The two biggest stories in Egypt’s print media yesterday also made it to the airwaves. Tarek Amer’s reappointment as central bank governor and Fitch’s latest FX rating both earned screen time, as did the government’s financial inclusion strategy and the president’s meeting with Eni chief Claudio Descalzi.

Story du jour #1: Tarek Amer earns himself another four-year stint at the helm of the Central Bank of Egypt. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was reported yesterday to have handed Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer a second four-year term, Al Hayah Al Youm’s Khaled Abu Bakr noted (watch, runtime: 8:58). We have more in this morning’s What We’re Tracking Today, above.

Story du jour #2: Fitch affirms Egypt’s credit rating: El Hekaya’s Amr Adib had a lengthy segment discussing Fitch Ratings’ decision to leave Egypt’s B+ long-term foreign-currency credit rating on hold (watch, runtime: 16:26). Hona Al Asema’s Reham Ibrahim spoke to economist Abdel Monein El Sayed, who implied that the rating doesn’t do justice to recent economic indicators (watch, runtime: 5:06). Again, we have the full story in Speed Round, below.

Financial inclusion 101: Al Hayah Al Youm’s Khaled Abu Bakr sat down with ICT expert Waleed Abdel Maksoud and economist Karim El Omda for a primer on the paperless, cashless economy (watch, runtime: 4:30). El Omda simplified the buzzword ‘digital transformation’ as the gradual process of doing away with paper documents and banknotes, in favor of using computers. He also discussed the government’s push for ‘financial inclusion’, noting that the proportion of Egyptians with bank accounts rose from 14% to 38% between 2014 and 2018 as a result of a government-backed plan.

El Sisi, Eni CEO Descalzi discuss oil and gas work in Egypt: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi sat down yesterday with Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi for a periodic review of the company’s oil and gas exploration and production work in Egypt, Ibrahim noted (watch, runtime: 1:27). The president called on Descalzi to step up the company’s activities, and asked that he commit to specific time frames.

The Grand Mufti isn’t a fan of crypto: Al Kahera Alaan’s Lamees El Hadidi sat down with Grand Mufti Shawki Allam for a discussion on Ikhwani culture — and Islamic fatwas (non-binding legal opinion) on birth control, egg freezing, and cryptocurrency (watch, runtime: 22:28). Sheikh Allam said the clergy spoke to experts about cryptocurrency and concluded it leads to “ignorance, trickery, and fraud.” This is exacerbated by the fact that there is currently no legal framework or regulations to turn to in case of disputes, he added.

Also earning screen time last night:

• Egypt’s Smart Guy barred from science lectures at Cairo University: Egypt’s latest prodigal son, a 13-year-old whom the press refers to by his initials A.A.A, has been denied entry to science lectures at Cairo University by “high level security authorities” after a year-and-a-half of attendance, math professor Hani El Husseini tells El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 7:16).
• Football also got plenty of airtime: El Hadidi sat down with former veteran defender Moustafa Younis and coach Reda Abdel Aal to break down the current state of Egyptian football after the senior team national team flopped in two Afcon qualifiers and the U-23 team secured a place at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (watch, runtime: 32:54). El Hadidi’s other half and ardent Zamalek supporter Adib also took some time to mourn his team’s recent defeat on live TV (watch, runtime: 1:24).