** Our Enterprise 2019 CEO Poll continues this morning as we touch base with some of Egypt’s leading CEOs about the questions that will define the coming 12 months across all industries. Our conversations replace our industry news roundups, which will return next week.

The format: Each CEO answered roughly the same set of questions, tailored only for their industry. The interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity and are presented “as told to.”

Today’s participants are:

• Amr Allam, CEO, Hassan Allam Holding
• Mohamed El Kalla, CEO, CIRA

Yesterday’s interviews included Osama Bishai (Orascom Construction), and Hend El Sherbini (IDH).

Their interviews begin after Egypt in the News and On the Front Pages, below.

It looks like we might be getting the next IMF disbursement soon: The IMF’s executive board will meet today to decide on the fifth USD 2 bn tranche of Egypt’s USD 12 bn extended fund facility. IMF chief Christine Lagarde praised Egypt’s reforms last week, saying that she would recommend that the board approve the recently completed review. Egypt has signaled that it is unlikely to ask the IMF for another facility when the current program expires.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Brussels today for talks with other European and Arab foreign ministers. The meeting comes in preparation for the EU-Arab League summit which will take place in Sharm El Sheikh on February 24-25. The meeting could see the unveiling of a plan for EU countries to provide aid to Egypt and other regional countries in exchange for stepping up efforts to halt the flow of illegal migrants to Europe.

The Markit / Emirates NBD purchasing managers’ index for January will be out tomorrow. The gauge, which measures non-oil business activity in Egypt, recorded 49.6 in the December survey, failing to break a four-month-long contraction.

Egypt Building Materials Summit takes place on Thursday at the Nile Ritz Carlton. The event brings together construction industry investors, developers, policymakers, service providers and consultants, and over a dozen of keynote speakers.

TECH READ- Venture capital investors are urging their tech startups to have more cash in the bank “to make sure they can weather any situation,” the FT reports. General worries about economic instability and stock market volatility have fed investor fears that larger companies could cut tech spending. And there’s a worry that new funding rounds will become harder to raise. Softbank’s January decision to slash its planned investment in WeWork to USD 2 bn from USD 16 bn is a prime example, the salmon-colored paper says. As comparisons to 2008 abound, several investors have warned that startups founded in the last ten years have only ever operated within a strong economy. They’re now advising them to keep cash on hand to cover 18 to 24 months of spending — double what was recommended a year ago.

US earnings season looks good for Big Oil: 2018 was a great year for western oil giants despite the 38% plunge in oil prices in the final quarter, the WSJ reports.

Great MbS Purge rustles up USD 107 bn from 87 businessmen: An anti-corruption commission headed up by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reported that some USD 107 bn in cash, real estate, companies and securities has been recovered from 87 individuals. This comes 15 months after MBS famously detained many of the country’s most senior business leaders in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton on charges of corruption. Reporting that those held “have been trickling out of prison for more than a year,” Bloomberg charts the fall in fortune of four of the country’s wealthiest people, including Alwaleed bin Talal, whose net worth (as KSA’s richest person) has been reduced by almost one-fifth since his imprisonment.

It was Super Bowl Sunday overnight in the US of A. The New England Patriots held off the LA Rams 13-3, tying the Pats with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most NFL titles held by any team. The story is all over the interwebs this morning for those so inclined. Start with the Bleacher Report or ESPN.