It’s quite a hump day, ladies and gentlemen. We have big news on the capital market front, while Europe is taking a big decision to wean itself off of Russian energy. Macro will continue to guide the conversation globally, with the IMF cutting its growth outlook and the Fed meeting commences. It looks like a slog to the finish line, folks.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

OFH agrees to sell its entire stake in Beltone: Orascom Financial Holding’s (OFH) board of directors issued a decision today to sell the entirety of its 56% stake in Beltone Financial to Chimera Investments in response to Chimera’s mandatory tender offer for up to 90% of Beltone, OFH said in a disclosure to the bourse (pdf). The order to sell its entire stake comes after a BoD meeting yesterday approving Chimera’s bid, in which the Abu Dhabi-based investment firm is offering EGP 1.485 per share in Beltone. OFH’s decision means Chimera’s acquisition bid will now automatically go through after passing the 51% minimum threshold, with the total stake Chimera will acquire depending on the outcome of its mandatory tender offer.

Beltone shares fell 1.8% to EGP 1.67 at the close of trading today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

EU approves emergency plan to limit gas demand as Russia reduces supplies further: As gas shortages loom in the continent, European Union countries have approved a proposal to cut gas use by as much as 15% over a period from August of this year to March 2023. The meeting comes a day after Russian gas giant Gazprom said further cut gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline this week to just 20% of capacity, piling pressure on Germany, which was already struggling to secure enough gas to last it through the winter. While Gazprom blamed the shortage on an issue with another turbine, EU energy policy chief Kadri Simson went on record saying that the move is politically motivated. “We know that there is no technical reason to do so,” she said, according to Reuters.

HAPPENING NOW-

The IMF has revised downwards its forecast for global GDP growth in 2022 in its updated World Economic Outlook, which it released just minutes before we hit “send” on this afternoon’s edition. The fund now expects growth to slow to 3.2% by the end of the year — 0.4 percentage points lower than what it had penciled in for the year in its April edition of the report — on the back of the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, and a “worse-than-expected slowdown in China.” There are “overwhelming” downside risks to the outlook, including Europe being entirely cut off from Russian gas supplies, more stubborn inflation, and tighter monetary policy, which could come together to push the US and eurozone area to near-zero growth, said IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas in a press briefing. Look for details on what this means for us here tomorrow.

The US Federal Reserve also just kicked off the first of its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting to review interest rates. The general consensus is that the Fed will decide on a second consecutive 75 bps rate hike to rein in inflation.

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

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

• Egypt, Jordan + UAE choose projects for joint industrial partnership: Egypt, Jordan, the UAE, and now Bahrain, have identified USD 3.4 bn-worth of joint investment projects in the first phase of a USD 10 bn industrial partnership signed in May.
• The EGX wants state institutions to invest more in capital markets, with EGX officials having held recently a series of meetings with state-owned institutions in a bid to increase the amount of domestic institutional money in Egypt’s equity market and raise liquidity, a source with first-hand knowledge of the push told Enterprise.
• Allianz will hold a 40% stake in its new joint venture with South Africa’s Sanlam, an official at Allianz told Enterprise.

FOR TOMORROW-

Egypt will host the annual general meetings of the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) tomorrow, marking the first time the meetings will be held in person since the pandemic broke out in early 2020, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. The meetings will discuss Africa Re’s performance and the impact of the ongoing global economic crisis on the continent’s ins. and reinsurance industries.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The FRA will hold public hearings on its 2022-2026 strategy next Sunday, 31 July, the authority said in a press release (pdf). The dialogue will include representatives from the FRA’s capital markets advisory committee, the EGX, Misr for Central Clearing, Depository and Registry, the Investor Protection Fund, the Egyptian Capital Market Association, and the Fixed Income Association in Egypt. The strategy, which the authority released late May, aims to double the EGX’s market cap to EGP 1.6 tn by 2026.

PSA- Your deadline to catch a 65% break off late payment fines for your taxes is coming up on 31 August, the Finance Ministry made sure to remind us in a statement today. The waiver applies to late payment fees for customs tariffs, income, real estate, and sales taxes, VAT, and stamp duties among others. The remaining 35% of your due payments will need to be paid before next March, the statement noted. This comes after the House of Representatives approved amendments to help reduce late payment fees before it ended its legislative cycle earlier this month.

The government’s public consultations on its state ownership policy continue on Thursday, with a workshop with representatives from the House of Representatives, Senate, and think tanks. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday see workshops on how privatization plans will affect specific industries. You can find more details on the schedule of the meetings here.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 41°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 24°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.