Good morning, friends, and welcome to the first truly slow news day of Ramadan. It took the confluence of Ramadan, Western Easter, Coptic Good Friday and Passover to slow down the freight train that is the 2022 news cycle, but we’re not complaining.

Sound smart: The overlapping of Ramadan, two Easters and Passover? It won’t happen for another 33 years or so.

SCARY THOUGHT of the morning: Did someone say “stagflation”? Look no further than the Financial Times’ front page, which warns that “the twin perils of slowing growth and high inflation, or stagflation, will hit the global economy this year as Russia’s war against Ukraine exacerbates a slowdown in the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.”

Odds are good you, like us, don’t have memories of what stagflation felt like. In the absence of a Hot Tub Time Machine back to the real-life That 70s Show, you’ll need to use your imagination: It’s corrosive to the economy, hell for businesses, and it leaves policymakers with few levers to pull. Rising prices, low growth and sagging business confidence are an unholy trinity, and policymakers around the world looking for solutions will find their room to maneuver constrained because debt levels are already high, the salmon-colored paper warns.

Why is the FT banging the drum about stagflation? Cast your eyes across the ocean to Washington, DC:

That’s where the IMF + World Bank spring meetings start today: Global finance chiefs have descended on Washington for the IMF and World Bank annual spring meetings. Expect the global economic impact of the war in Ukraine and fears of food insecurity to dominate the agenda.

What to watch for:

• Just how badly will the conflict in Ukraine knock the Egyptian + global economies? We’ll find out the IMF’s assessment tomorrow when it releases its latest World Economic Outlook. Expect the Fund to downgrade its growth projections for both Egypt and the world. In January the IMF forecast the Egyptian economy to grow at a 5.6% clip in FY 2021-2022 and penciled in 4.4% growth for the global economy.
• Will we see progress in our talks with the IMF for a new assistance package? Egyptian officials are scheduled to sit down with IMF officials to discuss what a program might look like in view of our current debt level. We’re currently in talks with the Fund for a new emergency program to help us cope with surging food and energy price inflation that has been turbocharged by the war in Ukraine.
• Moves on debt relief for developing countries? Debt relief for teetering sovereigns in the developing world is once again a topic of conversation ahead of the meetings as spiraling inflation pushes more countries to the brink of default. The IMF is once again talking about fresh policy moves to alleviate some of the debt distress in the global south, — but if the covid experience has taught us anything, we can expect the private bondholders to take priority.

MORNING MUST-READ: “Photographing hell” by the outstanding photographer David Hume Kennerly is a must-read packed with wrenching images. Kennerly won the Pulitzer for his photojournalism in Vietnam and was later White House photographer for Gerald Ford. (NYT)

FROM THE DUMPSTER FIRE that is our social media:

• Egypt’s men’s junior épée team won gold at the world championships in Dubai, edging out the United States 45-40. Check out the awesome photo of the team’s celebration.
• Is Ramadan still Ramadan if you treat it like Christmas? Read it for the spiritual question. Or read it for advance warning of the baubles and ideas that global capitalism will soon be bringing our way. (CBC. Canada’s, thankfully, not ours.)
• Lionizing yet another hedgie, this time from Gen Z (or a cusp-Millennial, depending on how you cut it): “Eva Shang is doing the hedge-fund thing her way. That means making money but also making time to blog about dreams, her labradoodle and her fear of becoming a Silicon Valley has-been at age 26.” (WSJ)
• For our fellow iSheep: Go deep into the creation of Apple Silicon. Bonus: There are now just 49 days left until WWDC. (WSJ)

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? You’ll be breaking your fast at 6:24pm CLT this evening in the capital city, and fajr prayers are at 3:54am.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD- Mariupol mounts last stand: The last Ukrainian soldiers standing in Mariupol are reportedly refusing to stand down, though Russian troops have all but captured the key eastern Ukrainian city, “They will fight until the end,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told ABC’s This Week (watch, runtime: 6:25). Meanwhile, Ukraine has asked the G7 countries for USD 50 bn to help it cover its gaping budget deficit over the next six months, Reuters reports citing televised statements by the Ukrainian president's economic adviser.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar will address AmCham’s pre-annual general meeting and iftar tomorrow at 6-8pm at the Nile Ritz Carlton. Abdel Ghaffar will speak on investment in the nation’s healthcare and pharma sectors.

PSA- You only have three days left to file your ESG report: EGX-listed companies and all non-bank financial services outfits regardless of listing status need to submit their first quarterly ESG questionnaire by this Wednesday, 20 April. The regulator is making it mandatory for corporates to publicly disclose their performance on key environmental, social and governance 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.

Entrepreneurs from across Africa have until 6 June to apply to startup competition Africa’s Business Heroes, which is backed by the Jack Ma foundation, according to a press release (pdf). The top 10 businesses in the competition will earn a shared pot of USD 1.5 mn.

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: Egyptian research centers are among the best in the region, according to Spanish research organization SCImago’s first annual MENA region research rankings. In this week’s Blackboard, we take a closer look at the stats to see why our research centers came out on top.