Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen — it’s finally the weekend, and while Thursdays are always cause for celebration, we can’t help but agonize over the fact that our next workday will be sans caffeine as we enter Ramadan (presumably as of Saturday).

We continue to publish EnterpriseAM at 6am CLT Sunday-Thursday and EnteprisePM at 3:30pm Sunday-Thursday during the holy month. You can also look forward to our popular Your Wealth edition tomorrow morning. The theme (predictably enough) is Ramadan.

The EGX announced (pdf) yesterday shortened hours that will be in place for the holy month. The opening bell will be at 10am and last trades will take place at 1:30pm.

Banks are also keeping shorter hours for the month, with employees due in from 9am-2pm, while customers will have access to services from 9:30am-1:30pm, the central bank has said (pdf).

Before we dive into the day’s top headlines, NBE confirmed it purchased 6% stake in Fawry: The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) bought over 102.5 mn shares in the fintech company — exactly 6% — in a EGP 1 bn block transaction executed by Al Ahly Pharos Securities Brokerage, Fawry announced in an EGX disclosure (pdf) today. This brings NBE’s stake in the fintech darling to 12.54%, following Banque Misr in buying a chunk of Fawry, likely setting up the sale of the government-controlled stake to Abu Dhabi’s ADQ. The Abu Dhabi wealth fund will reportedly purchase an undisclosed stake in the company as part of a USD 2 bn investment agreed earlier this month.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

IFC grabs 5% stake in consumer healthcare giant IDH: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and investment management fund IFC MENA Fund have together acquired a 5% stake in Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH), according to a disclosure (pdf) to the LSE. The stake purchase is part of “a larger overall engagement” between the IDH and IFC, which began back in May 2021 to back IDH’s dual listing on the EGX and LSE.

HAPPENING NOW-

SWVL ticker hits the Nasdaq: Homegrown mass transit app Swvl made its debut on the Nasdaq just minutes before we hit “send” on this afternoon’s edition. The Egypt-born, UAE-based company began trading on the Nasdaq via a merger with its SPAC, Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, with shares debuting at USD 10 apiece.

^^We’ll have more on these stories and others in Sunday’s EnterpriseAM.

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

• Saudi Arabia pledges USD 15 bn to support Egypt through Ukraine crisis: Saudi Arabia deposited USD 5 bn with the Central Bank of Egypt, as our Gulf neighbors move to help shore up our finances amid global fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine. In parallel, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is looking to invest USD 10 bn in Egypt’s healthcare, education, agriculture and financial services sectors.
• Brownie points from IMF’s Georgieva: IMF head Kristalina Georgieva praised Egypt’s swift response to “head off the balance of payment shock and impact of rising food prices” caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, and said the IMF will “support a program that helps to buttress reserves, protect the vulnerable, and strengthen private sector-led growth.”
• Offers roll in for the management of EV charging station company: Fourteen firms are vying to manage the state’s planned EV charging firm, including our friends at renewable energy giant Infinity have submitted an offer, along with a consortium of MB Engineering EV charging subsidiary Sha7en and an unnamed French company, as well as Saudi’s AlSharif Group.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia and Ukraine could resume peace talks tomorrow, following up on the last round of negotiations held in Istanbul this week, a top Ukrainian official said today, according to Bloomberg. The anticipated talks come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of trying to “provoke a global food crisis” by targeting Ukrainian farms in its attacks, while NATO said Russia is regrouping to launch fresh attacks, not withdrawing.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s a new month tomorrow. The key news triggers to keep your eye on:

• PMI: Purchasing managers’ index figures for March for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar will be released on Tuesday, 5 April.
• Foreign reserves: March’s foreign reserves figures will be announced during the first week of the month.
• Inflation: Inflation figures for February are expected on Sunday, 10 April.

Companies have a little less than two weeks to file their first quarterly ESG compliance report: Listed firms and non-bank financial services companies need to submit their first quarterly ESG report by 10 April, the FRA said (pdf) on Sunday. The regulator is making it mandatory for corporates to publicly disclose their performance on key environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics each year when they submit their annual financial statements, starting 2023. Reach out to Moustafa Taalab at InkankIR, our parent company, if you need some help.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re getting ready to pack up our winter clothes until next year: Expect the mercury to rise to 34-36°C during the weekend as we head into a week-long heatwaves ahead of Ramadan, our favorite weather app indicates. At night, temperatures will fall to 16-20°C.