PM — The Pharaohs clash against Senegal tonight

It’s shaping up to be a good Tuesday, ladies and gentlemen, as the news cycle continues to be kind — but far from insipid.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Qatar is investing USD 5 bn in Egypt through “several transactions and partnerships” in the coming period, according to a cabinet statement. The statement did not provide further details on the planned investments or the exact timeline. The agreement came during a meeting between Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Cairo earlier today.

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

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

• Gov’t downgrades FY 2021-2022 GDP forecast: The government has lowered its growth outlook for FY 2021-2022 to 5.7% from 6.4% due to the economic impact of the war in Ukraine, said Planning Minister Hala El Said. The state privatization program has also been scaled back due to the war, with the government now aiming to offer shares in four or five companies this year.
• Startup funding bonanza: Cairo-based fantasy football startup Eksab has closed a USD 3 mn seed round led by Africa-focused VC firm 4DX Ventures, with participation from Darwazah Capital, Golden Palm Investments, P1 Ventures, and other angel investors. Separately, Egyptian healthtech startup Otida has raised USD 340k in a pre-seed round led by Texas-based VC Lofty, Flat6Labs, Afropreneurs, Jedar Capital, OQAL, UI Investments and others. Also, Jordanian digital healthcare platform Altibbi has raised USD 44 mn in a series B funding round and will use the funding in part to expand in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
• France is lending us EUR 777 mn for the Metro Line 1 revamp: We yesterday signed a loan agreement with the French government for EUR 776.9 mn to fund the 55 new trains for Cairo Metro Line 1 being supplied by French manufacturer Alstom.

HAPPENING NOW-

The first edition of MENA Climate Week is ongoing in Dubai. The UAE-organized event is designed to drive regional and global climate action by bringing together ministers, high-level speakers, and leading figures, according to a press release picked up by Zawya. The outcomes of the talks and sessions will “optimize the environment for COP27 next November” while also paving the way for UAE to host COP28 in 2023. The Climate Week kicked off yesterday and will run until Thursday.

A number of Egyptian ministers (past and present) are speaking at panels today: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait spoke at a panel looking at climate strategies and finance needed for an equitable transition, while Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad was a speaker at a separate panel on “integrated approaches for climate resilience in the MENA region.” Former Investment Minister and current IMF Executive Director Mahmoud Mohieldin — named Egypt’s climate champion — is sitting on a high-level panel discussing “Accelerating Implementation in this Critical Decade” while also participating in the Marrakech Partnership Implementation Lab.

Most of the summit’s events are available to watch online. You can check out all of the sessions of the day here.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia and Ukraine appear to be making headway in peace talks held in Istanbul today, with Moscow promising to “drastically” cut back on its military operations around the Ukrainian capital and Chernihiv to make space for the negotiations, Reuters reports. Ukraine’s proposal, meanwhile, would see it adopt a neutral status that would ensure it would not become a member of any alliances nor host foreign military bases on its territory. Kyiv’s proposal also includes international security assurances — which it suggested could be provided by Israel, Canada, Poland, and Turkey — that would guard it against any attacks. The fate of Crimea, which Russia annexed back in 2014, would be determined in a “15-year consultation period” that would be contingent on a full ceasefire. Moscow will “examine” Ukraine’s proposal before coming back with a response.

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FOR TOMORROW-

Afreximbank and the Angolan Embassy in Egypt are hosting (pdf) an Angola-Egypt investment roundtable tomorrow at the Hilton Cairo Heliopolis Hotel. Click here to RSVP and join the discussion.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

All individual taxpayers have until this Thursday, 31 March, to submit their 2021 tax returns to the Tax Authority. The deadline for companies with January-December fiscal years is 30 April.

Companies have a little less than two weeks to file their first quarterly ESG compliance report: Listed firms and non-bank financial services companies need to submit their first quarterly ESG report by 10 April, the FRA said (pdf) on Sunday. The regulator is making it mandatory for corporates to publicly disclose their performance on key environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics each year when they submit their annual financial statements, starting 2023.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s going to keep getting warmer over the next few days until Ramadan, with a high tomorrow of 29°C in the capital city, rising to 38°C or so on Saturday, the first day of Ramadan. The daytime high will hover in the mid-to-high 30s all next week.

China’s close diplomatic ties with Russia is creating a headache for ESG managers, whose investments are seen to be at risk from the economic ramifications of Beijing’s support for Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine, Bloomberg reports. Data compiled by the business information service showed Europe-domiciled ESG funds’ investments amounting to USD 130 bn, with another USD 160 bn in the hands of European-based funds screened for ESG risks. Several fund managers told Bloomberg that they were closely monitoring China’s ties with Russia, with the relationship “very potentially” influencing investment approach in regards to their Chinese assets.

Flights are getting longer as airlines reroute plans to avoid Russian airspace: Cathay Pacific Airways is rerouting its New York-Hong Kong service to avoid flying over Russia, making it the world’s longest flight by distance at 16,618 km, reports Bloomberg. The flight would typically fly over the Arctic and take 15 hours, but with the new route, passengers will experience a flight time of 17 hours instead. The service will take even longer in the summer as it is now relying on strong seasonal tailwinds. Japan Airlines has also rerouted its Tokyo-London service to avoid flying over Siberia, adding four-and-a-half hours to the 11-hour 55-minute journey. These moves are unlikely to continue for long as airlines are now faced with rising fuel prices which have pushed up costs, writes Bloomberg.

Fun fact: The world’s longest flight, time-wise, is Singapore Airlines’ Singapore-New York route which takes 17 hours and 35 minutes to cover a distance of 15,349 km.

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Will Smith apologizes for that Oscars slap: Academy Awardwinner Will Smith took to his Instagram account to publicly apologize to comedian Chris Rock after slapping him onstage at the Oscars on Sunday after the presenter joked about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair, which she keeps short due to having alopecia. “My behavior at last night’s stop-baldness.net was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear,” Smith said. Despite the apology, he still risks losing his newly-acquired Oscar, which he snagged for his lead role in King Richard, according to Academy rules. The Academy is launching a formal investigation into the incident, while Rock has decided against pressing charges.

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

Dressing for the job you want: Satirical series “Servant of the People” stars now-Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (in his past life as an actor), in which he plays the role of an ordinary high school teacher who becomes president after a video. The show ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2019, ending in real life with the comedian running for presidency under the banner of his real political party, which he decided to name after the hit series. Servant of the People is now streaming on Shahid.

Disney+ is landing in Egypt and 15 other markets in the region on 8 June, according to a statement (pdf). A subscription in Egypt will cost EGP 49.99 per month or EGP 498.99 for a full year. Subscribers will have access to Star Wars’ The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian, Marvel Studios’ “Moon Knight,” which is co-directed by Egyptian director Mohamed Diab, and “exclusive original content and thousands of episodes and movies” from Disney, Pixar, and others.

⚽ The Pharaohs’ decisive match against Senegal is tonight: Our national team needs to come out on top with an away goal, or draw with Senegal in its Fifa World Cup qualifier game in Dakar to land a spot in the championship. We could still qualify if we lose (God forbid) with a one-goal difference — except if the final score is 1-0 for the Lions of Teranga, in which case we would be tied and move to an extra half and penalty shoot-outs, if needed. Reserving a spot in the Qatar-hosted tournament would make this our second consecutive appearance at the World Cup, and our fourth in history. Kickoff is at 7pm, with the game broadcast on ON Time Sport.

In the European qualifiers: Poland meets with Sweden and Portugal will face North Macedonia at 9:15pm to determine two of the three qualified European teams for the World Cup. Sweden reached the final stages at the Czech Republic’s expense, while Poland reached the top after Russia was banned from playing due to its war on Ukraine. After defeating Turkey, Portugal will play tonight against North Macedonia, which eliminated European champions Italy in an exciting surprise. The third European seat awaits the postponed match between Scotland and Ukraine, the victor of which qualifies to face Wales.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

We’re all for family businesses — especially those that involve food and are pet-friendly to boot. All Day at Foufa’s, inspired and created by sisters Foufa and Hania Kauzman, promises all-day goodness and specials with a menu that has something for everyone, whether that’s super bowls, salads, gourmet sandwiches, or something else. Our picks at the 5A by the Waterway spot: Avo toast and panko halloumi for breakfast with a cup of coffee for that all-important caffeine kick. If you’re there for lunch, nibble on some truffle fries or one of their bruschetta varieties until your main lands: We nominate the truffle chicken tagliatelle. End your meal on a high note with a tarte tatin.

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

Rapper Abyusif is performing tonight at 7pm at the Zamalek Theater, which is hosting Zamalek Music Week.

Don’t miss Love & Revenge band’s performance tonight in Rawabet Art Space at 10pm, as the French Institute in Egypt and the art space brings together the joint project of Lebanese hip-hop artist Rayess Bek and visual artist La Mirza in reviving old Arab popular songs and movies through a modern music adaptation.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Get a view of some of the roughest (and most costly) turbulent events in recent financial history in Panic: The Story of Modern Financial Insanity by Michael Lewis, which tells the story of modern financial madness as he shapes market factors that lead up to each catastrophe, including the US stock market crash in 1987 (AKA Black Monday) and the dot-com boom. Lewis analyzes through this exciting read how events unfolded and what we, as readers, should have learned from the experience. Also one of our favorites by Lewis: Liar’s Poker, the inside story of the trading rooms at Salomon Brothers in New York and London in the mid-1980s.

EARNINGS WATCH-

Gadwa Industrial Development achieved a bottom line of EGP 115.19 mn in 4Q2021, according to the company’s financials (pdf). The company was founded in October. Gadwa’s revenues during the period reached EGP 230.65 mn.

Pioneers Properties recorded a bottom line of EGP 298.41 mn in 4Q2021 — the three-month period since its founding, according to the company’s financials (pdf). The company’s revenues reached EGP 1.60 bn during the period.

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MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 rose 1.4% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 949 mn (2.4% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 4.7% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Construction (+7.1%), CIRA (+7.1%) and Fawry (+5.4%).

In the red: GB Auto (-7.4%), Credit Agricole Egypt (-1.8%) and Palm Hills Development (-1.0%).

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar, founder and managing director of SolarizEgypt (LinkedIn).

I always knew I wanted to start a business of my own, but I had to find a real problem to solve and had to acquire a specific skill set first. My time working as a trainee manager at Edita enabled me to learn more about how the Egyptian market works, while my tenure at Exxon helped me understand how to run a business seamlessly. When I felt like I had gained enough experience to build a startup of my own, and after I discovered my passion for harnessing solar power to contribute to the betterment of the Egyptian economy, I founded SolarizEgypt.

We provide affordable, environmentally-friendly energy. When we first started, I learned the hard way that everyone wants to be sustainable — until they have to pay for it. Our main value proposition is to provide sustainable solutions that actually help businesses save money. We are taking high capex projects and converting them into an opex-saving setup for our clients. That’s why we decided to focus on water desalination and waste management, all of which require a tremendous amount of capex. We managed to find a cool solution that doesn’t require clients to pay for the capital expenditures: we pay, through data and equity, while providing them with a decent amount of opex savings without any of the operational risks associated with such projects.

So far, we’ve raised more than EGP 4.5 bn if we add the total amount of equity, debt and capital commitments to fund our future projects. Our series A round saw us securing EGP 50 mn for around 25% of the company from high-net-worth individuals through a consortium financing round, and we exited 74% of our assets in the series B round to Amarenco, an infrastructure fund. We don’t have any further funding plans at the moment.

We have capital commitments to co-develop 320 MW of assets over the next four years. We currently also have large scale facility agreements with several commercial banks totalling around EGP 650 mn.

What I love about my job is the fact that I have managed to create an entity composed of inspirational people that I truly admire. I know this may sound cheesy [laughs], but it's 100% true. I love spending time with my coworkers, and it’s incredibly rewarding to look around and see hugely talented people by your side.

I also really enjoy the impact element of my job. As a player in the solar industry, every megawatt we create is equivalent to planting 1 mn trees, and the fact that we’ve created 50 megawatts, effectively means that we’ve planted 50 mn trees. We intend to take that up to 100 mn trees very soon, or, in other words, a tree for every Egyptian. That’s the kind of legacy that excites me.

The founder’s journey is the loneliest one any person can take. As a founder, you’ll have access to information that you won’t be able to share with anyone, which can be extremely alienating. You can face a problem that could compromise the company’s survival — a burden that you carry alone — knowing that if you communicate such a problem to the team, you risk jeopardizing their morale.

The sacrifices an entrepreneur must make to focus on their journey are immense. If I said that I had to give up everything, I would not be exaggerating. I would have never imagined that building a startup would require such an exorbitant amount of brainpower, attention, and emotional stress. You don’t start to realize how demanding and draining the journey is until you’re halfway through it, and by then you have no other recourse but to just keep going. You will have to dedicate your mind, time, and money to ensure the success of your business. It’s a lot of stress [laughs].

Don’t worry though, there is light at the end of the tunnel: The journey, grueling as it may be, is also incredibly rewarding. So long as you are not a founder who is in the entrepreneurship game just to make returns; if you’re truly passionate about the problem your startup aims to solve, you will be able to dedicate your mind and time to prioritize your business and ensure its success.

It’s filled with rewards that make it worthwhile. When you see progress and observe that you’re making a positive impact and inspiring others, you’re empowered to keep going and forget about the harder parts of the job.

Our short term goal is to implement as many solar projects as we can before COP 27, which we consider to be a once in a lifetime event for Egypt. We are also focused on our water desalination projects, which we believe have tremendous potential given the problems the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam could pose for Egypt. We want to provide alternative solutions that would put Egypt in a better position.

A startup that I think is killing it is Mozare3. Their business model is brilliant and I’m very proud of their success. Their progress with regard to scalability is incredible, and their impact is out of this world.

In my spare time, I like to learn more about crypto and how it can change the future. I love to surf, and get out to the beach whenever I have the time.

The last great thing I read was The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari. When you’re managing a thriving startup, you can lose focus of what personally matters most to you. It can become an addictive cycle; when you reach a target, you immediately start focusing on the next milestone. This book helped me remember my priorities; the book ultimately reminded me what my core business interests should be.

The most inspiring role model for me is my late grandfather and namesake, Dr. Yaseen Abdel Ghaffar, whose legacy lives on to this day, 20 years after his death. I’m lucky to share a name with that great man who created a charity organization that has helped over half a mn Egyptians get the healthcare they need. His legacy is eye-opening; it helped me realize how championing a cause that you believe in can help change the world for the better.