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Happy Monday, wonderful people. It’s not a particularly busy day on the news front here at home, but the news we do have so far is important.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Infinity just became Africa’s biggest renewable energy company: Our friends at renewable energy player Infinity group and Africa Finance Corporation have acquired renewables company Lekela from private equity firm Actis and global wind and solar firm Mainstream, according to press releases (here and here). The sale, which will close later this year, is described as the “largest such acquisition in the history of the continent” and will make Infinity the biggest renewable energy company in Africa.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s a pretty thoroughly mixed day in the international business press this afternoon, with the two big topics filtering into headlines being US earnings season and the continued heatwave in parts of Europe. S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq futures are all up today as we kick off a “bumper week of earnings reports” that will see big names such as Johnson & Johnson, Tesla, Twitter, and IBM report their financials, the Wall Street Journal reports. However, analysts suggest that traders may be “too optimistic on earnings” amid generally bleak earnings performances. Meanwhile, the UK is witnessing its hottest day on record as temperatures hit an unprecedented 40°C, leading the country to cancel schools and some transport services, according to Reuters.

HAPPENING NOW- The two-day Petersberg Climate Dialogue in Berlin has kicked off with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who is co-chairing the dialogue, delivering a speech on Egypt’s plans for the COP27 summit held in Sharm El Sheikh this November. El Sisi spotlighted Africa’s need for climate financing — set to be a recurring theme in this year’s summit — and called for countries to follow in its footsteps to revise their nationally determined contributions (NDC) and commit to new emissions targets.

Egypt updated its emissions targets in recent days, El Sisi said, without disclosing any details on the new targets. The last NDC we submitted was in 2017 and it did not include binding targets for specific emissions reductions.

El Sisi met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeir earlier today on the sidelines of the dialogue, according to an Ittihadiya statement. Foreign minister and COP27 president Sameh Shoukry also participated in the dialogue, which is one of several international climate meetings ahead of COP27.

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

• MNHD says the price isn’t right on SODIC’s acquisition bid: Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development has rejected a takeover bid by SODIC and called on the company to bump up its offer.
• Cairo-born mass transport app Swvl is continuing its buying spree with the acquisition of Mexico-based transport firm Urbvan Mobility, giving the Nasdaq-listed startup access to the second most populated market in Latin America.
• Subsidized bakeries won’t be affected by the recent diesel price hike: The General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) will subsidize the difference in the cost of diesel for subsidized bakeries following the recent price hike, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said.

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FOR TOMORROW- The government’s public consultations over its state ownership policy document continue with the wholesale and retail sectors taking center stage. Yesterday’s session brought leather manufacturers together to discuss the state’s privatization plans. Every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday sees workshops on how privatization plans will affect specific industries. You can find more details on the schedule of the meetings here.

THIS WEEK-

It’s looking more and more like an agreement on Ukraine’s grain exports could be happening this week: The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is the latest to express optimism over a potential agreement to unlock Ukrainian wheat via the Black Sea getting signed this week, after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said he is hopeful earlier this week. “I have a hope that this week it will be possible to reach an agreement to deblock Odessa and other Ukrainian ports,” Borrell told reporters, according to Bloomberg.

This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to meet his Turkish counterpart in Iran tomorrow in a rare diplomatic visit to the Middle East.

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State’s national dialogue meetings to resume tomorrow: The board overseeing the Sisi administration’s national dialogue will hold its second meeting this week, during which it will set a schedule of debate, discuss the agenda and form subcommittees.

Need a refresher on the national dialogue? We’ve got you covered.

MNHD assembly to make a final call on SODIC’s offer next month: Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (MNHD) will convene its general assembly on 16 August to decide whether to allow SODIC to go ahead with due diligence on its takeover bid, MNHD said in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX. MNHD’s board of directors has already recommended that the general assembly rejects SODIC’s offer to acquire up to 100% of MNHD for EGP 3.20-3.40 per share, saying that the offer price does not match the “real value” of the company and calling for SODIC to go higher.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 41°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 25°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

Cratering equity markets are reeling in amateur investors: Retail investors are buying the dip in US equities — even though it’s unclear whether markets have fully bottomed out — as they signal more willingness than institutional investors to be patient on pocketing returns, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing individual investors. Case in point: Individual investors have bought around USD 25 bn of US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds each month between April and June, soaring from an average USD 3 bn in 2Q 2019. That’s the biggest monthly sum recorded by Vanda Research since its tracking in 2014. The jump comes as institutional investors are fleeing equities, with JPMorgan & Chase putting the selloff at USD 258 bn this year. The difference is that, while institutional investors look to make returns in the short-term, amateur traders are looking at the nosediving market as a chance to invest for the long run.

From the (educational) frontline: Fighting in the war against Russia has not stopped some 900 Ukrainian teachers and professors from remotely teaching their students from the trenches, the BBC reports. Ukrainian professor Fedir Shandor, for example, tells the BBC that since joining the army in February, he has continued to teach tourism and sociology courses twice a week from his phone — and has even taken the chance to educate his pupils about different missiles and trench warfare. The result? Attendance levels are at an all time high. Students who used to skip classes are turning up to every online class of his, and have become accustomed to the sound of whistling bullets and to hearing shelling in the background.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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Criminal: UK is a Netflix police drama — just without the usual car chases or action shots. Instead, each 45-minute episode is set entirely within the confines of a single interrogation room, with a specialized interrogative unit of the Metropolitan Police questioning a suspect of crimes ranging from assault and murder to migrant smuggling. We are never shown the suspect’s backstory or the events leading up to the crime, leaving us with only the suspect’s words, mannerisms, and body language to judge their innocence — and the gripping psychological back-and-forths made us change our minds several times throughout. Standout episodes include Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington playing a an estate agent accused of rape and Kunal Nayyar (Raj from the Big Bang Theory sans the fake accent) portraying an imprisoned business man trying to negotiate his way out of being charged with a second murder. The interrogators’ personal side stories, taking place behind the interrogation room’s one-way mirrored glass window, tie the episodes together nicely.

⚽ In the Egyptian Premier League: Farco will face Eastern Company at 6:30pm, followed by two games kicking off at 9 pm: Al Ittihad Al Sakandary v Al Masry and Misr El Makasa v Enppi.

Over in handball, it’s the big Egypt v Cape Verde showdown: Egypt's handball team will play against Cape Verde today in the African Men’s Championship final at 9 pm. The Pharaohs sealed their spot in the final after beating Tunisia, while Cape Verde scored a momentous achievement by reaching the final for the first time in its history after defeating Morocco. Egypt (the reigning champion) has faced Tunisia in the last three African finals, and earned the title twice, including in 2016 and 2020. Our national team is looking to secure their eighth title, in efforts to catch up with the historical champion Tunisia, who’= have landed 10 titles.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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The Al-Tannoura Heritage Dance Troupe is performing the original Egyptian version of whirling dervishes in AUC Tahrir tonight at 8 pm.

If you want to be the one doing the dancing, Cairo Jazz Club 610 is hosting Salsa Night at 8pm, the one hour class is instructed by Soul Motion Studio’s dance gurus Rasha Sadek and Salah Eissa.

The Wannabe Comedians are taking over the Tap West’s stage at 9 pm tonight. The lineup features Egyptian comedians Mohamed Halawa, Pola Samuel, Youssef Gallad, Ghada Salah, and Karim Elkhorieby.

Calling on all Maroon5 fans: Tribute band Like Jagger is performing tonight at 10pm at the Cairo Cellar, located in Zamalek’s President Hotel.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Why can’t we pay attention anymore? US college students can now only focus on a task for just 65 seconds, while office workers on average can manage to maintain their focus for three minutes, making our attention spans shorter than any other time in human history. We are constantly distracted as online ads and various screens vie for our attention. After taking a trip around the world and speaking to leading scientists and experts, British journalist Johann Hari outlines his findings on what happened to our collective attention — and, more importantly, how we can get it back — in Stolen Focus. His journey takes him from an office in New Zealand that found a special way to maintain workers’ productivity, all the way to a favela in Rio de Janeiro where residents have completely lost their focus in a peculiar way, to Silicon Valley, where he meets some of the Big Tech players that designed key aspects of the digital world we live in today (features like the infinite scroll) and finds out how they discovered a way to hack humans’ attention.

The EGX30 rose 1.1% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 930.2 mn (11.7% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is down 25.8% YTD.

In the green: Credit Agricole Egypt (+ 13.4%), Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (+7.1%) and GB Auto (+5.1%).

In the red: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank-Egypt (-1.1%), Telecom Egypt (-1.1%) and Cleopatra Hospital (-0.7%).

So you’re turning to dating apps to find love, but don’t know what to do when you’ve found a match? You can now turn to AI dating coaches: With the advent of dating apps in recent years (think Bumble, Egyptian matchmaking app Hawaya, Tinder, etc), more money has been flowing into online dating services. Global consumers spent USD 4.2 bn on dating apps in 2021, marking a 95% increase in consumer spend since 2018 and a 30% increase since 2020, according to the State of Mobile 2022 report (landing page). However, research suggests that user satisfaction with these apps is lagging, with one survey from customer experience tool Tidio showing as little as 12% of dating app users are happy with their experience. Many users report negative experiences with online dating related to the quality of the matches and what happens after a match is made, according to a separate survey from an Australian app developer.

AI can help address these issues: Dating companies are now using artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a new suite of services that bring users closer to love. Widely-used dating apps such as Hinge, Tinder, and Badoo all already use AI and machine learning in their apps to find relevant matches for users. However, companies are now rolling out AI-enabled matchmaking services while other new AI-focused dating companies are emerging into the arena to help with the actual dating part.

So how does AI play cupid? A few years ago, Match.com in the UK rolled out Lara — an AI dating coach that’s available on smart home devices. Marketed as a “personal wingwoman,” users just have to ask their Google devices to speak to Lara and the chatbot helps provide unique daily matches, recommendations on where to go for dates, and dating tips such as what to talk about with their matches. “Using artificial intelligence and keyword recognition technology, Lara can understand your intentions and help you through your dating journey from start to finish,” Match.com explains.

It could also make your celebrity crush fantasies come to life: UK-based dating app Badoo uses facial recognition technology in its ‘Lookalikes’ feature to find matches that look like your celebrity crushes or other people you find attractive… even your ex.

Or AI could step in for your BFF to help you curate your own dating app presence: An app called Cupido lets AI judge your dating profile, from your pictures to your bio. Cupido will analyze and give you insights about your photos to “present your best version” and “represent your lifestyle and personality in order to attract the right people.” For example, Cupido can suggest that your pictures look awkward and can advise on whether they best represent your character and the activities you enjoy. The app also helps after swiping right on someone (which, for the uninitiated, is how to signal that you’re interested in someone), by studying your profile and the profile of your match to recommend conversation starters that will interest you both. It also follows the conversation along to help you detect what your match’s intentions are and what the next steps should be.

In some cases, it’s akin to a Black Mirror episode (“Hang The DJ”): AI dating coach app the Artificially Intelligent Matchmaker (AIMM) takes all this a step further. The app spends time with you throughout the day, asking you questions about what you like or don’t like such as if you’re a morning person or a cat person. It also asks about your relationship history to get a sense of how you react to commitment and your method of communication. After gathering data for a few weeks, AIMM — which is voice-enabled and will talk to you directly — will ping with a notification that you have a match. From there, the app will thoroughly explain why they chose this match and make an argument for why the other person is a suitable match.

A concierge service for dating? After finding you a match, AIMM will help you set up a call or a date by looking at times and days where you would be available to connect. Before the call or date, AIMM gives users a ton of advice on how to approach the other person and what subjects could bring on deeper conversations. After the meetup, the app comes back to ask how you felt and where you want things to go from there to continue the matchmaking process by reminding you to text them, compliment them, or even get them a gift for their birthday. We know this all sounds bizarre, we also found their explanatory video more than a little odd (watch, runtime: 08:17).

Whether these AI services take off or not, singles might want to brace themselves for the future of dating: As if trying to find your perfect match was not enough of a tiring process as is, the future of dating will likely include more AI as well as augmented reality and even DNA matchmaking, writes Forbes.