Rejoice, friends, for it is finally the weekend. This week somehow felt particularly long, but we’re also not quite sure how it’s already the last month of the year.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

#1- The Dongfeng replacement process is moving along nicely: State-owned El Nasr Automotive will meet with three Chinese companies next week to talk about potentially working together on locally manufacturing EVs, as El Nasr is in the market for a new foreign partner to fill the Dongfeng-shaped hole in its EV manufacturing plans.

#2- The securitized bond market is still red-hot: Palm Hills Development just closed (pdf) a four-tranche EGP 1 bn securitized bond sale, as GB Lease, Corplease, and GlobalCorp are planning a total of nearly EGP 8 bn in securitized bond issuances before mid-month.

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

• Abu Qir secondary sale coming this month: Abu Qir Fertilizers will sell an additional 10-15% of the company in a secondary offering on the EGX before the year is out, with a virtual roadshow targeting potential institutional investors currently underway.
• GM + Al Mansour Auto could partner up to produce EVs: General Motors and Al Mansour Automotive signed an MoU that could see them work together on EV production in Egypt.
• Lawmakers could decide to postpone targeted VAT hikes amid concerns about their impact on prices, as inflationary pressure has been building with increased fuel and food costs.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s still all about Omicron, as the US reported its first known case of the variant in a fully-vaccinated person in California who tested positive seven days after returning from South Africa late last month. Reuters and the New York Times, among others, have more.

A bright spot in the darkness? WHO pushes for binding treaty on future pandemic cooperation: The World Health Organization agreed yesterday to start discussing a binding treaty on how its 194 member states should cooperate in the case of a future outbreak, according to a statement. The organization agreed to set up an intergovernmental negotiating body that will meet before March 2022 and deliver the result of their deliberations in May 2024. The spread of the Omicron variant and the subsequent travel bans showed how “countries worldwide are acting in a patchwork and discriminatory fashion” and helped push the case for the treaty, the New York Times writes.

Sentiment is a little mixed: The EU and the UK were among those who had strongly advocated for a treaty to be formed, while the US described the initiative as “a momentous step” but refused to commit to anything binding in a statement signed by Brazil and a number of other countries. China, meanwhile, was a bit more visibly wary saying that while Beijing “agreed in principle” with the concept of the accord, cautioning against “politicization, stigmatization and instrumentalization.”

HAPPENING NOW- OPEC+ will decide today on whether or not to ramp up oil production as of next month. Oil futures are down as of dispatch, with WTI futures trading at USD 65.35/bbl (down 0.34%) and Brent crude futures dipping 0.25% to USD 68.70/bbl.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The key news triggers to keep your eye on at the start of December:

• PMI: Purchasing managers’ index figures for November for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will be released on Sunday, 5 December. Figures for the UAE, which normally come out on the same day as Egypt and Saudi, will be released two days later on Tuesday, 7 December.
• Foreign reserves: November’s foreign reserves figures will be released during the first week of the month.
• Inflation: Inflation figures for November will be released on Thursday, 9 December. Data for inflation typically appears on the 10th of every month, but is moved up one day if that falls on a Friday.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its final meeting for the year to review interest rates on Thursday, 16 December.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- It seems like it might be a cold, cloudy, and possibly rainy weekend — and we can’t say we’re not excited. The mercury will rise to 22°C on Friday, with a 20% chance of rain. Meanwhile, on Saturday, expect a daytime high of 23°C while nighttime lows will be in the range of 13-14°C during the weekend, our favorite weather app tells us.