Egypt is helping to buoy economic growth in the region this year: The IMF has raised its forecast for economic growth in MENA to 4.9% in 2022, up 0.5 percentage points from its April outlook, “in part reflecting a stronger-than-expected performance for Egypt during fiscal year 2022,” the IMF wrote in its latest regional outlook report (pdf) for MENA and Central Asia.

The outlook is not as bright for next year: Elevated interest rates, weakened currencies and limited access to markets are set to pressure emerging markets in MENA — including Egypt — during FY 2022-2023. Headwinds will continue to grow amid a global economic slowdown, volatile commodity prices, and tightening financial conditions, the lender said. Net oil importers and low-income countries in the region will likely be hit the hardest.

REMEMBER- The IMF revised its FY 2022-2023 growth forecast for Egypt down a full 1.5 percentage points to 4.4% last month.

LOTS OF UAE IPO NEWS-

There’s a lot of IPO news from the UAE:

• Taaleem: UAE premium school operator Taaleem Holdings is looking to raise AED 750 mn (USD 204 mn) from an IPO and is allocating 2% of the offer shares for qualifying employees and parents. Subscription will open 10 November and shares will start trading at the end of the month. Our friends at EFG-Hermes are the lead advisors for the offering, alongside Emirates NBD Capital. (Statement)
• Empower: District cooling firm Empower’s USD 362 mn share sale was oversubscribed within hours yesterday. The company, which is selling 1 bn shares (equal to a 10% stake) to investors in Dubai, priced shares at AED 1.31-1.33 apiece with its debut scheduled for 15 November 2022. Our friends at EFG-Hermes are managing the IPO, alongside Citigroup, Emirates NBD Capital and Merrill Lynch International, while Moelis & Co. is the financial adviser. (Bloomberg)
• Bayanat AI: Shares in geospatial and data analytics firm Bayanat AI almost tripled on their trading debut, closing 272% higher at AED 4.50 a piece. (The National)

Other stories worth knowing about this morning:

• Saudi Arabia’s economy expanded at a 8.6% clip in 3Q 2022, primarily boosted by the oil sector, which grew 14.5% y-o-y. (General Authority for Statistics, pdf)
• Americana gets the nod on dual listing: The Saudi Capital Market Authority has approved an application by Americana Group — which operates KFC and Pizza Hut in MENA — for a concurrent and dual listing in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. (Statement)
• Inflation is still climbing in the euro area: Eurozone inflation likely rose to a record high of 10.7% in October, up from 9.9% a month earlier, according to flash estimates. (Eurostat, pdf)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 2.5% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 1.5 bn (29.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is down 4.8% YTD.

In the green: Oriental Weavers (+7.5%), GB Auto (+6.6%) and Ezz Steel (+5.3%).

In the red: Rameda (-2.2%), Credit Agricole Egypt (-1.8%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding-EGP (-1.2%).