PM — Sanctions against Russian coal coming?

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve successfully made it through half of our first Ramadan workweek, so give yourself a pat on the back.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? You’ll be breaking your fast at 6:16pm CLT this evening in the capital city, and fajr prayers are at 4:10am.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Non-oil business activity saw its sharpest decline in 21 months in March as the effects of the Russia-Ukraine war began to take their toll on business confidence and demand, according to S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey (pdf). Cost burdens and suppressed demand pushed the gauge down to 46.5 in March from 48.1 in February, falling for the sixteenth consecutive month further below the 50.0 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

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

• Giza Systems board nods to STC takeover: A subsidiary of Saudi Telecom (STC) is on course to take an 89.5% stake in Giza Systems, after the board of the Egyptian systems integrator accepted its bid.
• Our strategic wheat reserves have taken a dip: Egypt currently has enough wheat to cover the next 2.6 months’ worth of consumption, down from the four-month figure announced by the government in early March.
• Arab League wants to mediate a ceasefire in Russia-Ukraine war: An Arab League delegation including Foreign Minister Shoukry has offered to mediate ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine and work out a number of confidence-building measures.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD

EU sanctions against Russia are about to hit coal, with the bloc expected to announce a “mandatory phaseout” of Russian coal imports in response to allegations that Moscow has committed war crimes in Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, citing people it says have knowledge of the matter. Germany, which has been resisting imposing sanctions on Russian energy as Europe grapples with energy shortages, is now “ready to consider the move,” the business information service reports.

The announcement (expectedly) pushed up coal prices, with futures hitting a three-week high, according to Bloomberg. Coal markets are already tight without eliminating supplies from Russia, which is the world’s third-largest thermal coal exporter.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Expect movement on fuel prices this week or the next: The government’s fuel pricing committee is due to have its quarterly meeting at the beginning of this month, when it will likely opt to hike prices in 2Q for the fifth time in less than a year. The committee increased prices of 80, 92 and 95-octane by EGP 0.25 when it last met in February in response to rising international prices, and since then, the war in Ukraine has sent Brent up another 15% past USD 107 a barrel. Prices at the pump have risen by up to 16% since April last year.

ALSO THIS WEEK AND NEXT-

• Foreign reserves: March’s foreign reserves figures will be announced some time this week;
• Inflation figures for March are expected on Sunday, 10 April.

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 39°C during the day tomorrow before falling to 19°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

People are buying their own NFTs to earn more rewards, not drive up NFT prices: The gray areas in crypto continue to rattle regulators, with “wash trading” becoming the latest trend on LooksRare, the hottest new NFT marketplace, Bloomberg reports. Wash trading is when traders simultaneously sell and buy the same asset to create misleading activity in the marketplace. Some USD 18 bn of the trading volume — about 95% of the total activity — on LooksRare is actually people selling themselves their own NFTs, according to data compiled by NFT tracker CryptoSlam. But rather than doing it to inflate the value of their digital assets, the sales are done to earn new tokens on the marketplace, the business wire says.

The sales have helped mask a drop in NFT demand: LooksRare’s high trading volumes have effectively hid the cooling of demand in the NFT market. Total sales on OpenSea, the first and largest NFT marketplace, have been declining every month since January, according to data from Dune Analytics. Trading volume has decreased 67% in the last 30 days and the number of traders is down 23%, according to data from DappRadar.

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The successful rollout of covid-19 vaccines was good news for the general public — but even more for the pockets of CEOs’ pockets: The top execs at Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna earned north of USD 100 mn between them during the pandemic, with their combined remuneration rising to USD 107.2 mn in 2020-2021, up from USD 103.7 mn in the preceding two years, the Financial Times reports, citing data group Airfinity. The salary bumps came as the three companies rolled out successful covid-19 mRNA vaccines and other treatments, which also bode well for the companies’ stock prices: Pfizer is up 60% over the past two years, while the value of BioNTech and Moderna’s shares boomed 3x and 5x, respectively.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

(all times CLT)

Al Ekhteyar season 3: This season of the recurring show follows the events leading up to the fall of the Ikhwani government led by the late Mohamed Morsi. In the first on-screen drama portrayal of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi (played by Yasser Galal, with incredible character accuracy), the show focuses on the decisions the Armed Forces faced in the face of growing public discontent with the Ikhwani government, eventually leading to mass protests demanding their departure. The first couple of episodes have mainly focused on introducing us to key players: Ikhwani leader Khairat El Shater (played by Khaled El Sawy), Morsi (played by Sabry Fawaz), Supreme Leader Mohamed Badie (Abdel Azizi Makhyoun), and Field Marshal Hussein Tantawy (Ahmed Bedier). Actor Karim Abdel Aziz returns this season as a national security officer, while Ahmed Ezz and Ahmed El Sakka are cast as a general intelligence officer and military intelligence officer. You can catch the trailer here (runtime: 1:44)

⚽ It’s a simple yet exciting football fix tonight, as the quarter final of the UEFA Champions League kicks off with two games at 9pm: Benfica v Liverpool + Manchester City v Atletico Madrid.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

The comeback of TBS trademark — and a favorite here at Enterprise — Al Basmoola: This delicacy just keeps getting better and better every season. The mix of Syrian maa’moul and Egyptian basbousa is just as heavenly as we remembered, with TBS maintaining flavors of Lotus, Nutella, and rice pudding, or even a mix of Lotus and Nutella on its original creation. TBS has also rolled out a new dessert dish — Tresüt — a vanilla cake soaked in three milk mixtures (torta tres leches) and topped with their milk and chocolate konafa croquant with your selection of toppings of dates and pistachio, Nutella and hazelnut, or Lotus and almond.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

(all times CLT)

Meganio Samir is singing the tunes of Lebanese soprano singer Magda El Roumi in a performance conducted by Youssef Moanis at New Cairo’s Room Art Space & Cafe at 9pm.

You can still catch some art exhibitions today for inspiration: Aya Mostafa’s Merry Go Round and Nevine Farghaly’s With Love at Ubuntu Art Gallery until 8pm. And some more: Art exhibition Quartets Salah Jahin by Syrian artist Youssef Abdelké at Mashrabia Gallery of Contemporary Art runs in Ramadan everyday till 8pm.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Abundance: The Inner Path to Wealth by New York Times bestselling author Deepak Chopra is an engaging guide on how to reach success and wholeness through breaking away from a mindset of limitations. It offers practical advice to readers on tapping awareness to lead change in their own lives. Chopra guides readers through the journey with a seven-step plan and meditation techniques to guide your attention and energy towards peace, insight and creativity.

The EGX30 fell 1.3% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 781.35 mn (20.1% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 4.8% YTD.

In the green: Fawry (+4.4%), EFG Hermes (+4.3%) and Ezz Steel (+1.4%).

In the red: EKH (-4.3%), Palm Hills (-3.7%) and Elsewedy Electric (-3.5%).

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK- Hussein Abo Bakr, founder and CEO of Mozare3 (LinkedIn).

My name is Hussein Abo Bakr, and I’m the co-founder and CEO of Mozare3. I studied international marketing as an undergraduate and went on to get my MBA specializing in operations management, both at AUC. I started working in my family’s business, Fridal, as an undergrad, scheduling classes so I could split my time between both worlds. In 2008, I founded my first startup, Fridal Wahat Herbs Farm, which was the first farm in Egypt to fully utilize solar-powered irrigation, and is currently the country’s top exporter of herbs.

Mozare3, launched in 2021, is Egypt’s first agri-fintech platform. We offer direct contract farming between corporations and Egyptian farmers, including digital invoices and deliveries. We also offer embedded finance, providing farmers with pesticides and fertilizers instead of money. Finally, we provide agronomy support teaching farmers how to produce high quality crops, through our app and contact center, and with visits to farms by our agricultural engineers. We plan to also offer non-agri assets — from cows to refrigerators — to those farmers who prove credible enough to expand.

We currently operate in 10 governorates, and our goal is to expand to five more by the end of the year. By 2023, we expect to be operating across the entire country. We serve around 3k farmers, and hope to grow that fourfold by the end of the year, and to reach 100k farmers in 2023. We’re also looking to grow our corporate client base from seven to 25 this year, and then to 100 by the end of next year. We aim to cross EGP 1 bn in revenues by the end of 2023.

We plan to continue operating in Egypt exclusively for the next two years, given the huge demands in the local market. The next step for us would be to expand into Morocco and Sudan.

We’re finalizing our series A funding round and expect to close in the very near future. Mozare3 raised USD 1.1 mn in our pre-seed round, and an additional USD 2 mn in a second round of financing. Our company’s three institutional investors are Algebra Ventures, EFG EV, and Disruptech Ventures, and we have six angel investors backing us as well.

My co-founders and I each brought something to the table when we decided to launch Mozare3. I know the agribusiness market and have experience with farmers. Tamer El-Raghy, who handles fundraising at Mozare3, (LinkedIn) has a wealth of knowledge on all things agtech, and is managing director of Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund. Mohamed Okasha (LinkedIn), who is responsible for building our fintech products at Mozare3, is the managing partner at Disruptech Ventures and has immense experience in management, and great insights on who to connect with in the industry.

The most important KPIs I focus on are contracts signed with customers, successful deliveries from farmers to clients, the percentage of produce that passes quality standards, gross margin per contract, and the satisfaction level of both farmers and corporate clients.

I believe in the value investors can bring to the table from day one. My first two startups started off as bootstrapped businesses. For my second, Plantform Agribusiness, I got private equity firm Tanmeya Capital Ventures on board a year after I started. This made me realize how vital it is to have investors on your side.

Mozare3 is not a typical startup, in that we had investors, customers, farmers, revenues, and an operational team from the get-go. Because we had the right connections, a business model predetermined years in advance, and enough investment, we hit the ground running. A few years ago, the market wasn’t ready for an agri-fintech company. When the fintech market matured in Egypt, we felt that the agtech / agri-fintech market became ripe for growth and it was the right time to launch.

I don’t think I had to make sacrifices to focus on my journey as a startup founder; I would prefer to say that I had to pick my priorities. I had to shift my career to focus on my new ventures, and allocate my personal wealth and time to them. Of course, I did have to give up a lot of family time to focus on my startups.

The best part of my job is seeing the impact we’re having on people, from farmers to industry workers and agricultural engineers. I also love the fact that our team members join Mozare3 because they believe in the work we’re doing. It’s always reassuring to see the team as enthused as I am about Mozare3’s tremendous social impact.

The worst part of the job is managing expectations. Because Mozare3 is a market leader when it comes to agtech, stakeholders, the team, and the public in general sometimes have unrealistic expectations. They want us to solve problems that have been around for hundreds of years and often forget that we’re still a small startup [laughs]. Yes, we have potential, but we still need help.

I know a lot of entrepreneurs say that the founder’s journey is a lonely one, but I don’t quite agree. If you’re feeling alone, that may be because you’re not integrating the right people in your journey. Your co-founders, investors, and even your family can always help share your burden. I can understand feeling like you’re the most invested person in the success of the business. That’s normal — as a founder, you stand to gain the most from the prosperity of the business, so don’t expect anyone else to be as invested as you are.

It’s hard for me to pick an exit strategy for Mozare3 because of the company’s unique potential to boost Egyptian agricultural exports. Ideally, in the long term, I have a dream to democratize ownership of the company’s shares, enabling farmers and all the vested stakeholders to own a piece of Mozare3. I think a cooperative structure would ensure Mozare3’s longevity. Another great alternative would be a hybrid model that fuses a traditional IPO structure with that of a cooperative.

Startups that I think are really impactful and doing amazing work are solar player SolarizEgypt, trucking startup Naqla and B2B logistics firm Khazenly. We’re hoping to work with all three at Mozare3.