Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It’s been a relatively calm Sunday so far, but it’s shaping up to be an interesting day for the business community as we’re getting news of fresh investments in everything from logistics to a new VC fund. The rest of the week is also looking eventful (at least on the politics / diplomacy side), as Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry heads to Washington tomorrow as Egypt appears to have been snubbed from a “democracy summit” next month.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- EGX-listed Ibnsina Pharma’s investment arm is investing EGP 440 mn in establishing a logistics service provider. The third-party logistics business, Ramp Logistics, will focus on warehousing, transportation and outsourcing other 3PL services, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf).

#2- Benya Capital is launching a USD 50 mn VC fund as the IT infrastructure contractor eyes a larger expansion strategy, Chairman Ahmed Mekky said ahead of the Cairo ICT Expo, according to Al Borsa. The VC fund will focus primarily on tech, IoT and AI startups in Africa.

#3- Saudi investment company Rajhi-Invest has joined education investment fund Lighthouse Education platform, investing EGP 75 mn, according to a press release (pdf). Total investment has now exceeded the EGP 500 mn targeted for its first close, the statement notes.

^^ We’ll dive into these stories and more in tomorrow morning’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

HAPPENING NOW-

Two conferences open their doors at the Egypt International Exhibition Center today: The four-day transport conference TransMea 2021, and the 2021 Cairo ICT exhibition, which also wraps on Wednesday.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

• EBRD is more optimistic about Egypt’s growth outlook: Egypt’s economy is on track to grow 4.9% in FY2021-2022, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said in its latest Regional Economic Prospects report on Thursday.
• Suez Canal transit fees are set to increase by 6% for most ships starting February 2022, as the Suez Canal Authority looks to capitalize on rising traffic, which it expects to increase by almost 7% next year.
• The Sisi administration wants to grow renewable energy capacity to cover 42% of the country’s electricity needs by 2030, Oil Minister Tarek El Molla announced at the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow on Thursday.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

There’s no one story dominating the front pages of the global press this afternoon. That said, China is getting a lot of play: A stronger than expected boost in the country’s exports in October suggests the country’s economic slowdown could be easing, Reuters reports, while coal imports to China doubled as the government seeks to bring down prices amid nationwide fuel shortages, according to Bloomberg. The coal tidbit is particularly interesting considering tens of countries and organizations signed an agreement at COP26 last week to phase out the use of coal power. China did not sign onto the pact, despite being one of the world’s major emitters.

Meanwhile, plenty are keeping their gaze firmly fixed on Washington politics: US President Joe Biden has managed to pass a controversial USD 1 tn infrastructure bill — but he still has to contend with an electoral backlash and deep divides among Democrats. (New York Times | Financial Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal).

ALSO- Egypt didn’t make the guest list for US President Joe Biden’s democracy summit, which is set to bring more than 100 countries together in Washington on 9-10 December for talks on protecting rights and freedoms globally, Reuters reports. The summit is seen as a key test of Biden’s pledge to return the US to global leadership following Donald Trump’s more isolationist (and embarrassing) tenure.

Some invitees’ policies are less than democratic: Rights campaigners have branded the tentative invite list “problematic,” questioning the inclusion of countries like the Philippines and Poland, where civil rights have long been shrinking. Iraq and Israel are the only countries in the Middle East to have made the cut.

The snub comes as Shoukry heads to the US for high-level talks tomorrow: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will hold talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during the two-day US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue, which kicks off tomorrow, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the US State Department said in separate statements over the weekend. The meetings, which will also be attended by senior officials from USAID and the Department of Defense, will cover “international, regional, human rights and bilateral cooperation on economic, judicial, security, educational and cultural issues,” the State Department said.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Inflation: Inflation figures for October will be released this Wednesday, 10 November.

Public sector workers have until next Monday, 15 November to get vaccinated or risk not being allowed into their workplaces.

The two-day Africa FinTech summit kicks off next Tuesday, 16 November. The summit looks at innovation in the fintech ecosystem, venture capital and other forms of investing, and will also discuss the rise of healthtech.

The British are coming: British royal family members Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will be in town next Thursday and Friday, 18 and 19 November.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It’s nowhere near sweater season yet, with an unseasonably warm daytime high of 30°C tomorrow. The mercury will cool off in the evening, falling to a low of 20°C, according to our favorite weather app.