PM — Word of the day: Umwelts

Good afternoon, wonderful people. We have an exciting week ahead of us, not least because…

We’re looking forward to meeting many of you on Tuesday at 8am at the Grand Egyptian Museum for our inaugural Enterprise Climate X Forum.

If you’re attending: Please plan to arrive on time for our 8am standing networking breakfast. Traffic in the area surrounding the GEM has been heavy of late, so you will likely want to leave a few minutes early.

** You will need a special QR code to gain admission to the GEM. Everyone who received and completed our online registration form will be receiving an email with their QR code within the next few minutes.

We regret that overwhelming demand from the community meant we could not welcome everyone who expressed interest in attending.

STAY TUNED- The Enterprise Climate X Forum is our first large-scale event, but it’s not our last. We look forward to welcoming many more of you at our slate of Enterprise X Forums coming up in 2023.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

We could get our first IMF loan tranche this month -Maait: Egypt could be getting the first USD 750 mn tranche of our recently-agreed USD 3 bn IMF bailout package this month, Al Mal quotes Finance Minister Mohamed Maait as saying. As of the time of writing, Egypt is not on the IMF executive board’s public agenda, which is public through to 14 December.

Egypt is also planning to take its maiden USD 500 mn panda bond issuance to market before the end of 1Q 2023, as part of the government’s push to diversify its financing sources amid global volatile capital market conditions, the news outlet reports.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

China is loosening its covid restrictions after a rare bout of public dissent against the government’s strict policies to curb the spread of the disease. Individual cities are rolling back several restrictive policies, including requirements to present negative PCR results to use public transport, but it’s widely expected that a full end to the country’s covid-zero policies will take some months to materialize. The story is leading the conversation in the international business press, with coverage from Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.

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

• Actis’ Sherif El Kholy on the export industries we should focus on right now, and down the line: After reading our five-step recipe for turning Egypt into a global export hub and FDI magnet, Actis’ Sherif El Kholy tells us why he thinks our short-term focus should be service-oriented industries, while manufacturing for the green economy should be our long-term priority.
• Egypt will sign contracts to build 21 desalination plants next year, Sovereign Fund of Egypt CEO Ayman Soliman said.
• Remittances from Egyptians abroad are set to rise 2.5% this year, climbing to USD 32.3 bn from USD 31.5 bn in 2021, according to the World Bank’s latest forecast.

*** 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: We look at the prospects for Egypt’s electronics design industry, which is a critical source of added value for electronics.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Key news triggers to keep an eye on this week and next:

• PMI: Data measuring activity in Egypt’s non-oil private sector will be released tomorrow, 5 December.
• Inflation: Inflation data for November will land on Thursday, 8 December.
• Foreign reserves figures for November should be out sometime this week.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meets on Thursday, 22 December to review interest rates.

Food Africa 2022 kicks off at Egypt International Exhibitions Center tomorrow and runs until Wednesday. More than 440 exhibitors from 28 countries will be at the food expo.

The Knowledge Hub Universities and Nova University Lisbon’s newly inaugurated Cairo campus will host the QS Reimagine Education awards and conference this Tuesday and Wednesday, 6-7 December. The hybrid event will also take place online and at the Wharton School campus in Pennsylvania, and offers awards of up to USD 50k for innovative projects in higher education.

This week in the House:

• MONDAY- Western Desert exploration agreements: The General Assembly will discuss three oil exploration agreements in the Western Desert signed with Energean and Croatia-based INA; Kuwait Energy Egypt; and Egyptian National Petroleum For Exploration and Development Company (Enpedco).
• MONDAY- FRA boss to discuss fintech regs: Financial Regulatory Authority Chairman Mohamed Farid will appear before the House Economic Affairs Committee to discuss the legislative impact of amendments to the Fintech Act and the Capital Market Law.
• TUESDAY- Samir in the hot seat: Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Samir will face questions from MPs on issues facing manufacturers, including on licensing and exports, as well as what the ministry is doing to solve the crisis in the automotive industry.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re looking at a sunny day tomorrow with temperatures expected to rise to 23°C during the day tomorrow before falling to 14°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.

Wegz’s El Bakht really spoke to us this year: Egyptian rapper Wegz was the top-streamed Arab artist in the region in 2022, with his song El Bakht (Fortune) also ending the year as the most-streamed song on Spotify, according to a statement (pdf). The rapper also had two other songs in the top 10, alongside works from Marwan Pablo, Muslim, Ahmed Saad, and others.

Egyptian listeners are committed to their Arabic tunes: Nine of the 10 most-streamed artists on Spotify in Egypt this year are Arabs, with The Weeknd being the sole western artist to crack the top 10.

Globally, it’s Bad Bunny’s world: Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny snagged the top spot in the global roundup of most-streamed artists on Spotify this year (making it his third consecutive year to land the title), followed by Taylor Swift, Drake, The Weeknd, and BTS. Harry Styles’ As It Was took the most-streamed song accolade. Over in the podcast world, The Joe Rogan Experience was once again the most popular show — a spot it has held for the past three years.

The fashion retail sector inflation crunch hits H&M: Swedish fast fashion giant H&M is laying off some 1.5k employees — around 10% of its total staff — as inflation and the cost of living crisis pile pressure on the retailer’s margins, according to a statement. The “global cost and efficiency program” is expected to save the company some SEK 2 bn per year, the statement says. The cost-cutting comes as H&M is competing with other retailers, including its bigger rival Zara and cheaper brands such as Primark, which are posting stronger sales and growth figures, Reuters reports. The “stiff competition” among retailers comes as consumers’ disposable income is squeezed amid soaring living costs, leaving them with less to spend after paying “for their food, energy, gas, and so on,” H&M IR head Nils Vinge tells the newswire.

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

Netflix drama Farha depicts the harrowing events of the Nakba, seen through the vantage point of a 14-year-old girl, locked in a storage cellar by her father. Set in 1948, the film follows Farha (Karam Taher) as she finally persuades her father to let her attend school with her friend, but the arrival of Israli soldiers derails her plans. When shots are fired, Farha is put in a vehicle with her family to escape the turmoil, but not fully comprehending the danger and not wanting to leave her father behind, she jumps off. Her father then locks her in a storage room to protect her, where through a small peephole she witnesses the atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers. Jordanian writer and director Darin J. Salaam’s debut film depicts the tragedy that unfolded in just one of the 500 towns that were destroyed in Palestine during the Nakba, which saw the ethnic cleansing and displacement of over 700k Palestinians. Farha, which was named Best Youth Film at the 15th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, is inspired by the real story of a refugee named Raddiyeh. The film is Jordan’s Academy Awards submission for 2023.

⚽Today in the World Cup’s 16th round:

• France v Poland (5pm): Following a surprising setback to Tunisia at the closing of the group stage, previous World Cup champions France are seeking a smooth path to victory to restore confidence in their players and fans, while Poland is hoping to take its first appearance in the Round of 16 since 1986 and are looking to take their journey to the finish line.
• England v Senegal (9pm): Senegal hopes to repeat its 2002 achievements — in only its third World Cup participation — and qualify for the quarter finals, while the English “descendants of the game” need a win to put them back in the position that they expect.

???? EAT THIS TONIGHT-

Upscale seafood restaurant Galambo — a Sahel favorite in Hacienda White — is now open in Palm Hills. The restaurant’s new branch in Cairo boasts the same light Mediterranean style design concept with indoor and outdoor seating as its original branch on the north coast. You’ll find classic Egyptian seafood dishes on the menu, including calamari tagine, fried barbouni fish and sayadieh rice, along with some interesting choices like molokhia with shrimp. Their mint lemonade is the perfect drink to round out all the strong flavors. The menu also includes regional favorites like pasta frutti di mare, shrimp provencal and tarama, a Greek dip made from salted and cured roe. End your meal with a sweet baklava with mastika ice cream.

???? OUT AND ABOUT-
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It’s Jazz Night tonight at the Cairo Jazz Club in Agouza at 9pm, with the Tarek Raouf Quartet performing the best songs of all time.

Watch the World Cup matches from The Tap East tonight as you indulge in a bucket of delicious wings and some good drinks! Matches will air at 5pm and 9pm.

???? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-

Take a trip beyond your five senses: One of New York Times Top 10 Books of 2022, An Immense World details all the ways different animals perceive the world through their unique sensory bubbles, which zoologist Jakob von Uexküll coined a name for: Umwelt. Much like how dogs perceive their surroundings through odors and sounds while humans that rely heavily on vision, other animals have differing Umwelts. Science journalist Ed Yong’s book attempts to get readers to step outside the limitations of their umwelts to consider how other species from elephants to treehoppers and dolphins perceive the world around them. He describes how elephants use low-frequency rumble, inaudible to human ears, to arrange to meet with groups miles away and how they are able to discern the scents associated with people who hunt them. When given piles of clothes worn by people of different ethnic groups, elephants ran away from the pile of clothes worn by the Maasai people, the only group that hunts them. He explains that humans only see 1% of the hundreds of mns of colors that birds can, since they see ultraviolet light. Young also points out that so much still remains a mystery to us despite all the new discoveries in the field.

The EGX30 rose 3.2% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.38 bn (44.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 17.8% YTD.

In the green: AMOC (+11.0%), Fawry (+8.6%) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (+8.3%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-1.1%).