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Wednesday, 26 May 2021

THIS MORNING: Blinken is in town + IMF staff agreement on third SBA loan tranche + budget week rolls on

Good morning, friends. We’re almost at the weekend, and diplomacy dominates the press, the airwaves, and our issue today. We have the updates on Palestine, GERD, and Qatar, but first:

THE BIG STORY HERE AT HOME- Egypt looks set to unlock the USD 1.6 bn third and final tranche of its USD 5.2 bn IMF standby loan after reaching a staff-level agreement with the fund. We have chapter and verse in this morning’s news well, below.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due in town today, according to state-run news agency MENA. Blinken is set to meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, MENA confirms, but we expect a sit-down with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will also be on his agenda. Blinken was most recently in Jerusalem and Ramallah (we have more on his visit in Around the World, below) and will head to Jordan after Cairo to round off his peacebuilding trip.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD THIS MORNING- No single story dominates international headlines, but the US’ renewed calls for an investigation into whether covid-19 could have leaked from a Wuhan lab, as well as coverage of memorials and marches marking a year since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers made the front pages. Other news of note:

  • Amazon is being sued for violating Washington’s competition laws by restricting sellers from listing products cheaper on other platforms.
  • European airlines are rerouting to avoid Belarus’ airspace following outrage at the forced landing of a plane in Minsk and the arrest of an opposition journalist on board.

ALSO HAPPENING TODAY-

Budget week rolls on in parliament: The House will continue committee-level discussions of allocations in the state’s FY2021-2022 budget for institutions including the Higher Education Ministry and its agencies, the National Railways Authority, the National Tunnels Authority, the General Authority for Planning Transportation Projects, the National Transport Institute, and the New Urban Communities Authority. The House CIT Committee signed off yesterday on the spending plan for the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, according to Youm7.

There’s more coming on Thursday: The House Healthcare Committee is due to discuss the budgets for the General Authority for Healthcare; the Universal Healthcare Ins. Authority; the Health Ins. Organization; and the General Authority for Healthcare, Accreditation, and Regulation, according to parliament’s schedule.

The EU is hosting a webinar at 10 am today to discuss the outcomes of its Inclusive Economic Growth Program in Egypt, which aimed to support SMEs and promote inclusive growth, according to a press release (pdf). The EU-funded program backed businesses in sustainable tourism and heritage sites, among others. The webinar will feature Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Egypt Tobais Krause as well as Assistant to the Minister of International Cooperation and Supervisor of the European Cooperation Sector Sherihan Bekheit. You can register for the webinar here.

*** CATCH UP QUICK with the top stories from yesterday’s edition of EnterprisePM:

  • Part two of our exclusive with EFG Hermes Group CEO Karim Awad: EFG Hermes’ Awad talks about foreign institutional investors coming back and what’s next for the debt market in Egypt.
  • Economic recovery needs the private sector: Private sector involvement is needed for Egypt’s post-covid recovery, says European Commission.
  • IDH gets IFC facility: IDH landed a USD 45 mn debt financing package from the IFC after listing on the EGX.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is due to hold meetings in Athens next month with counterparts from Greece, Cyprus, and France, Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said in a statement picked up by Cyprus Mail. The EU could be looking to participate in the East Mediterranean Gas Forum and will send in a request soon, Christodoulides suggested.

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

enterprise

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: We look at private sector healthcare investments in Egypt. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Egyptian healthcare market has had solid fundamentals that make it primed to absorb investments and expansions in services. But while there has been increased appetite, there are key issues holding back more private sector investments.

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