Misr Life and UMS are making noises about IPOs

Good morning, nice people — We kick off the 21st week of 2021 with a slow weekend of news. There’s simply not a lot going on at home or abroad.

Look for the international news slowdown to continue into Tuesday our time: It’s Memorial Day in the United States and the spring bank holiday in the UK, heralding the practical start of summer and the last days of the school year. Can you, like us, smell Sahel in the air?

We’re almost at the start of a new month — here are some of the key news triggers in the coming weeks:

• PMI: May’s purchasing managers’ index for Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE will be out on Thursday, 3 June.
• Foreign reserves figures for May will be out early next week.
• May inflation data will be released next week.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt will meet Thursday, 17 June to review rates.

***CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from Thursday’s edition of EnterprisePM:

• Misr Ins. Holding (MIH) plans to form an education platform with an initial investment capital of EGP 700-800 mn.
• Paradigm Logistics has offered to sell its 72% stake in shipping subsidiary Ostool to EgyTrans through a share swap transaction.
• Egypt could host a summit to discuss a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Palestine that would bring together officials from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

Egypt’s bid to bring about a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas steps up a gear today: Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi arrives in Cairo today for talks with FM Sameh Shoukry, Egypt’s foreign ministry said yesterday, without providing further details, according to Reuters. At the same time, intelligence chief Abbas Kamel will be in Tel Aviv and Ramallah to meet with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, before heading to Gaza on Monday for talks with Hamas leaders, Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported yesterday. Egyptian officials are angling for an agreement that includes the reconstruction of Gaza, a resumption of talks between Israel and Palestine, and a prisoner swap, he said, citing Israeli officials.

Egypt played a leading role in forging a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel earlier this month, which ended 11 days of deadly violence in Gaza. Reports in Israeli media last week claimed that Egypt could soon host a summit between the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Israel to restart the peace process.

The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) will hold a presser today to answer questions about the Ever Given debacle, Youm7 reports, citing a statement by the authority. This comes a day after the Ismailia Economic Court delayed a hearing in the compensation case filed by the SCA against the owners of the vessel to allow settlement talks to continue. We have more on this in the news well below.

FROM THE SENATE: Senators will discuss the government’s draft social and economic development plan for FY2021-2022 during plenary sessions today and tomorrow, the local press reports. A bill to establish an emergency medical services fund to supplement money allocated by the government budget is also on the agenda for the meetings.

GIZ and the Arab Women’s Enterprise Fund have launched the Agri-Digital Startup Competition to support digital agriculture in Egypt, in association with Ain Shams University, according to a statement (pdf). Entrants must be individuals or organizations providing solutions in the areas of electronic markets, extension services, or digital applications in sectors such as logistics and finance. Winners will receive up to EGP 150k, as well as business assistance services. You can register for the competition here.

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ON THE HORIZON-

Egypt will receive the final tranche of its IMF standby loan before the end of June, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told Al Masry Al Youm yesterday. The Fund’s executive board is expected to make a final decision on the USD 1.6 bn payment during the first half of the month, paving the way for disbursement before July, he said. The IMF reached a staff-level agreement last week following two weeks of consultations with Egyptian authorities. The one-year USD 5.2 bn financing package was agreed last June to support the Egyptian economy and shore up public finances during the covid-19 pandemic.

Shipping containers arriving at Egyptian seaports that are not registered on the new National Single Window for Foreign Trade Facilitation (Nafeza) will banned from entry as of 1 July, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said yesterday, urging importers and customs officers to sign up to the new cargo information system through this website. The new system — called Advance Cargo Information (ACI), and introduced under the recently-passed Customs Act — requires that cargo data and documents are submitted electronically at least 48 hours before shipment. As many as 400 importers have so far registered since its pilot launch on 1 April, Maait said.

Egypt will receive the first of 30 more Rafale fighter jets from France this summer, French Defense Ministry Spokesman Herve Grandjean said in an interview with Extra News (watch, runtime 2:42), under the terms of an agreement with France earlier this month. The sale also includes EUR 200 mn worth of contracts with missile provider MBDA and equipment provider Safran Electronics & Defense.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Egypt will host a virtual edition of Trescon Global’s World AI Show on 31 May. Held with support from the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), the conference will bring together AI experts, business leaders and tech heads to discuss how the latest trends in advanced technologies will impact the Egyptian economy. You can register for the event here.

The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics for men and women will take place in Egypt on 3-6 June.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

Misr Ins. Holding (MIH) plans to offer 25% of its subsidiary Misr Life in an IPO on the EGX by the end of this year or in early 2022, MIH chairman and managing director Basel El Hini told Al Mal in an interview (watch, runtime 1:03:18). The exact date of the IPO will depend on market conditions, he said.

MIH is expected to choose an external financial advisor for the transaction in June, El Hini said, adding that the company has approached a number of local and international investment banks. NI Capital is acting as the exclusive financial advisor.

Should we expect another MIH subsidiary to IPO this year? El Hini had previously said both Misr Life Ins. and Misr Ins. would look to offer 30% of their equity in an IPO by 2021. Their EGX debuts were postponed from an original 2020 timeline to give the companies more time to reorganize ahead of the transactions.

MIH also plans to tap into the financial leasing and medical ins. fields: The group is currently reviewing plans to acquire one of three financial leasing companies, with the transaction planned to be completed before the end of this year, El Hini said in the interview. The group also submitted last month a request to the Financial Regulatory Authority to obtain initial approval to set up a new wholly-owned medical ins. company.

WHERE ARE WE on the 2021 IPO pipeline? The bourse most recently saw the consumer healthcare giant IDH come back home in a technical listing (no equity is offered for sale in a technical listing), following the EGX debut of higher education outfit Taaleem earlier in April, ending a nearly two-year-long IPO dry spell. The EGX is reportedly expected to see another five companies list or offer shares by the end of the year, with possible candidates including cosmeceutical giant Macro Group, NBFS player Ebtikar as well as state-owned e-Finance and Banque du Caire.

IN OTHER IPO NEWS- The United Media Services Company (UMS) announced plans to list a 20-30% stake on the EGX by 2024. The company, which made the announcement during a press conference on its new development plan, didn’t provide further information on the share sale (watch, runtime: 1:50).

Regional expansion: The group plans to launch a regional news channel, it said during the presser, without disclosing when it would go live.

MOVES- Former Arab African International Bank CEO Hassan Abdullah was named the new chairman of the company, succeeding industry veteran Tamer Morsi, who will remain on the board.

The UMS presser was top story on the nation’s airwaves last night: Lamees El Hadidi’s Kelma Akhira said the listing would raise the company’s capital and assist its expansion plans (watch, runtime: 7:25) and interviewed spokesperson Hossam Saleh (watch, runtime: 19:47) who said the shake-up will enable the company to up its production. Economist Moustafa Badry shared a similar sentiment with Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 6:24). Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 11:57) and Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 5:59) also had coverage.

Hotel occupancy rates fell in 1Q2021, with four of Egypt’s tourist hotspots seeing declining figures from the same period last year, according to a Colliers International report (pdf) on hotels in the MENA region.

Hotels in Red Sea resorts were the hardest hit: Occupancy rates in Sharm El Sheikh fell 33% y-o-y while Hurghada saw a 26% drop and Cairo 22%. Alexandria fared comparatively well, seeing a decline of only 1% on the back of the city’s growing popularity as a leisure destination, and buoyed by the North Coast resort market, Colliers said. Hotel occupancy nationwide averaged 40-45% during the first quarter of 2021, a Tourism Ministry official said last month.

But keep that in context: The comparable period — 1Q2020 — included more than two months of relatively normal tourism activity in January, February before the pandemic hit, forcing airspace to close and wiping out most of the month of March.

Revenues are also taking a hit: Average daily rates (ADRs) for hotels — a reflection of revenue calculated by splitting average revenue across the number of occupied rooms — also dropped 76% in Sharm El Sheikh during the quarter, with Cairo also recording a decline of 68%, while Hurghada saw losses of 59%, the report found. Revenues during the quarter were down almost 60% y-o-y compared to 2019’s record highs of USD 13 bn, with Egypt losing out on some USD 600 mn in revenues per month during the quarter, Tourism Minister Khaled El Enany said earlier this month.

But a bounceback is in the cards: Hotel occupancy for the full year is expected to reach 45% in Cairo, up 66% from 2020, and 37% in Sharm El Sheikh, up 58% from last year, Colliers forecast earlier this month. Occupancy is still limited by a 50% cap placed on hotels by the government to curb the spread of covid-19.

Could more UAE tourists help boost occupancy this summer? Emirati budget carrier Flydubai has announced it will begin operating three weekly flights to Sharm El Sheikh as of 15 June, making the Red Sea city the airline’s second destination in Egypt following Alexandria.

Egypt is targeting tourism revenues between USD 6-9 bn this year, El Enany said last week. The minister had previously said Egypt expects tourism to recover to its pre-pandemic levels in the second half of 2022, though S&P Global Ratings’ forecasts expect revenues will continue to lag below pre-pandemic levels until 2023.

Bechtel is said to be arranging financing for Cairo’s sixth metro line: US infrastructure giant Bechtel will reportedly arrange facilities worth a total of USD 2 bn for the Egyptian government to finance nearly half of Cairo’s sixth metro line, Al Mal reports, citing sources from the Transport Ministry. The long-term financing facility would carry a rate of up to 1%, sources said. Bechtel, which is expected to lead the construction of the USD 5 bn line, will hand its financial proposal to authorities by early July.

Four other countries to provide the remaining USD 3 bn? Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir said last year that financing for the project has been lined up from the US, Canada, Britain, France and Japan.

Local firms in on the act: Half of the 30-km project will be handed to four unnamed “major” local companies to reduce costs, Al Mal’s sources said, without disclosing further information.

The ruling on compensation demands against Ever Given owner Shoei Kisen has been postponed to 20 June after the Ismailia Economic Court adjourned yesterday the USD 550 mn lawsuit filed by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), the SCA said in a statement. The move to postpone the hearing is primarily due to requests made by lawyers representing the SCA and the shipowner to allow for extra time for further negotiations on the compensation value. The SCA is seeking damages after the mega vessel blocked the canal for six days in March.

“There are endeavors to reach a settlement, and because they are good clients, we are asking the court to postpone to negotiate and study the offer submitted by the owners,” Bloomberg reported SCA attorney Nabil Zidan as saying in court. “Negotiations are on and there’s flexibility from both sides,” said Ahmed Abu Shanab, a lawyer for the ship’s owner.

The postponement came less than a week after the SCA slashed its compensation demands from the USD 916 mn initially claimed after it found it had apparently miscalculated the value of cargoes aboard of the Ever Given. The SCA had previously said an initial USD 200 mn down payment could see it release the ship from the Great Bitter Lake, where it is currently being held, if Shoei Kisen gets an LG from an Egyptian bank for the rest of the amount. The vessel’s insurers, however, said that the value was still too high, offering to pay USD 150 mn instead of USD 550 mn.

This is the second time a hearing for the compensation claim is postponed as the court was first due to announce two separate verdicts related to the Ever Given on 23 May. It later decided to look at the lawsuit on 29 May after rejecting an appeal lodged by Shoei Kisen against the seizure of the ship.

The story leading coverage of Egypt in the international press on this slow news morning. Reuters, Bloomberg and the Associated Press all have the story.

The Finance Ministry could expand its automotive natgas transition scheme to allow more vehicle owners and more governorates to participate, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in a statement on Friday. The ministry is considering opening it up to new governorates as soon as they have the required infrastructure, while new companies will be allowed to join, provided that their vehicles meet the minimum local component requirement of 45%. As things stand now, vehicle owners in seven governorates can sign up to the program, and companies including Toyota, VW, Foton and Joylong are on board, with talks ongoing with Jinbei and Brilliance.

The rules have already been eased once: In March, the government began allowing motorists who have owned their vehicles for two years to apply to the scheme, down from three years previously. Those who have already submitted requests through the government platform to swap out their cars will also be able to amend the details of their applications and change the model, make, or color of their requested vehicle.

Some 40k people have so far met the conditions of the program and have been contacted by the ministry, compared to 30k in early April. As of last month, a total of 70k citizens had applied for the scheme.

Background. Egypt plans to swap out an overall 1.8 mn cars over the course of a decade — a move that is expected to cost some EGP 320 bn. The government plans to convert 450k cars to run on natural gas within the upcoming three years. Over 340 dual-fuel cars were delivered during April, including a first batch of around 30 vehicles. Some EGP 2 bn in incentives will be paid out during FY2021-2022 fiscal year to encourage car owners to take part in the state’s natgas transition plan.

OTHER AUTOMOTIVE NEWS- Vehicle owners with auto loans will be able to renew their existing car license, obtain a new one, as well as lift the sale ban on their vehicles online as of today under a new Central Bank of Egypt directive, local press reported. The move aims to do away with paper transactions and facilitate easier procedures for car owners, and comes as a result of the signing of an MoU between the CBE and the Egyptian Credit Bureau (I Score). The CBE launched in 2019 an electronic database for vehicles bought using bank loans with I Score, allowing debtors to complete procedures such as license renewal.

Women’s squash world no.1 Nour El Sherbiny and men’s world no.2 Mohamed ElShorbagy won the 2021 El Gouna International Squash Open. El Shorbagy took the title after defeating world no.4 Paul Coll, while El Sherbiny won against world no.2 Nouran Gohar. The world’s top 96 players competed in the tournament, which paid out USD 300k in prize money to the champions. The last El Gouna Open, played in 2019, saw Egyptians Raneem El Welily and Ali Farag win the titles.

IN OTHER SPORTS NEWS- Al Ahly claimed the African Super Cup title for the seventh time after beating Morocco’s Renaissance Berkane 2-0 in Doha on Friday. Mohamed Sherif scored the opening goal, while substitute Salah Mohsen sealed the tie with a second goal in the 82nd minute.

Leading coverage on the airwaves last night: The nation’s talking heads were all talking about a press conference given by the United Media Services Company, during which it announced ambitions to IPO on the EGX by 2024 and spoke about plans to develop its content. We more in this morning’s IPO Watch, above.

The latest on the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Ethiopia is expected to proceed with the second phase of filling the GERD during the upcoming rainy season in July or August after it began earlier this month raising the dam’s reservoir spillway by 30 meters — a three-week process that could conclude by end of June before the rains begin, professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Agriculture Nader Nour El Din told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa last night (watch, runtime: 11:01). These construction works are indeed the reason behind recent signs of “changes in the level of the Blue Nile River that indicate water is being pooled,” which led Sudan last week to suggest that Ethiopia had already begun filling the reservoir. Changes in the Nile River flows were also covered by El Hekaya’s Amr Adib, who explained the government’s plans to hold water reserves to ensure there are no periods of low water supply (watch, runtime: 3:37 | 1:25).

It’s a mixed bag in the international papers this morning: A “postcard” from Egypt in the Financial Times paints a picture of a serene but sluggish Luxor in the absence of tourists. Meanwhile, Bloomberg suggests that the visit of the Djiboutian president to Cairo last week comes as part of Egypt’s strategy to win over eastern African countries amid the GERD dispute with Ethiopia. Finally, rights groups have spoken out against president Joe Biden’s plan to grant Egypt USD 1.3 bn in foreign military financing in FY2022.

TMG subsidiary the Arab Company for Projects and Urban Development has received a 5k feddan plot of land to build a mixed-use project in Capital Gardens City near the new administrative capital, the Housing Ministry said in a statement. The EGP 500 bn project, modelled after Madinaty, will feature 140k residential apartments and villas to accommodate 600k residents as well as commercial and administrative spaces. TMG purchased the land in January for EGP 28.5 bn.

Mastercard will issue prepaid cards to customers of non-banking digital payments app Telda, the global payments firm said in a statement. Telda was the first company to land a banking license under the new Banking Act, and earlier this month raised some USD 5 mn in a pre-seed funding round led by Silicon Valley-based VC firm Sequoia Capital.

Other things we’re keeping an eye on this morning:

• German engineering company Thyssenkrupp discussed establishing a green ammonia plant — used in fertilizer manufacturing — for export to Germany with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly Thursday.
• The Trade and Industry Ministry inaugurated Wednesday its first production lines to locally assemble laptops and tablets
• Egypt kicked off its first locally hosted joint air defense exercise with Pakistan Wednesday, with the drill including training on securing airspace and defending vital targets.

A 101-year-old woman from Beheira, believed to be the oldest in Egypt, has recovered from covid-19 and has been released from hospital after her condition stabilized, Youm7 reports.

The Health Ministry reported 1,119 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 1,133 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 260,659 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 51 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 15,001.

Menoufia may have detected its first case of mucormycosis — the black fungus infection spreading worldwide among covid patients with weakened immune systems, according to Al Masry Al Youm. Governor Ibrahim Abu Limon said that a person suspected of having the disease has been quarantined and is undergoing tests in hospital. Egypt has so far identified two cases of black fungus.

France will help African countries develop the capacity to produce their own covid-19 vaccines to help bridge the gap in the availability of shots between African and developed markets, President Emmanuel Macron said at a presser on Friday with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Pretoria (watch, runtime: 54:38). Africa makes up around 20% of the world’s need for vaccines, but only 1% of vaccine production, Macron said. “Trying to lift the hurdles in order to allow vaccine production in South Africa and all of Africa, we are in favor of that,” he added.

This came as France pledged to contribute as many as 30 mn vaccine doses to the Gavi / Covax facility by year-end, in the efforts to assist struggling African countries fight covid. This will be part of a total of more than 100 mn doses that the European Union plans to deliver to the continent this year, Macron said, stressing that all rich countries with an excess of vaccines should not stockpile doses but provide them to other needy nations as quickly as possible.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reiterated the need to suspend intellectual property rights on covid vaccines. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Costa Rican president Carlos Alvarado Quesada called on the organization’s member states in a presser to support the “C-Tap scheme” (the covid-19 technology access pool) proposed last year, which would share IP and tech with developing countries and pay compensation to pharma companies. The renewed call comes a few weeks after the US offered backing for a separate vaccine patent waiver which received pushback from European countries.

The Covax program needs an additional USD 2 bn in funding by 2 June to lift its coverage in countries in which it operated to almost 30%, according to a joint statement from Covax and the WHO. The program has handed over 70 mn vaccine doses to 126 countries, but will face a shortage of 190 mn at the end of June because of the export ban by India’s Serum Institute — the program’s supplier of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine — as India struggles to cope with its outbreak. Covax can still deliver 2 bn doses of vaccines in 2021 and 1.8 bn doses to 92 lower-income economies by early 2022 if "the world’s leaders rally together," the statement added.

Turkey’s central bank sacks yet more officials: Executive directors of the banking, research and statistics departments at Turkey’s central bank are the latest officials to get the axe, Bloomberg reports, following the dismissal of deputy central bank governor Oguzhan Ozbas last week. The decision comes two months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed the bank’s third governor in almost two years.

Syrian president Bashar Al Assad won a fourth term with over 95% of the vote, Syrian news agency SANA announced Thursday, in an election widely regarded as fraudulent by western nations. His government claimed a turnout rate of 78%, with Assad winning another seven years in power, amidst a decade-long civil war that has displaced over half the population and devastated the economy.

The US will reimpose sanctions on nine Belarusian companies following the forced grounding of a Ryanair flight and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board last week, Bloomberg reports.

30 May (Sunday): Al Mal GTM is organizing the Portfolio Egypt conference under the theme ‘Growth under the weight of the pandemic.’

31 May (Monday): Egypt is hosting Trescon Global’s World AI Show with the support of ITIDA.

7 June (Monday): British Egyptian Business Association hosts an event featuring Oil Minister Tarek El Molla.

3-6 June (Thursday-Monday): Egypt is hosting the FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics.

14 June (Monday): Egypt's Green Economy Forum.

17 June (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

17-20 June (Thursday-Sunday): The International Exhibition of Materials and Technologies for Finishing and Construction (Turnkey Expo), Cairo International Conference Center.

20 June (Sunday): Ismailia Economic Court to hold hearing on Ever Given compensation case.

22-27 June (Tuesday-Sunday): The CIB PSA World Tour Finals for 2020-2021 will take place in Cairo.

24 June (Thursday): End of the 2020-2021 academic year (public schools).

26-29 June (Saturday-Tuesday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 June (Wednesday): The IMF will complete a second review of targets set under the USD 5.2 bn standby loan approved in June 2020 (proposed date).

30 June (Wednesday): 30 June Revolution Day.

30 June- 15 July: National Book Fair.

July + August: Thanaweya Amma exams take place.

1 July: (Thursday): National holiday in observance of 30 June Revolution.

1 July (Thursday): Large taxpayers that have not yet signed on to the e-invoicing platform will suffer a host of penalties, including removal from large taxpayer classification, losing access to government services and business, and losing subsidies.

1 July (Thursday): Businesses importing goods at seaports will need to file shipping documents and cargo data digitally to the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) system.

15 June (Saturday): EGX-listed will have to complete filing their financial disclosures for the period ended 31 March.

19 July (Monday): Arafat Day (national holiday).

20-23 July (Tuesday-Friday): Eid Al Adha (national holiday).

23 July (Friday): Revolution Day (national holiday).

5 August (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

9 August (Monday): Islamic New Year.

12 August (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Islamic New Year.

12-15 September (Sunday-Wednesday): Sahara Expo: the 33rd International Agricultural Exhibition for Africa and the Middle East.

16 September (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

30 September-2 October (Thursday-Saturday): Egypt Projects 2021 expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

30 September-8 October (Thursday-Friday): The Cairo International Fair, Cairo International Conference Center, Cairo, Egypt.

1 October (Friday): Expo 2020 Dubai opens.

6 October (Wednesday): Armed Forces Day.

7 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Armed Forces Day.

12-14 October (Tuesday-Thursday): Mediterranean Offshore Conference, Alexandria, Egypt.

18 October (Monday): Prophet’s Birthday.

21 October (Thursday): National holiday in observance of the Prophet’s Birthday.

28 October (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

1-3 November (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Energy exhibition on power and renewable energy, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

1-12 November (Monday-Friday): 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Glasgow, United Kingdom.

29 November-2 December (Monday-Thursday): Egypt Defense Expo.

13-17 December: United Nations Convention against Corruption, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

16 December (Thursday): The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet to review interest rates.

14-16 February 2022 (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt Petroleum Show, Egypt International Exhibition Center, New Cairo, Egypt.

1H2022: The World Economic Forum annual meeting, location TBD.

May 2022: Investment in Logistics Conference, Cairo, Egypt.

27 June-3 July 2022 (Monday-Sunday): World University Squash Championships, New Giza.

**Note to readers: Some national holidays may appear twice above. Since 2020, Egypt has observed most mid-week holidays on Thursdays regardless of the day on which they fall and may also move those days to Sundays. We distinguish below between the actual holiday and its observance.