PM — EnterprisePM is taking a four-day weekend

It’s almost the long weekend, ladies and gentlemen, we’re taking off a little early here at Enterprise.

We’ll be taking a publication holiday for tomorrow’s EnterprisePM only to work on our upcoming editorial calendar. We will return to your inboxes on Sunday at our regular appointed hour before 3:30pm CLT. EnterpriseAM will land in your inboxes tomorrow morning at 6am.

On that front, the EGX is taking Thursday off: Following the Madbouly cabinet and the central bank’s announcement that this Thursday is off the EGX announced today that it too will be closed in observance of the 30 June Revolution.

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*** Editor’s Note: As we approach the end of the week, we’re also saying goodbye to Mariam Ismail, who is leaving our team of reporters to pursue her graduate degree in Communication and Advocacy at James Madison University. Mariam joined us back in 2019, originally coming to us as our first podcast producer. In the three years since, she was instrumental in the launch of Making It, our first ever podcast. It’s her voice that you hear in the intros and outros of nearly every podcast episode.

She has worn several hats that have made her a crucial part of our team here at Enterprise. Besides her reporting chops that have helped us deliver countless stories in EnterpriseAM and through our various industry verticals, Mariam’s character has been one of the consistent highlights of working with her — as evidenced by her being the recipient of our first-ever Spirit Award earlier this year.

Mariam helped us launch EnterprisePM and had been one of its leading voices for the past 17 months. If you enjoyed a show, or a meal, or were reminded of an important game, it is likely Mariam who had you covered. While tomorrow is her last day with us at Enterprise, this is the last issue of EnterprisePM you’ll be reading with her contribution. We’re going to miss you, Mariam, and wish you the very best.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-

#1- BP lands new gas concessions in Mediterranean: BP was awarded an offshore exploration block in the western Mediterranean’s King Mariout Offshore concession, the oil giant said in a statement. The block, which was awarded as part of the Oil Ministy’s oil and gas exploration tender last year, follows BP landing another exploration block in early 2022 that it shares with Eni.

#2- B Investments subsidiary B Healthcare Investments completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in the Egyptian IVF Center in a EGP 126 mn transaction, according to a disclosure to the EGX (pdf). The acquisition, which has been in works since December 2021, wrapped after the company completed regulatory approvals.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Leaders of the G7 nations have agreed to study placing a ceiling on the price paid for Russian oil as a new way to curb Moscow’s ability to fund its war on Ukraine, according to a section of the final G7 communique (pdf). Crucial details of the proposed price cap are still being worked out. The G7 nations want to ramp up pressure on Russia while mitigating spiraling inflation, soaring energy prices and an impending global food crisis.

The leaders also agreed to contribute up to USD 5 bn to address global food security, a senior US official told Reuters, with the US providing more than half of the total sum, which would go towards fighting hunger in 47 countries.

HAPPENING NOW- Our GCC charm offensive continues: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in Oman meeting with Sultan Heitham bin Tarek Qabus and Deputy Prime Minister of Oman Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said among other officials, according to an Ittihadiya statement. El Sisi had met up earlier in the day with a number of Omani companies where they discussed what Egypt needs to do to get them to invest in Egypt.

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

• Auto sector’s prayers answered? The Madbouly cabinet is setting up “a mechanism for the orderly release of car shipments” from ports after new import rules created challenges for local car dealers to get shipments through ports.
• Qatar is back as a bestie: Qatari officials plan to invest USD 2-3 bn in the Egyptian market through purchases in “company stakes and the real estate sector,” Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told reporters yesterday.
• Can green hydrogen take off in Egypt? Michael Stusch, CEO and chairman of H2-Industries — which signed a USD 3 bn waste-to-hydrogen facility — seems to think so.

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FOR TOMORROW-

State grain buyer GASC launches a fresh wheat tender: The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) is seeking an unspecified amount of wheat in an international tender, the state-run MENA agency reported, citing a statement from the authority. The deadline for offers is tomorrow, with the grain set to be shipped between August and October. If successful, this will be only GASC’s third purchase since war broke out in Ukraine, sending international wheat prices sky-high.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The deadline for companies to submit bids for the redevelopment of the National Democratic Party headquarters is this Thursday, 30 June.

The government’s fuel pricing committee will likely meet to review fuel prices as part of its quarterly review sometime next week.

The national dialogue to set Egypt’s political and economic roadmap will also kick off next week. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi had called for the dialogue in April. Check out our explainer on the dialogue, its agenda, participants, and targeted outcomes here.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 37°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 23°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

What is the carbon footprint of this morning’s email? As bad as 7 mn cars: You probably don’t have carbon emissions on your mind when you hit send, but emails are actually responsible for as much global emissions as 7 mn cars, according to estimates by the BBC’s Science Focus. The electricity used for a typical email is the equivalent of around 4g of CO2 emissions, and that figure goes up to an average of 50g if you upload a heavier attachment, which needs extra storage and takes longer to transmit. Basically, sending 65 emails is roughly equivalent to a 1 km car drive, they estimate.

We’ll find out Gmail’s impact very soon: Google’s cloud-computing division will soon reveal the carbon footprint for its Workspace apps, which include Gmail and Docs, by early 2023, as part of the company’s efforts to help customers assess and reduce their impact on the environment, Justin Keeble, managing director of global sustainability at Google Cloud, announced in a blog post. Google Cloud, which is a key area of operations for mother-company Alphabet Inc, is known as a particularly energy-heavy domain.

As beneficiaries of email, this kind of alarmed us. We hope their report will come with insights on what’s needed to make sending an email that much less harmful to the environment.

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From the department of D’uh: The world is facing an “ocean emergency,” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, calling for a “new chapter of global ocean action.” Failure to address the ongoing ocean emergency will have significant impacts on the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The statement appears to be yet another in a long line of platitude-ridden speeches that demonstrate that the UN still cares about oceans. His recommendations include the standard OP of increasing investments in sustainable ocean economies, more protection of the oceans and more science and innovation to help guide how we interact with our oceans moving on. Revolutionary stuff here, guys.

The one action he did take on this: Make Aquaman’s Jason Momoa the UN Environment Program’s Advocate for Life Below Water during the conference. The fish and dolphins are so relieved.

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Artists refuse to let NFTs go the way of disco music: Adrian Boswell — the artist behind Broccoli Lane — will soon roll out a batch of NFTs of spinning broccoli heads, he said in an Instagram reel. The chef-turned-artist has gained popularity for his broccoli street art. “Let’s face it, they [NFTs] got a bit rancid and people got sick,” he told the Wall Street Journal, adding that he believes his digital artwork will do better than the NFTs currently on the market because he “knows his audience.”

So why are artists persistent on letting them live on? They believe it makes it easier for them to get paid for their art and they are extremely versatile, various artists told the newspaper. It could be better than making portraits for tourists at the boardwalk, but with this slide, we don’t know.

The downfall of NFTs: In May, sales of NFTs were down about 92% since their peak last September, while NFT trading fell to 20k transactions a day from around 225k last September. Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi — who bought the NFT of Twitter ex-CEO Jack Dorsey’s first ever tweet for USD 2.9 mn — failed to draw in bids over USD 14k after putting it up for sale.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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The dysfunctional superhero siblings are back and weirder than ever in Umbrella Academy’s third season: Longtime fans can finally sigh in relief after waiting eagerly since 2020 for a major cliffhanger to be resolved. The Netflix show — based on the comic book series of the same name — centers around seven adopted superheroes who work together to solve their b’naire father's mysterious death, while battling against an apocalypse. The new season (watch, runtime 2:24) sees them fighting to save the world (yet again) as they face another apocalypse. But there’s a new issue to resolve: They’ve been kicked out of their home and replaced by a new group of super siblings, the Sparrow Academy. The new episodes have some hilarious comedy moments, incredible action sequences, and a striking horror-movie-style showdown in the finale.

⚽ The Egyptian Premier League takes center stage tonight: El Zamalek and Ceramica Cleopatra face off at 9.30pm, and two other games take place at 7pm. Ghazl El Mahalla v Ismaily, and Al Mokawloon Al Arab v El Ahly Bank.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Feast on the gastronomic wonders of the world at Gala: Casual dining feels much more grand at Gala restaurant, where the majestic, artistically-designed setting automatically makes you feel like an important guest at an even more important event. The menu is full of yummy international cuisine options — from masterfully-crafted burgers, to perfectly-cooked salmon, crunchy appetizers like risotto balls, and even a premium sushi selection. The restaurant has two locations on opposite sides of the capital: Mall of Arabia in Sheikh Zayed, and 5A in the Fifth Settlement.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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Discover the artistic side of Cairo’s Garden City tomorrow morning on the Lamba Art Tour. The Garden City neighborhood was developed and redesigned in 1905 by visionary architect Jose Lamba, who was a fan of the Art-Nouveau movement. Lamba decided that the district on the banks of the Nile should be drawn without a ruler and right angles, and that he would let the compass lead his passion project. The walking tour, led by the local experts of Qahrawya, will start off with breakfast at 10 am then head towards the area’s hidden culture gems, visual arts spaces, and authentic foodie destinations.

Kick off the long weekend with a boogie night at Cairo Jazz Club tomorrow: The groove master himself DJunkie will be spinning his beats starting 8 pm.

Discover fresh comedy talents at Room Art Space this Saturday: Cairo-based comedy collective Comedy Sett are hosting their first Open Mic at 9 pm. The group, which was founded by four women, aims to give more exposure to female (and male) comedy talents on stage.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Alice Sherwood illustrates the importance of fighting against online fakery in Authenticity: At a time when we’re bombarded with carefully curated social media feeds and counterfeit products, it’s refreshing to come across a book solely dedicated to reclaiming authenticity. The thought-provoking book looks at how economics, evolution and technology have driven most people to deceive — through fun, informative and illuminating stories ranging across art, science, history, fashion, the animal world, and more. You’ll find yourself quickly shifting from Charles Darwin to Andy Warhol, whose infamous pop art paintings of Che Guavara turned out to not only be made by someone else entirely, but also created and sold without his knowledge. The book is an equally eye-opening and entertaining read.

EARNINGS WATCH- Speed Medical was in the red in 1Q2022, recording net losses of EGP 38.8 mn — a 233% y-o-y fall from gains of EGP 29.14 mn in 1Q2021, according to the company’s financials (pdf). Revenues stayed nearly flat y-o-y, rising slightly to EGP 68.7 mn in 1Q2022 compared to EGP 65.37 mn during the same quarter last year.

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 fell 0.8% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 861 mn (3.9% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 23.2% YTD.

In the green: GB Auto (+5.4%), Orascom Development Egypt (+3.4%) and Heliopolis Housing (+2.3%).

In the red: Elsewedy Electric (-6.3%), Ezz Steel (-5.5%) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (-5.1%).

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Wael Olama, co-founder and CEO of Gahez Market (LinkedIn).

My name is Wael Olama, and I’m the CEO and co-founder of Gahez Market. I have been immersed in the textile industry since I started my professional career and worked with industry giants such as Li & Fung Group, where I was both chairman and a shareholder of the firm’s Egyptian subsidiary. I’m also the co-founder and treasurer of the Egyptian Food Bank, and the chair of Perfect Spinning, a spinning company that makes and exports recyclable, sustainable textiles.

I co-founded B2B fashion marketplace Gahez Market to tackle inefficiencies in the interaction between the manufacturing, trade, and retail sides of the local and regional fashion industry. Our goal is to connect fashion retailers with suppliers. We provide retailers with credit facilities and facilitate settlement with suppliers. We handle logistics, supply, and provide both sides of the coin with key insights and analytics.

Our business model starts with the manufacturers. We’ve created an online platform where they can showcase their products to retailers. In this way, we’ve enabled retailers to gain access to thousands of manufacturers with a click of a button, instead of having to go to exhibitions and shops to connect with a handful of traders or suppliers. This tech-enabled approach has empowered retailers to operate in the same way as global fast fashion players, offering a different fashion season every week to their customers.

We recently launched Gahez Express, which enables manufacturers to store their products within our dark stores so we can enhance fulfillment and deliver to retailers faster.

Our long term goal is to replicate the Gahez Market model in similar emerging markets, after we are satisfied with the success of our model in Egypt. We also want to establish Gahez as a manufacturing brand.

Our short term goal is to further enhance our operations locally, before we start exporting starting next quarter to select African markets. Our aim is to enable small and medium-sized factories to bring their products to foreign markets with ease by connecting them with importers using our tech platform. We will handle the logistics and payment, among other aspects.

I love witnessing the social impact side of the business. A great part of the job is being able to empower SMEs — many of whom offer quality products but lack marketing and distribution channels — to reach their full potential. We also have a team on the ground that is educating small sellers, including street vendors, on how to use our app so they can become part of the Gahez community. We are also helping reduce imports by sourcing local, which I believe is paramount. But the best part of the job for me is working with our team, which is made up of young people who are truly impressive.

Customer satisfaction is one of the most important KPIs we focus on. We are changing the mindset of our customers, so we care deeply about reshaping the way they do business in a meaningful and seamless fashion. We are also focused on optimizing our process, whether it be our tech, logistics, or offline services.

The founder journey was not a lonely voyage for me, partly because I started multiple businesses prior to co-founding Gahez Market, and also because I have a great team, co-founders, and board members. I resigned all my executive roles in other businesses in multiple countries to focus on my entrepreneurial journey as the CEO here.

Gahez Market raised USD 2 mn in our pre-seed funding round, which was led by Disruptech Ventures. Egypt Ventures, EFG Hermes’ Tanmeyah, LoftyInc Capital’s Afropreneurs fund, EchoVC, and other angel investors also participated in the round. We plan to raise more funds in 2022 from pre-existing and a few select investors.

If I had to do it all over again, I would still go down the investor route. I believe that bringing in the right partners accelerates the business on so many levels. Investors obviously bring capital to the table, but they also bring strategic insight and can help you expand into different markets. We partnered with two African VCs to help us with our expansion plans. Partnering with smart money that can add value to your business is essential.