PM — Millennials and Gen Z are stressed

Happy almost-Thursday, ladies and gentlemen. It’s another busy afternoon as we rush towards the end of the workweek, so let’s get right into it.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

Lighthouse to buy two schools this year: State-backed education investment platform Lighthouse Education is looking to put the entirety of its first close of EGP 560 mn towards acquiring two schools in Cairo this year, CEO Mohamed El Sherif told Al Mal. The transactions are currently still in the negotiation stage, he said.

Suez Canal Authority set up EGP 2 bn investment fund: More M&As could be on the horizon courtesy of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), which will establish a EGP 2 bn fund in March to finance its economic activities, SCA head Osama Rabie told Bloomberg Asharq. The fund was signed off on by the cabinet last week.

On the macro front, Egypt’s balance of payments recorded an overall surplus of USD 311.4 mn in 1Q2021-22, according to a statement from the central bank (pdf) released moments before dispatch. This comes despite a rise in the current account deficit to USD 4.0 bn, up from USD 2.8 bn in 1Q2020-21 on the back of the increase in the non-oil trade deficit by 26.1% y-o-y to USD 11.0 bn, the statement reads.

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

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

• FinMin’s Kouchouk on mitigating the Fed, our first sovereign sukuk + how we got back onto the JPMorgan bond index: We spoke to Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk in an exclusive interview on Egypt rejoining JPMorgan’s emerging-market bond index, what the government plans to do to mitigate the impact of a high global interest rate environment, and the timing of some key debt issuances we have planned this year.
• The government is looking to list “as many state companies as possible” on the EGX in 2022, PM Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday during a follow-up meeting on the state privatization program.
• Solar plants are facing more new charges: Solar plants producing more than 500 KW of power will be required to pay fees to the Electricity Ministry to help defray the costs of connecting to the national grid — a move that industry players say represents a threat to Egypt’s nascent solar sector.

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HAPPENING NOW- OPEC+ reportedly just signed off on raising production by 400k barrels per day in March, after a very brief meeting just before we dispatched this afternoon’s edition, Bloomberg reports, citing sources it says have direct knowledge with the matter. The decision comes despite its strategy so far failing to meet the recovery in demand as several member countries struggle to up their output.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- The global business press is taking a breather from Ukraine to focus on record inflation figures from the eurozone, where price growth registered 5.1% in January, according to the EU’s statistical office (pdf). The major culprit for accelerating inflation is energy prices, which rose 28.6% last month as the bloc’s energy supply comes under increasing pressure.

The uptick in inflation is adding more pressure on the European Central Bank (ECB) to shift its monetary policy strategy by moving towards rate hikes earlier than planned when it holds a policy meeting tomorrow. January’s readings could nudge the ECB to join the US Federal Reserve in abandoning the narrative that inflation is “transitory,” with analysts polled by Reuters suggesting that price growth figures continuing to exceed ECB expectations means it will begin tightening its monetary policy in 1Q2023. The Financial Times and CNBC also have the story.

The Central Bank of Egypt will also hold its first policy meeting of 2022 tomorrow. All analysts surveyed in our regular interest rate poll expect the CBE to keep rates on hold, as they anticipate our rates continuing to attract portfolio inflows even amid tightening and global inflationary pressures.

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ALSO TOMORROW-

PMI also out tomorrow: January PMI figures for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are also due out tomorrow morning. The figures will be available here when they’re released at around 6:15am CLT. Egypt’s non-oil business activity has remained in contraction territory for each of the past 13 months, although last month’s reading showed an improvement from the month prior as inflationary pressures began to soften, while an uptick in tourism activity and a sharp rise in exports helped support new business.

Tomorrow is the deadline to submit applications for the US Embassy’s Cultural Property Agreement Implementation initiative that would help Egypt protect cultural property from looting, theft, and illicit trafficking. The guidelines state that concept notes should be sent in by this Thursday, 3 February, while shortlisted applicants will need to submit full applications by 4 May. Each project will receive USD 50-100k, with around USD 500k earmarked for the entire program.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Key news triggers to keep your eye on in the first days of this new month:

• Foreign reserves figures for January should be out from the Central Bank of Egypt within the next few days.
• Inflation: Inflation figures for January will be released next Thursday, 10 February.

A call to logistics and cargo transport firms for rail freight privatization: Egyptian National Railways is inviting private sector players to a forum at its headquarters on Tuesday, 22 February, to gauge interest in its plans to delegate the management and operations of freight transport to the private sector. You can register for the forum by sending the organizers an email.

From our friends at the US embassy: Women can now apply to join Fortune Global Women's Mentoring Program which will take place from 8-28 May 2022. The program aims to bring emerging women leaders from around the world to the US to meet and learn from the Fortune Most Powerful Women community, which includes executive women mentors from companies such as Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, and Aetna. The deadline to apply for the program is 8 February. You can begin your application by signing up 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- The mercury will rise to 19°C during the day tomorrow before falling to 9°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

PSA- We’re in for a few days of wind + rain: Wind will pick up across Greater Cairo, Upper Egypt and the North Coast tomorrow and Friday, bringing light to moderate rainfall to parts of the country, the national weather service forecasts.

The global fund management industry missed out on some USD 3 tn in investments because of gender imbalances in investment participation, which “overwhelmingly targets men,” analysis commissioned by BNY Mellon Investment Management showed, according to Bloomberg. Gender bias tends to be common in fundraising for women-led businesses as well, with women founders raising less funding at lower valuations, for lower equities. Overlooking women also undermines investments in sustainable assets, the study says, suggesting that almost USD 1.9 tn of the foregone investments could have gone towards ventures that are more beneficial “for the society and environment.”

Facebook sells off Diem assets to Silvergate, effectively waving goodbye to its stablecoin plans: Blockchain-based payment network Diem Group (formerly known as Libra) has sold its intellectual property and other technology assets to Silvergate Capital Corp, Silvergate said, without disclosing the price of the sale. Diem, which is backed by Facebook / Meta, never made its public debut and only operated in a pre-launch phase. The project was expected to take off when Diem struck a partnership with Silvergate Capital to issue the Diem USD stablecoin, but the initiative has faced significant pushback, including from the US Federal Reserve.

Millennials and Gen Z workers are more stressed out than boomers: Around 61% of employees under the age of 35 are overwhelmed at work, anxious about their job security, and worried about their finances, a study by Bain & Company found. A combination of macroeconomic stressors along with the new, darker effects of technology have the younger generations at a disadvantage, compared to their older peers, the study shows. Social media has them constantly comparing their lifestyles with others who appear to be more successful, while emails and constant availability have made work spill over into personal time — an issue made worse by working from home due to the pandemic.

The upside: Professionals from emerging economies are seemingly less despondent about their future: Some 81% of workers in emerging markets were optimistic about their lives improving in 5 to 10 years, compared to 63% in developed economies, the report said.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

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To go to war or to not go to war: Based on the 2017 Robert Harris novel of the same name, Munich: The Edge of War takes place in 1938, as Hitler (Martin Wuttke) prepares to invade Czechoslovakia and the government of Neville Chamberlain (Jeremy Irons) desperately seeks a peaceful solution. The story is mainly told by two former classmates who now work as press secretaries to opposing sides (UK and Germany) as they are forced back together during the 1938 Munich conference. The film highlights Chamberlain’s savvy negotiation skills and “heroic self-sacrifice,” writes The Guardian, as the UK PM attempted to buy time for British rearmament and expose Hitler as a bully at the cost of his own reputation. The what-if war flick is chock-full of a great cast and on point performances in a film that’s loosely based on a true story.

⚽ Egypt has been hit with a USD 50k fine by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after the national team failed to show up to a press conference ahead of their quarter-final clash with Morocco last weekend, according to a statement. Media and CAF Rights Holders waited almost two hours for Egypt to arrive for the scheduled press conference. The fine was previously USD 100k, but half of the amount was suspended on the condition that Egypt honors the rest of its media obligations. The Egyptian Football Federation has 60 days to pay the fine.

Senegal and Burkina Faso will meet tonight in one of Afcon’s two semi-final matches at 9pm. The two teams hope to complete the adventure and reach the finals — both teams having previously experienced the bitterness of reaching and losing. Senegal’s Teranga Lions finished second in the last edition of the tournament after losing to Algeria, and also lost the 2002 final to Cameroon, while the “Horses” of Burkina Faso reached the continental final only once in 2013, losing that day to Nigeria. Egypt meets Cameroon for the other semi-final match tomorrow at 9pm.

In the Spanish Cup: Rayo Vallecano hosts Real Mallorca in the eighth round of the King's Cup tonight at 9pm, while the match between Valencia and Cadiz will start at 10pm.

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???? Omicron weighs on Beijing Olympics: Rising case counts among athletes and personnel arriving for the Beijing Winter Olympics, set to start on Friday, has pushed authorities to impose a “closed loop” to keep participants, media and staff away from the public, Reuters reported.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

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Mashrabia Gallery is hosting an exhibition titled All About Relationships by Marwa Saad. Through her artwork, Saad tries to create a miniature of a world that lies inside of her, the exhibit bio says. The exhibition will run until 28 February.

Glimpses by painter Hala Sabet is currently open at Arcade Gallery, where it will run until 22 February. The exhibition brings together what she describes as “glimpses of reality that I put together to create an imaginative landscape or a reflection of a character.”

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

The tumultuous story behind Paris’ Shakespeare and Company bookstore: The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher is a biographical novel that follows Sylvia Beach — the young American who opened the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris in 1919. The bookstore soon became a hotspot for legendary writers such as Ezra Pound and Ernest Hemingway. Things get complicated, however, when Beach is given a copy of James Joyce’s banned novel Ulysses — which turned 100 today. The young bookseller decides to take a risk and publish Joyce’s book under the auspices of Shakespeare and Company and soon the book becomes one of the most infamous and influential books of the time. The sudden success comes with a number of new business problems for the bookstore and now publishing house, as well as testing Beach’s relationships with those closest to her.

The EGX30 rose 0.8% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 955 mn (12.2% below the 90-day average). Regional investors were net buyers. The index is down 2.2% YTD.

In the green: GB Auto (+8.7%), Credit Agricole (+5.8%) and Fawry (+5.7%).

In the red: Abu Qir Fertilizers (-1.5%), Madinet Nasr Housing (-0.7%) and Mopco (-0.7%).