PM — High CEO salaries aren’t all that bad

TL;DR

B Investments hasn’t decided whether to exercise its preemption rights in Adnoc acquisition. (The Big Story Today)
Pharma players want revised pricing scheme + more incentives to ramp up investments. (Inside Industry)
Hybrid work does good things for employee retention. (For Your Commute)
The Sea Beast reminds us of Moana, but with environmental conservation themes. (On the Tube Tonight)
Sicilian rooftop resto-bar Estro is an Enterprise favorite. (Eat This Tonight)
Get your pick of the Egyptian Premier League, French Champions Cup, U20 Arab Cup, or Women’s Euro tonight. (Sports)
A rare account of a woman’s travels across the British Empire in the 1700s. (Under the Lamplight)

???? WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s a relatively calm start to the week, after last week saw the news cycle dominated by macro, trade, and diplomacy news.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

TotalEnergies minority shareholder undecided on exercising preemption rights in Adnoc acquisition: Private equity outfit B Investments is “evaluating all options” after Adnoc agreed to buy 50% of TotalEnergies Egypt last week, B Investments IR head Omar El Labban told Enterprise. The PE firm is the sole minority shareholder in TotalEnergies Egypt. Its board has until 29 August to decide whether to exercise its preemption rights or allow the sale to go ahead and exit its c. 15.4% stake in the filling station chain, according to a disclosure to the EGX (pdf).

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s a rather mixed afternoon across the international business press, with no single story dominating the conversation. Among the stories getting play: China reported a drop in factory activity last month as it grappled with fresh covid-19 outbreaks (CNBC) while Saudi Arabia recorded its fastest pace of growth since 2011 in 2Q 2022 (Bloomberg).

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

Adnoc is buying 50% of filling station chain TotalEnergies Egypt: The distribution arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has agreed to acquire 50% of TotalEnergies Egypt. Adnoc Distribution could pay up to USD 203 mn for the shares.
Swvl has terminated its acquisition of UK-based Zeelo: Cairo-born mass transport app Swvl will not be acquiring UK startup Zeelo, after the two companies said they were calling off the transaction due to turmoil in financial markets.
GlobalCorp plans to issue EGP 1.5 bn in securitized bonds this year. The non-bank lender late last year issued the first EGP 985 mn tranche of a EGP 5 bn securitization program, which it was aiming to complete by 2023.

enterprise

*** It’s Inside Industry day — your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: As part of its series of public consultations on the government’s state ownership policy document, pharma industry players gathered last week to give their input on what they want to see from the government to give the sector a boost. The majority of industry players we spoke with agreed that the biggest issue currently facing the sector is the growing gap between costs and revenues, as securing raw materials is becoming pricier while product pricing remains unchanged.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

We’ll find out how much of Beltone Financial will be acquired by Chimera this week: Shareholders have until Wednesday, 3 August, to subscribe to Chimera Investment’s mandatory tender offer for the financial services firm. The Abu Dhabi-based investment firm has already acquired a 56% stake in Beltone after Orascom Financial last week agreed to sell its shares. Chimera is offering to pay EGP 1.485 per share for up to 90% of Beltone, valuing it at around EGP 690 mn.

PMI out on Wednesday: We’ll get an idea of how the private sector fared in July when S&P Global releases its latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) on Wednesday. The index fell to its lowest level in two years in June as surging inflation hit demand and output.

The National Dialogue board will talk about the economy this week: The board of trustees overseeing preparations for the National Dialogue will meet Wednesday to discuss the economic agenda. We have more on last week’s meeting in Last Night’s Talk Shows, below.

LATER THIS MONTH-

Foreign reserves figures for July will likely be released at the end of this week or the beginning of the next;
Inflation data for July will land on Wednesday, 10 August.
Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt will meet to discuss interest rates on 18 August.

High-speed rail: Coming in November? President Abdel Fattah El Sisi wants to inaugurate the first line of the 660-km, Ain Sokhna-Marsa Matrouh phase of the high-speed rail link on 7 November, a cabinet statement read. The government is currently in talks with Siemens to provide the first trains for the line by November instead of in mid-2023, as was originally planned. The Siemens, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors consortium has already begun to install tracks, systems and power cables for the line.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect another warm day in the capital city, with the temperature hitting a daytime high of 38°C and a nighttime low of 25°C, our favorite weather app tells us.

???? FOR YOUR COMMUTE

Proof that giving employees the option of hybrid work can slash attrition — and bump up productivity: A randomized control trial of employees at a tech firm Trip.com found that hybrid work reduced the attrition rate by a third, according to a study from Stanford University picked up by Bloomberg. The study found that hybrid work reduced attrition — the gradual reduction of a workforce by not replacing employees who leave — by 35% and improved self-reported work satisfaction scores. The company trialed its hybrid system last year to cover more than 1.6k employees across its engineering, marketing, and finance departments, only allocating two work from home days to individuals whose birthdays fall on an odd-numbered day.

Other than lower attrition, employees also reported changing schedules and work behavior: Although employees worked fewer hours on remote days (about 80 minutes less), they compensated for them by working 30 minutes more on other work days and on the weekend. And even with less time spent working during WFH days, the study generally found that productivity increased, albeit “slightly.” Separately, the study found that employees became more reliant on messaging and other forms of virtual communication, even while they were in the office.

Could high CEO salaries tie in with better corporate effectiveness? The higher the pay ratio between top executives and employees, the higher companies scored on overall effectiveness in the areas of customer satisfaction, employee engagement and development, innovation, social responsibility and financial strength, recent research carried out by the Wall Street Journal suggests.

A symbol of inequality maybe, but not necessarily ineffectiveness: While ballooning CEO pay in the US has been rising, a consistent pattern emerged from the survey that extreme pay gaps don't affect the average scores in rankings of corporate effectiveness. Peter Drucker, the scholar whose teachings underpin the Drucker Institute’s measures of management, often advised managers not to go beyond a 20-to-1 salary ratio if they don’t want resentment and falling morale to hit their companies. However, the WSJ suggests this methodology doesn’t necessarily hold water since CEOs are paid in stock and stock options — and the most well-managed companies have seen significantly better stock performance.

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???? ENTERPRISE RECOMMENDS

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

If Moby Dick had a happy ending: Netflix’s animated adventure film, The Sea Beast — directed and co-written by Chris Williams, who also co-directed Moana — brings us another tale of a little girl and the sea. The Sea Beast follows a young orphan girl, with big dreams of becoming a sea monster hunter like her late parents. Her epic adventure begins when she stows away on a famous sea monster hunter’s ship. Their plans take a turn when she befriends one of the enormous water creatures (the Red Bluster) she sought out to destroy, who opens her eyes to the real story of what’s been happening between humans and beasts.The movie has overt themes of environmental conservation that draw a strong parallel to the crises happening in our oceans today.

⚽ Egyptian Premier League: At 6:30pm, Ceramica Cleopatra will play against the Eastern Company while Ghazl El-Mahalla face Smouha at the same time. Later at 9pm, El Gaish will play Al-Ittihad.

French Champions Cup: Last season’s champions, Paris Saint-Germain, face cup champions Nantes for the Super Cup at eight in the evening. We remind you that Nantes signed Egypt striker Mostafa Mohamed on loan from Galatasaray, Turkey.

Arab Cup Under 20: Egypt faces Morocco in the quarter-finals at 6pm. Other cup matches: Saudi Arabia v Yemen (6 pm), Algeria v Tunisia (8pm), and Jordan v Palestine (8pm).

Women’s Euro: England will face Germany in the Women’s European Championship final at Wembley Stadium at 6pm.

Friendlies: Manchester United v Rayo Vallecano (5pm), Marseille v Milan (6pm), Leicester City v Sevilla (7pm), and Liverpool v Strasbourg (8:30pm).

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Estro is a charming Sicillian rooftop restaurant and bar in the heart of Maadi that boasts incredible views of the Cairo skyline — and is a big fan favorite here at Enterprise. Operated by the same owners of popular Maadi watering hole Frank & Co, Estro offers an extensive menu offering a range of authentic Sicilian food, that isn’t drowning in olive oil — which is in itself a rare find in Cairo. The dinner menu includes a large appetizer section with a selection of bruschettas, from the classic tomato and basil and other quintessential pairings like buffalo mozzarella and sundried tomato pesto. Pasta lovers will be pleased to know that they serve every type of pasta from ravioli to rigatoni, but the carnivorous among you can indulge in one of the best steaks we’ve had in the city. It’s also a great spot for picky eaters or those with dietary restrictions — the menu clearly indicates dishes with nuts and includes vegetarian, vegan, and pescatarian dishes. The restaurant also serves breakfast daily from 9 am to 1pm, the most interesting item that encapsulates Egyptian-Italian fusion is the truffle foul with basil and croutons.

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

A night where anything goes: Room New Cairo is hosting Irtigalia at 9 pm, a live improvised, unscripted, interactive comedy theater performance, where the audience gets to dictate and participate in the show.

Cairopolitan is back for the third consecutive year, with a month-long exhibition of over 300 pieces of art designed by a diverse range of artists from Egypt and beyond.

Rock fans, it’s your lucky night: Tribute band The Bends is performing Radiohead hits at 9pm tonight at Cairo Jazz Club, followed by a performance by Porcupine Tree tribute band, Radioactive Toy.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Original Letters From India by Eliza Fay offers a rare account of a woman’s travels across the vast British Empire. Her collection of letters (which she addressed to “My Dear Friends” or “My Dear Sister”) were discovered and published by E. M. Forster in 1925. They document the then 23-year-old Fay’s 12-month journey from Dover to India that took her through Europe, up the Nile, and across Egypt’s desert and the Indian Ocean in 1779. Traveling with her husband, the newlyweds finally reached India, where her husband quickly racked up quite a pile of debt from wagering (which led them both of them being imprisoned for over a year), and fathered an illegitimate child. Upon her release, she left her husband and returned to England, but later made the trip back to India three times, importing Muslin and other goods.

One letter details her adventures in Egypt: “I never could have thought my constitution was so strong. I bore the fatigues of the desert, like a Lion … We have been pillaged of almost everything, by the Arabs.” Little is known about Fay’s last 20 years, other than that having been quite an unsuccessful businesswoman, she died destitute in Calcutta. Despite her sad ending, Fay had quite an exceptionally eventful life for a woman of her time.

???? GO WITH THE FLOW

Pharma industry has its say on gov’t privatization plans: Last week, representatives from the pharma industry — including from private sector companies, regulators, the Senate and House of Representatives, the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce — gathered for public consultations on the government’s state ownership policy document. The consultations come as part of a series of discussions on the government’s privatization plans that kicked off last month.

The key takeaways: Industry players believe the sector can reel in plenty more investments if certain issues are addressed, the most prominent of which are mandatory pricing, difficulties securing raw materials required to manufacture meds and antibiotics, and providing easier procedures for licensing meds and cutting fees.

Refresher: Every Sunday and Tuesday sees workshops on how privatization plans will affect specific industries. These come as the government wants to double the private sector’s role in the economy over the next three years, and aims to raise USD 40 bn over the next four years by selling stakes in state-owned assets to local and international investors. You can catch our coverage of previous workshops on agriculture, FMCGs, and engineering industries and you can find more details on the schedule of the meetings here.

A quick look at what the local pharma industry looks like: Egypt currently has 170 factories to produce meds, with another 40 currently under construction, according to Gamal El Leithy, head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ pharma division. There are also some 500 facilities producing cosmetics, while medical equipment is manufactured across around 300 factories, El Leithy told Enterprise.

So what could help the industry see significant growth?

#1- Revisiting med prices: The most-cited area of concern among industry players we spoke with is the mandatory pricing scheme the government has set for certain meds and pharma products. This need to reassess pricing has become all the more important amid supply chain issues causing manufacturing delays, as well as significant increases in shipping costs, all of which have impacted the cost of production across the sector, head of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce’s pharma division Ali Auf tells Enterprise. The industry is also facing increased costs from more expensive inputs, higher energy prices, rising wages, and ins. requirements for its employees, said El Leithy. Together, these factors have widened the delta between pharma players’ costs and their revenues, El Leithy and Auf told us.

Refresher: The Health Ministry has for years imposed a mandatory pricing scheme for meds being sold in Egypt. A ministry decree issued in 2012 enforces a pricing system that sees the Central Administration of Pharma Affairs (CAPA) referring to meds pricing in other countries and set local prices at the lowest end of the range at which it is sold abroad. These prices are set for a five-year period, but can be renewed if official FX rates fluctuate 15% or more within one year, or if a company presents an official request to reprice its products by up to 5% annually.

#2- Making raw materials more accessible — which could require more public sector involvement: A shortage of raw materials was also a common complaint from industry players, particularly amid supply chain issues that are slowing down the movement of goods globally. Some representatives, including Mohy Hafez, member of the Senate’s Health Committee, suggest that the government needs to reform public enterprises to be better equipped to manufacture raw materials and make them available to private sector companies. Mohamed Ghoneim, a board member at the FEI’s pharma division, said much the same, telling Enterprise that the state should ramp up its investments in raw material production, since it requires significant capital and advanced tech that the private sector can’t necessarily keep up with.

Growing government investments, however, would need to be paired with a comprehensive strategy including the private sector to ensure it is not crowded out, Hafez and Ghoneim said.

Private sector is on board, too — especially if there’s a PPP structure in place: Increasing public sector companies’ involvement in the pharma industry would be beneficial for the sector, particularly if this is executed through public-private partnerships (PPP), said EGX-listed Ibnsina Pharma Managing Director Omar Abdel Gawad. If public companies are growing and securing stronger bottom lines, the chances of attracting private sector investments into the industry will be stronger. In turn, this would likely lead to more pharma companies listing on the bourse, particularly as international investors are keen on investing capital in the industry after covid-19, Abdel Gawad suggested.

#3- Cutting fees + taxes: The cost of licensing new products can reach EGP 100k for cosmetics and as much as EGP 1 mn for a new med, Auf told Enterprise. These costs are far too high for many pharma companies, Auf said, calling for these fees to be revisited. Industry players, including Luna Managing Director Ramez George, also want to see more tax and customs incentives being introduced to the sector, saying that these — along with a more flexible pricing structure for meds — would go a long way to bringing in more investments.

#4- Streamlining procedures: A key step many industry players cited to clearing the way for more investments pouring in is making procedures simpler and faster. The government needs to work on expediting the process of licensing new meds, for example, said Pharco Managing Director Shady Mourad.

Work on addressing these issues is already in progress, with continuous meetings between the FEI’s pharma division and the government to fix commonly cited problems the industry faces with licensing, costs, and procedures, while sticking to quality metrics, El Leithy told us. The Egyptian Drug Authority has also been working to give private sector pharma players incentives over the past two years since the outbreak of covid-19, which went a long way toward helping the country as a whole face the crisis, the authority’s PR and international relations general manager Ahmed Mostafa told Enterprise.

Your top industrial development stories for the week:

Some projects under industrial partnership between Egypt, Jordan, UAE spotted: Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and now Bahrain, have identified USD 3.4 bn-worth of joint investment projects in the first phase of a USD 10 bn industrial partnership signed in May.
We could be seeing a new green hydrogen plant: Several Egyptian government agencies signed an MoU with Indian renewables company ReNew Power to establish a green hydrogen plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).
Utilizing everything: The Public Enterprise and Social Solidarity Ministers reviewed steps taken to transform a closed textile factory in Fayoum to a ready-made garment factory. (Statement)
Masterscaf plans expansion: Master for Scaffolding and Framework (Masterscaf) is allocating c. EGP 200 mn to establish a factory to manufacture metal-casting equipment for smart transport systems , its chairman Mohamed Mansour Wahba was quoted as saying.

???? CALENDAR

OUR CALENDAR APPEARS in two sections:

Events with specific dates or months are right here up top
Events happening in a quarter or other range of time with no specific date / month appear at the bottom of the calendar.

JULY

July: A law governing ins. for seasonal contractors will come into effect.

Late July-14 August: 2Q2022 earnings season.

AUGUST

August: Work to extend the capacity of the Egypt-Sudan electricity interconnection to 600 MW to be completed.

August: Sharm El Sheikh will host the African Sumo Championship.

3 August (Wednesday): Deadline for Beltone shareholders to respond to Chimera MTO.

3 August (Wednesday): National Dialogue board of trustees meets to discuss economic agenda.

3 August (Wednesday): OPEC+ meeting.

14 August (Sunday): Conference of Egyptian entities abroad.

14 August (Sunday): Retail portion of Ghazl El Mahalla IPO ends.

16 August (Tuesday): MNHD’s general assembly meeting to decide whether to allow SODIC to go ahead with due diligence on its takeover bid.

18 August (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

SEPTEMBER

September: Naval Power, Egypt’s first naval defense expo

September: Central Bank of Egypt’s Innovation and Financial Technology Center to launch incubator for 25 fintech startups.

September: Egyptian-German Joint Economic Committee.

September: A delegation from Germany’s Aldi will visit Egypt to look at potential investments.

September: Government to launch an international promotional campaign for Egyptian tourism.

6-9 September (Tuesday-Friday): Gate Travel Expo 2022, El Kobba Palace, Cairo.

7-9 September (Wednesday-Friday): African Finance Ministers to meet in Cairo to coordinate an African-led position during COP27.

8 September (Thursday): European Central Bank monetary policy meeting.

11-13 September (Tuesday-Thursday): Environment and Development Forum (EDF), InterContinental City Stars, Cairo.

18 September (Sunday): Deadline for brokerage firms, asset managers and financial advisors to register with the Egyptian Securities Federation.

20-21 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

22 September (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

26–27 September (Monday-Tuesday): The Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) at the Cairo Marriott Hotel.

OCTOBER

October: Air Sphinx, EgyptAir’s low-cost subsidiary to commence operations.

October: Fuel pricing committee meets to decide quarterly fuel prices.

1 October (Saturday): Use of Nafeza becomes compulsory for air freight.

1 October (Saturday): 2022- 2023 academic year begins for public universities.

6 October (Thursday): Armed Forces Day, national holiday.

8 October (Saturday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, national holiday.

10-16 October (Monday-Sunday): World Bank and IMF annual meetings chaired by CBE Governor Tarek Amer, Washington, DC.

18-20 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Mediterranean Offshore Conference, Alexandria.

27 October (Thursday): European Central Bank monetary policy meeting.

Late October-14 November: 3Q2022 earnings season.

NOVEMBER

November: Cairo Water Week 2022.

1-2 November (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

3 November (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

3-5 November (Thursday-Saturday): Egypt Fashion Week.

4-6 November (Friday-Sunday): Autotech auto exhibition, Cairo International Exhibition and Convention Center.

6-18 November (Sunday-Friday): Egypt will host COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh.

7 November (Monday): The inauguration of the first line of the high-speed rail.

7-13 November (Mon-Sun): The International University Sports Federation (FISU) World University Squash Championships, New Giza.

21 November-18 December (Monday-Sunday): 2022 Fifa World Cup, Qatar.

DECEMBER

13-14 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

13-15 December (Tuesday-Thursday): US-Africa Leaders Summit.

15 December (Thursday): European Central Bank monetary policy meeting.

22 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

December: The Sixth of October dry port will begin operations.

JANUARY 2023

January: EGX-listed companies and non-bank lenders will submit ESG reports for the first time.

January: Fuel pricing committee meets to decide quarterly fuel prices.

7 January (Saturday): Coptic Christmas.

25 January (Wednesday): 25 January revolution anniversary / Police Day.

26 January (Thursday): National holiday in observance of 25 January revolution anniversary / Police Day.

FEBRUARY 2023

11 February (Saturday): Second semester of 2022-2023 academic year begins for public universities.

MARCH 2023

March: 4Q2022 earnings season.

23 March (Wednesday) — First day of Ramadan (TBC). Maghreb will be at 6:08pm CLT.

APRIL 2023

17 April (Monday): Sham El Nessim.

22 April (Saturday): Eid El Fitr (TBC).

25 April (Tuesday): Sinai Liberation Day.

27 April (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Sinai Liberation Day (TBC).

Late April – 15 May: 1Q2023 earnings season.

MAY 2023

1 May (Monday): Labor Day.

4 May (Thursday) National holiday in observance of Labor Day (TBC).

22-26 May (Monday-Friday): Egypt will host the African Development Bank (AfDB) annual meetings in Sharm El Sheikh.

JUNE 2023

28 June-2 July (Wednesday-Sunday): Eid El Adha (TBC).

30 June (Friday): June 30 Revolution Day.

JULY 2023

18 July (Tuesday): Islamic New Year.

20 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

23 July (Sunday): Revolution Day.

27 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Revolution Day.

Late July-14 August: 2Q2023 earnings season.

SEPTEMBER 2023

26 September (Tuesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

28 September (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

OCTOBER 2023

6 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day.

Late October-14 November: 3Q2023 earnings season.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2H 2022: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

2H 2022: IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum, Egypt. Date + location TBA.

2H 2022: The government will have vaccinated 70% of the population.

3Q 2022: Ayady’s consumer financing arm, The Egyptian Company for Consumer Finance Services, to release its first financing product.

3Q 2022: Swvl to close acquisition of Urbvan Mobility.

End of 2022: e-Aswaaq’s tourism platform will complete the roll out of its ticketing and online booking portal across Egypt.

2023: Egypt will host the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in 2023.

1Q 2023: Adnoc Distribution’s acquisition of 50% of TotalEnergies Egypt to close.

**Note to readers: Some national holidays may appear twice above. Since 2020, Egypt has observed most mid-week holidays on Thursdays regardless of the day on which they fall and may also move those days to Sundays. We distinguish above between the actual holiday and its observance.