A raft of good business news here at home on this fine morning — 2022.02.22 for those of you keeping track — is overshadowed by news that Russia has ordered troops into Ukraine.

After months of saber rattling, Russian President Vladimir Putin last night ordered troops into Ukraine’s two separatist regions for a “peacekeeping” operation just hours after he signed a decree recognizing the two breakaway areas. It’s not clear as of dispatch whether Russian troops are already on the move or if Putin plans to order their advance beyond the self-proclaimed “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk. All indications are that this could be the start of the war that has been threatening to erupt for weeks now.

Stock markets don’t like war: Asian markets are solidly in the red this morning and futures suggest European markets, Wall Street and Bay street should brace for a selloff at the opening bell. Brent crude futures surged on the news and the only gainers in after-hours stock trading seem to be energy companies.

Now for the response from the West: The UK is set to impose sanctions on Russia as early as next Tuesday, while EU leaders have also vowed sanctions for Putin’s move and will meet imminently to discuss the details. The US is imposing sanctions on the separatist regions, but not Russia as a whole as of yet, the New York Times is reporting, citing White House officials.

That Putin-Biden summit that some were speculating about yesterday? Not happening, if you ask us.

The news is all over the world’s front pages: The Financial Times, Reuters, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press have more.

War in Ukraine is something we need to keep careful tabs on. Russia and Ukraine are two of the most important markets for our resurgent tourism industry — and two of our top suppliers of wheat, together accounting for the vast majority of our imports (as we note in Egypt in the News, below). State wheat buyer GASC, the world’s largest purchaser of the commodity, was very careful a few days back in locking in April wheat from Romania even though Ukraine was offering a better price.

Russian wheat continues to fall on Ukraine tensions: Export prices of Russian wheat fell for a sixth consecutive week last week as tensions with Ukraine continued to rattle the market, Reuters reports. Russia and Ukraine are two of the world’s biggest wheat exporters, with Egypt as one of their main buyers. Around 50% of our wheat imports were shipped from Russia last year, while 30% came from Ukraine. Prices of Ukrainian wheat are also under pressure, falling 4% so far in February.

MARKET REAX- Russian stocks fell to their lowest since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 yesterday, while the country’s currency dropped the most since March 2020 on the back of the latest developments in Ukraine. (Bloomberg)

The soundtrack for this morning’s issue … is predictable.

MEANWHILE- There are now 103 mn of us: Egypt’s population should reach 103 mn today, statistics agency Capmas announced, according to Masrawy. We reached the 102-mn mark in July of last year — 232 days ago — meaning that on average, one baby was born every twenty seconds in the interim.

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 Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: The transition to net-zero emissions by 2050 is extremely necessary — but it’s also going to be extremely expensive, according to a new report from McKinsey. Investments of as much as USD 275 tn — equivalent to 7.5% of global GDP — will be needed as the world looks to rebuild the global economy from the ground up, sans carbon. In today’s issue of Going Green, we take a closer look at what the report has to say about hoe the shift to sustainability might look on a macro level, and why it’s going to cost quite so much.