Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It’s another somber news day, with few stories of note here at home as the focus remains on Ukraine’s efforts to stave off Russia’s invasion.

One piece of good news in the midst of it all: The EGX30 was a sea of green at the closing bell today, with 29 out of the benchmark index’s 30 constituents ending the trading day up. Western and Asian markets are closed today, so keep an eye out tomorrow for how they react to the developments in Ukraine.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

FinMin boosts PPP reporting + transparency to track risks, fiscal implications: The Finance Ministry has provided a template for a database of Egypt’s public-private partnership (PPP) projects with the IMF, according to a technical assistance report (pdf) from the global lender. The database includes detailed data on each PPP contract individually, including project status, sector, dates of signature, value, financing among others, and a consolidation table for reporting. The database will be used as an input source for the PPP Assessment Model, helping to increase transparency and “potentially [lowering] the risk premium and cost of financing” for the government in PPP contracts.

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

• Fresh wheat tender on Monday after war breaks out between top suppliers Russia + Ukraine: State grain buyer GASC will look to buy 55-60k tonnes of wheat in an international tender tomorrow. The bid comes days after GASC called off a wheat tender due to a lack of offers as global grain markets face turmoil on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Etisalat could push into Egypt’s fintech sector following rebrand to “e&”: The UAE’s largest telecoms operator has rebranded itself as e&, as the company looks to expand beyond telecoms. Etisalat will soon make an announcement about a transaction related to Egypt’s fintech sector as part of its expansion drive.
• Siemens-led consortium set to sign on second + third high-speed rail lines next month: The Transport Ministry and the consortium of Siemens Mobility, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors tasked with building Egypt’s first high-speed rail line are next month set to sign final contracts for the second and third lines of the project.

WAR WATCH- Ukraine managed to push Russian forces out of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, Governor Oleh Sinegubov said, according to Reuters. Sinegubov had announced earlier in the day that Russian “light vehicles have broken into Kharkiv, including the city center,” but later claimed that Ukraine had regained control of Kharkiv. The initial advance into the city saw Russian troops blowing up a natural gas pipeline in the city, Reuters reports. Meanwhile, in Vasylkiv, southwest of the capital city of Kyiv, Russian missiles blew up an oil terminal. Despite the attacks, Ukraine has said that its pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe continues to operate as normal, according to the newswire.

Kyiv’s status isn’t quite as certain, as Russian troops continue to encircle the Ukrainian capital, “bypassing other towns as columns of troops sent from Russia and Belarus race towards the city,” the Financial Times reports.

The Ukrainian military is getting some helping hands: Italy is working to supply Ukraine with about 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles and 1k anti-tank weapons, while Portugal will provide the military with helmets, night vision goggles, grenades, various ammunition, portable radios and G3 automatic rifles, Bloomberg wrote. There’s also aid coming in from Czech Republic, Romania and Poland.

And Germany, which embarked on a significant policy shift by shipping arms to Kyiv, is now looking to more than double its own defense spending in 2022 to “protect our freedom and security,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Germany’s Bundestag today.

EU-wide no-fly zone coming? The EU could decide to impose a coordinated no-fly zone and close the entire bloc’s airspace to Russian flights, Reuters reports, citing an unnamed EU official.

The Bank of Russia assures Russian banks: Shortly after news broke that select Russian banks are about to be cut off from the global banking system, the Bank of Russia said it will provide “uninterrupted” supplies of RUB to banks.

Ukraine says it’s open to talking things out — just not in Belarus: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejected an offer of talks from Russia in Belarus’ Minsk, saying Belarus “was complicit in the Russian invasion.” Belarus has offered its own troops to help Russia and allowed Moscow to launch attacks into Ukraine from Belarus. Zelenskiy says he is open for negotiations in other locations.

Meanwhile: Egypt has called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League to discuss the situation in Ukraine, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

FOR TOMORROW-

A call for tech startups: Tomorrow is your last day to apply for the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and US-based VC firm Plug and Play’s incubator and accelerator program for digital transformation-focused startups. The program was launched in partnership with our friends at USAID. The “Smart Cities” innovation hub will select 20-30 Egypt-based companies for its inaugural three-month program, which starts in March.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The long-awaited tender for the Tenth of Ramadan dry port is kicking off today, Amr Ismail, head of the General Authority for Ports, told Al Borsa, adding that four consortiums — out of six that came forward with offers — are competing to build and operate the EGP 3.5 bn dry port and logistics hub. The four consortiums reportedly include Orascom Construction-Abu Dhabi Ports, Elsewedy Electric-CMA CGM, a consortium led by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, and another by Bollore Logistics.

Consoleya is holding its second Women Meet-up this Wednesday, 2 March to discuss topics including inclusivity in investment. The agenda includes a panel discussion on gender-lens funding here in Egypt.

ARE YOU BUILDING A FINTECH STARTUP? You might want to apply for Visa’s global startup competition, the Visa Everywhere Initiative, which is running in Egypt in partnership (pdf) with the Central Bank of Egypt. Learn more here. The deadline for applications in Egypt is 20 March.

The Diarna Handicrafts Fair kicked off on Thursday and runs through 7 March at Cairo Festival City from 10am until 10pm daily.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 23°C tomorrow and a nighttime low of 12°C in the capital city, our favorite weather app tells us.