ADQ moves forward with EGP 10 bn bid for Amoun Pharma

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a packed issue to start our holiday-shortened workweek.

It’s official: The national holiday in observance of the 30 June Revolution will take place on Thursday, 1 July, cabinet confirmed in a statement yesterday.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

French transport firm RATP Dev will take the reins of Cairo Metro Line 3 today under a 15-year contract agreed last year, Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir told Al Masry Al Youm. RATP Dev — a subsidiary of RATP, or Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens — was due to take over management of the line at the end of February before the hand-over process was delayed while the sides finalized details in the contract.

It’s the second day of the Big 5 Construct Egypt at the Cairo International Convention Center.

There are two all-Egyptian finals at the 2020-2021 CIB PSA World Tour Finals. Nouran Gohar — who knocked out reigning champion Nour El Sherbini in the quarters — booked her place in the final by defeating Australia’s Joelle King yesterday. She will play world no.2 Hania El Hammamy, who defeat France’s Camille Serme. In the men’s draw, surprise finalist Mostafa Asal will meet fifth seed Mohamed El Shorbagy in the final. Asal knocked out world no.1 Ali Farag in the quarters and second seed Tarek Momen in the semi, while El Shorbagy beat New Zealand’s Paul Coll yesterday to secure his place in the final.

IN THE HOUSE THIS WEEK-

MPs have at least two weeks to go before they’re allowed out for summer vacation — and a packed legislative agenda to keep them busy until then.

On the agenda for today: A bumper World Bank loan for the national health system: MPs will also today discuss taking a USD 400 mn loan from the World Bank’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support the rollout of the government’s national health ins. system.

Also: SCC to get veto power over international rulings? The House will discuss in plenary session draft amendments that would give the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) the authority to rule on the local implementation of international court and arbitration rulings. The changes could, among other things, give the prime minister the authority to ask the SCC to rule on international verdicts that the government believes are unconstitutional. The House Legislative Committee approved the proposed changes earlier this month.

Tomorrow: The long-awaited Sovereign Sukuk Act is up for a final vote tomorrow, paving the way for the issuance of our maiden sharia-compliant bonds on local and international debt markets.

Crackdown on civil servants linked to terrorism: The bill that would allow civil servants to be automatically dismissed for having ties to the banned Muslim Brotherhood is up for a final vote tomorrow. The legislation was given preliminary approval by MPs earlier this month.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD- The collapse of a 12-storey residential tower block in Florida on Thursday is everywhere in the US media this morning. Five people have been pronounced dead and more than 150 others remain missing. Reuters I Associated Press | Wall Street Journal I New York Times I Washington Post | Bloomberg.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

OPEC+ meets this week — and it isn’t likely to do much to halt rising prices: Oil exporters are likely to disappoint the market when it meets on Thursday as prices continue to surge due to low supply. Bloomberg reports that the OPEC+ alliance of oil producers will probably increase supply only slightly, with Saudi Arabia reportedly wanting to proceed “cautiously.” The International Energy Agency and oil importers are urging the cartel to increase production to fill the supply shortfall.

Oil prices are now at a two-year high, surging above USD 75 / bbl last week and causing a number of market players to forecast a return to USD 100 oil. “This market’s on fire,” said one analyst. “The Saudis don’t seem inclined to signal a substantial increase in supplies. But even if OPEC+ adds barrels, prices are going to stay strong.”

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

• Our exclusive sit-down with International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat: The minister outlined how Egypt’s economic diplomacy has fostered multilateralism and international cooperation ahead of the launch of her book “Stakeholder Engagement Through Economic Diplomacy.”
• Middle-income homebuyers are now eligible for shorter mortgage terms: The minimum term for home mortgages under CBE-supported home lending programs has been reduced to five years from a previous seven years in a move that is meant to help homeowners fully own properties within a shorter period of time.
• Small cap index companies must hire advisors within two months: Nilex-listed companies have up to two months to hire nominated advisors to help them upscale their operations and promote their stock to investors, with advisors obligated to stay on board with a company for at least eight months.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Cairo International Book Fair will open its doors at the Egypt International Exhibition Center on Wednesday, 30 June. The two-week event will run through to 15 July.

The Clean Energy Business Council (CEBC) MENA are holding a webinar titled Energy Efficiency in the MENA region: Status and Outlook on 6 July at 3:30pm. The session will focus on energy efficiency developments and provide recommendations for businesses and policymakers. Later on next month, CEBC will also host the webinar Women Entrepreneurs in Clean Energy on 21 July at 3pm in cooperation with the initiative, Women in Clean Energy MENA and WiRE.

The British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA) is organizing a virtual education week from 5-6 July with three seminars planned. The first, taking place at 10am on 5 July, will discuss skills-based learning while the future of investment in education will be the topic on the table at 12:30pm the same day. On 6 July, a talk on the digitalization of education in Egypt will be held at 12pm.

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

ADQ moves forward with EGP 10 bn bid for Amoun Pharma: A subsidiary of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ is seeking Financial Regulatory Authority approval to launch a mandatory tender offer for up to 100% of Bausch Health’s unit in Egypt, Amoun Pharma, in what could potentially be an EGP 10.3 bn acquisition. ADQ is looking to offer EGP 37.8 per share for a total of 272.2 mn shares through its subsidiary Ultra Welfare Limited, the regulator said in an EGX filing (pdf) on Thursday. The FRA still needs to review the MTO before it launches.

Why an MTO? Amoun Pharma is owned by Canada-based Bausch Health, but a small proportion of its shares (less than 1%) is held by other minority shareholders, which explains why the acquisition needs to be completed through an MTO.

Bausch is letting go of non-core assets in a deleveraging move: The talks on a sale come as Bausch is looking to pare down debt — and as it prepares to spin off its eye health business, Bausch + Lomb, Bloomberg reported earlier this year.

It’s still unclear if the Sovereign Fund of Egypt will be getting a piece of Amoun. SFE chief executive Ayman Soliman has gone on record saying that the fund is considering joining ADQ as a minority shareholder owning around 10% of the company. We haven’t heard anything from the SFE on the matter since Soliman’s comments in April. The SFE and ADQ set up a USD 20 bn joint investment arm back in 2019, and a partnership on Amoun could help solidify both parties’ commitment to the platform, ADQ Executive Director Fahad Al Qassim said in April.

Egypt received USD 5.9 bn in foreign direct investment in 2020, accounting for 14.5% of the USD 40.5 bn invested in the region that year, according to the Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation’s Investment Climate 2020 report, Reuters writes. Egypt came second to the UAE, which received USD 19.9 bn in FDI throughout the year.

Top recipients make up a whopping 95% of total FDI inflows pumped into the region: UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Lebanon, respectively, received a combined USD 38.5 bn of FDI in 2020.

Business, financial services and software snatched up the most investments: The three sectors respectively accounted for 50% of the total investments in the region.

Egypt was the leading FDI destination in the region for five consecutive years, landing investment of some USD 124.5 bn between January 2015 and December 2019. Egypt attracted USD 13.7 bn in FDI in 2019, 56.9% more than we did last year.

We’re still #1 in Africa: Egypt was Africa’s top FDI recipient in 2020, with inflows into the country accounting for 15% of a total of USD 39.8 bn coming into the continent.

OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS- Sri Lankan apparel maker Hela Clothing plans to start manufacturing products in Egypt in 1Q2022, CEO Dilanka Jinadasa tells Bloomberg. The move will see the company work with established factories and fabric mills. It wants to boost its exports to Europe and the US, potentially increasing its value by roughly 11% to USD 250 mn by next March, he said.

Egypt received 210k doses of Sputnik V on Thursday, the first shipment of the Russian-made covid vaccine, the Unified Procurement Authority said in a statement. This comes under an agreement with Russia to deliver 10 mn doses of the jab. An unnamed Emirati company will also ship as many as 20 mn doses of the vaccine to Egypt before the year is out, but it is unclear whether the initial 10 mn agreed with Russia count towards that quota. Minapharm is also set to manufacture some 40 mn doses of the vaccine per year, with the first to be rolled out in 3Q2021.

FACT CHECK- A third dose of the Sinopharm vaccine is not required to be fully protected against the virus, Health Ministry Undersecretary for Preventive Affairs Mohamed Abdel Fattah told DMC (watch, runtime: 8:59), responding to chatter on social media. The UAE and Bahrain had offered citizens a third jab of the Chinese vaccine and are now offering Pfizer boosters to folks starting six months after they received their second jabs.

The Health Ministry reported 409 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 412 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 280,005 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 31 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 16,062.

South Africa’s Afrigen Biologics could manufacture Africa's first mRNA covid-19 vaccine after being chosen by the World Health Organization in a pilot program to give low- and middle-income countries the know-how and licenses to produce shots, according to Reuters.

Egypt could be involved in a similar program being run by the EU: Egypt, along with Senegal, South Africa, Rwanda, Morocco, is one of the leading candidates to receive at least EUR 1 bn in investment from the EU to establish covid-19 vaccine manufacturing facilities in Africa. Health Minister Hala Zayed and ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed have both said this month that Egypt would soon tie up an agreement with an undisclosed European company to produce its vaccine locally.

The African country hardest-hit by covid has almost run out of vaccines: Namibia will as of Tuesday suspend the administration of first doses of jabs as its vaccine stocks run low amid delays in shipments, Bloomberg reports. Namibia, which is currently experiencing the worst outbreak on the continent, is one of the 80 countries first allocated vaccines through the Gavi / Covax program facing the prospect of vaccine shortages as supply problems mount.

The World Health Organization is urging fully vaccinated people to continue wearing masks, follow social distancing and other safety measures to contain the spread of the highly-contagious delta variant, which is spurring new covid-19 surges around the world even in highly-vaccinated countries such as the US and Israel, CNBC reports. The comments come in the backdrop of WHO chief’s admission on Friday that the delta variant, first identified in India, is “the most transmissible of the variants identified so far," and warned it’s now spreading in at least 85 countries (watch, runtime: 1:05).

The news comes as Canada has issued clear guidance on what fully-vaccinated people can do (pdf). The measures suggest fully vaccinated folks can drop their masks outdoors.

Egypt could see locally assembled Russian vehicles: Russia is keen to expand its manufacturing partnerships with Egypt, especially when it comes to vehicle assembly, Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov said during a meeting with counterpart Nevine Gamea in Moscow last week, the Trade Ministry said in a statement, which provided no further details.

Gamea also held meetings with reps of Russian companies to discuss investments in Egypt, including the head of Russia-based genomics company Helix to discuss potential cooperation in water treatment, waste recycling and air purification projects, and Rosatom’s regional VP Alexander Voronkov.

BACKGROUND: The Suez Canal Economic Zone had received a request from Russia in early June to establish a new industrial zone in Ain Sokhna. Meanwhile, work on Russia’s USD 7 bn Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) should begin soon, with the zone expected to be up and running in 2022.

Egypt has plans to become an auto assembly hub: The first 100 locally-assembled electric vehicles under a partnership between El Nasr Automotive and China’s Dongfeng should be ready by July-August 2022, before hitting the road starting September of the same, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said earlier this month. Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz have also announced plans to begin locally assembling select passenger car models.

Ethiopia has rejected the involvement of the UN Security Council in the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) — and described Egypt and Sudan’s recent push for a UN resolution as part of a “well-orchestrated scheme to undermine the African Union-led process.” In a letter to the council, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry called on world powers to encourage Cairo and Khartoum to continue the AU-led negotiations and accused the two downstream countries of disrupting the GERD talks nine times.

Egypt and Sudan have been drumming up international support and are likely to submit a draft resolution to the Security Council in the coming days in an effort to pressure world powers to weigh in on the issue. The Arab League has also called on the council to hold an urgent session on GERD, following an emergency meeting called for by Egypt and Sudan earlier this month.

The clock is ticking: Ethiopia will resume filling the dam’s reservoir when the rainy season begins next month, with or without an agreement. This has Egypt and Sudan concerned that their supplies of the Nile’s water will be curtailed.

War drums beating? Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry rejected what he described as “provocative” remarks by an Ethiopian army general and reiterated that while Cairo is pursuing a peaceful resolution, Egypt is ready to defend its interests. He made the remarks during an interview with El Hekaya’s Amr Adib on Friday night (watch, runtime 2:24). Shoukry was speaking in response to comments made by an Ethiopian general who told Russian media that Egypt will not be able to solve the problem militarily.

And what of last week’s talks? Irrigation ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held three-way talks on Thursday and Friday — the first meeting since negotiations reached a deadlock in April. We still haven’t heard anything from any of the parties about how the talks went.

Egypt, China talk GERD and cooperation: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his counterpart Wang Yi discussed in a phone call on Friday the latest updates on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as well as boosting mutual efforts to combat covid-19, according to a statement.

IN OTHER DIPLO NEWS-

No progress on Egypt-Turkey rapprochement -Shoukry: Negotiations on mending Egyptian-Turkish have been at a standstill since the two sides held talks in Cairo in May, Shoukry told El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 21:23) on Friday. The talks last month failed to produce a breakthrough, with the two sides saying that “frank and in-depth” discussions had been had on some of the biggest sources of tension but neither reporting much progress.

Ankara meeting when? There hasn’t been a date set for the next round of talks, Shoukry said. During their last meeting, Turkey invited an Egyptian delegation to Ankara to continue negotiations. This came after Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Çavuşoğlu declared in April “a new era with Egypt '' following years of hostility, and offered to negotiate a possible maritime pact with Egypt and dial back tensions in the EastMed.

Operational issues at the Egyptian Refining Company saw Qalaa Holdings turn in an EGP 478.6 mn loss in 1Q2021 compared to its EGP 405.1 mn loss in the same period in 2020, according to a company statement (pdf). Revenues fell 23% in the period as ERC closed for almost a month during the quarter and had a 20-day production slowdown. Total revenues came in at EGP 8 bn, down from EGP 10.4 bn last year.

Things are better, looking past the ERC: Revenues excluding ERC rose 9% to EGP 3.9 bn as the company saw the performance of its other subsidiaries pick up on the back of the improved economic environment. Taqa Arabia saw its top-line grow 3% while Ascom and National Printing both saw improved revenues thanks to the normalization of international trade. “I am pleased to report that save for the operational stoppage at ERC that exacerbated the effect of covid-19 on its refining margins, we delivered strong performances across our subsidiaries,” Qalaa Chairman Ahmed Heikal said.

CIB CEO Hussein Abaza (bio) has assumed the additional role of managing director at the bank, following the Central Bank of Egypt’s approval, the bank said in a statement. Hussein has served as the bank’s CEO since March 2017, having previously been CEO for institutional banking. He has also served as the bank’s chief risk and operations officers and from 1995 through 2001 was head of research and then MD for asset management at EFG Hermes. Hussein is also a member of CIB’s board of directors.

Mohamed Omar Al Farouk Galal has joined the board of Heliopolis Housing, replacing Hassan Mahmoud Hassan Hussein who stepped down from the position in March, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf).

The GERD impasse was the top story on the nation’s airwaves last night: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry gave an extended interview to Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidy to discuss Egypt and Sudan’s recent push for a UN resolution in the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopia’s rejection of the involvement of the UN Security Council and insistence to continue the AU-led negotiations, and international efforts to pressure Addis Ababa to re-enter negotiations before the dam’s planned second filling in the coming weeks. You can watch the full interview here (watch, runtime: 25:56). Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 5:42) also took note of the Ethiopiam Foreign Ministry’s letter to the council accusing the two downstream countries of stalling GERD talks under the auspices of the AU. We have the full story in this morning’s news well above.

Shoukry is confident that the council is going to act: Egypt is in talks with permanent missions to the UN in New York to call on the Security Council to hold an urgent session to discuss the dispute at the earliest in a bid to reach a binding agreement with Addis Ababa on the dam’s filling and operation, Shoukry said (watch, runtime: 3:44). A majority vote from the nine-member council on a draft resolution that’s being drawn up by Cairo and Khartoum is assured, Shoukry said, noting that he could visit New York during the second week of July to talk GERD with the UN Security Council (watch, runtime: 2:35).

A final attempt at diplomacy? Ethiopia would further demonstrate “a lack of political will” should it refuse to adhere to a Security Council resolution, and would push the international community to take action, according to Shoukry (watch, runtime: 1:56). By that time, Egypt and Sudan would both have resorted to all “peaceful, democratic and friendly resources possible” in their pursuit of a binding agreement in the GERD file, the minister said, without mentioning what action the government could take.

A completely different dam also got attention on the airwaves last night: South Sudan’s plans to build a 10.4 MW hydroelectric dam with Egypt also received air time, with El Hekaya’s Amr Adib slamming press reports claiming that the two sides are joining forces for the construction of a GERD 2.0, stressing that Egypt is rather lending a helping hand to a neighboring developing nation on a small-scale project (watch, runtime: 2:13 | 6:10). Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:22) also took note of the agreement signed between Egypt and South Sudan at the weekend.

Human rights is leading the conversation on Egypt in the foreign press this morning, with the Guardian running a piece on political prisoners and the Hill calling on the Biden administration to rebuke Egypt’s “human rights inferno.” Meanwhile, Vice and Deutsche Welle cover the jail sentences handed to two Egyptian TikTok influencers earlier this month, while AFP reports that the personal status draft bill proposed earlier this year is coming under fire by women who believe it will rob them of their rights and legal capacity. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also says that 10 detained Egyptian journalists, who were named in a letter sent last year by Reporters Without Borders, were arrested arbitrarily.

In international politics: Intelligence chief Abbas Kamel was in Washington last week for talks with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and other senior US officials, the UAE’s The National reports. Calling it “the most senior [visit] for an Egyptian government official since President Joe Biden took office in January,” the trip saw Kamel engage with the Americans on everything from GERD to Libya, counterterrorism and the reconstruction of Gaza.

The BBC is out with a piece examining Egypt’s recent moves to forge new allegiances with upstream African countries amid its ongoing dispute with Ethiopia over the GERD.

Also making headlines:

• The story of the Ever Given is still getting digital ink, with a narrative-style piece detailing the events and emotions at play during the infamous blocking of the Suez Canal in late March. (Bloomberg)
• A former Egyptian lawmaker and 17 others have been arrested on charges they illegally excavated sites nationwide and allegedly smuggled 201 ancient artifacts from the Roman, Greek, and Pharaonic dynasties. (AFP)
• An Egyptian man received a 30 year jail sentence for executing a 2017 terror attack outside Paris’ Louvre museum. (AFP)

At least four women were killed and another four were injured when a five-story residential building collapsed at the weekend in Alexandria, reports Ahram Gate. As many as four victims have so far been pulled alive from the rubble of the building, which Alexandria’s mayor Ragab Al Naqidi said was illegally constructed. The Prosecutor general’s office is also investigating the accident. The story is getting attention in the international press: Associated Press | AFP.

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

• Egypt could launch in the next month a new USD 100 mn airline in Ghana that will be 75% owned by state-run national carrier EgyptAir and 25% by Ghana Airlines.
• Smuggled antiquities: The Egyptian embassy in London has repatriated three smuggled ancient artifacts, dating back to the Pharaonic and Greek eras, before their sale in an auction in London.

Fuel prices in Lebanon are set to skyrocket after the government decided to cut back on subsidies as it looks to solve a worsening gas shortage and protect its dwindling foreign reserves amid an ongoing economic and financial crisis, the Associated Press reports.

Israel will ease trade and fishing restrictions in the Gaza strip, it announced Thursday, following a tightening of the bans since the 11-days of violence against Palestine in May, Reuters reports. Israel allowed on Monday a limited resumption of commercial exports from Gaza, after expanding the fishing zone in the strip and approving the import of raw materials for essential civilian factories on Friday.

Egypt’s largest-ever Olympic delegation is heading to Tokyo: Egypt will take part in some 24 games at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — the largest number of events that the nation has participated in its history in the Olympics, the Egyptian Olympic Committee’s secretary general Sherif El Eryan told OnTime Sport FM, reports King Fut. “Egypt’s delegation in the Tokyo Olympics consists of 134 athletes so far, and they can reach 140 until 28 June, the last date for Egyptian athletes to qualify,” El Eryan said, stressing that “this is the largest Egyptian delegation in the history of the Olympics, surpassing our record in the 2016 Rio Olympics.”

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

26-29 June (Saturday-Tuesday): The Big 5 Construct Egypt, Cairo International Convention Center, Cairo, Egypt. The Big 5 Egypt Impact Awards will also be taking place at the event on 27 June.

29 June (Tuesday): The London School of Economics (LSE) discussion “Policy Reform in the Making: Stakeholder Engagement through Economic Diplomacy” from 3pm-4:15pm. You can register through this link.

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: The Cairo International Book Fair, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

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): Deadline for 17 EGX-listed companies to file their 1Q2021 earnings.

1-10 July (Thursday-Saturday): The government’s fuel pricing committee will meet to announce 3Q prices.

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

Mid-July: Legislative session expected to end.

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

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

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

23 July-11 August (Friday-Wednesday): Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

2-4 August (Monday-Wednesday): Egypt is hosting the Africa Food Manufacturing exhibition at the Egypt International Exhibition Center.

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

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.

24-28 October (Sunday-Thursday) Cairo Water Week, Cairo, Egypt.

27-28 October (Wednesday-Thursday) Intelligent Cities Exhibition & Conference, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski, Cairo, Egypt.

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

30 October – 4 November (Saturday-Thursday): The first edition of Race The Legends, Egypt.

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

November: Egypt will host another round of talks to reach a potential Egyptian-Eurasian trade agreement, which can significantly contribute to increasing the volume of Egyptian exports to the Russia-led bloc that includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

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

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

12-14 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Food Africa Cairo trade exhibition, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo, Egypt.

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.