PM — Happy long weekend, boys and girls

Good afternoon, friends, and happy Thursday-equivalent. Stay bundled up this weekend, although the piercing cold is expected to get just a touch more bearable.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

OIH closes sale of its Pakistan subsidiary: Orascom Investment Holding has offloaded its entire stake in Pakistan internet subsidiary Transworld Associates (TWA) in a USD 35 mn (c. EGP 550 mn) transaction, according to a company statement (pdf). Last year, the company announced plans to sell its entire 51% stake in TWA, Pakistan’s only internet service provider and owner of a 1.3k km submarine cable connecting the UAE, Oman and Pakistan.

Raya subsidiary Aman and Qalaa Holdings’ Taqa Arabia are setting up a new energy joint venture through which they will invest EGP 300 mn in the next three years, the two companies announced at a presser today, according to Hapi Journal. The new JV is expected to begin operations in 1H2022.

HAPPENING NOW-

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in the UAE today to meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The pair will discuss bilateral cooperation, and regional security and stability. This comes a day after El Sisi met with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune here in Cairo to discuss the situations in Libya and Palestine.

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

• It’s privatization, the speed-metal version: The Madbouly government is planning to sell stakes in state-owned companies every month or two, said Planning Minister Hala El Said.
• Egypt bucks the trend as IMF downgrades global growth: The IMF downgraded its projection for global growth in 2022 to 4.4% in its World Economic Outlook update, down 0.5 percentage points from its last outlook report in October, while revising upwards its growth forecast for Egypt to 5.6% in FY2021-2022.

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The Cairo International Book Fair kicked off today at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Culture Minister Enas Abdel Dayem inaugurated the fair, according to a statement. Members of the public will be allowed to enter without providing proof of vaccination, the Culture Ministry said last week. The two-week event runs through to 7 February.

Also happening today, the US Federal Reserve is on the second and final day of its Open Market Committee meeting, at the end of which it is widely expected to confirm that it will begin raising interest rates in March. The markets are currently pricing in four 0.25-percentage-point interest rate hikes this year, in what would be the bank’s most aggressive tightening cycle in decades as it tries to get a hold on inflation.

IN MEMORIAM- Former editor-in-chief of Akhbar El Yom Yasser Rizk passed away at the age of 57 from a heart attack, the state-owned newspaper reports. Rizk, who had a storied journalistic career, also recently released a book titled “The Years of the Khamaseen: Between Anger in January and Salvation in June,” chronicling details of the period between the January 25 Revolution and the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

KUDOS- Our friends at Etisalat was named the strongest telecom brand in the world in 2022 by Brand Finance, becoming the first company out of the MEA region to take the title, according to a press release (pdf). With a portfolio of USD 12.5 bn, the company retained its position MEA’s most valuable telecom portfolio as well as the strongest brand across all categories in the region. Brand Finance also included Group CEO Hatem Dowidar to the Elite List of Brand Guardians globally, with Dowidar jumping 4 places compared to last year’s ranking.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Picking up where we left off this morning, the global press is still fixating on the prospect of Europe facing a cold winter without Russian gas supplies. Carbon pricing in Europe is at a seven-week high as the continent could be forced to switch to dirtier fuel sources than natural gas, of which Russia is Europe’s main supplier, as tensions over Ukraine continue to mount, Bloomberg reports. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is due in Washington, DC next Monday to discuss, among other things, “ensuring the stability of global energy supplies,” the White House said. Qatar, which is one of the world’s biggest natgas producers, has previously signaled it wouldn’t be able to step in to fill a supply gap.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin are in a war of words over sanctions that the US is threatening to slap on Russia, with Biden telling reporters yesterday he could consider imposing personal sanctions on Putin. Moscow shook off the threats, saying sanctions against Putin would be “politically destructive” but would not affect him personally. Reuters and Bloomberg have the story.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Startups have until next Sunday, 30 January to apply for the spring 2022 cycle of EGBank’s Mint Incubator. The incubator offers two tracks: A sector-agnostic track for startups at the MVP stage, and a fintech track that accepts early-stage startups both at the ideation and MVP stages. Main founders must be between 16-35 years old. You can apply here.

OPEC+ will meet next Wednesday, 2 February to decide on another modest oil production increase, hiking supply by 400k bbl / day in March, unnamed officials tell Bloomberg. Planned production increases by the cartel have so far failed to meet the recovery in demand as several member countries struggle to up their output. The potential tightening of the oil market has pushed prices to a seven-year high and Brent could breach the USD 100 / bbl mark this year unless supply is increased.

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 cold front will slightly ease during the long weekend: Expect daytime highs in the range of 14-16°C in the coming three days while nighttime lows will be between 6-8°C, our favorite weather app tells us.

The median inventory of chips at chip-reliant US companies fell to less than five days in 2021 as stocks fell to precarious levels, from around 40 days pre-pandemic according to the US Commerce Department. The thin inventories are of concern as a single shutdown or delay in any company could result in disruptions along the supply chain, leading the Commerce Department to push for the approval of the Innovation and Competition Act, which includes USD 52 bn to boost domestic chip production. Hyundai had said earlier this week that the company expects an increase in semiconductor supply in 2Q2022.

Heirs of iconic Spanish artist Pablo Picasso are selling his art as NFTs, the Associated Press. The family will sell 1,010 digital art pieces of one of his ceramic works that had been hidden away from the public eye as a family heirloom at a Sotheby’s auction in March that will include a unique NFT as well as the actual ceramic bowl that dates back to 1958. The NFTs will also come with music put together by his great-grandson Florian Picasso, who is a DJ and music producer, along with songwriter John Legend and rapper Nas.

Disney+ is coming to Egypt this summer, when the streaming service is expected to launch in 42 new countries and 11 territories, according to a statement (pdf). The streaming service will bring its “exclusive content and thousands of episodes and movies from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and general entertainment from Star” to 16 MENA countries, as well as a handful of other nations in Europe and Africa.

YOUR MANDATORY COVID UPDATE- The next variant will likely be even more contagious than omicron, with covid expected to continue mutating before settling into a pattern WHO officials said yesterday (watch, runtime: 54:42). It’s still not clear, however, whether the next iteration of the virus will be more deadly, although it will likely evade vaccine protections, the officials said. Eventually, covid could become endemic, turning into a virus that is seasonal or only affects vulnerable groups, with occasional flare-ups.

Hopefully we can get omicron under control first with a new omicron-specific jab: Pfizer and BioNTech have started clinical trials of a new omicron-specific vaccine, testing it as a booster jab as well as three separate shots in unvaccinated people, according to a press release. The vaccine race is on, as Moderna is planning to begin trials of its own omicron-specific shot soon while Oxford University and AstraZeneca have also started working on a new version of their vaccine, writes the BBC.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

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As We See It follows three young autistic adults in their 20s: The new Amazon Prime series centers on roommates Jack, Harrison, and Violet. The three characters — and the actors who portray them — are all on the autism spectrum. With the support of family, friends, aides, and each other, the trio strives to establish independent lives, get jobs, make friends and fall in love. Show creator Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) makes sure the series is thoughtful and deeply empathetic, giving a truthful portrayal of life with autism, inspired by his own son who falls on the spectrum, writes First Post. He avoids defining the three roommates by their condition alone, instead focusing on their likes and dislikes, fears, challenges, workplaces, and aspirations — giving them all depth and ensuring that viewers feel a connection with each character.

⚽ AFCON- It’s the Pharaohs’ turn to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of Afcon 2021 tonight. Egypt and Côte d’Ivoire will meet for the first time in 14 years tonight in the penultimate last-16 game of the round. Having only scored two goals in their three group games, Egypt are going to need to find their shooting boots if they’re going to get past the Ivorians, who scored six in an arguably tougher group.

Kick off: 6:00pm CLT.

Who will Egypt / Côte d’Ivoire face in the quarters? Beating Côte d’Ivoire would set Egypt up for a quarter-final tie with Morocco, who beat Malawi 2-1 last night to secure their place in the last eight.

The last two seats in the round of 8 will also be determined today with a match between Mali and Equatorial Guinea at 9pm. The victor will compete against Senegal who yesterday beat Cape Verde 2-0.

The round of 8 of the Afcon begins on Saturday with two matches: Gambia will compete against Cameroon at 6pm, then Burkina Faso will play against Tunisia at 9pm.

Tomorrow in the Egyptian League Cup: El Gouna will host the National Bank and Al Mokawaloon will face Ismaily, both tomorrow at 2:30pm. Smouha will meet Al Ahly at 5pm. The cup matches will continue on Friday, as Enppi plays against Al Gaish and Ghazl El Mahalla with Pharco at 2:30pm, while Ceramica Cleopatra plays El Zamalek at 5 pm.

Brazil will go out to face Ecuador at 11pm tomorrow in the South American qualifiers for the World Cup. Meanwhile Chile hosts Argentina at 2:15am on Friday morning.

What’s been going on in the transfer market this week? Manchester City has signed Julián Álvarez in a EUR 18.5 mn transaction with the player’s former club River Plate, according to football market guru Fabrizio Romano. Álvarez will stay with River on loan until July before heading to Man City under a five-year contract. Sevilla has signed Manchester United Anthony Martial forward on loan until the end of the season, according to Sky Sports. Juventus and Barcelona had both eyed the player as well, but Martial opted for Sevilla in search of more game time. Martial has a market value of EUR 32 mn. Also in La Liga, Jeremie Bogahas joined Atalanta, leaving behind Sassuolo in a EUR 18 mn transaction, reports Football Italia.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

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Easykash Managing Director Mourad Al Ashry is giving a talk at Consoleya today at 6:30pm as part of the Startup Series. The talk is titled “Tech For Non-Techies,” which targets business founders without a tech background to teach them to build their own digital tools and communicate with techies.

Contemporary dance performance Ambororo is on at Startup Haus Cairo on Saturday at 8pm. The dance aims to depict seeing life from a broader perspective.

Ubuntu Gallery is opening an exhibition of oriental carpets called The Weaver's Palette II. The exhibit will run until 8 February.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Customers are in charge in the new “metail” economy: Joel Bines argues that digitally empowered consumers have altered the traditional power dynamics of retail in his new book The Metail Economy. These consumers demand a voice and sometimes even a hand in creating new products, making it necessary for firms to immerse their customers in the brand and allowing them to shape it. Companies need to recognize consumers’ “me-centric” aspect and build on it, in order to survive in the new economy. Bines suggests the six “Cs” are how to best serve highly-informed and empowered consumers: Curation, Customization, Category Expertise, Cost, Convenience, Community — all of which should be used to various degrees to ensure business success during the “woke” revolution.

The EGX30 fell 0.4% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 628 mn (44.5% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 3.8% YTD.

In the green: Madinet Nasr Housing (+3.0%), Pioneers Properties (+2.5%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (+2.4%).

In the red: MM Group (-5.6%), Orascom Development Egypt (-4.8%) and Fawry (-3.1%).