PM — Meet Doaa Gawish. Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love My Hair

Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s still a moderately busy day, with capital market news from the homefront gathering pace this afternoon.

BUT FIRST: We just received confirmation (pdf) from the Central Bank of Egypt that next Sunday, 24 April will be a bank holiday in observance of Coptic Easter. The day is not a national holiday.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? You’ll be breaking your fast at 6:25pm CLT this evening in the capital city, while fajr prayers are at 3:52am.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- Vodafone Egypt makes play on Bee + Masary: Vodafone Egypt has acquired 10% stakes in e-payments firms Bee and Masary — both subsidiaries of non-banking financial services provider Ebtikar — via a capital increase at par value, Ebtikar’s parent, B Investments, said in a disclosure to the bourse (pdf) this morning.

Vodafone is still planning to acquire 20% of each company: A Vodafone spokesperson told us this afternoon that it is sticking to the original MoU signed last year and still intends to acquire 20% of both firms. The acquisition is taking place in two phases, and Vodafone will purchase the remaining 10% stakes at a later date, they said.

#2- Agrifood player Galina Holding could soon revive its IPO plans and raise EGP 500 mn in a private placement on the bourse that would see the company sell 150 mn new shares to specific investment funds, Chairman Abdel Wahed Soliman told Enterprise. If the company doesn’t raise the amount through the private stake sale, it plans to list its shares in a public offering on the EGX by September, Soliman told us.

HAPPENING NOW-

We have the IMF’s latest growth projections — it’s surprisingly good news for Egypt and not-so-great news for the world. Here are the headline figures from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, which the Fund began unveiling at its press briefing just a few minutes before dispatch:

• Egypt GDP upgraded: Counter to our expectations, the Fund has revised upwards Egypt’s growth in FY 2021-2022 to 5.9%, from its previous 5.6% forecast made in January. Meanwhile, it trimmed its FY 2022-2023 projection to 5.0% from 5.6% previously.
• Global growth cut: The IMF says that global economic prospects have “worsened significantly” due to the spillover effects from the Ukraine conflict, and now sees the global economy growing at a 3.6% clip this year, down from 4.4% previously.

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

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia has seized the city of Kreminna as it kicks off its all-out assault on eastern Ukraine in its “Battle of the Donbas” offensive, in an attempt to take full control of Donbas’ two administration regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, Reuters reports. Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky said in a video address overnight that forces could withstand the new assault. The developments on the ground come as Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership is now under consideration, with the bloc expecting to give a preliminary opinion on the membership request in June, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says have knowledge of the matter.

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

• War in Ukraine is set to stall growth of our tourism revenues: “Expectations for Egyptian tourism in 2022 are not higher than last year,” Deputy Tourism Minister Ghada Shalaby said. The loss of Russian and Ukrainian tourists — which made up 30-40% of tourist arrivals to Egypt before the war broke out — will challenge the post-pandemic recovery in our tourism industry.
• State cracks down on bakeries: The government has seized goods and equipment — including flour, bread, smart cards, and tills — from bakeries it says engaged in price gouging, with a cabinet statement saying the Interior Ministry has logged more than 14k cases.
• Cairo Angels invests in UAE family activities app QiDZ: The Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund has made an investment in Gulf family entertainment marketplace QiDZ. A representative from the fund declined to disclose how much was invested when we asked, telling us only that it amounted to “six figures” while declining to specify the currency in question.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

PSA- You have until tomorrow to file your ESG report: EGX-listed companies and all non-bank financial services outfits regardless of listing status need to submit their first quarterly ESG questionnaire by tomorrow. The regulator is making it mandatory for companies to publicly disclose their performance on key environmental, social and governance metrics each year when they submit their annual financial statements, starting 2023. Reach out to Moustafa Taalab at InkankIR, our parent company, if you need some help.

Another chance for private firms to get in on PPP language school tender: The government has extended to 25 May its deadline for private companies to pre-register to participate in tenders in the second phase of its program to establish 1k language schools, according to a FinMin statement. A total of 24 language schools have been set up under the first phase of the program and the second phase targets the creation of 57 schools.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect the mercury to rise to 28°C during the day before falling to 13°C at night tomorrow, our favorite weather app tells us.

Could Apollo Global finance Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter? Private equity firm Apollo Global is considering backing a possible Twitter buyout. It could provide Tesla boss Elon Musk or another bidder, like private equity firm Thoma Bravo, with support — through equity or debt — for an offer, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing sources in the know. Apollo is reportedly considering a collaboration between the social media giant and Yahoo, which Apollo owns. After Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter last week for USD 43 bn, the social media giant’s board adopted the poison pill strategy to prevent the richest man in the world from taking sole ownership of the company.

EV sales are defying expectations as consumers continue to buy despite rising costs: The cost of lithium-ion battery cells rose to an estimated USD 160 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in the first quarter from USD 105 per kWh last year due to supply chain disruptions and sanctions on Russian metals, reports Reuters, citing industry data. Nonetheless, EV demand hasn’t been dented, even as rising battery costs put double digit markups on price tags. Instead, global EV sales in the 1Q2022 jumped nearly 120% y-o-y, according to data from EV-volumes. The trend flips the script on analyst predictions that EV sales would only increase when battery prices fell under a certain benchmark.

Shoppers are returning to stores, stripping e-commerce retailers of their lockdown-era edge: The massive shift towards e-commerce during the height of the pandemic, spurred by lockdowns that limited in-person shopping, has proved to be temporary as consumers are now moving back to visiting brick-and-mortar stores, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing industry data. The e-commerce boom brought in record revenues for companies like Amazon, Shopify, and Paypal, but this trend is now slowing down as digital retailers selling clothes, furniture, and other items that some of us prefer to see and touch in-person are seeing a slowdown in sales, with shoppers now creating their own new balances between online and offline shopping. “We’ve got over 100 years as a society of going into a store to buy something. That muscle memory doesn’t just switch off because you were forced to buy things online a couple of times during a pandemic,” one analyst at Bernstein Research said.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

Touba starring Amr Saad fulfills your Ramadan drama and action needs: The series follows the story of a guilt-ridden felon on the run who moved to Port Said in a bid to escape his past — and a prison sentence — but his life quickly changes and is turned upside down when a secret from his past surfaces. His past eventually catches up with him and lands him in prison, after thug Sayed Al Agnaby (Maged Al Masry), whose hatred towards Touba is apparent from the outset of the series, tips off the police. Touba plans revenge shortly after his release. The series appears to be a hit so far, topping the list of Shahid’s best shows in Ramadan in Egypt this week. Watch it on Shahid.

⚽ Gear up for the North-West Derby tonight, as quadruple-chasing Liverpool clashes with old foe Manchester United tonight at Anfield at 9pm. Liverpool coach Juergen Klopp has asked his players to be “angry” and “greedy” as they consider the game as the most important three points of their lives.

And if that isn’t enough, we also have the Coppa Italia Derby tonight at 9pm between Inter Milan and AC Milan.

At a perhaps slower pace in La Liga, Mallorca will play against Deportivo Alavés at 7pm, while Real Betis will clash with Elche at 9pm with Villarreal v Valencia kicking off shortly thereafter at 9:30pm.

Meanwhile in Egypt, we’re up for two games at 9:30pm: Zamalek v Alexandria’s Al-Ittihad and Talea’ El Geish v Ceramica Cleopatra.

????EAT THIS TONIGHT-

You’re going to have a hard time choosing between The Batter Half & Co’s Ramadan creations, with one of our favorite dessert shops (year-round), making sure to satisfy your sweet tooth this month. What’s not to miss? We can’t say no to their konafa date gratin, with its crunchy konafa base topped with caramelized dates and a special gratin sauce. Other strong contenders would be their Maamoul, whether with lotus or just regular cream, and their qatayef plate, with options to get the golden sweet dumpling filled with Nutella, Lotus or red velvet cream.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

Dorgy Band will be rocking their local tunes at Room Art Space and Cafe in New Cairo at 9pm.

Want to learn archery? The sport is fit to be practiced by your entire family, with a workshop organized by Ahimsa at 4:30pm today and on Friday.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Stephen Hawking: A Memoir of Friendship and Physics by Leonard Mlodinow is a touching biography about the life of an exceptional man behind some of the world’s most incredible scientific discoveries, including his research into the nature of the black hole. Mlodinow uncovers the life of the complex man in a personal account as a colleague and friend, and Hawking’s thoughts towards love, death, and disability from the motor-neurone disease that ate away at his nervous system as he battled with deep questions of philosophy and physics. It follows A Brief History of Time — an accessible exploration of the mechanics of the universe that sold mns of copies.

EARNINGS WATCH-

Arabia Investments Holding’s bottom line rose 8% y-o-y in 2021 to EGP 103 mn, the company said in an earnings release (pdf). Revenues increased 5% y-o-y to EGP 1.69 bn.

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MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 fell 0.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 729 mn (21.3% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 11.1% YTD.

In the green: MM Group (+9.1%), Madinet Nasr Holding (+5.6%) and Ezz Steel (+5.1%).

In the red: Oriental Weavers (-12.7%), Credit Agricole Egypt (-8.9%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (-7.8%).

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Doaa Gawish, founder and CEO of the Hair Addict (LinkedIn). The above portrait comes to us courtesy of Womena.

My name is Doaa Gawish, and I’m the CEO and founder of The Hair Addict. I studied mechanical engineering as an undergraduate and then went on to get my MBA, both at AUC. After graduation, I joined P&G’s supply chain department and served as senior supply chain director for five countries over my 13-year tenure. I was the first woman to hold this position in the history of P&G Egypt. The company recognized my accomplishment by fully sponsoring my studies at the University of Oxford, where I got a diploma in business / managerial economics.

I started The Hair Addict as a Facebook page in 2016. It was always a passion of mine to experiment with natural hair remedies; I used to read scientific articles delving into hair care and consult pharmacists and R&D experts about the formulas I was creating. I made the Facebook group to share my passion with others and to encourage women to embrace their natural hair on all occasions. Initially, I had no intention of turning the page into a business — it was just a hobby.

My subscribers suggested that I sell the natural hair remedies I was creating and sharing. The majority of the group’s members were enthusiastic about my remedies, but either couldn’t find high-quality ingredients or were too busy to prepare them themselves. One thing that compelled me to change the group from a passion project to a full-time business was the serious gap in natural hair products in the market. Then, when I started to be approached by Egyptian hair care companies to advertise on my page, it opened my eyes to the impact, reach, and power of the platform I had created. These indicators drove me to take a leap of faith and quit my job to launch The Hair Addict as a company.

What I love about my job is the perception of Hair Addict as more than just as a brand, but as a social good as well. A lot of women grow up thinking they have “bad” hair — a misconception that can damage self-esteem. The Hair Addict promotes self-love and inspires women to embrace their natural hair. I believe that we have really helped women restore their confidence. This impact is what energizes me to keep going when I face seemingly insurmountable challenges.

I think the founder’s journey is quite lonely. As the sole founder of a bootstrapped business, I often have to make decisions that may benefit the company in the long term but require substantial financial sacrifices. These types of decisions can take you down a rabbit hole of self-doubt and inevitably leave you feeling lonely. I also usually don’t have people who I can bounce ideas off of, and I experience guilt whenever I feel like I’ve made a bad decision.

Don’t worry though, would-be founders — you can overcome the lonely side of the job by reaching out to your peers. Other founders face the same challenges on a daily basis and can relate to your struggles, offer solutions, and provide useful insights. Whenever I’m in need of advice, I turn to Ahmed Atallah (LinkedIn), CEO and co-founder of Raseedi App, Walid Abdel Rahman (LinkedIn), founder and chairman of Mumm, and Amal Enan (LinkedIn), founder and managing partner of Lotus Capital.

I also believe a mentor is essential to the success of any entrepreneur. The Hair Addict’s only investor is my former boss at P&G. He’s our coach and is helping us realize our expansion goals. He owns a small number of shares in the startup as compensation for his unique time investment.

The most important KPIs I focus on include how our sales portfolio is performing, our traffic and conversion rates, cashflow projections, consumer retention levels, and earnings.

Our short-term goal at The Hair Addict is to keep growing our company’s portfolio and expand our online and offline presence in Egypt. We established The Hair Addict in the UAE, and one short-term goal is to expand into Saudi Arabia, before expanding globally long-term.

If I had to do it all over again, I would still choose to go for the bootstrapped route. From day one, The Hair Addict was cashflow positive and profitable. We explored with several regional VCs and one local VC the possibility of raising funds, but it ultimately proved unproductive. The investors I engaged with have a mandate to exclusively invest in tech startups. They wanted me to transform the Hair Addict from a product company to an e-commerce platform, so I decided to put that idea on hold.

The only thing that would tempt me to go the investor route now would be the possibility of raising funds to help bring our expansion plans to fruition. I plan to engage with more regional VCs in Dubai.

The likely exit strategy for The Hair Addict would either be an IPO or an acquisition via a multinational company. The acquisition route is the most probable option. Multinationals usually don’t establish their own natural hair care lines; they acquire smaller businesses and build on their success. Many companies in the natural hair care industry have been acquired by the likes of Henkel, Unilever, and P&G.

If I had the power to improve one thing in the local startup scene, I would focus on changing the attitude of investors towards non-tech startups. VC firms usually allocate their funds to tech startups because they believe they are the only scalable businesses in Egypt.

A startup that I think is killing it is Rabbit. They deliver on their promise of swift deliveries and they’re expanding their portfolio quite nicely.

The last great thing I read was How to Grow Your Own Money by David Meckin. The book lucidly explains how people can save money by cutting out financial middlemen. It brilliantly teaches beginners how to invest their capital without resorting to financial advisers.