PM — The tanks roll in

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. On a rather quiet Thursday here on the homefront, the global press is working overtime to keep up with the only thing there really is to talk about:

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is officially underway, in what the West has said is a “dark day.” Russia’s military has attacked Ukraine in multiple locations, with air strikes and ground operations, including from Belarus. Explosions have so far been reported in the west, south, and east of Ukraine, as well as in the capital city, Kyiv.

Some 40 deaths have been reported so far in Ukraine, including three border guards and 18 people killed in a missile attack in Odessa in the country’s south-west region. Russia has reportedly carried out 203 strikes so far, says Ukraine’s national police service, according to Sky News live blog.

Moscow claims self-defense: In a televised address, Russia’s Vladimir Putin justified the attack by pulling the self-defense card and pointing a finger at the west for turning Ukraine into a “hostile, anti-Russia” run by Nazis, according to the Financial Times. The speech indicated that Russia has its eyes firmly set on creating Moscow-backed states in the south-east of Ukraine as well as a full regime change in Kyiv.

Kyiv’s response: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to Russians in Russian, denied all assertions that his country was run by Nazis (Zelenksy is himself Jewish) and vowed that his country would not surrender its independence, calling on the people of Russia to stop the war. Zelensky at the same time urged his own citizens to volunteer in the fight against Russia, saying that the government would provide weapons to anybody who needs them.

And Belarus is apparently having some Soviet Union nostalgia, offering its own troops to support Russia in military operations against Ukraine.

Airspace closures + flights suspended: Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights today and imposed martial law as Russian tanks began rolling into Ukraine, reports Reuters. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency warned against flying within 100 nautical miles in bordering areas of Russia and Belarus, reporting that Russia’s defense ministry warned Ukraine of a high risk to flight safety. Russia suspended domestic flights to and from three airports near the border with Ukraine until 2 March.

Egypt’s embassy in Kyiv also urged Egyptian citizens to stay at home and wait for further instructions from Ukrainian authorities, according to a statement.

There’s a lot more sanctions coming: US President Joe Biden is set to meet with the rest of the G7 today to discuss “severe” sanctions to impose on Moscow, according to the Financial Times, while the EU is expected to impose its own sanctions, including freezing assets and cutting off Russian banks’ access to European markets, at a meeting this evening, according to Reuters. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will also lay out new sanctions against Russia at the House of Commons later today, BBC reports. The UK, US, and Germany had already begun introducing “phase one” sanctions before the Russian tanks started rolling, but they could impose a real chokehold on Russia by sanctioning the country’s largest banks, which “facilitate the transactions with Russia for global trade,” the FT says.

And humanitarian + financial aid is also going to be rolled out for Ukraine, which the European Council will decide on when it meets this evening, European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a presser that wrapped just a few minutes ago (watch, runtime: 14:50).

THE MARKET REACTS-

Brent crude is now officially trading at above the USD 100 per barrel mark, surging to the highest level since 2014. Brent futures contracts for April delivery are trading at USD 104.82 as of dispatch time, rising 7.98%. Head of global energy strategy at JPMorgan predicts that Brent could rise to USD 125/bbl in 2Q2022, reports the Financial Times.

Natural gas prices are also on the rise, with Nymex futures for April delivery rising 4.9% as of dispatch to USD 4.85 per MMBTU.

Global stock markets (unsurprisingly) plunged today: European, Asian, and US equities all fell today, with London’s FTSE falling 3%, the Stoxx Europe 600 falling more than 4%, Germany’s Dax dropping 5%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index recording its biggest daily drop in five months, shedding 3.2%. Japan’s Nikkei also fell 1.8%, while China’s Shanghai Composite fell 1.7%. US futures across the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq all fell more than 2% each today as of dispatch.

RUB tumbles: The Moscow Exchange plunged nearly 50% in intra-day trading before recouping some of its losses to close down 29%. The RUB also crashed earlier in the day, falling nearly 10% against the USD.

Closer to home the picture isn’t much better: Dubai’s DFM closed down 1.8% today, while the ADX shed 0.3% and the Tadawul fell 1.8%. The EGX30, meanwhile, closed down 3.6% today.

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THE BIG STORY AT HOME- 11 companies are reportedly bidding on USD 2.8 bn worth of desalination projects, reports Al Borsa. Among the companies reportedly bidding are the familiar faces of Mettito, Acwa, Al Noweis, Schneider Electric and Orascom Construction. The companies have reportedly reached preliminary agreements to secure funding from the International Finance Corporation, European Investment Bank, the EBRD, GIZ, The Export-Import Bank of China and Credit Agricole among others.

^^We’ll have more on this and other stories in Sunday’s EnterpriseAM.

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

• Egypt has reportedly appointed six international banks to manage its maiden USD 2 bn sovereign sukuk issuance, which is reportedly set to go to market in 2Q2022.
• Bigger penalties for improperly licensed pharmacies: The Madbouly Cabinet approved yesterday proposed amendments to the Pharmacists Act that would impose more stringent penalties or jail time on those who set up pharmacies by “borrowing” another pharmacist’s name and license.
• Gas supplies to Lebanon waiting on “final” US approval + World Bank financing: Cairo is “waiting for the final green light” from Washington, as well as a funding commitment between Beirut and the World Bank, before it goes ahead with plans to ship natural gas to Lebanon via Syria.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Consoleya is holding its second Women Meet-up to discuss topics such as inclusivity in investment and offer women a platform to network and celebrate their achievements. The program will include a panel discussion on Gender Lens Funding in Egypt: Why Inclusive Investing Matter” with Lotus Capital Managing Partner Amal Enan, Mezzan Founding Partner Minoush Abdelmeguid, Avanz Capital Egypt Managing Director Hany Assaad, and Shorooq Partners Partner Tamer Azer. The pandel will be moderated by Rula El Kaliouby, founder of Intuition Consultancy. The day will also see a keynote by Ola Al Dajani, Steering Committee Member at Tiye Angels — Egypt’s first women’s Angel Investment Network.

ARE YOU BUILDING A FINTECH STARTUP? You might want to apply for Visa’s global startup competition, the Visa Everywhere Initiative, the payments firm said in a statement (pdf) yesterday. In collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt’s new Fintech Egypt project, the local contest will see Egyptian fintech players go head-to-head for a monetary award and the chance to advance to the regional and global finals. On offer: EGP 500k for the first-place finisher and a place in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) regional finals in June.

What you need to know: A full breakdown on the entry criteria, the application process, and the schedule is available online here. The deadline for applications in Egypt is 20 March.

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 weekend to cool down as the mercury looks set to hit 18°C tomorrow and 19°C on Saturday, our favorite weather app tells us. At night, temperatures will fall between 10-11°C.

The conflict is giving NATO a raison d'être, after lacking a clearly defined purpose for years, says the Wall Street Journal. The rekindling of East-West tensions following years of post-Cold War peace prompted an emergency meeting of NATO ambassadors early today, with alliance members pledging to defend its members and support non-NATO member Ukraine. The US-led 30-member alliance, which was created following World War II to present a united European front against Soviet infringement, has broadly been occupied over the past 30+ years with mixed priorities, such as (failed) efforts to remove the Taliban from Afghanistan, as well as work to combat Islamist terrorism, tackle illegal migration, and facing off against China.

Russia will no longer be hosting the UEFA Champions League final match, following its invasion of Ukraine, the Associated Press reports. The decision is not yet official, with UEFA’s executive committee scheduled to meet tomorrow morning to discuss the move, but it appears the meeting will be for confirmation.

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Goldman Sachs is going to make it more costly for execs to jump ship, now punishing a number of former employees by blocking them from cashing out their vested stock bonuses, reports Bloomberg. In the past, Goldman had made an effort to cultivate close ties with departing executives who would then enlist Goldman for advice, agreements, and trades. This introduction of punitive measures is the start of these huge financial giants doing away with niceties and playing hardball — a shift that threatens to undermine the benefits of being a part of (or trying to leave) the investment bank.

In our rush to direct resources to stamp out covid-19, we’ve unwittingly but significantly undermined progress on wiping out other infectious diseases, the Financial Times reports. Deaths from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in some countries could eclipse covid-19-related deaths, as testing and prevention services for many of these diseases have fallen by the wayside, health experts say. The “juggling act” between finding treatments for covid-19 and treating other infectious diseases is partially a result of lower-middle income countries’ health systems not being able to cope with the burden of addressing the pandemic while also tending to existing disease treatment and prevention.

Does life actually flash before our eyes as we die? Scientists who were studying an epileptic man using an electroencephalogram, which records brain activity, got more than they bargained for when he had a sudden heart attack and died unexpectedly. In the 30 seconds before and after the man's final heartbeat, there was an increase in a certain type of brain wave called gamma waves, the study found. These waves are associated with more sophisticated cognitive functions and are especially active when we are concentrating, dreaming, and meditating, as well as retrieving memories and processing information. “Through generating oscillations involved in memory retrieval, the brain may be playing a last recall of important life events just before we die, similar to the ones reported in near-death experiences,” Dr Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville and the organizer of the study, told Neuroscience News.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-

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DC’s action series Krypton lands on OSN: The TV series is set 200 years before the birth of Superman, instead following his grandfather, Seg-El, on planet Krypton. When earthling Adam Strange travels back in time to visit Seg-El and warn him that the planet Krypton is in critical danger of being annihilated, the pair venture on a journey to try and save the planet. The culprit behind all the madness is Brainiac — the universal destroyer of planets, who you might recognize from DC comics. Brainiac is after Superman and is trying to play with the timeline to ensure he never exists by getting rid of his grandfather. The show has the basic plotlines of any superhero show: Dangerous enemies, political clashes, and the humor-adding characters scattered about. You can watch seasons one and two on OSN.

⚽ We still can’t get over Liverpool trouncing Leeds 6-0 yesterday to close at a three-point difference with leading Manchester City, but we’ll shift focus for now to Arsenal v Wolves today at 9:45pm as an end to the Premier League’s Week 26 fixtures.

The Premier League’s Week 27 fixtures will kick off tomorrow with a single game between Southampton and Norwich City at 10pm. Saturday will see a lot more activity, with six games: Leeds v Tottenham at 2:30pm, Manchester United vs Watford, Brentford v Newcastle, Brighton v Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace v Burnley all at 5pm, and finally Everton v Manchester City at 7:30pm.

Shifting from the Premier League to the Europa League, Napoli will play against Barcelona at 10pm tonight, with the Spaniards hoping to book a safe pass through the tournament’s round 16. Other games include Lazio v Porto at 7:45pm, and Borussia Dortmund v Rangers at 10pm.

In La Liga, Levante will play in the opening of the league’s Week 26 against Elche at 10pm tomorrow, while on Saturday, Mallorca will clash with Valencia at 3pm. Also on Saturday Getafe v Alaves kicks off at 5:15pm, Rayo Vallecano v Real Madrid is scheduled for 7:30pm, and Atletico Madrid v Celta Vigo begins at 10pm.

Serie A will see the beginning of its Week 27 fixtures tomorrow, with Milan vs Udinese at 7:45pm, and Genoa v Inter at 10pm. On Saturday, we’ll be watching Salernitana vs Bologna at 4pm, Empoli v Juventus at 7pm, and Sassuolo v Fiorentina at 9:45pm.

Back at home in the Egyptian Premier League, the National Bank of Egypt will play against Pyramids at 5:30pm today, while Future will clash with Al Mokawloon tomorrow at 5:30pm.

Al Ahly and Zamalek will play their third games in the CAF Champions League’s Group stage on Saturday at 9pm, with Al Ahly clashing with Mamelodi Sundowns in Cairo while Zamalek will play away against Wydad AC.

It’s worth noting that defending champion Al Ahly is currently second in Group A with one point after a draw against Sudan’s Al-Hilal, and is one game down from Sundowns which leads the Group with 4 points. Zamalek comes third in its group behind Metro de Luanda (4 points) and Wydad AC (3 points) with 2 points after draws.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Get ready to get messy with the drool worthy food from 3 Diner, a new diner truck at The Drive By Waterway. The diner has a simple menu, but every item on there is full of flavor and nothing short of mouthwatering. We love the short ribs and fillet sandwiches in particular — the slow-cooked short ribs make the meat tender and incredibly juicy, while the beef fillet sandwich topped with a green cheese sauce hits all the right notes for your taste buds. Don’t forget to dig in their specialty appetizer: Philly Cheese Steak Loaded Fries. And while you’re at it, end your meal with their mini cookie shots, filled with gooey chocolate and toffee.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-

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The Moscow Ballet is performing Cinderella On Ice at the Cairo Opera House tonight at 8pm.

Pyramids Half Marathon and The Trifactory are organizing the Saqqara Pyramid Race which will see adult runners run 5km while children can join in on a fun 1k — all with the view of Saqqara in the backdrop. The race will start tomorrow at 2pm.

Qahraweya’s Cosmos Cinema Walking Tour will take you across Downtown’s rich cinema history from shooting locations to old cinemas and studios. The tour begins on Saturday at 10am.

Coldplay tribute band Strawberry Swing are performing at Zamalek Theater on Saturday at 7pm.

???? EARS TO THE GROUND-

WHAT’S NEXT- Mixergy dives into the day-to-day challenges that can make or break a startup: Mixergy’s Startup Stories has been around for a long time, now boasting over 2k podcast episodes. The podcast has taken on many colors over the years, but it has remained consistent in presenting well-formulated discussions on how business owners can find solutions to the most common problems. Creator and host Andrew Warner uses a mix of interviews, courses, and case studies to look at various business aspects — all with his honest and no-BS approach that makes each episode feel intimate and real. Iconic industry leaders from companies such as Pixar, YCombinator, Wikipedia, and LinkedIn have all made it on the show at one point. Recent episodes look at topics such as: bringing tech to hospitality, making production decisions at scale, and launching a hardware company quickly.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

When I’m Gone, Look for Me in The East shows how the lives of twins, both very different, yet very alike, collide in the search for the next Dalai Lama. The 23-year-old twins, Mun and Chuluun, are different in personality and character: Chuluun studies at a Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, where he adapts smoothly to the institution’s strict routine and discipline. Mun, meanwhile, adopts a Western-like style and lives in the capital of Ulaanbaatar with love for technology, tattoos and smoking after he renounces his robes and decides to end his relationship with the monastery. Their worlds eventually collide and conflicts arise in their quest across Mongolia to look for the Dalai Lama’s heir in this novel by Juan Barry.

The EGX30 fell 3.6% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.1 bn (7.8% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is down 8.9% YTD.

In the green: Mopco (+1.0%) and Abu Qir Fertilizers (+0.1%).

In the red: Orascom Development Egypt (-10.6%), Heliopolis Housing (-9.3%) and Palm Hills Development (-8.1%).

Is the push for gender pay parity regressing? The gender pay gap among executives at S&P 500 companies widened in 2020 to its highest level since 2012, according to a Morningstar report. On average, women in executive positions earned 75% of what their male counterparts earned in 2020 — a drop from 88% in 2018, the report says. The gender gap is slightly narrower among named executive officers (i.e. the CEO, CFO, and the next-most highly paid executive officer), with women earning 81% of men’s median pay in 2020.

The widening gap in pay parity comes despite women occupying more executive positions at these companies (albeit at a painfully slow pace of growth): Since 2012, the number of women in NEO positions at these companies inched up to just 14% by 2020, up 6 percentage points from 2012. However, there’s a serious dearth of women at the very top position: “The number of woman-headed S&P companies inched up to 5.5% from 4.3%,” according to Morningstar. And there are are rarely companies that have more than woman NEO, with only 16% of companies having two or more women as NEOs in 2020.

By way of comparison, how’s Egypt doing with women’s representation at public companies? While we don’t have compiled data available on the gender distribution of c-suite positions in Egyptian companies, the Financial Regulatory Authority had said last year that around 85% of EGX-listed businesses have at least one woman sitting on their boards. The regulator had introduced a requirement in 2020 that all boards in publicly traded companies have at least one woman member, before upping that regulation to require the boards of EGX-listed firms and non-banking financial services companies to be at least 25% composed of women.

But the real crux of the gap isn’t in base salaries — it’s the overall benefits package: The biggest culprit behind the widening gap, Morningstar says, is the inequality in income from stock-related awards. Men’s and women’s base salaries, while not exactly equitable, have followed the same growth trajectory between 2012 and 2020. However, options, restricted stock, and performance shares awards incomes show significant differences between men and women: “This trend favors men, whose share-based pay increased, on average, nearly 30 percentage points more than that of women over the survey period. Whereas women in the C-suite saw a 20% rise in share-based pay, men in the C-suite enjoyed a whopping 49% increase in this component — with the gap opening considerably in 2019 and 2020,” Morningstar writes.

The outlook: At the current pace, women need another four decades to reach fairness in terms of pay in the top executive positions, Morningstar said, citing an average pay to women of 83% of what men earn in the US.