PM — Streaming platforms get a slap on the wrist

Happy almost-THURSDAY, friends. It’s almost the weekend, and we have a capital markets-heavy news day to show for it. But first:

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THE BIG STORIES TODAY

Chimera Investment is in talks with GB Auto to acquire 45% of its leasing arm GB Lease, according to a company disclosure to the EGX (pdf). The investment will be used to “deleverage the auto business and finance the further growth of GB Capital,” Marina Kamal, GB Auto’s IR head, told Enterprise.

A consortium led by Expedition Investments won’t up its ongoing mandatory tender offer for shares in Domty after an independent study valued the shares 38% higher, Al Mal reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The international business press is having another energy-dominated news day, between the ongoing tit-for-tat energy war between Russia and the EU, and the bloc’s scrambling to cope with soaring energy prices. All eyes are currently on Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off the bloc’s gas supplies if it decides to impose price caps on the gas it imports from Russia — which is exactly what the EU proposed hours later. The story is getting ink from Reuters, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal.

HAPPENING NOW-

The Egypt-International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF) is currently underway at the new administrative capital. The three- day event will bring together global policymakers, ministers, development partners and other participants ahead of COP27 to discuss climate action and green transition, food security, and others with a focus on Africa. Check the full agenda here (pdf).

Who’s had the mic so far: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, US climate envoy John Kerry, and Odile Renaud-Basso, head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), among others.

Renaud-Basso is also meeting with El Sisi and Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, and has already sat down with International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat. Look for climate finance to be at the top of the agenda for the meetings alongside the practicalities of COP27.

Editor’s Note: In this morning’s edition of EnterpriseAM, we said that Renaud-Basso is in town to “talk turkey” — meaning that she is discussing serious matters, not that Turkey the country is on her agenda.

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

• It’s official: Gov’t is on board with a flexible exchange rate. “We as a government do agree that a flexible exchange rate is definitely good for the economy,” Planning Minister Hala El Said told Bloomberg yesterday.
• BDO has valued Domty at EGP 6.90 per share — 38% higher than the price that the Expedition Investments-led consortium is offering shareholders in its ongoing mandatory tender offer.
• IDH wants to table a new offer for Islamabad Diagnostic Center amid economic woes in Pakistan: IDH is looking to renegotiate terms of its bid to acquire a major stake in one of Pakistan's largest diagnostics providers due to economic and political turbulence in the country.

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Consoleya and Cairo Angels will host a business meet-up on Monday, 12 September focusing on Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and how it compares with Egypt’s startup scene. Tarek Shahin (CI Capital’s chief investment officer), Biola Alabi Media CEO Biola Alabi, and Ibrahim Sagna (Afreximbank’s global head of advisory and capital markets) and take part in a panel discussion moderated by Aly El Shalakany, CEO of the Cairo Angels Syndicate Fund.

Our monthly list of data points to keep your eye on:

• Inflation figures: Inflation data for August from Capmas will land on Saturday, 10 September. Expect the Central Bank of Egypt to follow up on Sunday, 11 September with its inflation report.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets on Thursday, 22 September to review interest rates.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 37°C tomorrow and a nighttime low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app.

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We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >199k readers by telling stories that matter.

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Egypt + GCC tell online streaming platforms to adhere to “social values” in their content: The Supreme Council for Media Regulation has issued new regulations and licenses for online streaming platforms that require these platforms to ensure their content “adhere to social values and morals,” according to a statement. The council is also requiring these platforms — including Netflix and Disney+, which were singled out in the statement — to “take the necessary measures” regarding content that goes against these regulations, without providing further details. The council’s regulations come after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait issued similar directives to Netflix to remove content that violates “Islamic and social values and principles,” Bloomberg reports. Media watchdogs from the GCC countries have threatened to take legal action against the streaming giant if it does not comply.

The problematic content at issue: One scene was singled out by Saudi state TV from the children’s animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous featuring two teenage girls claiming their love for each other and kissing. The scene in question has also been making the rounds on local WhatsApp groups. Earlier this year, a number of Arab and non-Arab countries (including Egypt) banned the animated film Lightyear and Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness for their LGBTQ+ references. Netflix has yet to respond. The Guardian, BBC, Time, and Gulf News all have the story.

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SIGN OF THE TIMES- Dubai’s office rent prices are rising faster than London and New York, with increases of as much as 7% year-to-date, as the emirate sees an influx of global banks and businesses, reports Bloomberg. By comparison, prime rents in London and New York rose 1.4% and 3% or less, respectively, in 2Q 2022. The city has attracted wealth and expats partly due to its easy access to visas and pandemic response measures, with firms relocating there from Hong Kong and Russia. Dubai has also seen a swifter return to work-from-office than places like the US and the UK, a chief executive of ICD Brookfield Place, a skyscraper in the city’s financial district that opened at the outset of the global pandemic and now has a 90% occupancy rate, told Bloomberg. Up to 80% of the emirate’s workers are back in office, compared to 40-43% in London and the US, the business information service reports, citing property broker Savills.

A welcome change: Truss’ cabinet is the UK’s first without a white man in the four top seats of political power. Newly-minted UK Prime Minister Liz Truss’ new cabinet is one of the country’s most diverse cabinets, marking the first time a white male will not hold one of the country's four most important ministerial positions. The four positions — the country’s home secretary, treasury secretary, and finance and foreign ministers — are now occupied by women or people from racial minorities. Despite the Conservative Party’s campaign to diversify its candidates, still only 6% of Conservative members of parliament are from minority backgrounds and only a quarter are women. (Reuters | Washington Post | Bloomberg | The Telegraph)

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The personal finance makeover show: Netflix’s Get Smart With Money sees financial advisers educate four financially clueless people from different socioeconomic backgrounds on how to better manage their money and meet their financial goals. The documentary setup is highly reminiscent of home and beauty makeover shows — but instead of a new living room or a fresh haircut, the show sees people getting a new perspective on personal finance. Among the four individuals in need of help is former NFL cornerback Teez Tabor, who despite earning USD 1.6 mn in his first paycheck at the Detroit Lions, had only USD 280k left over after paying taxes, his agent and splurging on a few houses and bougie vacations. The financial coaches include popular bloggers Mr. Money Mustache, The Budgetnista and Ross Mac, who has been on a mission to help make black communities more financially literate, and Paula Pant of Afford Anything. If you read a lot of personal finance books the tips and tricks deployed by the coaches will seem elementary, but the show does a good job of covering the basics of budgeting and the importance of investing.

⚽ We have quite the lineup of UEFA Champions League games tonight: Ajax takes on the Rangers and Eintracht Frankfurt plays Sporting Lisbon at 6:45pm.

Later at 9pm:

Napoli v Liverpool

Barcelona v Victoria Plzen

Inter Milan v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Porto

Tottenham v Marseille

Club Brugge v Bayer Leverkusen

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The US Air Forces Central Band (AFCENT Band) is performing pop and rock classics tonight at 8pm at AUC Tahrir, in partnership with the US Embassy in Cairo. The band’s members are musicians trained in some of the most prominent music schools around the world who volunteer their talents to serve in the US Air Force as full-time musicians.

Stick around at the Tahrir Campus after Shaymaa Shoukry’s contemporary dance performance, inspired by the way we fight with others and with ourselves tonight at 9:30pm.

Learn to Kizomba: Forever Young Dance Studio is hosting a three-hour session, starting at 10pm tonight. Instructors Adham Kotb and Viktoriia Strelchenko will teach the dance genre, which originated in Angola in the late 1970s, followed by a dance party where you can show off your newly acquired skills.

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A coffee table book about coffee: Britta Folmer, coffee science manager at Nestlé’s Nespresso set out to detail the coffee production process from all those who take part in it from farmers and roasters to baristas in Craft and Science of Coffee. The book comprehensively covers every aspect of the coffee industry from its production to its consumption and everything in between, which may explain why the book has over 20 chapters, is over 550 pages long and fetches a hefty price tag at nearly USD 100. With input from market analysts, research from scientists and expertise from crafts people the book gives readers a greater understanding of coffee's complexity and its uncertain future amid climate change, conflict, and supply chain disruptions. If you’re obsessed with your morning cup of joe, this is the book for you.

SOUND SMART: Coffee prices have doubled since last year to around USD 4k per container, as climate change and import restrictions have affected supply according to Hassan Fawzy, head of the coffee division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.

The EGX30 fell 0.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.61 bn (44.4% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 14.4% YTD.

In the green: CIRA (+2.4%), Orascom Construction (+2.3%) and Qalaa Holdings (+2.0%).

In the red: Telecom Egypt (-3.8%), Ezz Steel (-3.6%) and e-Finance (-3.4%).