Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to an uncharacteristically gentle Monday newsflow, giving us a much-appreciated window in which to decorate our Christmas tree here at Enterprise HQ (though the supply chain crisis means there might not be any presents to go under it, as explained below). Here at home, Qatar Energy is looking to buy itself the gift of a minority stake in two Shell-operated blocks in the Red Sea, while the global press remains fixated on whether central bank policymakers plan to be naughty or nice on inflation at this week’s rate meetings.

One reason not to be Christmas-cheerful: Deepfake tech is exposing women to abuse. And one reason to be: the season finale of Succession drops tonight.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

Qatar Energy could be about to enter Egypt’s oil and gas upstream sector for the first time with the purchase of a 17% stake in two Shell-operated blocks in the Red Sea. The Dutch energy giant said this morning that it had agreed to sell the ownership to Qatar Energy, in a transaction that still needs government and regulatory approvals from both sides of the fence.

^^We’ll have more details on this and others in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

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

• Consolidation in the steel sector: Ezz Steel will acquire Ahmed Abou Hashima’s 18% stake in Egyptian Steel for EGP 2.5 bn.
• CI Capital’s tender offer for 26% of CHG goes live: Cleopatra Hospital Group shareholders have until Sunday, 26 December to subscribe to CI Capital’s voluntary tender offer, which it announced last week to acquire 26.2% of the company.
• Alameda gets contract for new capital hospital: Healthcare group Alameda is planning to invest EGP 1 bn to operate and manage a 300-bed hospital in the new administrative capital.

It’s interest rate week at home and abroad: The Central Bank of Egypt is meeting Thursday to review interest rates. It’s highly unlikely we’ll see any changes during the final policy meeting of the year, with everyone we surveyed in our customary poll telling us that policymakers will hold fire due to uncertainty over foreign inflows and inflation.

Potentially playing into the CBE’s calculations will be the decision made by the Federal Reserve a day earlier: The US central bank could announce plans to hike rates in 2022 and accelerate the tapering of its bond-buying programme as political pressure builds on policymakers to do something to slow inflation, which last month reach its highest rate in almost 40 years. The two-day meeting kicks off tomorrow.

The TRY is continuing to plumb new depths today, falling past the USD 14 handle for the first time ever and prompting yet another intervention by the country’s central bank. The currency has now plummeted 39% since cutting interest rates in September, making it the world’s worst-performing emerging-market currency this year. Bloomberg has more.

FOR TOMORROW- The Egyptian Economic Summit takes place at the St. Regis Hotel. The one-day event will feature a range of panelists from institutions including CIB, EFG Hermes, the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, Eastern Company, Oriental Weavers, Microsoft and Danone, among others. The full agenda is here (pdf).

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Subscription begins for CI Capital’s CHG acquisition: Cleopatra Hospitals Group (CHG) shareholders have 10 working days, starting today, to weigh in on the voluntary tender offer from CI Capital to acquire 26% of the healthcare company. We had the full details on the next steps in the acquisition bid in this morning’s AM.

The UN Convention Against Corruption kicks off this morning in Sharm El Sheikh and wraps this coming Friday, 17 December.

Cairo-based joint stock and investment companies have until Wednesday, 15 December to register for the government’s e-invoicing platform.

ALSO-

• The Food Africa expo runs through tomorrow at the Egypt International Exhibition Center, after getting underway yesterday.
• It’s also the second and final day of a conference of the AU’s Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa. Egypt took over the committee’s rotating presidency during yesterday’s session.
• The Arab Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy also kicked off yesterday in Aswan and runs until Thursday.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 21°C tomorrow, with the mercury falling to 10°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.