PM — Who’s more influential, Beyoncé or The Renaissance?

Good afternoon, wonderful people. It’s thus far a calmer-than-expected start to the news week, but we know better than to think this lull will last long.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Five banks get ratings downgrade, outlook upgrade from Moody’s: Moody’s downgraded the long-term local currency deposit ratings for the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Banque du Caire, and CIB to B2 from B3, while AlexBank was downgraded to B2 from B1, the ratings agency said. The agency changed its local currency deposit outlook for all five banks to positive from stable.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Survivors continue to be found in Turkey and Syria, reports the foreign press, as the death toll rises above 28k, making it the deadliest natural disaster in more than 90 years in both countries. The Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters has noted the high fatality rate of earthquakes due to the difficulty in predicting when and where they will hit, and that most occur in low-income countries with already vulnerable populations.

Coverage is turning to report on the after effects of the earthquake, including the presence of looters, spread of disease among survivors and the detention or arrest of as many as 95 people in Turkey regarding the soundness of buildings that collapsed. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged to rebuild more than 100k homes within a year, as more than 1.1 mn people are living in temporary accommodation centers in Turkey, with 80k in hospital. Reuters, the Financial Times and the Washington Post all have updates on the story.

HAPPENING NOW- President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is heading to Dubai to attend the World Government Summit, where Egypt is the guest of honor, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The president is leading a high-level government delegation that will participate in the Davos-like gathering, which will see policymakers from around the world discuss global trends, according to Emirati state news agency WAM. El Sisi is set to meet with senior officials at regional and global financial and economic organizations during the summit, according to the statement.

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

• More stake sales in military-owned firms coming? The government is “ready” to offer up stakes in all military-owned firms as part of the state privatization program and partner with private-sector players, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said.
• Abou Ghaly will introduce Geely EVs to the local market. The catch: If you want one you’ll need to pay in USD through Abou Ghaly’s freezone company in Alexandria.
• Food prices hit record high on January devaluation. Inflation jumped to 25.8% y-o-y in January, hitting a fresh five-year high on the back of a record increase in food prices due to the devaluation of the EGP.

*** It’s Inside Industry day — your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: As the Madbouly Cabinet mulls rolling out pricing frameworks for strategic commodities in a bid to tamp down inflation, manufacturers weigh in on what mandatory pricing would mean for industry.

???? WE HAVE TWO CALENDARS NOW- Our Weekend Edition and EnterprisePM calendar (at the bottom of this email) include a full rundown interesting events coming up in Cairo, from art exhibitions to concerts and marathons.

Find our regular business calendar, which includes a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers, in EnterpriseAM and on the web.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s going to be chilly this week, with daytime highs of 17°C through Friday, according to our favorite weather app, before the mercury breaks back past 20°C a week from today. Look for overnight lows in the 7-10°C range in the capital city all week.

Chinese tech giants riding the ChatGPT trend: Tech giants Alibaba and Baidu have both banked on the buzz around Microsoft’s OpenAI ChatGPT and made announcements last week about their own AI models, Reuters reports. OpenAI is not available to users in China, Hong Kong, Iran, Russia, and parts of Africa including Egypt — though some people are able to get around these restrictions with the help of virtual private networks and international phone numbers.

The tech behind ChatGPT is gaining traction in China: Several Chinese companies are using ChatGPT’s underlying technology to improve their users’ experiences in myriad ways. The Shenzhen-based Proximai — which provides AI capabilities to the Aerospace community — took advantage of ChatGPT’s tech to debut a virtual character into its social app, the newswire reports.

The English Premier League buys its way to the top: English football clubs spent a record-breaking EUR 830 mn during the January transfer window — nearly double the previous record — indicating the Premier League’s growing financial sway over the most watched sport in the world, the Financial Times reports. In fact, nine of the top 10 European-club spenders this season are from England. Chelsea, for example, spent more money than the top clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany, and France combined.

And the European leagues are not pleased. The large size of spending on seasonal transfers adds fuel to the fire that some European leagues have already started by saying that the top English clubs have gotten an unfair advantage from looser financial rules — especially after the Premier League accused the incumbent champion, Manchester City, of more than a hundred financial violations. The English Premier League’s overspending in the transfer markets is “dangerous” and “can jeopardize the sustainability of European football,” chief of Spain’s La Liga Javier Tebas told the FT. Smaller European leagues are also protesting the game’s “broader inequalities,” which are mostly caused by the Premier League's financial power making its clubs grow while other European clubs shrink.

???? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
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A satirical look at the history of human civilization: In the five-part mockumentary Cunk on Earth, Diane Morgan reprises her role as the perfectly clueless presenter Philomena Cunk, who asks hard hitting questions like: Which had a greater impact on society — the Renaissance or Beyoncé’s Single Ladies? Cunk obviously isn’t the brightest bulb in the box, but she does meet with top academics in her quest to learn about the history of civilization from the Stone Age to the present. Her journey takes her from the Pyramids of Giza to the Great Wall of China, where she wanders aimlessly, asking ridiculous, yet hilarious questions and drawing analogies based on debunked myths and cliches. The experts, on the other hand, provide insightful nuggets of information on the various historical periods covered. This show is perfect for history buffs looking for a good laugh.

⚽ Gameweek 23 of the English Premier League continues today with Leeds v Manchester United at 4pm and Manchester City v Aston Villa at 6:30pm.

Barcelona continues the Spanish league title race: The Catalans, who haven’t taken home the La Liga title in three years, will face a new challenge when they face Villarreal at 10pm to try to snag it back. Barcelona is currently at the top of the league, with a comfortable eight-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, last season’s title holder.

Also in La Liga today:

Getafe v Rayo Vallecano (3pm)

Celta Vigo v Atletico Madrid (5:15pm)

Valladolid v Osasuna (7:30pm)

The most notable Italian and German league matches:

Hertha Berlin v Monchengladbach (4:30pm)

Cologne v Eintracht Frankfurt (6:30pm)

Juventus v Fiorentina (7pm)

Naples v Cremonese (9:45pm)

And it’s Gameweek 18 in the Egyptian Premier League: Ceramica Cleopatra will face Al-Masry at 6pm.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Express your artistic side while indulging in some comfort food: Il Pennello Ceramic Cafe offers its patrons a range of ceramic pieces and dozens of paint colors — and lets them get to work creating a masterpiece to work up an appetite. The menu gives a range of options, starting with a breakfast menu with many of the usual suspects (we enjoyed the Croque Monsieur and Vegetable Omelet), as well as lunch and dinner options that include pizza, pasta, and seafood. The restaurant also serves alcoholic beverages, should you be inclined to sip on a drink to let your artistic skills flow. Il Pennello has branches in Maadi, Heliopolis, and Sheikh Zayed.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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“An Archive of Love”: Digitent’s Cairo Photo Week exhibition Middle East Archive continues to run until this Saturday, 18 February at The Hanger in Downtown Cairo. The curated collection of photographs is “a sincere visual exploration and celebration of love in the Middle East and North Africa.” Get tickets to Cairo Photo Week here.

Art Cairo is still going on at the Grand Egyptian Museum until this Tuesday, 14 February. The art fair will feature more than 30 international galleries from around the Middle East.

Dust off your dancing shoes for an Afro Jazz Beginners Course with Mako Ruan at the ‎Cairo Contemporary Dance Center from 7-8 pm this Thursday.

Get in shape to participate in TriFactory’s Saqqara Pyramid Race this Friday, 17 February. The race is part of their Race Through History series, and you can choose between two distances: 5 km and 10 km (both are one-lap race courses timed using the MyLaps timing system).

Fun Nation is taking over standup comedy night at Room Art Space New Cairo this Saturday, 18 February at 9pm, with this lineup of local comedians, Waleed Al Tourky, Shehab Al Ashry, Ahmed Hossam, Waleed Mostafa and Waleed Abo Almagd.

Don’t miss Omar Khairat's concerts at 8pm next Monday and Tuesday, 20 and 21 February in the Main Hall of the Cairo Opera House.

We’re two weeks away from Kevin Hart’s standup comedy show in Cairo next Tuesday, 21 February. Some ticket categories are still available here.

Catch Cirque du Soleil’s OVO next month: The event features 100 performers taking the stage with their acrobatic acts. OVO will host 16 shows between 8-18 March at Cairo international Stadium Hall, courtesy of real estate developer Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development (pdf).

Head to the She Crafts bazaar on 24 and 25 February at the Grand Nile Tower Hotel in Garden City anytime between 12-8 pm. The bazaar aims to help women market their products and become more financially independent.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Dive into the historical fantasy world of Victory City, Salman Rushdie’s first novel to be published since an assassination attempt on his life in August of last year, is one of the most anticipated books of the year. Framed as the translation of a fictional Sanskrit epic set in 14th century India, the story follows the 250-year life of nine-year-old Pampa Kampana, who witnesses the death of her mother and consecutively becomes a vessel for a Goddess, who grants her special powers. Kampana, a sorceress and poet, plays an important role in the rise of Bisnaga, a great city born of magical seeds. The story, which was inspired by the history of Vijayanagar, a medieval Hindu Kingdom in the south of India, depicts how powerlust destroys civilizations. The 75-year-old Booker Prizewinning author has said that he will not be promoting his new novel, which he wrote before the attack that left him incapacitated in one hand and blind in one eye.

The EGX30 fell 1.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.8 bn (3.6% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 18.4% YTD.

In the green: e-finance (+3.2%), Ezz Steel (+3.1%) and Elsewedy Electric (+2.2%).

In the red: CIB (-4.7%), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (-4.3%) and Mopco (-3.7%).