, while Real Sociedad will clash with Alavés at 7:30pm.

In the Serie A, Verona is playing against Napoli as we dispatch. Atalanta will play against Genoa, while Udinese will clash against Roma, with both games kicking off at 7pm. Torino is up for a difficult game against Inter at 9:45pm.

Egypt’s Al Masry plays its fourth game in the CAF Confederation Cup group stage against Congo’s Otho d’oho at 6pm as the Port Said-based club tries to consolidate second place which it currently shares in points with the Congolese club behind Congo’s Mazembe, which leads the group with six points.

Pyramids FC plays its game in the same African tournament against Tunis’s CS Sfaxien at 9pm, hoping to maintain its faultless run of nine points from three victories.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Craving some Spanish goodness? La Ventana in Sheikh Zayed’s Arkan promises you a meal that your taste buds will thank you for. The chic restaurant, decorated with trendy and wooden tables with a Spanish vibe, is home to delicious tapas and other delicacies on their specialty menu. Our favorites are: Patatas bravas, fried potato chips with spicy tomato salsa and garlic aioli, and carpaccio de champińones, mushroom carpaccio with dried fruits, dill and vinaigrette. Their menu includes pescados (fish) and carnes (meats) delicacies, but what’s more Spanish than Paellas? Go for Paella de marisco, a seafood paella with fish, prawns, mussels and sepia, for an unforgettable meal. And on the way out, go for Crema Catalana, which is a Spanish creme brûlée with cookie crumble and homemade vanilla ice cream.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

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Cairo Jazz Club in Agouza is hosting a wine & dine night, featuring singer Doaa El Sebaii, tonight at 9pm.

It’s the closing night of W Ba’adein, a play about loss and love, at Rawabet Art Space. The show begins at 8pm.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

How was London shaped into the city it is today? Migrant City: A New History of London by Panikos Panayi explores how the history of immigration along with globalization shaped the British capital to be the city it is now, highlighting how migration was crucial to London’s political, economic, political and cultural rise. The scholarly resource chronicles newcomers molding London through cheap labor, contribution to the financial sector and others in the city’s history through the lens of migration.

The EGX30 rose 0.3% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 601 mn (35.4% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 12.3% YTD.

In the green: Abu Qir Fertilizers (+3.5%), CIB (+2.4%) and Mopco (+2.1%).

In the red: Qalaa Holdings (-4.1%), Heliopolis Housing (-3.8%) and MM Group (-2.7%).

As Egypt somewhat moves on from covid — largely on account of our progress on vaccination — the rest of the continent isn’t keeping up. Africa is severely lagging behind when it comes to covid-19 vaccinations, falling short of targets set by the World Health Organization (WHO) when it comes to inoculating the continent’s populations. The WHO had anticipated that 10% of people in Africa would be fully vaccinated by last September, rising to 40% by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022, writes the Financial Times.

As it currently stands, only 13% of Africa’s residents have been vaccinated, with around 20 of the continent’s 54 countries not even managing to reach the 10% September target. Meanwhile, the continent’s average vaccination rate needs to increase sixfold if we are to meet the 70% target set for the middle of this year, according to WHO. Currently, 6 mn people are vaccinated on average every week in Africa, meaning the figure needs to increase to 36 mn people.

Egypt is ahead of Africa’s average, but also didn’t meet the 2021 targets: Around 29% of Egypt’s population is fully vaccinated, while 11% are partially vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.

Why are we lagging behind so much? The answer is simple: Access to vaccines: As of last month, over 587 mn vaccine doses were sent to Africa since the onset of the pandemic. The majority of these (58%) were delivered through the Gavi / Covax program, while 36% came from bilateral agreements and 6% through the African Union’s Africa Vaccines Acquisition Trust. However, the total number of doses delivered throughout the continent are not sufficient to cover its population of around 1.4 bn.

And the continent’s logistics don’t help: Another hurdle slowing down the availability of vaccines is Africa’s poor trade and logistics quality, reports The Conversation. The World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index puts Africa at 2.45 on average. From disruptions in distribution channels to delays at customs, the country’s logistics are another factor that could lessen vaccine availability as doses often have a short shelf life or require special conditions such as cold-chain refrigeration.

African nations spent a long period dependent on the West to send vaccines: The West for a long time had a monopoly on vaccine production and prioritized rich countries to receive the jabs while Africa was left last in line. Rich countries received 16x more vaccines per person than poorer nations that rely on the Covax initiative, an analysis from last year found. Western countries have also often thrown away more vaccines than they donated to Africa, with the EU binning 55 mn vaccine doses last month compared to the 30 mn doses they sent our way in 2022. Foreign vaccine makers, such as Moderna, were also opposed to sharing vaccine intellectual property rights and training other countries to manufacture their vaccines.

Which has led Africa to take matters into their own hands: Local vaccine manufacturing has taken off since 2020 as countries realized the importance of having the technology in-house. At the onset of the pandemic, only Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, and Tunisia had vaccine manufacturing operations in Africa. Fast forward two years later and now 15 countries on the continent are rolling out projects to start producing jabs, Nicaise Ndembi, the chief science adviser at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDCP), told the FT. Egypt has been manufacturing China’s Sinovac jab at home and has begun to send them to neighboring countries in efforts to become a vaccine export hub.

WHO is also helping accelerate the move, setting up a program that will see six African countries receive the technology needed to produce mRNA vaccines. Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia will be the first African countries to join the WHO’s mRNA vaccine hub initiative which aims to “support manufacturers in low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines.” This won’t materialize anytime soon, with WHO estimating that the first vaccines could roll off the production lines in 2024.

And some organizations have even bigger ambitions… ACDCP is aiming for 60% of all vaccines administered in the continent to be manufactured in Africa by 2040 — up from a mere 1% now.

We need to find a way to make all of this commercially viable: Even harder than setting up vaccine production facilities is being able to sustain their operations, Ndembi believes. “You need a system that allows for the production of routine vaccines and is therefore commercially viable,” he adds. The investment in people, skills, infrastructure, technology, and equipment needs to have more purpose than hedging against future pandemics. Therefore, ACDCP is hoping African nations will expand their production to encompass a wide array of vaccines for more than 20 diseases — including routine jabs for human papillomavirus and measles, and even HIV or malaria shots if they make it through clinical trials.

And control the value chain: While foreign pharma companies setting up manufacturing plants here would be helpful, it can also not work in Africa’s favor at times. Last summer, Johnson & Johnson came under fire for shipping mns of doses manufactured in South Africa to Europe instead of distributing them across the continent. African ownership of vaccine manufacturing is essential, believes Charles Gore, the executive director of the Medicines Patent Pool. “If the control remains in Europe, the fact that the manufacturing is in Africa is irrelevant,” he added.