AM — Orange Egypt buys USD 440 mn of new bandwidth from telecoms regulator

Good morning, friends. It’s hump day, and our reward is pleasantly busy news morning — a relief after something like 12 days of drinking from a fire hose. We’ve got something for everyone this morning, from fintech to the restaurant business by way of solar power and pharma.

PSA #1- Say goodbye to single-digit weather. Cairo is finally warming up a bit as winter seems set to draw to a close. The national weather service is predicting warmer days and nights to come. Expect highs to reach up to 22°C through to Sunday, and lows of around 10-11°C at night. There’s no rain in the forecast before Friday, 18 February — a long way out and plenty of time for the forecast to change.

SMART POLICY- Dubai moves to outlaw plastic bags: Dubai will introduce a tariff on single-use plastic bags with a view to banning them completely within two years as the emirate looks to reduce plastic waste, Emirati state-owned news agency WAM reports. From 1 July, businesses will charge customers AED 0.25 for each bag in the initiative’s first phase.

Abu Dhabi could follow suit: The emirate could impose a ban on single-use plastic bags by the end of the year, an official from Abu Dhabi’s environment agency told the National last month. A similar tax on single-use plastics has been adopted in more than 30 other countries, and a partial or total ban has been enforced in 90 nations, according to WAM. The news comes barely a month after the UAE moved to a 4.5 day, Monday-Friday workweek, getting in step with the business in Europe and North America.

SPEAKING OF THE EMIRATES- Our friends at Zooba have made the inaugural edition of the Middle East and North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants ranking, putting the spotlight on a homegrown brand that has gone from one restaurant in Zamalek a decade ago to eight branches in Egypt and international locations in New York and Riyadh. Founders Chris Khalifa (My Morning Routine) and chef Moustafa El Refaey were recognized an event in Abu Dhabi last night, where Zooba’s ranking at #38 was announced in front of an international audience of chefs, culinary experts, food critics and restauranteurs.

Zooba was one of four Egyptian restaurants included on the list. Izakaya, the popular Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant and bar in Sheikh Zayed, was ranked at #48. Restauranteur Ayman Baki’s Japanese restaurant and bar Kazoku took #19, and his flagship restaurant Sachi came in at #5 on the list, earning the title of Egypt’s best restaurant for 2022.

#1 on the list is Dubai’s uncharacteristically unflashy, reasonably priced (by UAE standards) homegrown restaurant, 3 Fils, known for its superior food and casual, friendly atmosphere. The list also included 6 restaurants in Israel. Tap or click here for the full ranking and profiles of the restaurants and founders.

MORNING MUST-READ- Janet Heckman, the former Egypt and regional boss at EBRD, responds to FT democracy criticism: Heckman, a former managing director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), isn’t impressed with criticism by an article in the Financial Times last month (which we picked up in What We're Tracking Today). The piece called out the bank for working with governments in Africa and Asia that it said have lackluster democracy credentials. In a letter to the FT, Heckman (My Morning Routine) defended the lender’s “outstanding” work to increase private sector involvement and transparency in the region, highlighting among other things its involvement in our Metro projects, which she indirectly supervised.

PSA #2- International flights to and from Morocco resumed yesterday, ending a two-month ban on all flights into the country that came into effect after the emergence of the omicron variant.

IN THE HOUSE TODAY- The House of Representatives is meeting in plenary session. It reconvened on Sunday, but the big-ticket items appear to have been saved for today’s final session. They include:

• Changes to the Real Estate Registry Act that aim to simplify property registration procedures, which received the green light from the House’s Legislative Committee last week.
• An overhauled Tourism and Hotels Act, which is set to simplify licensing rules for hotels and tourism companies and earned preliminary approval from the House at the end of January.
• Amendments to the Education Act that would see an EGP 500-1k fine imposed on parents whose children miss school without sufficient reason. The House will discuss a report from its Education Committee on why it struck down the amendments last week.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD on this fine late-winter morning- No single story has captured the imagination of the international business press. The collapse of SoftBank’s USD 66 bn sale of its chipmaking business Arm to Nvidia leads at the Financial Times, while both Reuters and the Wall Street Journal are running with US President Joe Biden’s promise to shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline linking Russia to Germany. (Nevermind the small issue that it’s under German control and that Chancellor Olaf Sholz gave the idea tepid support — at best.) Bloomberg, meanwhile, has news that Bahrain may offer permanent residence to some foreigners while CNBC notes that Meta is promising to turn off Facebook and Instagram ads in Europe over a data-sharing dispute.

OVER IN BEIJING- Russia, Canada and China top the medal table in the Winter Olympics by total volume of hardware their athletes have so far won. The Netherlands and Italy round out the top five.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

TODAY is your last day to apply to join the Fortune Global Women's Mentoring Program, which will take place from 8-28 May 2022. The program aims to bring emerging women leaders from around the world to the US to meet and learn from the Fortune Most Powerful Women community, which includes executive women mentors from companies such as Accenture, Johnson & Johnson, and Aetna. The deadline to apply for the program is 8 February. You can begin your application by signing up here via our friends at the US Embassy in Egypt.

Inflation figures are due out this Thursday, 10 February. Annual urban inflation rose to 5.9% in December from 5.6% in November. While analysts we spoke with expect prices to continue rising, they don’t see them going outside the central bank’s target range of 7% (±2%) by 4Q2022.

The Finance Ministry has begun holding public consultations on the draft budget for next fiscal year with the next round due to take place on Thursday, 10 February at 5pm CLT.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will be in town this Friday, 11 February for a two-day visit that will see her meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other officials for bilateral talks, the German Embassy in Cairo said in a statement. Baerbock is also expected to discuss potential collaboration between the two countries on the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh this November.

Egypt will host the Arab League’s Arab Sustainable Development Week from Sunday, 13 February to Tuesday, 15 February. Held at Arab League headquarters in Tahrir Square and the Nile Ritz-Carlton, the forum will bring together ministers, senior officials, policymakers and private sector players from across the region to discuss ways to strengthen sustainable development. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Planning Minister Hala El Said, and IMF Executive Director Mahmoud Mohieldin are among those set to speak at the conference.

MARKET WATCH-

Oil yesterday finally took a breather from a seven-week rally that saw it reach eight-year highs, Bloomberg reports, as the market reacted to the resumption of talks on the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in Vienna later today. Brent crude fell 0.6% yesterday to settle under USD 93 per barrel.

The talks could ultimately see Iranian supply restored to global markets after years of sanctions. Motivation to pull that off has likely never been higher in the West, as a supply crunch and rising geopolitical tensions with Russia — a major producer — over Ukraine drive a search for alternative energy suppliers. The US last week restored sanctions waivers to Iran to allow international nuclear cooperation projects, a positive sign as the talks enter their final phase.

Crypto might not be so wintery after all: BTC gained 5.7% to break USD 44k as of midnight on Monday, while Bloomberg reports that riskier memecoins made even bigger gains, led by dog-inspired Shiba Inu, which surged by around 50%. The fifth consecutive day of gains for BTC marks its longest rally since September, as traders seemingly stage a partial return to high-risk digital assets following a Fed-induced selloff that saw BTC drop by as much as 50% from its November peak of nearly USD 69k.

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

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: Investing in solar plant construction in strategic locations in Egypt should be a priority for investors wanting to boost Africa’s decarbonization efforts, according to a new continent-wide study conducted by Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute and published last month. Constructing solar farms, rather than fossil fuel alternatives, would reduce emissions, improve energy security, and bring financial benefits, the study shows.

Orange Egypt has snapped up 30 MHz of new bandwidth from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA), the regulator announced in a statement yesterday. The frequency band came with a price tag of USD 440 mn, with the proceeds earmarked to help develop mobile phone services across the country, it said.

2020, part II: The latest award comes as a continuation of the 2020 government tender that saw 80 MHz in new frequencies sold to mobile operators for almost USD 1.2 bn.

Orange was the only telco not to get its hands on new frequencies back in 2020. Vodafone Egypt bought two 20-MHz bands, while Etisalat Misr and Telecom Egypt got two 10-MHz bands each. Orange was reported to have bid in the original auction, only to lose out to Etisalat.

Background: Mobile network operators have repeatedly asked the NTRA to provide access to new bandwidth since 2017 when the regulator first launched 4G in the country.

iSheep rejoice: MM Group for Industry and International Trade (MTI) will sell Apple products in Egypt from 3Q2022 after signing an agreement with Apple Trading Egypt, it said in an EGX disclosure (pdf) yesterday. The move will give MTI an increased market share in the mobile phone distribution market, said Chairman and CEO Khaled Mahmoud.

Apple holds a small (if lucrative) chunk of Egypt’s mobile market, which is dominated by Samsung, and Chinese manufacturers Oppo, Xiaomi and Realme, whose devices are sold at lower price points.

There are still no official Apple stores in Egypt — or anywhere in Africa for that matter. There has been persistent chatter on social media since early 2021 that Apple had acquired land in the new administrative capital at which to open its first flagship store on the continent. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly had pitched the idea to Apple CEO Tim Cook on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum back in January 2019.

Who else sells Apple products here? The iPhone maker’s products are only available through local resellers and repair stores. Other authorized distributors in Egypt include Tradeline, Switch Plus and Raya as well as at mobile network operators Etisalat, Orange, Vodafone Egypt and We.

The cost of mobile phones has risen in recent months following the government’s decision to double tariffs on imported mobile phones to 10%. In December, market intelligence firm International Data Corporation forecast prices to rise 10% during 4Q2021 on the back of the move and ongoing supply shortages, leading vendors to resort to increasing stock of cheaper models. It said that growth in Egypt’s smartphone market will likely slow to 1% this year due to the duty as well as ongoing shortages of mobile phone components.

The Madbouly government plans to finalize as early as this month a new financing program for 2022 with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), the Planning Ministry said yesterday in a statement, adding that part of the funding will go towards supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. The statement did not disclose further details on the program

A USD 2.6 bn package? In a meeting with Trade Minister Nevine Gamea last month, ITFC CEO Hani Sonbol said the corporation had approved USD 2.6 bn in funding for “development projects” in Egypt, according to a ministry statement. No further details were given on where the money would be spent, nor when it would be disbursed.

Planning Minister Hala El Said is currently in Jeddah, where ITFC is headquartered. El Said discussed potential cooperation with Sonbol, including launching an academy for exporting in Egypt as well as programs for women’s economic empowerment, the statement said.

2021 was “a record year” for ITFC funding to Egypt, the statement quotes El Said as saying. The ITFC provided the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation USD 2.3 bn in financing last year for the import of basic commodities including wheat, and petroleum products.

e-Finance steps out of Egypt: e-Cards, a subsidiary of EGX-listed fintech player e-Finance, has signed a 10-year contract with Zimbabwean healthcare company Tres Groupe International to supply smart cards, e-Finance announced in a statement (pdf) to the EGX yesterday.

The contract: The company will provide more than 2 mn people with prepaid cards that can be used to pay for health services, in addition to 7k POS machines. e-Cards will also manage the system on behalf of TGI for the 10-year period.

What they said: “This marks the beginning of the group’s strategic plans to expand its service offering to Africa,” e-Finance Chairman Ibrahim Sarhan said in the statement. “[The] partnership with TGI in Zimbabwe is a stepping stone for e-Finance as a group to begin offering its experience and various digital solutions across Africa.”

In other fintech news:

• e-Finance’s digital payments arm Khales has applied to the Financial Regulatory Authority to obtain consumer finance and microfinance licenses, Sarhan said at a presser yesterday. (Al Borsa | Al Mal)
• The National Bank of Egypt has committed USD 30 mn to a UAE-based fintech investment fund and will invest EGP 100 mn in Digital Finance Holding’s upcoming venture debt fund Camel Ventures. (Al Borsa)

Klivvr partners with Visa to launch financial services: Orascom Financial Holding’s fintech subsidiary Klivvr has signed a partnership agreement with Visa to help launch the fintech firm’s financial services — including physical and digital payment cards, and an app — in early 2022, according to an OFH statement (pdf). In a phased plan, the two firms will first provide consumer financial services before expanding their focus to small merchants, SMEs, and startups.

What they said: ”Klivvr’s financial app, slated for launch in early 2022, is the first in a roster of upcoming digitally enabled financial products that we plan to rollout over the coming year, all as part of our strategy of capitalizing on financial markets’ growing preference and adoption of tech-driven digital solutions,” OFH CEO and Klivvr Chairman Nils Bachtler (My Morning Routine) said in the statement.

Background: The news comes after Klivvr landed an initial license from the Central Bank of Egypt to launch a mobile application and issue payment cards in partnership with Arab African International Bank.

Pharma manufacturer Adwia will invest EGP 400 mn this year to add new production lines and make upgrades at its 10th of Ramadan factory, Al Borsa quoted company head Mohamed Khattab as saying. The company is also planning to take 11 new products to market this year, and to tap new export markets.

About Adwia: A pan–African pharma investment fund launched by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the UK’s CDC Group, and Development Partners International acquired 99.6% of the drugmaker for USD 126 mn in late 2020. The company produces more than 100 meds for the Egyptian market, and exports its products to several Arab and African countries, according to Al Borsa.

The talking heads are not quite over AFCON yet: Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 38:12), El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 3:22), and Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 51:03) all marked the Pharaohs’ return from Cameroon by revisiting the team’s performance with analysts, former players and even national team goalkeeper Mohamed Abo Gabal, who was El Hekaya’s guest for the evening. Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 3:31) also gave AFCON some airtime.

Also getting coverage: Djiboutian President Ismail Guelleh’s visit for talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. Former assistant foreign minister Mohamed Hegazy looked at the strategic importance of the visit on a phone call with Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 10:06), while Khaled Okasha, general manager of thinktank Egyptian Center for Strategic Studies, weighed in on a call with Al Hayah Al Youm’s Lobna Assal (watch, runtime: 3:00; 2:03). We have more on the story in our Diplomacy section, below.

MNT-Halan gets more international ink: The Financial Times carries an interview with MNT-Halan co-founder and CEO Mounir Nakhla, where he shares the fintech outfit’s origin story and expansion plans. Nakhla also went into some more detail on the company’s plans to launch supply chain financing, saying it could introduce a new product that would “disrupt” Egypt’s famous koushk (kiosk) industry by allowing the 50k merchants it has in its client base to order stock through its app, “cutting out the middleman.”

Tourism, antiquities and cultural heritage are also getting plenty of mentions this morning: The BBC looks at how the 3k-year-old city of Aten near Luxor — known as Egypt’s Pompeii or “golden city” — promises to uncover more about life under Amenhotep III, while archeologists tell Newsweek that over 18k inscribed ceramic pieces unearthed in the Nile Delta include samples of lines written by school pupils as a “Bart Simpson-like punishment.” Female-led Egyptian ensemble Mazaher is keeping the traditional art form of Zar music alive, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, the latest Hollywood release is generating coverage for luxury Nile cruises — some of which are “just as lavish as anything in Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptation Death on the Nile,” according to Time Out.

Egypt to buy 4 mn tonnes of local wheat this season: Egypt plans to purchase 4 mn tonnes of wheat from local farmers this season, up from 3.6 mn tonnes last year, Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy said yesterday, according to a ministry statement. The amount would cover the equivalent of some 19% of local consumption for the 12 months to the end of September 2022, on the basis of the most recent estimates (pdf) from the US Foreign Agricultural Service.

More wheat at higher prices: The government is paying 13% more for local wheat this year than it did in 2021, after a global supply squeeze saw prices hit a new ten-year high. The price hikes are expected to take an additional EGP 12 bn out of the state budget this fiscal year, and the Supply Ministry is currently preparing to taper bread subsidies to soften the impact of rising prices. Meanwhile, the looming conflict between Ukraine and Russia is already pushing prices for imported wheat yet higher. The world’s largest wheat importer, Egypt is also the largest consumer of Ukrainian wheat, last year purchasing the equivalent of around 14% of its total wheat consumption from the eastern European country.

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

• Banque Misr will invest (pdf) USD 201.1 mn in African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), of which USD 80.5 mn is paid-in. This increases BM’s stake in Afreximbank to 5.8% from 3.1%, making it the bank’s largest non-sovereign shareholder.
• The Financial Regulatory Authority has directed (pdf) Egyptians for Housing Development & Reconstruction (EHDR) to delay for 60 working days its offer to acquire a 51% stake in Emerald Real Estate through a share swap that would raise EHDR’s ownership in the firm to 90%.
• Kuwait Airways will launch direct flights to Sharm El Sheikh, Alexandria and Sohag in May.

The Health Ministry reported 2,272 new covid-19 infections yesterday, down from 2,301 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 441,923 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 57 new deaths, bringing the country’s total death toll to 22,993.

The vaccine tally: 27,398,696 people are now fully vaccinated against the virus, while some 10.7 mn people have received only their first shots and 657,257 people have received booster shots.

Australia will reopen its borders to double-vaccinated travelers after nearly two years on 21 February, as the country tries to revive its tourism industry, the government announced yesterday. (That means Novak Djokovic still isn’t welcome, and Kanye West might not be either).

The Turkish parliament has suspended sessions for a week after 200 representatives tested positive for covid-19, Sky News Arabia reports. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is currently isolating at home with his wife Emine, after both tested positive for the omicron variant earlier this week.

Guelleh, El Sisi talk GERD: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday discussed coordination on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in talks with his Djibouti counterpart, Ismail Guelleh, according to an Ittihadiya statement.

The two sides also signed MoUs on political consultation, renewable energy, and the establishment of an Egyptian logistics zone in Djibouti, plans for which have been in the works since 2019. El Sisi also stressed the importance of bolstering bilateral cooperation on trade, infrastructure, energy, health, aviation, education, and supporting SMEs.

Banque Misr lands in Djibouti + direct flights in the works? A Banque Misr branch will be opened in Djibouti soon, El Sisi said at a press conference following the meeting, adding that direct flights could also be launched between the two countries.

The meeting comes as Egypt ramps up efforts to increase African alliances in light of the ongoing GERD dispute, with El Sisi meeting with Senegalese President Macky Sall to discuss the crisis just last week. The Washington Post and the Associated Press also took note of the sit-down with Guelleh.