AM — The House of Representatives has a long to-do list this session

Good morning, friends, and welcome to 4Q 2022. We have a blockbuster issue for you this morning, so let’s jump straight in:

THE BIG STORY here at home this morning- The House is back in session, and they plan to keep us all busy. MPs are back from summer vacation, having kickstarted the new legislative session yesterday. We have a preview in this morning’s news well of what’s going to keep us all on our toes for the next nine months

Already passed: Lawmakers yesterday extended for another six months exceptional security measures in parts of the Sinai peninsula that have been in effect since 2013.

PSA #1- Your commute is about to get a lot worse: Public schools and universities began the 2022-2023 academic year on Saturday. Y’all will want to leave the house a little earlier this morning than you have been.

PSA #2- Winter retail hours are in effect: Shops will now close an hour earlier at 10pm (11pm on Thursdays, Fridays and national holidays) after winter trading hours came into effect on Friday. Cafes and restaurants will close midnight rather than 1am. The government first introduced seasonal retail opening hours in 2020.

PSA #3- All businesses in Sharm El Sheikh will be required to issue e-receipts for B2C transactions as of 1 November, the Tax Authority said Friday. The pilot for the system was launched in April for some 100 businesses. All B2B and B2C invoices across the country are expected to be fully automated by December.

IMAGE OF THE DAY- Ever wonder what bores the tunnels through which the Metro glides? Tap or click here to check out Hassan Allam Holding’s 6.7-m Mixshield tunneling boring machine. Built by Herrenknecht, the machine is being deployed on Cairo Metro’s fourth line.

---

UPCOMING NEWS TRIGGERS- Here are some data points and news triggers to be on the lookout for in this month of pumpkin spice and all things nice:

• PMI: We’ll know how Egypt’s private sector fared in September when S&P Global drops its latest PMI release this Tuesday, 4 October. The downturn in activity looked to be easing in August when businesses told the survey that demand and output were rising on the back of slowing inflation.
• Foreign reserves: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) should be out with September’s foreign reserves figures later this week. Reserves remained flat at around USD 33.1 bn in August, having fallen 20% since March due to headwinds caused by the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions.
• Inflation to notch new highs? Analysts are expecting inflation to have continued rising in September due to the weakening EGP after reaching highs not seen since November 2018 in August. We’ll find out when Capmas and the CBE release the figures next week.

Expect another downbeat forecast for the global economy when the IMF releases its latest World Economic Outlook on Wednesday ahead of the IMF and World Bank annual meetings next week (10-16 October). Expect to hear more from the IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank’s David Malpass, and co this week in the lead-up to the release.

The Central Bank of Egypt does NOT meet in October to review interest rates. The next monetary policy committee meeting is slated for 3 November.

Eight Austrian water companies are here this week: Headed by Austria’s ambassador to Egypt and the VP of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, a delegation will meet with government officials and local business leaders on 3-5 October to discuss investment in Egypt’s water, wastewater and desalination projects, the Austrian embassy in Cairo said (pdf) over the weekend.

Subscribe to Enterprise

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The UK economy only narrowly avoided a ‘Lehman moment’ in the wake of British PM’s disastrous ‘fiscal event’: Still among the biggest stories in the financial press is the fallout of the chaos unleashed in markets by new British PM Liz Truss and her ostensible numbers man, Kwasi Kwarteng, last week. Market watchers told the Financial Times that the country’s bond markets came perilously close to collapse before the Bank of England stepped in with an emergency bond-buying program on Wednesday. Markets reacted with panic after Truss and Kwarteng plunged them into uncertainty by announcing an unbudgeted cut to the top tax rate at the same time as expanded government spending, in a move that was denounced across the political spectrum and overseas — including by the IMF.

Bye bye, Bolsanaro? Polls suggest former Brazilian president and veteran of the left Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — known as Lula — could storm to a first-round victory in the country’s elections today. A comeback for Lula and his Workers’ Party would upend the Brazilian political scene, which in recent years has been dominated by the right-wing populism of incumbent President Jair Bolsanaro, Reuters reports. If no clear victor emerges among the 11 presidential candidates today, voting will go to a second round run-off between the top two contenders at the end of the month.

ICYMI- Russia annexes Ukrainian land + Kyiv makes bid for Nato membership: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed treaties to formally annex four provinces in Ukraine following a series of referendums denounced by Western nations as illegal and staged, according to the Associated Press. Kyiv formally applied for fast-tracked Nato membership in response to the seizure of its territory, a move which is yet to gain vocal support by the military alliance or its members, Politico reports.

THE BIG ENERGY STORY of the morning-

Italy is the latest victim of Russia’s energy politics after state-owned Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Italy citing a “regulatory issue in Austria,” Bloomberg wrote. Italy sourced about three-quarters of its imported gas from Russia last year and is now scrambling, like most European nations, to lock in new supplies.

All of north Africa wants to get in on the game. Algeria is the latest to look to sell to Europe, Bloomberg reports. Algeria will up exports to Italy by almost 20% to 25.2 bn cubic meters, becoming its biggest supplier by providing 35% of its imports, Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi said last week, according to Reuters.

Egypt, Qatar and others will begin shipping more LNG to Italy from spring 2023, Descalzi said, without providing further details. Eni is planning to work with Egypt and others to boost its LNG export capacity, but the challenge appears to be Italy’s capacity to process new volumes on receipt, suggesting it may have to look at floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), which were part of the landscape here during our pre-Zohr natural gas crisis.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES-

• Mobile networks in Europe could go down this winter: Figures in the telecoms industry are warning that blackouts or electricity rationing could disrupt mobile networks across Europe this winter as the continent faces a historic energy crunch. (Reuters)
• Facebook Meta is slashing its budget for the first time since the company’s founding in 2004 as its share price tanks (-60% YTD) and revenue growth slows amid rising competition. (CNBC | Bloomberg)
• Spare a thought for Logan Paul: NFT trading volumes are down 97% since peaking earlier this year. Data from Dune Analytics picked up by Bloomberg shows that volumes in September fell to just USD 466 mn, down from a record high of USD 17 bn.

*** It’s What’s Next day: We have our weekly deep-dive into what makes and shapes pre-listed companies and startups in Egypt, the UAE and KSA, touching on investment trends, future sector insights and growth journeys.

In today’s issue: We take a look at how B2B e-commerce players are handling pressure on margins from inflation as well as the global VC funding squeeze, whether by reallocating investment or revisiting their business models.

The House of Representatives is back in session — here’s what you can expect. After breaking for a three-month summer recess (which included a brief, unscheduled return to sign off on the last cabinet shuffle in August), the House of Representatives kicked off the third legislative season of its five-year term yesterday. Yesterday and today see MPs in procedural sessions before they get down to business tomorrow on a host of long-delayed bills and amendments.

We have a full rundown on bills now before them (below), but we’d also like to know: Will MPs give Hassan Abdalla a full term? The former AAIB boss did us all a solid when he agreed to serve as governor of the central bank after his predecessor stepped down. Hassan is currently acting governor, because the House needs to sign off on any appointment to a full, four-year term.

BUSINESS + FINANCE

UNIFIED INS. ACT- The 217-article draft bill has been more than four years in the making and would give the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) broad new powers to regulate the sector, make ins. compulsory for SMEs and freelancers, and set up new economic courts to mediate disputes.

Status: The Senate approved the bill in April and the House of Representatives is expected to give its final vote sometime this legislative session.

COMPETITION ACT- Amendments to the existing law, which have been up in the air since last year, would among other things give the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA) more power to regulate M&A.

Status: Parliament discussed the amendments extensively with members of the business and legal communities during the last legislative session, but failed to reach common ground on a handful of contentious articles. Tap or click here for our full rundown of the business community’s concerns about the proposed changes to how M&A are regulated.

LABOR ACT- The law would, if enacted, extend both maternity leave and notice periods, cap working hours, and change minimum raise increments. If passed, it would replace the Labor Act of 2003. Tap or click here for our explainer on what the law would mean for your business.

Status: The Senate had approved the bill back in February, after which it referred it back to the House for a final vote. Parliament kicked the final vote on the legislation to the this new legislative session.

ALSO IN THE PIPELINE- A government-drafted bill that would establish a council for vehicle manufacturing and a fund to manage the financing of a local electric vehicle assembly industry. This is likely part of government plans to develop the local automotive industry with a focus on EVs, which saw it unveil the outline of its automotive strategy earlier this year.

TAXATION

INCOME TAX ACT- The Finance Ministry had drafted several amendments to the Income Tax Act, including raising the ceiling for income tax exemptions to EGP 15k per year from a previous EGP 9k. Raising the ceiling was part of the wide-ranging EGP 130 bn stimulus package rolled out in tandem with the Central Bank of Egypt’s surprise decision to raise interest rates and allow the EGP to slip against the greenback this March. The tax treatment of investment funds is also part of the act.

Status: The amendments were referred to the House of Representatives after the Madbouly cabinet approved them in April.

DEVELOPMENT + INFRASTRUCTURE

UNIFIED BUILDING CODE- Fresh amendments to the Unified Building Code — which has already been amended multiple times since it was passed in March 2020 — are designed to crack down on unlicensed construction. The new amendments would widen the scope for property owners in violation of the building code to pay “reconciliation fees” to the government to legalize their buildings — as long as the buildings are not a risk to the public.

Status: Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly in May discussed the new amendments with other senior officials. The amendments were shipped to the House after they were finalized at cabinet level.

ENVIRONMENT ACT- The government drafted amendments to the 1994 Environment Act, which it passed along to the House of Representatives right before it adjourned for summer recess in July. The proposed amendments would, if passed, give the Environmental Affairs Authority new powers.

Status: These amendments are still in the early days of their legislative life cycle, but could be fast-tracked ahead of COP27.

SOCIAL + POLITICAL

LOCAL ADMINISTRATION ACT- The long-stalled act — which has been facing delays since at least 2016 — aims to decentralize local councils and organize district elections. Government-appointed officials have been running local affairs since a court dissolved municipal councils in 2011, which is when the last municipal elections were held.

Status: Parliament was holding public consultations on the act way back in February 2020, after the House’s Support Egypt coalition rejected the draft as it stood in December 2019. It appears the bill fell by the wayside with the onset of the pandemic, but is expected to gain fresh importance since it will be part of the agenda of the upcoming national dialogue.

CHILD MARRIAGE BAN- The first legislation of its kind would prohibit marriage of anyone under the age of 18 and require marriage officiants to notify prosecutors of any common-law marriage — also known in Arabic as orfi marriage — that involves a child. Those who marry or are involved in the marriage of a child under 18 will face at least one year in jail and a fine of EGP 50k-200k. Family courts could remove guardianship of children in cases where family members are convicted.

Status: Cabinet approved the draft bill in April, after which it was shipped to the House of Representatives for discussion. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly has previously said he wants to see the bill get top priority in the House during the 2022-2023 session.

SCHOOL ADMISSION INTERVIEW BAN- A bill drafted by Rep. Fatma Selim aims to outlaw admissions interviews at private and international schools. These interviews, Selim has argued, discriminate against students from lower-income families. If passed, the bill would subject schools that reject incoming students on the grounds of religion, social class, gender, or race to an EGP 2 mn fine and a five-year prison sentence.

PERSONAL STATUS ACT-: The law regulates issues of marriage, divorce, child custody, guardianship, alimony, polygamy, inheritance and other family-related matters largely derived from Sharia. The draft amendments would grant emergency alimony to divorced women and their children, outlaw child marriage, impose penalties on men who remarry without informing their first wife, and regulate the “marriage list” — colloquially known as the Qaema — in which the husband acknowledges that he is liable to return household items his wife purchased in the event of divorce.

Status: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in May urged the government, lawmakers and Al Azhar to draft balanced and fair legislation as soon as possible — and later ordered a committee be set up to draft a new version. Controversial amendments to a previous bill, which critics argued would curb women’s rights and legal protections, were shelved by the House last year after backlash.

WATCH THIS SPACE- The national dialogue could also bring up a handful of political bills, including potential amendments to the 1956 law on exercising political rights, the 2014 law on House of Representatives elections, and the Political Parties Act of 1977.

Israel’s NewMed could acquire Egypt oil + gas assets via Capricorn merger: Capricorn Energy has abandoned contested plans to merge with Tullow Oil in favor of an all-share tie-up with Israel’s NewMed, according to a joint statement (pdf) out Thursday. Under the proposed terms, shareholders of NewMed — formerly Delek Drilling, well-known partner in Egypt — would acquire almost 90% of the new company, receiving 2.337344 Capricorn shares for each existing share and paying out a USD 620 mn special dividend to Capricorn shareholders.

This would hand NewMed control of Capricorn’s assets in Egypt, paving the way for closer energy ties between Israel and Egypt and creating what the companies described as a “MENA gas and energy champion.”

WHY THIS IS GOOD FOR US- Egypt and Israel signed a landmark gas export agreement in June to ramp up exports to the European Union as it looks to phase out reliance on Russian fossil fuels. The agreement allows Israel to send more gas to Egypt’s LNG facilities for export to Europe.

Bigger production targets: The new group plans to raise its production to over 200k barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day by 2030, up from 115k boe today, company CEO Yossi Abu said during a conference call, according to Reuters. NewMed is considering further developing its Leviathan gas field in a step that could further boost export volumes across the Mediterranean, he said, noting that one option to export more gas to Europe is via a new pipeline linking Israeli fields to Egypt’s LNG terminals.

What’s next: The merger is set to close in the first quarter of next year. The new firm would be listed under NewMed Energy on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and would also pursue a Tel Aviv listing, according to the statement.

The bid trumps Tullow’s original offer: The takeover bid — including the special dividend payout — would value Capricorn shares at a 13% premium to their last closing price. It’s also a 29% premium to Tullow Oil’s original bid, which was criticized by stakeholders for undervaluing the company. NewMed’s bid values the company at USD 338 mn, according to the statement.

Capricorn’s operations here have faced hurdles lately: The company recently lowered its full-year production forecasts in Egypt due to “logistics and commissioning delays,” citing issues with bringing two rigs online. The company now expects to produce 33k-36k barrels of oil equivalent per day this year, down from its previous 37k-43k boe/d estimate.

BACKGROUND- Capricorn — formerly Cairn — has had a presence in Egypt ever since it acquired Shell’s oil and gas assets in the Western Desert with partner Cheiron last year, under an agreement worth up to USD 926 mn.

OTHER M&A NEWS-

Egytrans is looking at acquiring a transport company, it said in an EGX disclosure (pdf) last week, without disclosing which companies it’s considering. The company also denied what it said were rumors among traders about a potential acquisition of its shares at a share price of EGP 4.50, saying that it is not aware of any potential takeover bids targeting the firm.

Alex Medical is officially under new ownership: The Tawasol-LimeVest consortium received a 70.2% stake in Alex Medical (10.9 mn shares) for EGP 535.4 mn on Thursday, after its mandatory tender offer closed last week, according to an EGX bulletin.

Last week was a big one for the securitized bond market. A blockbuster EGP 20 bn issuance by the New Urban Communities Authority’s (NUCA) Al Taamir headed up a string of securitizations last week, as an already hot market gets hotter.

Last week’s issuances more than double the total value of securitized bonds brought to market so far this year to some EGP 42 bn, according to data tracked by Enterprise. That dwarfs the EGP 15.8 bn taken to market during the whole of 2021.

FIRST UP- NUCA closes biggest ever securitized bond issuance: Al Taamir — a special purpose vehicle owned by the government’s New Urban Communities Authority — closed its EGP 20 bn securitized bond issuance after the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) approved (pdf) the move, according to Amwal El Ghad.

NUCA broke its own record for the market’s largest securitization: The authority closed an EGP 10 bn issuance in 2020. The proceeds were earmarked to finance the development of new urban areas including the new administrative capital and New Alamein.

Advisors- Dreny & Partners acted as legal counsel to NUCA on the issuance.

---

PLUS- EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions closed an EGP 2.0 bn securitized bond issuance on Thursday, EFG Hermes’ investment banking division said in a statement (pdf). This is the second securitization issuance for the leasing and factoring player, which executed a EGP 790 mn bond sale in December.

Advisors: EFG Hermes was the sole financial advisor, transaction manager, bookrunner, underwriter, and arranger on the issuance. Dreny & Partners acted as legal advisor and KPMG audited the issuance.

---

AND- Tamweel Mortgage Finance closed an EGP 1.6 bn issuance, financial advisor CI Capital said in a statement (pdf). The issuance marks the second tranche of Tamweel’s debut EGP 3 bn securitized bond program, the FRA said.

Advisors- CI Capital acted as financial advisor, issuance manager, and lead arranger for the issuance.

---

LAST, BUT NOT LEAST- GlobalCorp issued EGP 1.3 bn in securitized bonds — the second tranche of its EGP 5 bn securitized bond program, the non-bank lender said in a press release (pdf). The group in December issued the first EGP 985 mn tranche of the program, which is set to wrap next year.

Advisors- CI Capital acted as financial advisor, issuance manager, and lead arranger. CIB also acted as financial advisor, while Dreny & Partners were legal counsel and KPMG were auditors.

TCI Sanmar issued bonds worth USD 117.7 mn in a private placement with nine foreign banks, according to a statement (pdf) from its legal counsel on the transaction, Matouk Bassiouny & Hennawy. The industrial chemicals maker issued the bonds by converting 15% of its debt into non-convertible debentures (NCDs), marking the first time debt has been converted to bonds and issued on the local market, the law firm said in its press release. Matouk Bassiouny Associate Lawyer Shery Soliman declined to name the banks involved when we asked yesterday.

Non-convertible debentures? Debentures are long-term debt instruments that aren’t backed by any form of collateral. The “non-convertible” part means that TCI Sanmar’s bonds can’t be converted into equity shares. “Issuing non-convertible bonds will allow the company a period of time with low interest to repay its debt.”

Advisors: Arab African International Bank (AAIB) acted as the onshore security agent and subscription receiving bank on the transaction, while White & Case was the legal counsel to the banks.

About TCI Sanmar: The Indian industrial chemicals manufacturer has invested some USD 1.5 bn into local factories for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), caustic soda, calcium chloride and green ethylene, making it India’s largest investor in the country, according to its website.

Auto sales were down by more than half in August compared with the same month a year before as the market continues to struggle with barriers to import. Passenger car sales dropped nearly 53% y-o-y last month to just 8.7k vehicles, according to figures provided by the Automotive Information Council (AMIC).

Buses and trucks were no exception: Around 1k buses were sold in August — down more than 47% y-o-y. Truck sales saw a near 14% y-o-y drop to around 3.7k units. Total vehicle sales dropped 45% y-o-y to 13.4k units.

ICYMI- It’s been tough terrain for the auto sector. Passenger vehicle sales also halved y-o-y in July, extending months of steep declines. The market has been hit by rules requiring importers to get letters of credit (L/Cs) that limited imports to a handful of essential goods, leaving new cars and car parts stranded at ports and pushing a number of global car manufacturers to suspend sales here.

The sector is hoping its luck will soon turn: The blockbuster economic conference we’re expecting at some point this month could include steps to resolve import challenges, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said last week. Meanwhile, the government’s automotive committee held its first meeting last week, suggesting we could soon get more details on the automotive strategy that aims to increase local assembly and reduce the sector’s reliance on imported parts and cars.

Our friends at BTECH, the home and consumer electronics retailer, opened store number 143 yesterday, cutting the ribbon on the >3k sqm, EGP 32 mn “megastore” on Port Said St. in Alexandria’s Sidi Gaber neighborhood. The opening (pdf) gives the retailer, backed by UK-based private equity firm DPI, 15 stores in Alexandria and another five across the North Coast.

“We have 10 more stores to open before the end of the year,” CEO Mahmoud Khattab told us yesterday. “Whatever the macroeconomic headwinds, we’re opening a new store every 10 days — and creating new jobs as we do so. The current challenges will end, and we need to be ready to capture the upside when it does.”

This is the seventeenth store BTECH has opened in partnership with the Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels, turning a shop owned by the state institution into a modern retail outlet. “We have invested more than EGP 180 mn alongside the Holding Company since we started working with them more than six years ago,” Khattab said. “It’s a great example of public-private cooperation.”

The new Alex megastore includes BTECH’s first in-store zone solely for its B2B line of business. “We’re well known for our consumer facing business, but business-to-business is increasingly important to us,” Khattab said, adding that the store will also have a hands-on after sales service area to help shoppers set up or troubleshoot purchases. BTECH figures the new store will see footfall in the range of 35k shoppers per month.

CORRECTION- An earlier version of this story incorrectly said this is the sixteenth store BTECH has opened with the Holding Company for Tourism and Hotels.

Egyptian Kuwait Holding (EKH) will spend USD 20 mn buying back around 1.5% of the company (16.9 mn shares) over the next year in a bid to buoy its share price, the company said in disclosures to the EGX (here, pdf and here, pdf) on Wednesday. The company’s share price rose 3.0% on Thursday.

Arresting the decline: The company’s share price has fallen almost 18% since March, despite reporting two consecutive quarters of record earnings during the first half of the year on the back of rising fertilizer prices. Its net income rose 60% y-o-y to USD 72.4 mn during 2Q 2022, while revenues rose 53% y-o-y to USD 284.8 mn.

It’s not the only one looking to prop up its share price: Edita and e-Finance are among several companies to have announced buyback programs in recent weeks. Inflationary pressure, rising interest rates in western economies, and global market volatility have all contributed to a risk-off from emerging markets. The benchmark index fell to its lowest level since November 2016 earlier this year, and is currently down nearly 18% YTD.

Advisors: Al Ahly Pharos will execute the buyback program.

ALSO IN CAPITAL MARKETS- EFG Hermes once again topped the EGX’s brokerage league table in September, with a market share of 20.4%, according to figures from the EGX (pdf). Rounding out the top five were CI Capital (6.4%), Mubasher (4.5%), Pioneers Securities (4.0%), and Prime Securities (3.3%).

Qalaa Holdings returned to the black for the first quarter since 2018 in 2Q 2022 on the back of record revenues driven by improved refining margins at the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC). The company generated a net income of EGP 361.6 mn during the April-June quarter, compared to EGP 401.5 mn in losses last year, after revenues soared to almost EGP 27 bn, up 165% on 2Q 2021, according to its earnings release (pdf).

In detail: ERC’s revenues tripled y-o-y to EGP 21.5 bn, driven by improvement in refined petroleum product prices and an increasing gross refining margin, contributing c. 80% to total revenues. Operations experienced no slowdowns or shutdowns during the quarter. Qalaa subsidiary TAQA Arabia’s revenues rose 13% y-o-y to EGP 2.5 bn, driven by a strong performance at TAQA Petroleum, higher power distribution volumes at TAQA Power, and volume growth at TAQA Gas.

Looking ahead: “Qalaa’s results are vulnerable to FX changes owing to Qalaa’s sizable USD-denominated debt,” said co-founder and managing director Hisham El Khazindar. “Consequently, any further depreciation in the [EGP] may impact the group’s results.” The company’s debt restructuring efforts are progressing and remain a priority, he said, noting that ERC is in negotiations with its lenders for a full debt restructuring.

There are now 104 mn of us — which got the talking heads going: The country’s population surpassed 104 mn yesterday, according to Capmas figures (pdf). We passed the 103-mn mark in February, meaning that in the interim, one baby was born on average every 19 seconds, the national statistics agency pointed out.

The country has succeeded in bringing the birth rate down from 3.5 children per woman on average to 2.8 children per woman — and we’re aiming to get it down to 1.6 children per woman, “like in developed countries,” Hussein Abdel Aziz, advisor to the head of Capmas, told Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 8:53). El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 1:33) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 2:59) also had the story.

New year, new unis: The new academic year marks the kickoff of operations at 12 new national universities, including 10 tech universities and two private universities, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Ashour told Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 5:36). Masaa DMC also covered the start of the 2022/2023 academic year (watch, runtime: 4:12).

Thin fino, thick fino: Since the lapse of government controls on the price of unsubsidized bread that were brought in for three months starting in March, it’s up to each bakery to determine the price and weight of its fino bread loaves, Attia Hamad, head of the bakeries division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, told El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 18:04). That said, Attia’s idea of a reasonable fino ranges between EGP 0.50-0.75 per 40-gram loaf, he added.