Well, ladies and gentlemen, we’ve made it through another week. Is the rest of February going to trudge by this slowly?

THE BIG STORIES TODAY-

#1- Cosmeceuticals giant Macro Group’s shares began trading on the EGX this morning under the ticker MCRO.CA, according to an EGX statement (pdf). Macro raised EGP 1.3 bn in its IPO, which saw it sell 264.5 mn shares at EGP 4.85 apiece, valuing the cosmeceutical company at around EGP 2.8 bn. The IPO saw around 5600 investors participating in the retail and institutional offerings, the EGX said, around half of whom were new investors. The company’s debut on the bourse marks our second IPO of the year, after Al Khair River for Development and Investment’s (aka Nahr El Khair) got the ball rolling last month.

Macro’s shares popped in intraday trading, rising to an intraday high of EGP 5.28 (up 15%) before paring its gains to close at EGP 4.51 apiece, ending the day down 7%.

#2- Annual urban inflation rose to 7.3% in January, from 5.9% in December, according to figures released today by statistics agency Capmas. On a monthly basis, consumer prices went up by 0.9%.

#3- We officially have EV charging tariffs: The Electricity Ministry has set the tariff it consumers will pay to charge their electric vehicles, announcing the decision earlier today in the Official Gazette (pdf). The rates differ based on whether the charging station is public or at privately owned and commercial establishments. The move would go a long way to getting the nascent EV industry off the ground, Mohamed Mansour, co-founder and CEO of Infinity (which is building EV charging stations across the nation) told us last month.

^^We’ll have these stories and more in Sunday’s edition of EnterpriseAM.

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

• Lots of Emirati interest in Egypt acquisitions: First Abu Dhabi Bank has offered to buy a majority stake in leading financial services corporation EFG Hermes in an all-cash acquisition that values it at EGP 18.5 bn. Meanwhile, Aldar Properties will spend at least AED 5 bn (c. USD 1.4 bn) on acquiring retail and education assets in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
• Inching closer to “Euroclearable” status: The board of directors has been formed for our new central clearing and depository company, Egyptian Central Securities Depository in another step toward making local debt “Euroclearable.”
• Thndr lands USD 20 mn series A investment: Stock trading app Thndr has closed a USD 20 mn series A round co-led by Tiger Global, BECO Capital and Prosus Ventures, and featured additional participation from Base Capital, firstminute, and existing investors Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Partnership and JIMCO.

CORRECTION- In our story this morning on amendments to the Income Tax Act, we incorrectly said that the amendments would see property owners pay a lump sum tax ranging from EGP 1.5k-4k when they sell their real estate assets, replacing the current 2.5% tax paid by sellers on properties’ disposition or quick sale value. The amendments would, if passed, only apply the lump sum amount to properties that were sold before 19 May, 2013 — when the law was originally issued. Any sales after that date would still be subject to the same 2.5% tax. The story has been corrected on our website.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- The short answer: There isn’t one. The global business press is finally beginning to demote the Ukraine story, with no concrete updates to report save for some fresh military drills from Russia. Elsewhere, ongoing protests in Canada against vaccine mandates is creating a spillover effect on business, with the US-Canada border now closed and threatening to create yet more supply chain issues, Reuters says.

FOR TOMORROW-

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will be in town tomorrow for a two-day visit that will see her meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and other officials, the German Embassy in Cairo said in a statement. Baerbock is also expected to discuss potential collaboration between the two countries on the COP27 climate summit in Sharm El Sheikh this November.

The FIBA Intercontinental Cup kicks off tomorrow here in Cairo and wraps on Sunday, 13 February.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

There are two conferences taking place in Cairo next week:

• The Arab Sustainable Development Week will kick off on Sunday, 13 February and run through to Tuesday at the Arab League headquarters and the Nile Ritz Carlton.
• The three-day Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) begins at the Egypt International Exhibition Center on Monday, 14 February, and runs until Wednesday.

Keen on a trip to Kinshasa? EgyptAir will launch three direct weekly flights to the Congolese capital of Kinshasa starting 27 March, Al Mal reports. This marks the first direct air link between the two capitals. All Cairo-Kinshasa flights until 1 July will be 35% off, provided tickets are bought before the new line’s launch.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect cooler weather tomorrow with the mercury peaking at 17°C and falling into the single digits overnight. That’s probably the last gasp of winter as the mercury looks set to return to the 21-24°C range for the following 10 days, our favorite weather app suggests.