Good morning, friends. It’s another COP-filled morning, but we still have a surprising amount of Egypt business news for you to consume over your morning coffee (or tea, if you must).

BUT FIRST- A quick programming note on how we’re covering COP27 across our publications:

• EnterpriseAM is focused on the most relevant-to-Egypt aspects of COP with a flavor of what the regional and global conversations are. As usual, our focus outside of Egypt will be on emerging markets.
• EnterprisePM delivers an afternoon update on major developments out of Sharm and offer you longer takes on climate and climate-related issues — stuff that will make you feel smarter and more informed on the issues of the day.
• Enterprise Climate is going deep on climate finance, the loss-and-damage debate, the energy transition and other topics relevant to our regional audience — Enterprise Climate is a regional publication, covering the Arab world from Morocco to Oman.

Enterprise Climate launched our Climate CEO Poll this morning. Today’s guest: Mohamed Saad Eldin, regional chief of Signify. We’ll be running C-suite interviews on climate throughout COP27 (and probably for a few days beyond) in both Enterprise Climate and EnterpriseAM.

FROM THE DEPT. OF GOOD NEWS- Saad Eldin says Signify is looking at Egypt as an export hub from which the global maker of LED lighting (formerly known as Philips Lighting) can serve demand in Africa. We love it — and will take this occasion to remind everyone that the only way forward for our economy is to transform ourselves into a magnet for FDI and exports.

MEANWHILE- EGP WATCH– The EGP fell again against the greenback yesterday, ending the day 0.2% lower to trade at EGP 24.37, according to central bank figures. The currency has now dropped 23.3% since the CBE’s move towards “a durably flexible” exchange rate at the end of October — and 54.4% since the initial devaluation in March.

AND- Global golf is coming to Egypt: The Asian Tour’s International Series is making a stop in Egypt this Thursday, 10 November, through Sunday, 13 November. The first International Series Egypt will take place at Madinaty Golf Club, with a generous purse of USD 1.5 mn on offer.

MORE OF THIS, PLEASE: Some of us (at least the one editing this morning…) prefer bashing fuzzy yellow balls, but we’re delighted for those of you who enjoy going for long walks while swatting small, white spheroids with weighted sticks. Hats off to the people at TMG for putting us on the map of a global sport.

COP 27 TODAY-

It’s the second day of the world leaders’ summit in Sharm, with more national statements on the docket: The session is expected to start at 10:30 am CLT (11:30 am KSA / 12:30 pm UAE) and continue until the end of the day, according to the agenda (pdf).

Among those speaking today — according to the list of speakers (pdf):

• Arab leaders including Libyan President Mohamed Menfi, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Mohamad Najib Mikati, Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden Ep Romdhan, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad I. M. Shtayyeh;
• European leaders, including European Council President Charles Michel, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen;
• South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Today’s big roundtables include:

• Investing in the future of energy (pdf) — green hydrogen takes center stage
• Water security (pdf) — 75% of all natural disasters are water-related, and drought has caused more than a third of climate-related deaths and economic damage in the seven years ending 2018.
• “Vulnerable communities” (pdf) — in other words, all the ways in which the climate is kicking us off our land and out of our homes. 10 mn people displaced in Pakistan. 1.1 mn in Somalia. What do we think will happen here if Alexandria starts sliding into the sea?

AND THEN WHAT…? Don’t expect any big announcements or major breakthroughs after leaders are done giving their speeches today. The key issues at play (loss and damage, emission reduction targets etc.) are being negotiated by government delegations over the next 10 days so we’ll likely have to wait until 18 November for a final agreement to come out of COP27.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR-

NWFE funding agreements signed today: Egypt will sign today several partnership agreements and letters of intent with international finance institutions and development partners to implement projects under its Nexus on Water, Food and Energy (NWFE) program, the International Cooperation Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

Egypt will start producing green fuel today: The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will announce “in the coming hours” the first production of green ammonia at Sokhna Industrial Zone.

REMEMBER– The SCZone is expected to sign a number of agreements with international companies to establish green hydrogen and ammonia plants at the summit. Initial agreements worth some USD 33 bn have been signed this year, the most recent of which was with Maersk for a huge USD 15 bn facility capable of producing 3 mn tons of fuel a year.

New climate agreements with the IFC? The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is working on several climate-related agreements with Egypt, IFC VP Emmanuel Nyirinkindi told CNBC Arabia in an interview (watch, runtime: 3:58), without providing further details. “The IFC will announce in the coming weeks a new USD 2 bn for climate projects and other innovative projects,” he said separately.

The Enterprise Climate X Forum, our first industry-specific conference is taking place on Tuesday, 6 December. It’s a C-suite event for CEOs and top execs, investors, bankers and development finance folks.

In panels, live interviews and networking sessions, the Enterprise Climate X Forum will give insiders and newcomers alike the chance to talk about how to build a climate-centered business — and how to make sure your business continues to have access to the funds it needs to grow. Expect it to be heavy on lessons learned in Egypt and other global growth markets — and lots of success stories.

Some of the biggest names in business and finance are on board — are you? The Enterprise Climate X Forum is taking place with the generous support of our friends, including:

• Banking partners: HSBC | Mashreq | Attijariwafa Bank
• Telecom partner: Etisalat by e&
• Event partners: Hassan Allam Utilities | Infinity

DO YOU WANT TO ATTEND? The first wave of invites is going out today. If you’re a C-suite exec, business owner, climate professional, DFI staff, investor or banker, please email us at climatexrsvp@enterprisemea.com to signal your interest, letting us know your name, title and where you work.

You’re going to love the venue when we unveil it next week.

Want to reach our audience? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, here.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

COP27 is continuing to take a back seat to the US midterms in much of the Western press this morning as Democrats and Republicans make their final pitches to voters before the polls open today. (Reuters | Associated Press | Washington Post | New York Times | Wall Street Journal)

The final forecasts: Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight makes Republicans the heavy favorites to take the House and has them edging the race for the Senate. Politico’s forecast is similar, giving the House to the GOP but saying that the Senate remains too close to call. Republicans only need to gain five seats in the House and one in the Senate to take control of both legislative bodies.

Markets are welcoming the prospect of a lame duck president: Shares on Wall Street rose sharply during trading yesterday as polls continued to predict strong gains for the Republicans in the House. The benchmark S&P 500 gained 1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.9%, with Meta shares surging 6.5% on reports that the company is preparing to lay off thousands of workers. Reuters and the Financial Times have more.

Trump 2024 to launch next week? Former president Donald Trump said at a rally an hour ago that he will make a “very big announcement” on 15 November.

ALSO HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s the final day of the Techne Summit at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The hybrid event brings together entrepreneurs and investors from various sectors in the Mediterranean region.

The Senate Education and Telecommunications Committee will begin discussing the Digital Egypt Fund draft bill today. The draft bill, approved by the Cabinet last year, would set up a fund to support the Communications Ministry’s Digital Egypt initiative.

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

CORRECTION- In our coverage of CIRA Education’s future flow issuance yesterday, we picked up a statement that said that Arab International Bank (AIB) subscribed to the issuance and acted as custodian and an underwriter. It has come to our attention that AIB was not involved in the transaction and that Ahli United Bank was the custodian. We have since updated the story on our website.