Monday, 22 April 2019

It’s the last day of voting on constitutional amendments

TL;DR

What We’re Tracking Today

It’s the last day of balloting in the constitutional referendum. Voters in Egypt have until this evening to vote on a package of constitutional amendments. Polls closed yesterday for Egyptians living abroad. You can read the statement by the National Elections Authority here. The vote continues to dominate foreign media coverage of Egypt; we have more in this morning’s Egypt in the News section, below.

It’s also another very slow news morning for business and finance with media attention distracted by the referendum, a terror attack in Sri Lanka and a holiday long weekend in much of Europe and North America.

Also this week:

  • If it wasn’t a short week, we would definitely be attending the SME Governance Workshophosted by the Egyptian Private Equity Association and IFC on 23-24 April. If you run an SME, you should try to make it.
  • President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is due to head to Beijing for China’s Belt and Road Forum. The gathering takes place on 25 April.

Is salvation for active fund managers a new type of ETF? After years of passive funds eating the lunch of professional stock pickers, a new type of exchange-traded fund (ETF) that’s now getting regulatory approval in the United States could hold out hope for active fund managers. The so-called active ETF allows active fund managers to package together a bundle of stocks — and keep the constituents hidden for as long as a quarter before they need to be reported.

This effectively allows fund managers to “package their active strategies into an ETF wrapper,” the Financial Times reports. “If investors show support for active ETFs, they could become the vehicle of choice for fund managers, ending the hegemony of the mutual fund, which has begun to wane under the strain of the shift towards passive investing,” the salmon-colored paper concludes.

Warnings of an “earnings recession” in the US and Europe appear to have been greatly exaggerated: Initial 1Q earnings releases by US blue-chip companies have alleviated fears among some analysts of a so-called “earnings recession,” the FT says. Earnings were projected to fall 4.6% during the first quarter and 0.4% in the second, but earnings of major US banks have so far surpassed expectations.


In international news this morning:

A comedian is about to become president of one of our largest trade and tourism partners. There is no better lede on the subject than this from Reuters: “Ukraine entered uncharted political waters on Sunday after exit polls showed a comedian with no political experience and few detailed policies had easily won enough votes to become the next president of a country at war.” Ukraine is one of our largest suppliers of wheat and a has of late been a top three tourism market for Egypt — just behind number-one Germany and just ahead of Saudi Arabia.

A series of coordinated explosions killed more than 200 people and injured at least 450 in Sri Lanka on Sunday morning, the Reuters reports. The attacks, for which no one has yet claimed responsibility, targeted churches holding Easter mass services and international hotels. The Sri Lankan government has imposed a nationwide curfew and limited social media access while it investigates the attacks, Bloomberg reports. The Egyptian foreign ministry and Al Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed Al Tayeb both issued statements condemning the attacks.

Also making news:

  • Talks between Sudan’s transitional military council and protest leaders have broken down after the military refused to transfer power to a civilian authority, the FT says.
  • Thousands demonstrated in the Moroccan capital Rabat yesterday demanding that the government release 42 activists who had campaigned against unemployment and corruption, the BBC reports.

PSA #1- Stress is heavily tied to heart disease, particularly in people under the age of 50. That’s the takeaway from a study that found folks diagnosed with a stress disorder are 37% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than the general population. Are you just anxious and depressed and not suffering from a “stress disorder”? Don’t be smug: You’re also at risk.

PSA #2- Breast or bottle? Cry it out or cuddle? Working moms: Yay or nay? The New York Times marshals data to look at the questions that bedevil new parents.

PSA #3- It is a short work week here in Cairo, with the country shutting down on Thursday for a very long weekend. The EGX is closed, as are banks, from 25-29 April (Thursday-Monday) as well as Wednesday, 1 May. Look for the mercury to rise to 33°C by the start of the long weekend on Thursday.

That leads us straight into Ramadan, which the National Astronomy Institute says will start on Monday, 6 May, at which time banks and the EGX traditionally move to shortened Ramadan hours.

Too bad we can’t watch this instead of whatever mosalsalat will plague us this year: Egyptian-American comedian Ramy Youssef is getting plenty of praise from Glamour, Mashable, Rolling Stone and even CNN for his semi-autobiographical series Ramy. The series, which he wrote, directed, and starred in, is said to offer a new take on issues facing a practicing millennial Muslim in the US. The show is available for binging on Hulu now, but only for our readers in the US. Readers in Egypt can catch the trailer on Youtube (watch, runtime: 1:58) — it’s promising enough that we would have added it to our to-be-watched list. Warning: If you have rugrats at home, you probably don’t want the kiddies listening while you steam the trailer.

Enterprise+: Last Night’s Talk Shows

The second day of voting on the proposed constitutional amendments was by far the most popular topic on the airwaves last night. What the TV media is trying to tell you: The referendum has seen “unusually high turnout” (the phrase cropped up multiple times).

The final voting day for Egyptian expats was a “huge success,” Al Hayah Al Youm said (watch, runtime: 1:36). After airing a camera shot of expats dancing outside an Egyptian diplomatic outpost, the TV program broadcast a short motion picture of an Egyptian child raised abroad urging voters to turn out.

Electoral officials are counting expat votes and the final result is expected out on Friday or Saturday, El Hekaya’s Amr Adib said (watch, runtime: 4:30). “We cannot say there was a weak turnout on the second day,” he added, saying the large communities of Egyptians living abroad are not to be taken lightly (watch, runtime: 4:30).

Due to high turnout, polls will stay open during the 3-4pm rest hour on this third and final voting day, National Elections Commission Vice President Mahmoud El Sherif said, according to Masaa DMC’s Eman El Hosary (watch, runtime: 2:47). The commission denied rumors it will extend voting for a fourth day.

In keeping up with tradition, Adib drifted off on a tangent. He highlighted Banque du Caire Chairman and CEO Tarek Fayed recent announcement about the bank’s planned 20-30% stake IPO (watch, runtime: 2:19). We had the full story in yesterday’s issue.

Speed Round

Speed Round is presented in association with

EXCLUSIVE- Gov’t to set cost-to-income ratio at 70% under new bank tax treatment of investments in treasuries, plans to scrap annual increase: The Finance Ministry is planning to amend the way banks will calculate their cost-to-income ratio for their holdings of government debt under the new tax treatment. The move will see the cost-to-income ratio capped at 70%, a senior government official tells Enterprise. Under this new calculation, the ministry will no longer introduce an annual increase to the ratio that would have seen it calculated on 100% of revenues in 2022. The ministry is currently finishing the executive regulations of the new tax treatment, which have effect retroactive to 10 February 2019. Banks will be required to make their first payments under the tax treatment on 10 May.

Background: The measure will require banks and companies to separately account for earnings from their holdings of government debt and could see their effective tax rates rise. The measure will apply only to gains on debt bought after the treatment comes into effect. A source had previously told us that the ministry had reached an agreement with the Federation of Egyptian Banks (FEB) that would see the ratio capped at 50% and allow these expenses to be counted as deductible against pre-tax income on the income statement.

DISPUTE WATCH- Customs dispute with Mercedes importer in Egypt is back from the dead: A dispute between the Customs Authority and an Egyptian importer of Mercedes-Benz cars that was settled earlier this year has apparently resurfaced and is now before the Investment Ministry’s dispute resolution committee to be sorted out, according ot a domestic press report citing an unnamed government official. The importer, unnamed in this report and in an earlier statement by the Finance Ministry, is pushing back on the Customs Authority’s imposition of indicative pricing on the cars. It argues that as an importer, it can sometimes get specific price breaks from Mercedes-Benz that the Customs Authority “does not acknowledge” in calculating the base price for customs. According to the sources, the ministry committee says it is “difficult” to grant the importer the customs rate it is seeking, bringing back the dispute over the EGP 700 mn payment back to square zero.

Could this put a damper on Mercedes’ return to assembling in Egypt? Mercedes-Benz production chain boss Markus Schaefer had told Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly in January that the German manufacturer could resume the assembly of passenger cars in Egypt after a years-long hiatus. Schaefer’s announcement came just one day after the Cabinet’s investment dispute resolution committee settled the EGP 700 mn customs payment. The luxury car maker shut down its assembly line in mid-2015 amid FX shortages and as completely built-up cars (CBUs) were made cheaper in light of falling tariffs on EU-assembled cars, which hit zero at the start of this year.

DISPUTE WATCH- Ibnsina lodges appeal with Court of Cassation to further reduce antitrust fine: Ibnsina Pharma has filed an appeal with the Court of Cassation (the nation’s highest court of appeals) against a lower court decision that cut an EGP 2 bn antitrust fine to EGP 160 mn, the company said in a statement to the bourse (pdf). The company said it was appealing because “the decision is not final, can be appealed, and no date has been set for the appeals hearing.” If the Cassation Court were to accept the company’s appeal, a retrial would take place with EGP 160 mn being the maximum fine Ibnsina would pay, meaning the company is not risking a scenario that would see the court deciding to raise the fine again. The company agreed this week to pay c.EGP 50.9 mn in dividends to shareholders at EGP 0.07 per share, according to a separate EGX disclosure (pdf).

Background: The Egyptian Competition Authority had brought a case against four distributors including Ibnsina, Ramco, Multipharma, and United Company for Distribution and Trade on allegations they colluded to cut credit periods and slash discounts to small retail outlets. The earlier verdict cleared an overhang on Ibn Sina stock and underscored the fact that the Cairo Appeals Court was willing to listen to and understand a complex argument from business.

IPO WATCH- Fintech company e-finance will IPO as part of the second privatization wave: State-owned financial technology company e-finance will be part of the second wave of the state privatization program, which is set to begin as early as September, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said, without providing further details. E-finance is majority owned by the state’s National Investment Bank (NIB), while major shareholders include the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, the Egyptian Banks Company, and the Egyptian Company for Investment Projects. We heard last year of plans by NIB to list as many as 9-11 of its holdings on the EGX. Tawfik told us last month that the second wave of privatizations is expected to only involve new listings, and companies in the industrial, mining, and E&P sectors will be prioritized. One company will IPO each month, he said.

Background: The government kicked off the first wave of the program last month with Eastern Tobacco’s secondary offering of a 4.5% stake. It is planning to soon offer a 20% stake sale in Abu Kir Fertilizers, which sources said earlier this month would be the second company in line. Alexandria Containers & Cargo Handling and Heliopolis Housing will also be part of the initial wave, which Tawfik said will finish before the Eid El Fitr break. All EGX sales in the first wave will be secondary offerings.

LEGISLATION WATCH- Companies up to 75% owned by the state could be reclassified as “law 159” enterprises: Listed companies in which the government owns up to a 75% stake would no longer fall under the Public Enterprises Act if draft legislation now being prepared is passed, Public Enterprises Minister Tawfik reportedly said, according to Al Mal.

Why this matters: Today, any company with more than 50.5% state ownership falls under the Public Enterprises Act, which restricts the ability of company execs to manage the business according to market norms. Instead, any listed company in which the state owns less than 75% would automatically have to comply with the same Companies Act (law 159 of 1981) with which any non-oil-and-gas, non-freezone company in the private sector must comply.

Background: The package of legislative amendments was drafted last October and was due to make its way to the House during the ongoing legislative session. We haven’t yet had word of the amendments making their way to cabinet for review. They would then require a further review by the Council of State to be eligible for introduction to the House.

LEGISLATION WATCH- Gov’t expects Social Security and Pensions Act to take effect in July: The Social Solidarity Ministry is expecting the proposed Social Security and Pensions Act to become law by no later than July, spokesman Mohamed El Okabi said. The ministry is planning to present the final draft to cabinet next month alongside the results of an actuarial study. The draft will make its way to the House of Representatives following cabinet review for a final vote ahead of being signed into law by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Background: The act would peg increases in pension payouts to inflation, calculate social insurance payments on real (rather than nominal) wages, and set up a healthcare fund for pensioners. The proposed law originally contained a stipulation to establish an independent body to manage the state’s pension funds. The body would be set up under a separate draft law, government sources said last month.

Is Thomas Cook about to get a new owner? The high-profile UK-based holidays group, a fixture of Egypt’s tourism industry since the late 1800s, could soon have new owners. With its share price down about 80% in the past year, Thomas Cook is shopping itself to investors that include private equity outfits KKR and EQT as well as “acquisitive Chinese group Fosun International,” the Financial Times reports. The FT was picking up on a Sky News story that says the prospective buyers are each interested in the group as a whole or part thereof.

MOVES- Arabian Cement Company has appointed Salvador Cabanas Lopez as CFO, the company said in an EGX disclosure (pdf).

MOVES- The Egyptian Financial and Industrial Company (EFIC) has named Abdel Aal Tolba El Banna as chairman and Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Abo Elmagd as his deputy, the company said in an EGX disclosure (pdf).

CORRECTION- In yesterday’s issue, we had incorrectly referred to Saudi Arabia’s Alkhorayef Group as Al Kharafi Group. The story as since been corrected on our web edition.

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Egypt in the News

Voting on the proposed constitutional changes continues to top coverage of Egypt in the foreign press, with wire pickups of Reuters and Associated Press pieces featuring in Euronews, the New York Times and the Washington Post. Deutsche Welle and the AP both draw attention to government efforts to get out the vote, from the proliferation of pro-government banners to voters receiving bus rides and bags of food staples. The role of state media outlets in championing the cause of the referendum is also highlighted, with AP quoting Al-Ahram Chairman Abdel Mohsen Salama’s framing of the vote as an “urgent necessity.” Voice of America, meanwhile, claims there have been “irregularities” in the voting process while the Telegraph has a less-than-favorable take on what it means for the ambitions of the 2011 revolution.

On The Front Pages

Reports of crowds heading to the polls on the second day of the referendum on the constitutional amendments continued to top all three government-owned dailies this morning (Al Ahram | Al Gomhuria | Al Akhbar).

Worth Watching

The future for the 80k employees working for German automaker BMW is uncertain as the company ramps up the production of electric cars that require fewer workers. Bloomberg explores the potential repercussions in this short video (watch, runtime 1:05).

Diplomacy + Foreign Trade

El Sisi holds talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo yesterday, according to an Ittihadiya statement. El Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The meeting came a few days after White House adviser Jared Kushner announced that the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan would be unveiled after the end of Ramadan on 5 June.

El Sisi also met with US Democratic senator Ron Wyden yesterday accompanied by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, according to an Ittihadiya statement. The party discussed shared counter-terrorism efforts, economic development strategies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

House Speaker Ali Abdel Aal met with his Cypriot counterpart Demetris Syllouris to explore opportunities for collaboration in the areas of economic development, energy and security, reports the local press.

Energy

Zohr gas condensates production increases to 4,000 tonnes per day

Production from Eni’s Zohr gas field increased to 4,000 tonnes of gas condensates per day, up from 3,500 tonnes in 2018, a source within the petroleum sector told the local press. Eni is said to have completed drilling and linking 10 wells in the Mediterranean, increasing production to 2.3 bn scf/d. It now plans to invest around USD 4 bn in the development of the second phase of the field, which will bring the gas field’s total production capacity to 2.7 bn scf/d.

Interest on overdue electricity bills to rise to 17.5% in May

Interest rates on electricity bills overdue by more than three months will rise to 17.5% starting from May, chief of the South Cairo Electricity Distribution company Mohamed El Sisi said, according by Al Mal. The rate includes the current 16.5% interest rate set by the Central Bank of Egypt plus an additional 1% for the company.

Basic Materials + Commodities

Egypt extends export tariffs on raw leather for another year

Trade Minister Amr Nassar has issued a decree to extend tariffs on exports of raw leather for a year starting 2 May, said Amani El Wassal, head of the ministry’s foreign trade and agreements department. The decision sets the tariff on exports of cow or buffalo hide at EGP 250 apiece, while tariffs on goat and sheep skin ranges from EGP 7.5-150. Camel hide is subject to a EGP 150 export levy. The move comes amid efforts by the ministry to ensure a balance between supply and demand and increase value added products, such as shoes.

Real Estate + Housing

Ismailia for Real Estate Investment looking to invest EGP 150 mn by year-end

Al Ismaelia for Real Estate Development aims to invest EGP 150 mn this year in purchasing new buildings and improving existing property, CEO Mohamed El Taher told Al Shorouk. The company is looking to buy four or five new buildings in the downtown area, El Taher said, without giving a timeframe. Al Ismaelia is the company responsible for the transformation of the downtown Cairo’s iconic La Viennoise building into the city’s coolest office space.

Tourism

Deutsche Hospitality to open two new Egypt hotels this year

Deutsche Hospitality has announced plans to open two new hotels in Egypt this year, adding to its current portfolio of twelve hotels in the country, Hotelier Middle East reports. The two new hotels, both members of the Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts group, will be built near Damietta and beside the Giza pyramids, respectively. Both will be high-end properties with over 130 rooms. Deutsche Hospitality has said that the Middle East and Europe are its priority areas for expansion.

Telecoms + ICT

Huawei to experiment with 5G in Cairo Stadium during AFCON

Huawei will experiment with 5G technology at Cairo Stadium during this summer’s African Cup of Nations (AFCON), according to a cabinet statement. The announcement came following a meeting between Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, ICT Minister Amr Talaat, and the Chinese telecom giant’s chairman of the supervisory board and audit committee Li Jie. The meeting also discussed cooperation in artificial intelligence.

Banking + Finance

NUCA agrees with Egyptian banks on EGP 6 bn loan

The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) has agreed with a banking consortium on a EGP 6 bn loan to meet “urgent” financial needs, banking officials told Al Shorouk. The consortium includes the National Bank of Egypt, CIB, the Arab African International Bank, and the Housing & Development Bank. The loan is part of EGP 20 bn-worth of financing NUCA is looking to secure. The Finance Ministry will guarantee NUCA’s loan as well as its planned EGP 10 bn securitization bonds.

Other Business News of Note

MM Group shareholders approve 0.25 share/ each held as 2018 dividend

MM Group shareholders approved stock dividends for 2018 of one share for every four shares held , the company said in a bourse filing (pdf).

Egypt Politics + Economics

Egypt signs agreement with AUC and King’s College to boost gov’t efficiency

The Planning Ministry has signed an agreement with the American University in Cairo and King’s College in London to train civil servants ahead of moving to the new administrative capital, Al Masry Al Youm reports. The agreement follows a cooperation protocol signed between the ministry and the universities in January.

Tax revenues from cigarettes expected to grow 11.6% in FY2019-20

Tax revenues from cigarettes are expected to grow 11.6% to reach EGP 67.1 bn in FY2019-20, up from EGP 60.1 bn in the current year, according to statements from the Finance Ministry cited by the local press. Revenues on imported cigarettes and tobacco are expected to decline in the coming fiscal year, House Planning and Budget Committee member Talaat Khalil said.

On Your Way Out

Facebook is Egypt’s social media platform of choice: The use of social media and online platforms is growing significantly across the MENA region, particularly due to the region’s youthful demographic, Crowd Analyzer’s State of Social Media 2019 report shows. The report, which analyzed over 172 mn interactions, shows key differences in the use of social media by country, with Snapchat and Twitter particularly popular in Saudi Arabia due to the privacy they afford. Facebook remains dominant in Egypt and the UAE, where it has 40 mn and 8.8 mn users respectively. (These findings probably don’t come as a surprise to anybody who has had to put up with an aunt consistently sourcing her “news” from shady Facebook pages.) You can access the full report here (unpaid registration required).

The Market Yesterday

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EGP / USD CBE market average: Buy 17.12 | Sell 17.22
EGP / USD at CIB:
Buy 17.10 | Sell 17.20
EGP / USD at NBE: Buy 17.13 | Sell 17.23

EGX30 (Sunday): 14,839 (-0.3%)
Turnover: EGP 191 mn (78% below the 90-day average)
EGX 30 year-to-date: +13.8%

THE MARKET ON SUNDAY: The EGX30 ended Sunday’s session down 0.3%. CIB, the index heaviest constituent ended up 0.4%. EGX30’s top performing constituents were Egypt Kuwait Holding up 2.0%, Heliopolis Housing up 0.7%, and CIB up 0.4%. Yesterday’s worst performing stocks were AMOC down 3.4%, Elsewedy Electric down 2.4% and Global Telecom down 1.8%. The market turnover was EGP 191 mn, and regional investors were the sole net sellers.

Foreigners: Net Long | EGP +0.9 mn
Regional: Net Short | EGP -14.4 mn
Domestic: Net Long | EGP +13.5 mn

Retail: 75.4% of total trades | 76.6% of buyers | 74.3% of sellers
Institutions: 24.6% of total trades | 23.4% of buyers | 25.7% of sellers

WTI: USD 64.69 (+1.08%)
Brent: USD 72.67 (+0.97%)

Natural Gas (Nymex, futures prices) USD 2.50 MMBtu, (+0.52%, May 2019)
Gold: USD 1,277.70 / troy ounce (+0.13%)

TASI: 9,239.67 (+0.47%) (YTD: +18.05%)
ADX: 5,346.30 (+1.03%) (YTD: +8.77%)
DFM: 2,820.78 (+0.24%) (YTD: +11.50%)
KSE Premier Market: 6,248.96 (+0.07%)
QE: 10,355.45 (+0.07%) (YTD: +0.55%)
MSM: 3,984.45 (+0.10%) (YTD: -7.85%)
BB: 1,446.35 (+0.01%) (YTD: +8.16%)

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Calendar

21-22 April (Sunday-Monday): Egypt CSR Summit, InterContinental City Stars, Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.

23-24 April (Tuesday-Wednesday): SME Corporate Governance Workshop, Fairmont Nile City Hotel, Cairo, Egypt.

25 April (Thursday): Sinai Liberation Day, national holiday.

25 April (Thursday): Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Beijing, China.

28 April (Sunday): Easter Sunday, national holiday.

29 April (Monday): Easter Monday, national holiday.

30 April-1 March (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

May: 50 Egyptian companies are set to visit Libya to discuss trade, investment and reconstruction.

May: An IMF delegation will be in town to conduct its final review of the reform program.ahead of the disbursement of the fifth and final tranche of Egypt’s USD 12 bn IMF loan.

1 May (Wednesday): Labor Day, national holiday.

4 May (Saturday) An administrative court will look into an appeal by Emirati business figure Mohamed Alabbar’s Adeptio AD Investments against a Financial Regulatory Authority order to submit a mandatory tender offer (MTO) for Americana.

6 May (Monday): First day of Ramadan (TBC).

23 May (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s monetary policy committee will meet to review interest rates.

1H2019 (date TBD): Investment Minister Sahar Nasr will head a delegation of businessmen into Mexico City to explore cooperation avenues with the Latin American country.

June: International Forum for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

June: Egypt will host the first economic forum for Union for the Meditteranean (UfM) countries to promote trade and investment in the 43 member states.

June: President Abdelfattah El Sisi to attend US-Africa Business summit in Mozambique.

4-5 June (Tuesday-Wednesday): Global Entrepreneurship Summit, The Hague, the Netherlands

5-6 June (Wednesday-Thursday): Eid El Fitr (TBC).

11-12 June (Tuesday-Wednesday): Offshore Congress MENA, InterContinental Semiramis, Cairo.

16-17 June (Sunday-Monday): Mega Projects Conference, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

16-18 June (Sunday-Tuesday): Middle East & Africa Rail Show, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

17-18 June (Monday-Tuesday): Seamless North Africa, Nile Ritz-Carlton, Cairo.

17-19 June (Monday-Wednesday): Cairo Technology Week, Hilton Heliopolis, Cairo.

18-19 June (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

19-20 June (Wednesday-Thursday): Pharos Holding Annual Investor Conference, El Gouna, Egypt.

23 June (Sunday): Cairo Arbitration Court hearing for Amer Group vs. Antaradous for Touristic Development

28-29 June (Friday-Saturday): G20 Global Economic Summit, Osaka, Japan.

30 June (Sunday): June 2013 protests anniversary, national holiday.

July: Customs officials from Egypt and the US will sit down to discuss “procedural and administrative matters” as part of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFA).

11 July (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s monetary policy committee will meet to review interest rates.

19-21 July (Friday-Sunday): LED Middle East Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

23 July (Tuesday): 23 July revolution anniversary, national holiday.

30-31 July (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

7-11 August (Wednesday-Sunday) Eid El Adha (TBC).

22 August (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s monetary policy committee will meet to review interest rates.

29 August (Thursday): Islamic New Year (TBC), national holiday.

2-4 September (Monday-Wednesday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

8-11 September (Sunday-Wednesday): Sahara Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

9-12 September (Monday-Thursday): The 9th Annual EFG Hermes London Conference, Arsenal Emirates Stadium, London.

17-18 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

26 September (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s monetary policy committee will meet to review interest rates.

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day, national holiday.

10-13 October (Tuesday-Sunday): Big Industrial Week Arabia 2019, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

23-24 October (Wednesday-Thursday): Intelligent Cities Exhibition & Conference, Hilton Heliopolis, Cairo.

23 October-1 November (Wednesday-Friday): CIB PSA Women’s World Championship, Great Pyramid of Giza, Cairo.

29-30 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

3-5 November (Sunday-Tuesday): Electrix 2019, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

9 November (Saturday): Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, national holiday.

10-14 November (Sunday-Thursday): GeoMEast International Congress and Exhibition, Marriott, Cairo.

14-17 November (Thursday-Sunday): Machtech Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

14-17 November (Thursday-Sunday): Transpotech Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

14-17 November (Thursday-Sunday): Airtech Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

December: Egypt will host for the first time the Pack Process trade expo for the Middle East and African region.

3-6 December (Tuesday-Friday): Cairo WoodShow, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

9-11 December (Monday-Wednesday): Pacprocess Middle East Africa, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

9-11 December (Monday-Wednesday): Food Africa 2019 Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

10-11 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): US Federal Open Market Committee will hold its two-day policy meeting to review the interest rate.

26 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s monetary policy committee will meet to review interest rates.

9-12 January 2020 (Tuesday-Sunday): PLASTEX, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

25 January 2020 (Saturday): 25 January revolution anniversary / Police Day, national holiday.

11-13 February 2020 (Tuesday-Thursday): Egypt Petroleum Show, Egypt International

Exhibition Center, Nasr City, Cairo.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.