Happy THURSDAY, friends. It’s a much calmer end to the week than we had expected, judging by the newsflow over the past couple of weeks.

THE BIG STORIES TODAY

State-owned hospitals up for private sector grabs? The government is offering up investments to at least three state-owned hospitals to private sector players through usufruct agreements, management rights, or development of the assets, Bloomberg Asharq quotes Health Ministry spokesperson Hossam Abdel Ghaffar as saying. The offering comes as the government is looking to double private sector participation in the economy over the next three years through its state ownership policy document. The document indicates that healthcare infrastructure is a sector the government sees as strategic, but would allow the private sector to increase its ownership in the sector.

B Investments is “not in a position” to decide whether it will preempt Adnoc’s bid for TotalEnergies Egypt and acquire the shares itself due to “unresolved legal issues relating to the validity” of the transfer notice from Total Energies Marketing Afrique (TEMA), B Investments said in a disclosure (pdf) today. B Investments is currently in discussions with TEMA, which holds a 34.6% stake in TotalEnergies Egypt, regarding these issues, according to the disclosure.

CLARIFICATION- This story was amended on 15 September, 2022 to clarify that B Investments is citing legal issues in the transfer notice from TEMA as part of Adnoc’s bid for TotalEnergies Egypt. The issue is not with the bid itself. 

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s a mixed bag of nuts in the international business press this afternoon. A “tentative” agreement the US government has reached with freight rail companies and unions has staved off a workers’ strike, the New York Times and Reuters report. Meanwhile, a changing of the guard at Shell is getting ink from CNBC and the Financial Times: CEO Ben van Beurden is set to step down from his position at the end of the year, at which point the energy giant’s renewables director Wael Sawan will take over.

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

• Expedition Investments acquires 33% of Domty: Shareholders agreed to sell 93 mn shares — 97% of the 96.2 mn shares target — to a consortium of investors led by Expedition Investments in a mandatory tender offer that closed yesterday.
• Gulf acquisitions are rolling in: Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP) finalized its takeover of a major local shipping and logistics outfit and the Kuwaiti Investment Authority (KIA) purchased a 4.8% stake in EGX-listed Rameda Pharma.
• El Sisi’s trip to Qatar concludes with inked MoUs on investment, ports and “social affairs” as investment takes center stage during the landmark visit.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Intellectual property strategy coming soon: Egypt will launch its intellectual property strategy next Wednesday, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday, according to a cabinet statement. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director-General Daren Tang will make an appearance at a ceremony being put on to launch the program, the PM said.

We’ve been expecting this for a while: Madbouly first flagged that changes to intellectual property rights were in the works in his big privatization speech back in May. The strategy was finalized by the Justice Ministry and sent to the Cabinet in June.

ADD Art is hosting its inaugural AlDau International Art Festival in Hurghada from 22 September until 7 October, according to a statement (pdf). The festival will begin with a weeklong workshop with nearly 40 artists from countries including the US, UK, France, Jordan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Congo. The workshop will be followed by an exhibition from 2-7 October at the AlDau Art Promenade in Hurghada. ADD Art is a subsidiary of AlDau Developments.

PSA- Tech startups have two weeks to apply for DMZ Cairo’s second eight-month incubation program, which begins in November. Applications for the cycle are open until Thursday, 29 September, according to a statement (pdf). The incubator is based at the Universities of Canada in Egypt and is backed by the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology and the National Technological Incubators Program.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The weather is staying relatively consistent throughout the weekend, with a high of 32°C tomorrow and 33°C on Saturday and lows of 22-23°C, according to our favorite weather app.