Good morning, wonderful people. We have very good news to start the workday: Egypt has received two shipments of wheat — and more is on the way, including grain from Ukraine and Russia. The news, coupled with the government signaling that it will provide subsidized flour to private-sector bakeries for a period of time, should go a long way toward easing jitters about food security in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We have chapter and verse on the wheat story at the top of this morning’s news well, below, and get into the flour-for-bakers issue in Last Night’s Talk Shows.

Also this morning: It’s refreshing to see a ton of interest in green manufacturing, with news from major international investors looking to significantly up their investments here.

PSA #1- Windy weather warnings: It’s going to be cold during the day — and you’ll want to break out a heavy blanket tonight, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority (EMA) warned yesterday. We will see highs of 16-22°C and lows of 9-11°C through Saturday, the EMA said, adding that light to moderate rainfall is expected across the north coast today and tomorrow.

PSA #2- Clocks changed in much of Canada and the United States yesterday as they “sprang forward” one hour to mark the start of daylight saving time. The United Kingdom will follow suit on Sunday, 27 March. Egypt dumped daylight saving time back in 2016, with the peak of DST madness having come in 2014, when clocks changed four times in one year (forward in spring, back for Ramadan, forward again after Ramdan, and then back in fall at the end of DST).

SOUND SMART #1- We probably did the right thing by ditching DST — and most EU citizens want to do the same. The time change is supposed to conserve energy, prevent traffic accidents and cut crime. The National Geographic thinks those benefits are probably overblown, if they exist at all — and that deadly traffic accidents may actually go up after clocks change.

MEANWHILE- Covid is still a thing and it’s causing trouble in China: Beijing placed the entire city of Shenzhen — home to 17.5 mn people and one of the country’s most important economic centers — into lockdown yesterday following a spike in covid cases, Bloomberg reports. Transport has been suspended, all non-essential businesses are closed, and residents are being prevented from leaving the city.

SOUND SMART #2- Why this matters: Shenzhen has one of the country’s busiest ports and is a key manufacturing hub, producing components for tech companies across the world. It hosts the headquarters of two of the country’s biggest tech companies, Huawei and Tencent, as well as the main manufacturer of the iPhone. Not good news at a time when shipping costs are surging and tech supply chains continue to face bottlenecks due to the pandemic.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY-

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has kicked off a tour of Asia, during which he will visit Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Pakistan, the ministry said in a statement yesterday. The ministry didn’t provide details of his schedule but mentioned that he will be in Islamabad to attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation summit on 22-23 March.

A World Health Organization (WHO) delegation is in town visiting Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA) headquarters, to check in on the EDA’s work mechanisms, offer training on standard lab procedures in accordance with WHO rules, and make sure our pharma industry is operating within WHO guidelines.

THIS WEEK-

A lobby group for the construction industry is sounding the alarm on the impact of rising building materials costs. The Egyptian Federation of Construction and Building Contractors will hold an “urgent” meeting tomorrow, Al Mal says, to discuss “unjustified rises” in the local price of steel, cement, and other materials. One union member was quoted as saying that contractors have been struggling with shortages and high prices in the steel market in recent days, potentially jeopardizing project schedules.

The Russian-Ukrainian crisis has pressured global prices — and the hikes now hitting the Egyptian market. Iron ore prices have been climbing over concerns that the conflict could curb global supply of the key steelmaking ingredient. Ezz Steel is now selling a ton of steel for EGP 17k after raising its prices by EGP 2k over the past month, while the Suez Steel Company hiked its prices by around EGP 1.5k.

It’s Fed week: The Federal Reserve will meet to review interest rates on Tuesday and Wednesday and is expected to kick off its long-signposted tightening cycle with a 25-bps hike. The market previously anticipated the central bank to go bigger and raise interest rates by 50 bps, but now expects the uncertainties triggered by the conflict in Ukraine to have changed its calculations.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

RESCHEDULED- US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman scrapped her trip to Egypt scheduled for Thursday and Friday of last week “due to unforeseen logistical issues.” She had been set to meet with Shoukry and “other senior officials,” including National Council for Human Rights chief Moushira Khattab. Sherman “looks forward to rescheduling her visit,” the State Department said in a brief statement.

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: In many parts of the world proximity to reputable institutions and the high costs associated with enrollment have typically presented significant barriers to access high quality post-secondary education. Now, many of the top universities around the world offer a portion of their undergraduate and graduate course offerings online — a good chunk of which you can complete at zero cost. In this issue we map out where to find these platforms and some of the most popular (and useful) courses you can use to help you jumpstart a career shift or advance your current skill set from the comfort of your home.