PM — Even if you’re not forgetful, your memory is (super) unreliable

It’s almost-THURSDAY, friends — which means our favorite day of the week (and the weekly exodus to the Sahel bawabat) is just around the corner. Our reward? Another busy and interesting news day.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- We’re working out our differences with the IMF as the government pushes through negotiations over a fresh loan program, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Al Arabiya TV (watch, runtime: 1:16). His statements come one day after the IMF urged the government to take “decisive” steps on fiscal and structural reforms as Egypt seeks the loan to mitigate the fiscal strain and balance of payments pressure triggered by the crisis in Ukraine.

#2- It’s official: CIRA’s future flow securitization program gets regulatory approval: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has given EFG Hermes the go-ahead to take EGX-listed education provider CIRA’s planned EGP 800 mn issuance of future flow securities to market, in what would kick off the company’s EGP 2 bn future flow securitization program, the authority announced in a statement (pdf) today.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and plenty of others in tomorrow’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia further reducing its gas flows to Europe is still topping headlines in the international business press. Moscow followed through on its decision from earlier this week, bringing supplies from its key Nord Stream 1 pipeline Europe to just 20% of its total capacity. While the move was blamed on technical issues, EU energy policy chief Kadri Simson has gone on record saying that it is politically motivated. In anticipation of the move, EU countries yesterday approved a proposal to cut gas use by 15% from August to March of next year, as they struggle to secure enough gas for the winter. Unsurprisingly, European gas futures jumped 12% on the news. (Reuters | Financial Times | CNN | CNBC)

HAPPENING NOW-

It’s day two of the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Expect Fed Chairman Jay Powell to announce the central bank’s second consecutive 75 bps interest rate hike later today. Investors are broadly expecting the Fed to “keep aggressively raising” rates this year, as demonstrated by the inverted yield curve, the Wall Street Journal writes. On the flipside, many are concerned that the Fed going too tight too fast on monetary policy could push the US into a recession.

WATCH THIS SPACE- The Central Bank of Egypt will next meet to review rates here at home on Thursday, 18 August.

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

• IMF wants Egypt to move faster, more decisively on reforms: The IMF yesterday called on the Egyptian government to take “decisive” steps on fiscal and structural reforms.
• …and revised downwards its global growth outlook for this year and next, warning that gathering headwinds are pushing the world closer to recession.
• Infinity + AFC plan USD 4 bn investment to double Lekela’s capacity: Our friends at renewables player Infinity Group and Africa Finance Corporation want to raise USD 2.5-4 bn over the next four years to double the capacity of the newly-acquired Lekela Power

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The FRA will hold public hearings on its 2022-2026 strategy next Sunday, 31 July, the authority said in a press release (pdf). The dialogue will include representatives from the FRA’s capital markets advisory committee, the EGX, Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry, the Investor Protection Fund, the Egyptian Capital Market Association, and the Fixed Income Association in Egypt. The strategy, which the authority released late May, aims to double the EGX’s market cap to EGP 1.6 tn by 2026.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’ll be a hot day tomorrow, with the mercury forecasted to rise to 41°C during the day before falling to 25°C the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

The ride-sharing era is just getting started: New mobility services, including car and bike sharing and ride-hailing, as well as on-demand bus pooling, are projected to jump by almost 10% annually until 2030, compared with 5% for the overall mobility sector, according to a report (pdf) by the Oliver Wyman Forum the Institute of Transportation Studies. The shift from traditional mobility is set to bring annual revenue up by c.154% to USD 660 bn in 2030, up from USD 260 bn in 2020. “These new services are expected to grow over the next decade about twice as fast as traditional mobility, with potential benefits for climate, pollution, and the livability of cities,” it said.

Driving the change: Technology, consumer demand, and regulations. Smartphones are making it easier for ride-hailing services and micromobility, while governments are promoting services through the introduction of taxes on carbon dioxide emissions and subsidies for several new operators, with cities introducing restrictions on older vehicles and outright bans on vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel engines. People are all for inexpensive mobility, with over half of the 9k+ respondents surveyed saying that affordability is key in their choice of transportation mode.

But there are some regional disparities: European cities, which are more population-dense than Asian and North American areas covered in the study, are set to see an easier deployment of micro-mobility services. Europe is poised to surpass Asia to become the fastest-growing region for electric mobility in the upcoming years. North America is expected to see smart parking payment services growing the most due to heavy reliance on private vehicles, while Asia might see a further expansion of shared mobility services and micro-mobility due to the traditional use of bikes or mopeds.

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Could mood-boosting drinks be the magic (metaphorical) pill for stress? With a new trend of wellness drinks sweeping consumer markets, the products promise to cheer you up. The taglines sell peace, happiness and a sharper mind by infusing the sparkling non-ethanolic drinks with nootropics (supplements for enhanced cognitive function), adaptogens (non-toxic herbs and mushrooms used for regulating hormones), and CBD (a non-psychoactive compound of cannabis plant that can counteract anxiety and boost serotonin levels).

But do the drinks work? “The problem is that you need a good dose for them to be effective,” Frank Lipman, a pioneer of functional medicine, tells the Financial Times. He also cautions that these therapeutics may have different effects on people depending on genetics and should be consumed intelligently.

It may help, it may not, but there’s money in the wellness drinks game: Market research reports predict the functional beverages market (which includes non-alcoholic drinks and those infused with vitamins, minerals, dietary fibers, probiotics and added fruits) will reach USD 200 bn by 2030.

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

A retro-future dystopia that’s seeming less and less far-fetched by the day: Maniac is a dark comedy/drama Netflix miniseries, that follows Annie Landsberg (Emma Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hill), two strangers living in a dystopian New York City. In this version of the Big Apple, rent payments take up 87% of annual incomes (hello, runaway inflation?), and a Statue of Extra Liberty is a major tourist attraction. Owen, a schizophrenic that has recently been hallucinating, comes from a very rich family that consistently shuns and bullies him. Annie has been suffering from depression and is overtaken by guilt and sadness over a falling-out with her sister Ellie (Julia Garner, most widely known as Ruth from Ozark and Anna from Inventing Anna). Annie and Owen meet at a mind-bending trial for a new drug that aims to cure patients of their mental illnesses and end all unnecessary human pain.

As the drugs take effect, the people they know and their problems are catapulted into bizarre dream worlds where they assume different personas from a Long Island couple in the 80s to fantasy Lord of the Rings-like elves.The study is led by eccentric doctor James Mantleray (Justin Theroux), with Sally Fields playing his mother. Despite the show’s absurd universe and wacky plot (it gets way trippier than what we’ve mentioned), Hill and Stone’s performances keep the show grounded, allowing Maniac to offer a unique, touching look at mental health.

⚽ It’s a busy night for the Egyptian Premier League, with three games on the roster: At 6:30pm, Pyramids FC will take on the National Bank, while Smouha faces Al Mokawloon Al Arab. Later at 9pm, Al Ahly will play against Misr Lel Makassa.

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

Grab a mic or sit back and enjoy the show at Room New Cairo’s Karaoke Night at 8pm tonight.

Egyptian rappers Abo El Anwar and Perrie are kickstarting the night at Cairo Jazz Club 610 followed by producer LIL BABA’s set of rap & trap beats at 9 pm.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Forensic psychologist Julia Shaw takes on the unreliability of memory in The Memory Illusion. Using her latest research, Shaw demonstrates the multitude of ways our memory can play tricks on us — ranging from the harmless but annoying experience of walking into a room and forgetting why, to the embarrassing instances of forgetting the name of a person you’ve met countless times, all the way to the far more critical errors caused by faulty memories. She explains why we often misappropriate other people’s memories and convince ourselves they are our own, or how false memories can purposefully be implanted in our minds. Shaw’s research also dives into the legal ramifications of false memories — building on other landmark research from the likes of Elizabeth Loftus — and, most importantly, imparts wisdom on how we can improve our memory by becoming aware of its fallibility.

MARKET NEWS-

Integrated Diagnostics Holding (IDH) began paying out dividends to its shareholders as scheduled today, the company said in a statement. Shareholders are getting dividend payments in the USD the equivalent of EGP 2.17 per share.

EARNINGS WATCH-

Cheesemaker Obourland saw its bottom line increase 21.6% y-o-y in 2Q2022 to EGP 90.23 mn, according to the company’s financial statements (pdf). The company’s sales revenues jumped 36.7% y-o-y to EGP 873.87 mn.

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MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 fell 0.7% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 818 mn (1.2% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 22.3% YTD.

In the green: Rameda (+2.1%), Ezz Steel (+1.4%) and e-Finance (+1.0%).

In the red: MM Group (-4.6%), Fawry (-4.0%) and GB Auto (-3.7%).

Always wanted to participate in climate science research? Don’t let the lack of a PhD stand in your way. Citizen science — when we ordinary people participate in scientific research — allows scientists to drastically scale up their projects by crowd-sourcing data, widening their scope of research, Bloomberg reports.

Sometimes we know more than the pros: Amateur divers involved in the Sea Watchers network send underwater photographs to scientists tracking the health of marine life all over the world. The network’s organizers say their divers are better able to notice changes in the environment than the scientists, due to their familiarity and emotional connection to the spots.

And citizens working together can create huge datasets: The Globe at Night project has collected more than 200k measurements in 14 years on light levels in the night sky. People can contribute easily by taking a picture on their phone and uploading it through an app. Scientists draw on the database for studies on the impacts of light pollution.

Are we reliable scientists, though? According to a recent paper, citizen-generated data collected for a UK study measuring shoreline algae coverage was found to be as reliable as that gathered by scientists. That said, the paper still emphasized that volunteers should be trained and well-equipped when conducting research, and get further scientific guidance when working on more complex projects.

“We need to stop thinking about citizens as people who have no idea,” Francisco Sanz, executive director at internet citizen research platform Ibercivis, told Bloomberg. “People are interested and, when given the chance, they can find the evidence that researchers need to really change things.”

How you can get in on the action: Platforms like SciStarter in the US and Europe’s EU-citizen.science help volunteers filter projects by location, research topic, and necessary skills, with options to get involved around the world.

Video game companies are getting in on citizen science: A mini-game/citizen science platform called Project Discovery has delivered the equivalent of nearly 500 years of work on studying the immune system’s response to COVID-19, Wired reports. The game is part of the multiplayer space opera, Eve Online, one of the longest-running multiplayer games online. Project Discovery players analyze the blood of infected humans through gameplay, helping to pick out specific patterns that predict the severity of the disease. The data collected through the game will also be used as training data for AI systems so that the process can be automated in the future, potentially helping with research into other diseases.

Gamers could help scientists cure HIV, cancer and Alzheimer’s: Foldit is an innovative crowdsourcing computer game that attempts to predict the structure of a protein. Proteins are complex molecules that are involved in almost all our bodily processes, and their structures are key to understanding how they work and how to target them with medication. Proteins are part of so many diseases and they can also be part of the cure — the issue is there is a monumental number of ways even small proteins can fold, making it difficult and costly using current methods, for even computers to work out which of the many possible structures is the best one, rendering it one of the most difficult problems in biology today. Foldit is taking people’s problem-solving skills and having them compete to see who can create the best proteins. Players can design new proteins that could help in preventing or treating major diseases.