Good afternoon, wonderful people, and happy would-be hump day. Although days off are typically best when they’re not during Ramadan, we’re not exactly complaining that we have a shortened workweek before we jump into the Eid holiday next week.

*** We are also delighted to welcome aboard our friends at Palm Hills Developments this afternoon, who are joining us as a pillar sponsor of EnterprisePM alongside Etisalat Misr. PHD's generous support — alongside that of all our other sponsors — helps ensure that your favorite read remains available to you without charge each workday.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? You’ll be breaking your fast at 6:29pm CLT this evening in the capital city, and fajr prayers are at 3:43am.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

It’s shaping up to be another M&A-led news day: Cairo-born mass transit firm Swvl is continuing its buying spree, announcing on Monday an agreement to purchase Turkish firm Volt Lines in what would be the company’s fourth acquisition in eight months. The transaction could value Volt at almost USD 40 mn, should it reach its earnout targets in the next two or three years, Swvl CFO Youssef Salem told Enterprise.

Separately, Saudi sovereign wealth fund subsidiary the Saudi Seventh Investment Company has purchased another 6.5% stake (65 mn shares) in Rameda Pharma for EGP 135.2 mn, raising its total stake to 11.01%, Rameda said in an EGX disclosure (pdf) today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter is dominating headlines in the global business press this afternoon, after the company’s board agreed to a USD 44 bn offer for a full acquisition of the platform, which he said had “tremendous potential” that he would unlock. With more skepticism than praise, the Washington Post suggests that the world’s richest person might have bought the social media platform to protect his perception of free speech as he repeatedly criticized Twitter’s content moderation policies. Musk wants the platform that is important for governments and politics, despite it performing worse than its peers with fewer users and lower revenues, WaPo says.

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

• Egypt signs green energy agreements: EDF Renewables will build a USD 3 bn facility to produce green fuel for ships alongside local firm ZeroWaste and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), while AlNowais’ AMEA Power will partner with the SFE and other government agencies to establish a facility to produce green ammonia. A consortium of Emirati renewable energy company Masdar and Hassan Allam Utilities will also build green hydrogen plants that can produce up to 480k tons of green hydrogen a year.
• US conglomerate Honeywell is looking to invest around USD 200 mn in petrochemicals and the production of green fuels for aircraft in Egypt, the company’s North Africa head Khaled Hashem said in a meeting with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla.
• S&P and Fitch Ratings have both affirmed Egypt’s BB and B+ credit ratings with a stable outlook, despite surging food and energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine putting pressure on the country’s finances. The agencies attributed their affirmed outlook and rating to the government’s policy response and the likely influx of external support.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

PSA #1- It looks like we’ll be celebrating Eid Al Fitr starting Monday, 2 May, according to a statement from the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics. There should be an official announcement from Dar Al Iftaa on 29 Ramadan.

Reminder: Cabinet has declared all of next week off for the public sector, while the private sector is on holiday just Sunday-Tuesday. Friends outside of Egypt: Expect plenty of folks here in Omm El Donia to bridge the week.

PSA #2- All-night Tahajjud prayers are back from 27 Ramadan until 30 Ramadan (that’s this coming Thursday-Sunday), the Awqaf Ministry announced in a statement. Tahajjud prayers were banned last year.

PSA #3- Businesses have less than a week to submit their corporate tax returns. Companies with financial years ending 31 December have to file their returns by Saturday, 30 April.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 35°C and a nighttime low of 17°C tomorrow, our favorite weather app tells us.

*** WE’RE LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE to join the team and help us build some very cool new things. Today, we run two daily publications, five weekly industry verticals, a monthly newsletter — and we have tons more in the pipeline. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >199k readers by telling stories that matter.

Enterprise is currently in the market for the following positions:

Senior editors who will manage a team of reporters on our current and future editions. Candidates should have at least three years of experience in journalism and a minimum of one of those should have been spent as an editor — but we would deeply value someone with at least five years of work experience. Strong knowledge of Egypt and the region, a demonstrated interest in business / finance, and people management skills are musts.

Seasoned reporters to join our team and create stories that fascinate and inform our readers. Applicants should have serious English-language writing chops, a strong interest — and preferably some professional experience — in business / finance or business journalism, and solid analytical skills. You’ll be expected to pitch stories and take assignments, as well as develop leads into full-blown stories. Reporters should be fluently bilingual, though exceptional unilingual (English) candidates may apply.

We have a preference for Egyptian nationals but will consider international applicants.

Are you a career switcher? Investment bankers, lawyers and other folks trained to be analytical and tell stories do well with us. If you want out of the rat race, consider us an offramp.

Interested in applying? To apply for the editor / reporter positions, please submit your CV along with 2-3 writing samples and a solid cover letter telling us a bit about who you are and why you’re a good fit for our team. Please submit all applications to jobs@enterprisemea.com.