Good morning, folks. It’s apparently only Monday. But on the bright side, we’ve a fair bit of good news to share with you here at home this morning — even as politics outside our borders are started to look as volatile as global markets.

THE BIG STORY here at home this morning: An education M&A, courtesy our friends at EFG Hermes and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s education management firm, Egypt Education Platform (EEP). The transaction sees EEP snap up a majority stake in education platform Selah El Telmeez (SET). The SFE will also acquire a minority stake in the student lifeline. We have all the details in this morning’s newswell.

MEANWHILE- We’re holding our breath for both news that Egypt has closed an IMF facility — and for an agenda for the Cabinet-sponsored economic conference scheduled for this coming Sunday-Tuesday. There was no word on either front as of dispatch time this morning, and the IMF executive board’s public agenda for the week is still blank.

IT’S SHAPING UP TO BE A HUGE WEEK in global politics:

#1- MPs and leading business figures are pressing UK Prime Minister Liz Truss to step down. Expect more turbulence in the sterling and UK bond markets today, as the money people try to figure out where the rollercoaster of British fiscal policy is headed next under new chancellor Jeremy Hunt. The story is everywhere this morning: Reuters | AP | Financial Times | Bloomberg | BBC.

#2- Xi Jinping warned yesterday of “stormy seas” globally, signaling that “that U.S.-China confrontation will continue” as he kicked off a week that will see him appointed to an unprecedented third term in office. Xi warned of “grave international developments” not seen int he past century. China’s weeklong Communist Party congress is the lead story in the global business press this morning, topping the front pages of the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal and getting lots of ink in the New York Times.

#3- There are plenty of tensions in our neighborhood, too:

• With an election looming, Erdogan is ramping up tensions with Greece: The Turkish leader recently warned that troops “may suddenly arrive one night” in Greece. Of particular interest in Egypt: Turkey’s regional energy policy is near the heart the turmoil.
• Uncle Joe doesn’t accept that other countries have their own economic considerations. After threatening Saudi Arabia with vague “consequences” for having slashed oil production last week, US President Joe Biden now faces pressure from Democrats to scale back arms sales to (and security ties with) Riyadh.

#4- There are 22 days left until midterm elections in the United States, so you can expect wall-to-wall campaign coverage in major global press outlets. Worth reading in that vein: A generation of combat vets, eyeing the House, strike from the right and

#5- Ethiopian and Eritrean troops are pounding civilians in a small Tigrayan city, “provoking horror from international leaders as the death toll climbs. … Tens of thousands of troops have been deployed by the Ethiopian, Eritrean and Tigrayan armies around the city, making it one of the biggest battles in the world today,” the Globe & Mail reports.

COUNTDOWN TO COP (20 days to go)-

Cairo Water Week enters its second day today and runs until this Wednesday, 19 October. Some 18.5k attendees from 90 international and regional organizations are convening at the Nile Ritz Carlton in Cairo for the event, according to its website. The focus of this year’s edition is on preparations to discuss water resources at COP27. Catch the full agenda here.

Today will see the fifth Egypt and UN-led regional climate finance roundtable ahead of COP27, in Geneva, Switzerland. Catch our recent Going Green story on how the roundtables aim to secure investment for climate projects in developing nations ahead of COP27.

The auto bill that would regulate EV assembly (among other facets of the industry) is up for debate today.

Part of our monorail will be launched during COP27, the cabinet said in a statement. Once completed, the project will span 22 stations over 56.5 km with 40 trains transporting people across Cairo. The Madbouly government plans to inaugurate the eastern segment of the monorail from the New Administrative Capital to Nasr City in time for COP27. The USD 4.5 bn project is designed, built, supplied and operated by a consortium of Alstom, Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors.

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY- India and Egypt want to expand their cooperation to include renewable energy, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a press conference Saturday (watch, runtime 6:20) following a meeting with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

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Take our EV survey: Are you an ex-petrolhead shopping around for your first electric vehicle? EV-curious and wondering what all the fuss is about? Or are you not ready to say goodbye to that sweet smell of benzene as you wait at the gas station?

We want to hear from you: We’re taking the pulse on how the nation feels about Egypt’s nascent EV transition. Take a few minutes to fill out our short survey. We’ll be back soon with the results.

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ICYMI- Yesterday was a super Sunday for our sports stars:

Gohar secures US Open title: Women’s world number one squash player Nouran Gohar earned the 2022 US Open title after beating number three (and fellow Egyptian) Nour El Sherbini 3-1 in the championship final at the Arlen Specter US Squash Center in Philadelphia, Squash TV reports. Catch the highlights here on Youtube (watch: runtime, 11:03). This is Gohar’s 19th PSA title and her sixth this year. The next stop on the PSA World Tour is the Grasshopper Cup, which takes place in Switzerland from 18-23 October.

Peru's Diego Elias (world number four) walked away with the men’s title after Egypt’s Ali Farag (world number two) withdrew from the match after sustaining an injury.

And if you couldn’t hear the cheers from where you were — Liverpool star Mohamed Salah led the club to victory against Manchester City, picking the team up after it suffered its worst start to a Premier League season in a decade. Reuters has the report.

SIGNS OF THE (ECONOMIC) TIMES-

#1- The G20 is so divided that it took the group three days longer than usual to release a statement on its latest meeting, Bloomberg reports. Even then, the world’s wealthiest economies couldn’t get on the same page, with the statement hinting at differences over issues including the war in Ukraine, how to tackle climate change, global inflation, monetary tightening, and a strengthening USD.

#2- “Polycrisis on a global scale:” That’s the verdict of the Financial Times’ editorial board this morning on what kind of a moment we’re living through. “It is rare for so many engines of the global economy to be stalling all at once,” the board writes.

#3- A rising USD is hitting developed nations’ currencies harder than those of some EMs, in what Citigroup analysts are calling a “head scratcher,” Bloomberg reports. Traditionally safer currencies like the EUR, the JPY, and the GBP are taking a beating this year as they struggle to catch up with tighter US monetary policy that has sent the USD soaring. Meanwhile, the currencies of more volatile developing markets including Brazil and Mexico are showing more resilience, thanks to their central banks stepping in fast with early, steep rate rises that have kept the carry trade attractive.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will launch a promotional campaign ahead of COP27 on potential investments in the zone next week, SCZone head Walid Gamal El Din said, according to a statement. The campaign will be launched domestically next Sunday, 23 October, before the international campaign kicks off on Monday, 24 October.

The Madbouly government’s economic conference takes place Sunday-Tuesday next week. We’re hoping for more details in the coming days.

Egypt and the UAE will host a two-day conference marking 50 years of bilateral ties. The gathering will take place next Wednesday-Friday, 26-28 October and is being produced in association with the two governments.

The EGX is looking to drum up interest in listed companies on a roadshow to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, an EGX source told Enterprise. The bourse has tapped Al Ahly Pharos to help manage the roadshow, with EGX boss Rami El Dokany set to meet with as many as 100 regional and international financial institutions, the source said.

Fuel prices to rise this month? We’re expecting the government to hike fuel prices for the seventh consecutive quarter when the fuel pricing committee meets this month. Fuel prices have risen by as much as 28% over the past 18 months in response to heightened international oil prices, which surged earlier this year on the back of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

MORNING MUST READ-

Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we explained the “golden licenses” granted to industrial and other types of investors for specific types of projects, which streamlines the licensing process for certain projects. These licenses were introduced five years ago, but the government has recently been expanding their scope to spur investments.

*** 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.

In today’s issue: We take a look at how Egyptian universities fared in some of the most closely-watched international university rankings.