Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to another busy issue of EnterpriseAM, where the news agenda is still being driven by the government’s economic conference. The third and final day gets underway this morning; we have coverage of yesterday’s discussions as well as a rundown on what you can expect today.

ALSO: Today could see both a partial solar eclipse — and a sprinkle of rain (in Alex) and thunderstorms (in the capital city).

BUT FIRST- We’re intensely grateful for the torrent of email and messages still coming in about our five-step plan to build a new Egyptian economy based on exports and FDI. Folks much smarter than we are have been exceptionally positive about the idea — and we’ve been delighted by the thoughtfulness of those who have offered comments, ideas, and criticism. Please keep it coming — we’ll have more soon.

The queen of night-time talk loves the idea: Lamees El Hadidy (the smartest person on the airwaves when it comes to business and the economy) supports building an export- and FDI-driven economy. She told her viewers in a segment last night: “[Egypt is in] an important geographic location, an area with a huge market. We can slash red tape and build a new business climate. We need to move fast and choose five or six industries to focus on… It’s an easy recipe, even though it may be a tough one to cook. They’re saying it in the media, they’re saying it in Enterprise, everywhere. If other countries have done it, there’s no reason why we can’t.” (watch, runtime: 8:21).

And thank you to the wonderful Mohamed Abu Basha for reminding everyone of the importance of targeting specific industries in the pursuit of FDI: “Focusing on specific sectors and specific companies that already exist in Egypt, but aren’t incentivized to expand, is key,” EFG Hermes’ Abu Basha said during the conference, adding that now is the perfect moment to capture a piece of the global supply chain that is up for grabs amid a worldwide economic realignment.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Day 3 of the economic conference is all about industry: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, CBE governor Hassan Abdalla, and Trade and Industry Minister Samir Saleh will lead discussions on how to drive industrial investment, develop national industries, and address the financing gap for manufacturers, as well as solutions to recent import troubles.

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly will then chair the closing session, where he will share the outcomes of the conference and is expected to make some economic policy announcements.

There may also be a chance we’ll see a new (and final?) draft today of the state ownership policy, which we had been told to expect at the gathering, but which has yet to land. More on that below.

It’s the biggest day of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum: Ministers from the 19 member countries will meet in Cairo today for the final day of the annual meetings of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

Davos in the Desert starts today: Saudi Arabia will host its annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) starting today, with more than 400 US delegates set to attend despite tensions between Riyadh and Washington over oil production, according to Reuters. This year’s edition will see major representation by top Wall Street executives as well as business leaders.

Riyadh wants a piece of the global supply chain that we’re chasing. As we noted yesterday in Enterprise Climate, the Saudi government has launched a new drive to attract bns of USD of supply chain investment as it tries to position itself as a future transport and logistics hub. Riyadh wants to draw an initial SAR 40 bn (USD 10.6 bn) from investors and will offer SAR 10 bn in incentives, state news agency SPA reported Sunday. The initiative will see it establish new special economic zones, it said.

PSA #1- Dust off your goggles for a partial solar eclipse in Cairo today: The moon will cover up more than a third of our view of the sun today at 12 noon CLT, peaking at 1:09pm CLT, according to the National Institute for Astronomical and Geophysical Research. And remember: Be like this. Not like this.

PSA #2- Then again — storm clouds could cover the moon that covers the sun… Our favorite weather app says there’s a risk of thunderstorms in Cairo throughout the day today (particularly in the afternoon), while the national weather service is saying there’s a 40% chance that rain in the north of the country could spread to the capital by the evening.

PSA #3- There are new versions of macOS and iPadOS to download this morning, weeks after iOS 16 rolled out on iPhones.

What do they offer? The Ventura version of macOS includes Stage Manager (we don’t see many Mac users adopting it, tbh), but the continuity camera and FaceTime handoff features look cool. There are also new features in Mail and Reminders, a redesigned (and renamed) System Preferences and more. iPadOS 16.1 also offers Stage Manager, which brings (almost-real) windowing to iPads for the first time. It’s still not perfect, but that alone makes it worth the upgrade.

Should you download them? They cost nothing and you get Stage Manager on your iPad, so yeah, this is a no-brainer. Both have proven stable for us over the past several hours of pretty intense use and include new security features.

How do you get them?

• On your Mac: Go to the Apple menu in the top left corner. Go to System Settings and then select Software Update.
• On your iPad: Settings > General > Software Update.

Tip: You’ll need to turn on Stage Manager on your iPad: Settings > Home Screen & Multitasking and then toggle Stage Manager at the bottom.

UPCOMING NEWS TRIGGERS-

Egypt and the UAE will host a three-day gathering starting tomorrow to mark 50 years of bilateral ties. Day one is an economic forum featuring ministers, senior officials and business leaders from the two countries.

An IMF delegation will land in Cairo in the first week of November to continue loan talks, Jihad Azour, the IMF’s director for the Middle East and Central Asia, said earlier this week.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Sunak will be the UK’s new prime minister: Former UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak should be confirmed as the UK’s next prime minister today, after he won the race to lead the country’s Conservative Party. Sunak will be tasked with setting the government’s budget to rights, after former PM Liz Truss came close to crashing the pensions market with her ill-fated mini-budget. (AP | Reuters | Bloomberg | FT)

Financial markets cheered the news: UK bonds rallied yesterday on expectations of Sunak’s victory, with short-term yields falling the most since 1993, Bloomberg reports.

COUNTDOWN TO COP (12 days to go)-

Shaping up to be the #1 hot-button issue at COP27: Loss and damage money from developed to developing nations to compensate them for the impacts of climate change. The US is ok with talking about loss and damages, but less keen on actually paying for them, Enterprise Climate reports this morning.

ALSO- Coverage of COP is driving the conversation on Egypt in the international press as we note in this morning’s Egypt in the News column, below. The foreign media is continuing to highlight activists’ concerns about getting their voices heard at the summit. Scroll on for more.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Enroot Development is hosting a conference titled Empowering the South: Green Economies and Climate Resilience tomorrow at the Greek Campus. Speakers at the conference include former deputy prime minister Ziad Bahaa El Din, UN High-level Climate Champion for Egypt Mahmoud Mohieldin, and International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat. You can register for the event here.

German development agency GIZ Egypt will host a festival for medicinal and aromatic plants at Fayoum’s Helnan Auberge hotel on Thursday and Friday, according to a statement. Over 70 exhibitors will be in attendance. Register for the event here.

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

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We sat down with Mohamed Hegazy, UN climate champion team member and director of urban transit research and consultancy firm Transport for Cairo (TfC).