Good morning, friends, and welcome to a Monday on the move. We come bearing a truck / train / planeload of news, from fresh securitizations and loans to all things import / export.

The Central Bank of Egypt is paving the way for banks to help importers with the letters of credit they’ll need from tomorrow. Meanwhile, ACI trials for air freight are soon to take flight, the local manufacture of electric locomotives should be chugging along by the end of the year, and our first-ever exports of locally-made Sinovac jabs are on their way to the Gaza Strip as we push forward on ambitions to become a regional vaccine making-hub.

Slotting nicely into our “moving” theme: The House of Representatives will today discuss a bill that would regulate real estate brokers, as well as the so-called “old rent” law. We have more on all of these stories in today’s newswell, below.

We’re also happy to see an old neighbor move back: The Hyatt brand has officially returned to Cairo with the grand opening of the Hyatt Regency Cairo West hotel at Pyramids Heights yesterday. The 250-room hotel opened its doors last year in a soft launch, a little over two years after Hyatt signed a franchise agreement with ALDAU Development to set up the hotel overlooking the Giza Pyramids. The EBRD provided financing for the project with a USD 12 mn loan to ALDAU last year.

The luxury hotel brand exited Egypt some ten years ago — and its return today is a testament to our tourism industry’s impressive comeback in the years since. If nothing else, it’s a positive signal from a big investor that Egypt is the market to be in right now, and that it’s a market to have confidence in.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

We should be signing agreements on everything from electricity to education with Jordan today at the Egyptian-Jordanian Joint Higher Committee meeting. An agreement will be signed on efforts to double the capacity of the electricity link between the two countries to 1 GW, according to an Electricity Ministry statement, while we’re also set to ink agreements on higher education, scientific research, and logistics. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly yesterday discussed bilateral ties and regional issues with Jordanian PM Bisher Al-Khasawneh ahead of today’s meeting,a cabinet statement read.

Facebook is going to need to up its game if it is to retain its position as the number one source of misinformation: You’ll be able to get the most alternative of alternative facts straight from Trump’s mouth to your brain as King Cheeto’s very own social media platform debuts on the App Store. In a series of online posts seen by Reuters, an executive involved in the rollout of Truth Social said the app will be available for download from today.

This will officially mark the end of The Donald’s internet blackout: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube all banned the former US president from their platforms after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January last year following the disputed 2020 election.

They just couldn’t help themselves: As well as the very Facebook-esque logo, screenshots show Truth Social to be an almost carbon-copy of Twitter. Add the obvious barbs aimed at its founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey, and Trumpworld is firmly positioning its new social venture as the anti-Twitter.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Macron gets Biden, Putin to meet for a last-ditch summit to avoid war in Ukraine: French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent diplomatic outreach to Russia appeared to pay dividends yesterday, as he managed to get the US and Russian presidents to agree in principle to sit down for talks over the Ukraine crisis. The two countries’ top diplomats are set to meet Thursday to work out the summit’s details, which are scant so far.

Settle in for a cliffhanger: France and the US have said the summit won’t take place if Ukraine is invaded, meaning Putin could put the brakes on any invasion plans until the meeting. But now we’re left dangling on the precipice — Russian troops in Belarus and on the border with Ukraine are going nowhere, while the US’ finger is still hovering over the big red “sanctions” button. The Financial Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal all have more.

SIGN OF THE TIMES- Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund is turning to data nerds to advise on its investments. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) has assembled a more than 50-strong crack-team of physicists, academics and data analysts to help it identify and capitalize on market trends, the Financial Times reports. One of the world’s largest wealth funds with some USD 700 bn under management, Adia has also historically been viewed as one of the most conservative. But as global financial markets become ever more connected and fast-moving, and new AI- and data-based approaches emerge to read the financial tea leaves, Adia is hoping its new “research and development lab and factory” will give it the edge on innovation.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

A call for tech startups: The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and US-based VC firm Plug and Play have launched an incubator and accelerator program for digital transformation-focused startups in partnership with our friends at USAID. The newly launched “Smart Cities” innovation hub will select 20-30 Egypt-based companies for its inaugural three-month program, which starts in March. Startups can apply here before applications close on 28 February.

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

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed. Blackboard appears every Monday in Enterprise in the place of our traditional industry news roundups.

In today’s issue: As public schools suffer a huge shortfall in teachers, Egypt’s need for more accessible educational training is clear. Part of the problem is that most private sector players don’t see a market for offering teacher training as a standalone service. We look at why appetite remains low — with one notable exception — and where some leaders in the field believe the private sector can play a more active role.