Well, friends, we made it through the first workday of Ramadan. The country appears to be taking things slow as we ease into the holy month, meaning there hasn’t been an avalanche of big stories to speak of today.

A few Ramadan reminders before we get into the swing of things:

• Shops are staying open for longer: Shops, malls, cafes and restaurants are now allowed to stay open until 2am, rather than 10pm, until the end of Eid. The decision was confirmed in the Official Gazette on Thursday.
• Banks are now running on reduced Ramadan hours: Banks across the country are now only open between 9:30am and 1:30pm.
• Shortened EGX trading hours: The trading day now runs 10am and 1:30pm.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? Maghrib prayers are at 6:16pm CLT this evening, and you have until 4:21am to eat / hydrate / caffeinate.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

A consortium led by little-known Expedition Investments has submitted a non-binding offer for a majority stake in food and dairy manufacturer Domty, the company announced in a disclosure (pdf) to the EGX. The consortium is looking to acquire up to 90% of Domty, preliminarily pricing its shares at EGP 5 apiece, according to a statement (pdf) from the Financial Regulatory Authority to the bourse. Domty’s shares rose 14.2% on the news to close at EGP 4.50.

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

• Swvl rises on Nasdaq debut: Shares in Cairo-born mass transit app Swvl rose on their Nasdaq debut last week — hitting an intraday high of USD 10.30 after opening at USD 9.60 before paring gains to close at USD 10.00 — as the company concluded its SPAC merger with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital.
• EBRD trims Egypt’s growth outlook for 2022: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has downgraded Egypt’s 2022 growth outlook due to rising food and energy price inflation caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The lender expects the economy to grow at a 3.1% clip this year, down from the 5.0% it had penciled in last November.
• Fintech app Khazna raises USD 38 mn in series A funding: Local fintech startup Khazna has raised USD 38 mn in equity and debt in a series A funding round led by US-based Quona Capital and includes previously announced funding from Nclude — the new USD 85 mn fintech fund launched by state-owned banks Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire and managed by the UAE’s Global Ventures.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are not ready for direct talks, Reuters quotes Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky as saying on Telegram, as Russia’s position on the status of Crimea and Donbas — two Ukrainian regions where Russia has annexed territory — “remains unchanged.” Ukraine’s chief negotiator had earlier said that the two sides informally agreed to most of a draft peace proposal, which is now developed enough for the two leaders to discuss directly.

*** It’s Inside Industry day — your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: Egyptian manufacturers are far from immune from the global semiconductor shortage, which has roiled industries around the world and highlighted the risk exposure of having only a small selection of chip manufacturers to rely on. We spoke to manufacturers across a variety of industries to get a feel for how the semiconductor shortage has affected their production output and revenues.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s PMI week: Purchasing managers’ index figures for March for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar will be released on Tuesday, 5 April. By that specific gauge, Egypt’s private sector has been in contraction since November 2020. Headwinds intensifying last month due to the conflict in Ukraine are unlikely to have changed that.

Foreign reserves: March’s foreign reserves figures will be announced some time this week.

ALSO- Inflation figures for March are expected on Sunday, 10 April, one week from today.

Companies have a little over 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 20 April, the FRA announced last week. 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- Expect a daytime high of 35°C and a nighttime low of 20°C tomorrow before the mercury makes its way to the 40s range in the coming days, according to our favorite weather app.