Good afternoon, wonderful people, and happy almost-THURSDAY to us all. We have another brisk news day here at home as the lead-up to COP27 brings with it plenty of fresh energy and investment news.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

The Electricity Ministry is in talks with six Saudi firms over more than USD 3 bn worth of renewable energy projects, Bloomberg Asharq reports, citing unnamed sources at the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC). Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker is currently in Riyadh holding meetings with companies including Al Fanar, FAS Energy and ACWA Power, with which he signed an agreement on a 10-GW wind farm earlier this week, the sources said. Shaker is also reportedly meeting with Saudi financing institutions to help drum up financing for the projects.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Ukraine’s wheat export pact is back on after Russia agreed to rejoin the agreement, following days of shuttle diplomacy from Turkey. Moscow had backed out of the agreement over the weekend after claiming that Ukrainian forces used the safe corridor used to ship grains out of Ukraine to attack Russian naval vessels. The story is on the front pages of Reuters, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, CNBC, and the Wall Street Journal.

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

• ACWA Power could build one of the world’s largest wind farms in Egypt: Saudi renewable energy developer ACWA Power will build a 10-GW wind farm in Egypt after signing an MoU with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority and the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company yesterday.
• Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund might want in on our green hydrogen ambitions: The Qatar Investment Authority is considering investing in a green hydrogen and ammonia project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
• Camel Flour acquires struggling flour producer: Al Moatabar Group’s Camel Flour Mills has acquired a majority stake in the distressed high-end flour producer Five Stars.

FOR TOMORROW-

The always-on-point Charlie Robertson is doing a talk on his new book, The Time Traveling Economist tomorrow (Thursday, 3 November) at 5pm CLT. The chat will “outline what has held Egypt back in the 20th century and why we should expect a boom time for the economy from about 2025-30 onwards,” Charlie says. The talk is being hosted by the Egyptian Private Equity Association’s Sara Badran and you can sign up here.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

It’s PMI day tomorrow: We’ll know how Egypt’s private sector fared in October tomorrow when S&P Global releases the latest purchasing managers’ index at 6:15 CLT. A 22-month contraction in private sector activity didn’t show signs of abating in September as high inflation continued to weigh on demand and output.

Key news triggers coming up over the next week:

• Foreign reserves figures for October will be released next week.
• Inflation: Capmas and the central bank will release October’s inflation figures on Thursday, 10 November.

SPX to open for international flights next month: Sphinx International Airport will begin operating international flights to several European and Arab countries starting 1 December, state-owned Al Akhbar Al Yom reported yesterday. The airport is opening to domestic flights this month and yesterday received the first flight operated by Air Cairo from Sharm El Sheikh, Al Ahram reported.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect a daytime high of 27°C tomorrow and a nighttime low of 20°C, according to our favorite weather app.