Happy Monday, wonderful people, and welcome to a slightly unorthodox issue of EnterprisePM. Today, in place of our typical For Your Commute and Enterprise Recommends sections, we bring you the results of the Enterprise Fall 2022 Reader Poll, wherein we round up your outlooks on everything from investments and IPOs to the FX rate you plan to use as we kick of budgeting season.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Pickalbatros is planning to open three new hotels in Hurghada, Al Mal quotes Pickalbatros Group Chairman Kamel Abou Ali as saying. The company expects to invest USD 80-120k per room in each of the hotels, Abou Ali said.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The GBP plunged to record lows to trade at USD 1.03, before paring losses to sit at USD 1.09, on the biggest tax cut in 50 years, prompting speculation the currency will hit parity against USD before year end. UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng’s move to eliminate the top rate of income tax and scrap plans to hike corporate takes is widely predicted to take UK’s debt to unaffordable levels and fan the flames of inflation, which is at a four-decade high. These conditions are also expected to see the Bank of England call for an emergency interest rate hike.

The story is everywhere in the international press: Bloomberg | Reuters | The Guardian | Financial Times

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

• Gov’t wants to raise USD 6 bn from stake sales by mid-2023: The Madbouly government expects to raise as much as USD 6 bn by selling stakes in state-owned assets by mid-2023, said Planning Minister and Sovereign Fund of Egypt Chair Hala El Said.
• Al Masry Sporting Club has hired Zilla Capital as financial adviser on a planned EGP 4 bn sports complex in Port Said.
• Egypt’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports reached USD 8 bn last fiscal year, according to an infographic released by the cabinet yesterday.

FOR TOMORROW-

PSA- Get into (almost) all museums without charge tomorrow: The Tourism Ministry is celebrating World Tourism Day on 27 September by waiving entrance fees to almost all of its museums. The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization and cultural museums aren’t participating. (Kelma Akhira | watch, runtime: 7:01)

Our friends at HSBC are hosting an energy transition webinar series tomorrow through Thursday (27-29 September). The series will look at the “latest climate analysis in relation to the global energy market and transition to net zero” in six different sessions covering energy security, what is required to ensure the success of COP27, financing and investment needs for the energy transition, and the scaling up of renewables in the region, among other topics. You can register for the series here.

A Spanish business delegation will be in town tomorrow and Wednesday (27-28 September) for the Egypt-Spain Multilateral Partnership Forum, organized by the Spanish Institute for Export and Investment, according to a press release (pdf). The two-day conference will include seminars and panel discussions on trade and investment in transport, energy, and water with Egyptian ministers and representatives from government bodies, alongside officials from international financing institutions and Spanish Secretary of State for Trade Xiana Méndez Bértolo. The agenda for the conference is available here (pdf).

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The UN World Food Program and the International Cooperation Ministry are hosting a two-day conference on food security at the St. Regis Cairo Hotel on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a press release (pdf). The conference will mainly focus on the digitization of the agricultural sector, financial inclusion and social protection.

A call for women entrepreneurs: Looking for investors? Look no further. The Facility Investing for Employment will select a number of Egyptian projects that contribute to sustainable job creation to award financing ranging between EUR 1-10 mn, with a focus on women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses, according to a press release (pdf). Entrants can apply starting 14 November.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect the weather to be pretty much the same as it was today, with a daytime high of 36°C and a nighttime low of 25°C, our favorite weather app tells us.