Good afternoon, friends. Before we get underway this afternoon, we’re going to ask you all to pause for a moment and have a thought for the family of Raouf Ghabbour, who passed away earlier today at age 69 after a long battle with cancer.

Raouf was one of the good guys. A leading figure in our community, he became CEO in 1985 of a decades-old family business that he grew and took public in a landmark IPO. Raouf went on to lead its transformation once again, taking it outside the nation’s borders and turning it into a pioneer of Egypt’s now-booming non-bank financial services industry as he turned the subsidiary known as GB Capital into a business that’s even more compelling than the core automotive unit.

He was smart, hilarious, and profane — and thoughtful, kind, and one hell of a strategist. Raouf was guy who reveled in the intricacies of wholesale and retail politics, but who built a world-class assembly and manufacturing business and prided himself in creating meaningful jobs that made a lasting contribution to the nation’s economic development.

Raouf Ghabbour was a patriot in the best sense of the word. He thought critically about a country he loved and — in his own, colorful way — was never shy about making sure everyone knew where we were doing well, and where we could do better.

We’ll miss you, Doc.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Day four of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah’s hunger- and water-strike has made human rights one of the top issues at COP27, with Egypt’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva putting out a statement this afternoon hitting back at UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk, who yesterday raised concerns about Abdel Fattah’s detention. Abdel Fattah has been on a hunger strike since 2 April; his family said on Sunday that Abdel Fattah had taken his last drink of water until he dies or is released.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have both called for Abdel Fattah’s release and his case has set off a firestorm of criticism in the international press. Abdel Fattah’s sisters and mother are continuing to lobby for his release and are asking for an update on his health, the AFP and BBC report this afternoon. The story is getting lots of ink in the foreign press, including Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, and Deutsche Welle, among others. Politico reports that American President Joe Biden will press us on human rights when he meets on Friday with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

MEANWHILE- The human rights narrative comes as several websites, including Human Rights Watch and Medium, have once again become accessible in Egypt.

ALSO THIS AFTERNOON-

#1- We just got USD 1 bn from Qatar: The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) deposited USD 1 bn in the Central Bank of Egypt to provide “interim” support while the QIA continues to work on procedures to acquire state-owned stakes in listed and non-listed companies, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

#2- OC wants to add 3 GW to its Egypt wind portfolio: Our friends at Orascom Construction consortium, along with a consortium of France’s Engie and Japan’s Toyota Tsusho, signed an MoU to set up a new 3 GW wind farm in Egypt under a build, own, operate (BOO) framework, according to a statement (pdf). The consortium signed the agreement on the sidelines of COP27 today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The international business press is focused largely this afternoon on the US midterm elections, which are currently “too close to call.” NBC projections suggest that Republicans could secure a “narrow” majority of the US House of Representatives, while the fate of the Senate still remains unclear as votes are tallied. The story is on the front pages of the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, and CNBC.

HAPPENING NOW-

The Finance Ministry’s “Finance Day” is currently ongoing as we hit “send” on this afternoon’s edition. Among the highlights:

The launch of the Sustainable Debt Coalition Initiative, a platform bringing together debtor and creditor countries, ratings agencies, and DFIs and MDBs in a bid to increase access to affordable green finance, reduce the cost of green debt and encourage fresh green investments among developing countries.

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

• Egypt lined up commitments for up to another 15 GW of wind power yesterday, bringing to 25 GW the total new wind-power generation capacity it has locked in recent days.
• Commissioning kicks off at Ain Sokhna green hydrogen plant: Norway’s Scatec, the OCI / Adnoc joint venture Fertiglobe, Orascom Construction, and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) began commissioning of the first phase of their 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Ain Sokhna.
• Egypt unveils initiative to help poor countries adapt to climate change: COP27 President Sameh Shoukry yesterday launched a plan that envisions channeling bns of USD into the world’s poorest countries by 2030 to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Senate will reconvene next week on Sunday and Monday to discuss the FX incentive bill and another draft bill setting up the Digital Egypt Fund. The first bill, which received preliminary approval by a Senate committee earlier this week, would grant income tax breaks to investors who use FX to finance at least half of the cost of their projects. The second bill would set up a fund to support the Communications Ministry’s Digital Egypt initiative.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 25°C tomorrow during the day before falling to 15°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.