It’s the first EnterprisePM of the year, ladies and gentlemen. Work on this edition was one of the highlights of 2021 for us, and we’re very grateful to you, dear reader, for allowing us to continue doing it. We hope you had as much fun reading it as we’ve had making it.

We also wanted to thank our friends at Etisalat Misr, who join us today as a pillar sponsor of EnterprisePM alongside CIB. It is through their generous support that we are able to continue to provide your afternoon reads without charge.

PSA #1- Civil servants are getting this Thursday off, with a cabinet statement today announcing that 6 January will be off in observance of Coptic Christmas which falls on Friday. We’re still waiting on announcements from the Central Bank of Egypt and the EGX on whether banks and the stock market will be closed on that.

PSA #2- The Taxman would very much like it if you were to soon file your 2021 tax returns: The deadline for submission for individuals is 31 March, while the deadline for companies with January-December fiscal years is 30 April.

A reminder that the EGX capital gains tax is now being implemented: As of today’s trading session, resident investors will face a 10% capital gains tax on EGX transactions. The tax will be imposed on net portfolio earnings at the end of the tax year after deducting brokerage fees. Foreign investors are not subject to the tax.

PSA #3- You only have a few days left to take our annual reader poll — and join us for breakfast. Every year, we ask our readers to weigh in on what you expect for the year ahead in our Enterprise Reader Poll. Take a few minutes to give us your take on the outlook for your business and industry, whether you’re planning fresh investments and new hires, and how your business fared in the year past. We’ll share the results with the entire community next week to help shape your view of the year — and will invite eight of you to break bread with us. Another dozen of you who complete the poll will also get special Enterprise mugs to enjoy your morning beverage of choice.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

#1- We have our first securitization of the year: CI Capital’s Corplease closed a four-tranche EGP 2.4 bn securitized bond issuance, lead manager and underwriter Misr Capital said in a statement today (pdf). Corplease’s issuance comes as the Financial Regulatory Authority signed off (pdf) on two more sales from Cairo Housing and Development and its sister companies.

#2- It’s official — the Suez Canal had its best year on record: The Suez Canal ended 2021 with a record USD 6.3 bn in revenues, up 12.2% y-o-y, Ever Given and all, Suez Canal Authority boss Osama Rabie said.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in tomorrow’s EnterpriseAM.

HAPPENING NOW- It’s pouring out there: We’re already seeing the beginning of a downpour here at the Enterprise global HQ in Maadi, with rain starting and stopping every few minutes. Our weather app is expecting rain from 6pm to 10pm tonight so you may want to take that into consideration when heading home from work today.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- There’s more wind and rain expected tomorrow, with the mercury set to reach 20°C during the day and 11°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.

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

• Four or five companies could offer shares on the EGX in 2022, EGX boss Mohamed Farid said, with Nahr Elkhair Development and Investment likely to be first in the chute.
• Also in the pipeline is Ghazl El Mahalla FC, whose shares are set to begin trading on the EGX in February.
• Israel-UAE’s answer to the Suez Canal just got blocked: A proposed oil transport corridor between the UAE and Israel that could have undermined the Suez Canal’s role as a major trade artery has been blocked by Israel’s justice ministry.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

There’s no one single story driving the conversation in the foreign press, which is somewhat expected since it’s the first Sunday after New Year’s. There’s a smattering of stories looking at how schools are coping with omicron closures (here and here), as well as tick-tock coverage of the Russia-Ukraine-Nato story, including Finland pushing to join the alliance.

A handful of OPEC+ countries — including Russia — are struggling to meet their production quotas after the oil cartel ramped up its output targets, suggesting that they’ve maxed out their capacity, Bloomberg says. Oil output from Angola, Nigeria, and Kuwait is also falling below target, after OPEC+ agreed in December to continue ramping up oil production despite concerns that the spread of the omicron variant could hit energy demand, according to the business information service. The oil cartel is set to meet on Tuesday, with experts expecting it to stick to its planned production increases.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s the start of a new month. The key news triggers to keep your eye on:

• PMI: Purchasing managers’ index figures for December for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar will be released on Tuesday, 4 January. Figures for the UAE will be released on Wednesday, 5 January.
• Foreign reserves: December’s foreign reserves figures will be announced before the week is out.
• Inflation: Inflation figures for December will be released on Monday, 10 January.
• Interest rates: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will hold its first policy meeting of 2022 later this month. The CBE hasn’t yet published its meeting schedule for the year so we’re still waiting on an exact date.

Expect progress in El Nasr Auto’s EV talks this month, with the company set to announce updates on its talks with seven foreign auto firms to begin assembling electric vehicles in Egypt, CEO Hani El Khouly said over the weekend.

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