Egypt’s ambition to become the premier regional energy export hub got a shot in the arm yesterday with news that the Alaa Arafa-led Dolphinus Partners has entered into a USD 15 bn gas import agreement with Israel. That little matter of outstanding arbitral awards stands in the way, as we discuss in today’s Speed Round, but this is unequivocally good news.

It’s now time to get ambitious and ask ourselves — business leaders and policy makers alike — why aren’t we consistently making the case to our peers, our friends, and our competitors that Egypt should be the low-cost, high-talent hub for everything from financial services to exports? Why are professional services outfits, investment bankers, lawyers, multinationals and the like basing their regional hubs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi? We love ‘em both, but whether you look at the cost of rent or talent, time to market or a dozen other factors, Egypt is ridiculously more (cost-)competitive.

From banking to tech, media to manufacturing, Egypt is the natural hub for the Middle East, North and East Africa. It’s an argument that accrues to our collective benefit in the business community — and one that is too important for us to wait for government to make on our behalf. We must lead by example. </end sermon>

Meanwhile: The third annual Capital Markets Summit gets underway today. Look for current and former government officials to take the stage to discuss “the role of reforms in restoring growth and the vision of the capital market 2030.”

The T-20 is holding a fireside chat on blockchain tonight at 7:30pm. The event is open to T20 members and select invitees from the larger business community. Enterprise readers may register here to request an invite.

Exchange-traded funds are “in danger of devouring capitalism” as they re-shape the finance industry, the Financial Times argues in its introduction to a package on the ETF industry. Read the story in question here (by Robin Wigglesworth, the FT’s former Middle East hand) or check out the full menu of stories in the ETF package here. Then go read about how BlackRock is bulking up its research into artificial intelligence.