PM — Cats and dogs have different sales strengths

It’s a semi-news dump day type of hump day, ladies and gentlemen, with just enough going on to propel us through the midweek slump.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

EFG Hermes’ energy investment platform Vortex Energy has invested EUR 222 mn to date into Spanish solar developer Ignis Energia, fulfilling the terms of its agreement with the renewables player, EFG Hermes said in a press release (pdf). Vortex plans to double its investments in Ignis by 2023, with a c. EUR 46 mn investment planned for 4Q 2022, and another EUR 176 mn investment in 1Q 2023 — bringing total investments in the firm to EUR 444 mn. Earlier unconfirmed reports had indicated that EFG’s equity investment would give it a 49% stake in Ignis.

The public placement for Ghazl El Mahalla FC’s EGP 98 mn IPO will begin on Sunday, 12 June, and will last until the beginning of July, according to a press release (pdf). The company has set its share price at EGP 1.02. The small retail offering has been approved by the Financial Regulatory Authority, paving the way for the football club to go ahead with the sale by late July or early August, Mohamed Maher, head of bookrunner Prime Holding Mohamed Maher previously told Enterprise.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s another day of international headlines being thoroughly mixed. The status of Ukrainian wheat shipments is still getting some play, after Russia said today that the Berdyansk and Mariupol ports are ready to restart grain exports after removing what it says were Ukrainian mines, according to Reuters. On the business and economy side of the news flow, investor fears about growth and monetary policy are muting equity markets in Europe and US futures, and weighing on oil prices. WTI Crude and Brent Crude both slipped 0.4%, with WTI trading at USD 118.05 per barrel, while international benchmark Brent is currently priced at USD 119.02 per barrel. The story is getting ink from Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.

---

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

• Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has directed the Finance Ministry to update its plan for the state privatization program, including preparing a timeline for stake sales in state-owned firms and how much of each company could be on offer.
• A handful of MPs are less than thrilled with the government’s plan to offer a stake in the company it will create through a merger of seven or eight state-owned hotels, which have yet to be determined.
• Elevate takes a leap into leasing: Our friends at Elevate Private Equity have landed approval in principle from the Financial Regulatory Authority to set up a financial leasing arm as the healthcare management company looks to branch out into non-banking financial services

Subscribe to Enterprise

CORRECTION- We incorrectly stated in this morning’s EnterpriseAM that companies in the telecoms sector would be given access to the central bank’s soft loans scheme for tourism companies. The Central Bank of Egypt has extended the program to cover telecoms maintenance and upgrade costs for tourism companies. The story has since been corrected on our website.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Digital Transformation Summit gets underway this Thursday, 9 June, bringing together public and private sector players in the tech industries to share and discuss views on the current landscape of the market, recent tech innovations, and proposed strategies.

NEWS TRIGGERS you’ll want to keep an eye on this month:

• Inflation figures for May are due out on Saturday, 9 June (from state statistics agency Capmas) and Sunday, 12 June (central bank figures);
• The Central Bank of Egypt holds its policy meeting on Thursday, 23 June.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury is reaching 40°C tomorrow as the current heat wave continues, our favorite weather app tells us. It’ll get cooler at night as temperatures drop to 27°C.

Cats or dogs: Which fuzzy animal has the power to sell more stuff in ads? The definitive answer according to a recent study: It depends. It’s no secret that animals can tap into our emotions with their innocence and quirkiness — just take a look at the countless hours people log on YouTube watching cats and dogs do funny things. But marketers need to keep in mind that using the four-legged pets is most effective in ads when they are aligned with people’s perceptions of specific dog and cat characteristics, according to the study. Dogs, for example, are usually associated with eagerness, loyalty, high activity, and reward-seeking behaviors, while cats are usually seen as inquisitive, vigilant and smart.

What does that mean for creative directors? If, for instance, you want to promote a vitamin that boosts energy, a dog would be more effective, but if the vitamin has a more prevention-related effect, go for a cat instead. “When the advertisement didn’t conform to stereotypical traits, the positive effect of using a dog or cat was muted,” Lei Jia, an assistant professor at Kent State University and one of the study’s co-authors, told the Wall Street Journal.

---

Women get only a fraction of equity ownership at S&P 500 companies: Women executives at S&P 500 companies control only around 1% of the value of shares compared to their male peers, according to the results of an unreleased study from the University of Dublin and gender data company ExecuShe seen by Bloomberg. Male executives held around USD 770 bn-worth of shares in 2020 while women executives held USD 9 bn, said University of Dublin professor Andreas Hoepner. The ratio is still skewed after removing outliers in the data, such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is the wealthiest exec in the index. As more women make it to the top of companies, a big chunk of their compensation is often dependent on equity or stock options. However, the new research shows that equity ownership should be another metric with which to measure gender equality and the wage disparity in the workplace.

---

The studio behind the new Top Gun is facing a lawsuit that could tarnish its blockbuster screening: Top Gun: Maverick has had blockbuster weekends in the box office since its release, with expectations that it could join the USD 1 bn club. However, Paramount — the studio behind the film — is facing a lawsuit from the family of the author of a 1983 article titled “Top Guns” which inspired the original 1986 film, reports CNBC. Shosh and Yuval Yonay, heirs to the author Ehud Yonay, are suing Paramount over claims that the film infringes the copyright that they reclaimed in January 2020. The family alleges that they sent notice to Paramount that they would reclaim the copyright in early 2018 before the movie began shooting. Paramount then started filming in May 2018 and the movie was slated for release in 2019 but was pushed for nearly three years. The Yonays allege that the production of Maverick wrapped in May 2021, not 2019. The timeline is expected to be a big deciding factor in the copyright lawsuit.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

Grab a tissue, sit back and watch the queen of interviews work her magic in Oprah + Viola: A Netflix Special Event. Oprah Winfrey sits down with actress Viola Davis to have a candid, emotional conversation about her highly anticipated memoir, Finding Me, where she bares her soul, and discusses her traumatic childhood, her career, and finding happiness by acknowledging the difficulties that come along with it. Watching the Academy Awardwinner share the hardships she faced — including intense bullying and poverty — and how grateful she is for her life today makes for a humbling and inspiring experience. In just 45 minutes, Oprah manages to bring out raw emotion and unfiltered stories that prove that achieving financial independence and success is possible, even when it seems most unlikely.

⚽The UEFA Nations League continues: We recommend the two matches from the “group of death”: Germany v England, and Italy v Hungary — they both kick off at 8:45pm.

World Cup qualifiers: The UAE will face Australia in the Asian playoffs at 8pm. The team that comes out on top will play against Peru on 13 June — a game that will ultimately identify the team qualifying for Qatar 2022. The qualified team will stake its claim in Group D, alongside France, Denmark, and Tunisia.

As for the 2023 AFCON qualifiers: Several games are taking place today, the most important of which is Rwanda v Senegal at 9pm.

IN OTHER FOOTBALL NEWS: National treasure and Liverpool forward Mo Salah will miss Egypt’s game against Ethiopia in the 2023 African Nations Cup qualifiers on Thursday after scans showed a slight strain, according to an Egyptian Football Association statement.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Grab a nostalgic snack at Joe’s in East Cairo: As self-proclaimed foodies, we love exploring cuisines from different parts of the world, but ultimately, there’s nothing like authentic Egyptian food that bursts with flavor and nostalgia of yesteryear, when options were more limited yet equally satisfying. Enter Joe’s, which brings Egyptian street food to Mivida compound in New Cairo. Their Fino Kebda sandwich is not to be missed, and their signature spiral sojouk is a must-try. As for dessert, they’ve got you covered with what we believe is one of Egypt’s greatest local inventions: Sakalans.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
(all times CLT)

Take a Journey into Creativity tomorrow evening at Ubuntu Art Gallery, which is hosting an open discussion with Suzan Wissa Wassef and Ikram Nosshi about Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Center, where the legacy of the late Egyptian architect, artisan, artist, and teacher lives on. The discussion will take place at 6-8pm on Wednesday, against the backdrop of Wassef’s exhibition The School of Instinctive Creativity, which runs until 21 June.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

The Innovator’s Dilemma is a must-read classic on disruptive innovation. Renowned author and Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen offers a profound analysis of why many leading companies fail to innovate and could ultimately disappear in the wake of disruptive technologies. Using examples of successes and failures, Christensen provides a set of rules that no manager, leader, or entrepreneur should be without. Jeff Bezos called it an “enormously influential business book whose principles Amazon acted on and that facilitated the creation of the Kindle and AWS." Our big takeaway: one of the main reasons companies fail is due to their preference for efficiency over imagination. In this well articulated and well organized book, Christensen shows why leaders should not focus exclusively on improving existing operations, and why they need to prioritize developing fresh new offerings.

The EGX30 rose 0.6% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 511 mn (38.8% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 15.9% YTD.

In the green: GB Auto (+8.5%), Palm Hills Development (+3.4%) and MM Group (+2.7%).

In the red: Housing and Development Bank (-1.3%), Eastern Company (-1.1%) and Rameda Pharma (-0.94%).

OUR FOUNDERS OF THE WEEK- Co-founders of OWN Snacks, brothers Noor Gamali (LinkedIn) and Ameer Gamali ( LinkedIn).

We’re Noor and Ameer Gamali, the brothers who co-founded OWN Snacks. When we first started, we were all equally involved with all sides of OWN — from production to marketing to business development, you name it. As the business evolved, we each began to handle different facets of the business based on our interests and strengths. Noor handles the marketing and sales side of the business, while Ameer manages the financial side of the equation and spends most of his day in the factory monitoring the production and manufacturing side of the business. We still involve each other in the different sides, and have recurring meetings where the entirety of the team shares ideas to ensure the success of the company.

Our third co-founder is our father, Yasser Gamali, who helped guide us in all aspects of running the business. We also consider Reem Gamali, our mother, who helped us with branding and so much more, and Mariam Gamali, our younger sister, who devotes her downtime to the company in so many ways, as honorary co-founders of OWN Snacks. We are a family business through and through.

While we were both completing our bachelor’s degrees at IE university in Madrid, we used to intern at investment banks in Cairo. Upon graduation, we relocated back to Egypt in 2019 and started our entrepreneurial journey, and launched OWN in 2021.

We decided to address consumers’ demands for healthy, nutritional snacks. Having spent our college years abroad, we noticed a booming trend in the healthy snacks sector in Europe and beyond, and observed a gap here in Egypt that we felt needed to be filled, especially as awareness is at an all-time high here, despite the limited range of products available.

The response of the local market was very positive, and that reassured us that Egypt was ready for the wide range of innovative nutritional products we have in mind.

Our products are all natural, without any additives, chemicals, preservatives, or coloring. We use high quality-ingredients. We don’t use any fillers and flavors such as corn flakes, rice crisps, or syrups. We’re proud of the fact that our high-quality products have garnered great reviews, and were the snack of choice for Egyptian Olympians from the Track and Field team during the Tokyo Olympics.

Our goal is to help people own their day, and that’s where the name OWN stems from. Our motto is: “Own your food, own your life.” Giving ownership to consumers when it comes to nutritious products, whether they be average joes who just want nutritious alternatives to unhealthy snacks, or athletes who are specifically focused on their caloric and protein intake, is our main goal. What we aim to do is offer convenient and healthy snacks that you can find anywhere and have at any time of the day. We truly believe that when people eat better, they can achieve more.

We want to be there for our customers and offer them healthy alternatives throughout the day, from sunrise to sunset. Aside from protein bars and protein chunks, we have cool products that will be released within the coming month that will go further to address customers’ needs throughout the day. Customer satisfaction is always at the forefront of our business. We want to be there for our customers when having their coffee in the morning, when they have a quick snack in the afternoon, and when they’re looking for a nutritious dinner. Customers can find our products in coffee shops like Costa Coffee, and when they’re on the go, they can purchase our selections online or find our products on the shelves of supermarkets, gyms, convenience stores, and even select kiosks.

Our products are currently on offer in 600 different retail outlets in Cairo, Alexandria, Gouna, and Ain Sokhna, and are also available for online purchase through our website. One of our short-term goals is to expand further throughout Egypt, and to cover more governorates.

The initial challenge we faced as young entrepreneurs was the shock of the adjustment period we faced after college. Working in the food industry is specifically demanding. The attention to detail associated with this sector is particularly unique. There is no tolerance for mistakes when it comes to any side of the business: Whether it’s quality, manufacturing, storage, or anything else, when you’re working in this sector, your reputation can make or break your business. With that in mind, we decided to consult quality control advisors to learn more about the ins and outs of quality assurance from the onset. We continue to consult them. We also have an internal lab to ensure the standard we have in mind remains top tier.

Another challenge we faced when we first started was the fact that, because of the demanding workload, we both had no time for weekends or holidays. One of the worst parts of the job was finding the talent to join our team. With time, however, we’ve attracted the right people and now have a solid team — and can enjoy our weekends [laugh].

The best part of the job for us is seeing the impact we’re having on people who want to lead healthier lives. We love seeing our hard work coming to fruition and witnessing that we’re bettering people’s lives.

Finding a healthy work-life balance was definitely problematic in the beginning. Carving out the time for recreational activities with the stress of ensuring the success of a startup looming over our heads was tough to say the least. With time, however, we learned how to carve out some time in the day to do something that reenergizes us for the next day of work.

The most important KPI we focus on is customer satisfaction. We do this through tracking customer reviews and keeping note of the number of recurring customers who frequent our online channel. We can also note the level of offline customer satisfaction by monitoring the volume of our offline sales through supermarkets, convenience stores, gyms, or any other retail outlet. We’re also focused on customer acquisition: We believe in the quality of our product, and know that the hard work that was put into our product range will ultimately turn new customers into repeat consumers.

In the short term, we want to continue to expand our product range and have even more diverse offerings that our customers can have from sunrise to sunset. We’re not restricting ourselves to protein bars and chunks at all. We will be venturing beyond that. We are also looking forward to exporting our products abroad by the end of 2022, or early on in 2023.

We onboarded a private investor in the beginning of 2022 to raise some capital that will fund the growth of our startup for the time being. We are looking forward to attracting more investors by the end of the year, so we can raise enough to fuel our expansion plans.

In our downtime, we enjoy riding motorcycles in the Saqqara Desert. It’s awesome to hang out with a diverse community of bikers made up of expats and locals from all walks of life. Another added benefit? It’s a very intense workout. For us, riding in the desert re-energizes us for the next week of work. We also have another passion project of our own; we’re working on restoring an old motorcycle from the 80s.