Good afternoon, friends, and a happy Thursday to all. For those celebrating Thanksgiving today, we wish you a wonderful turkey-fuelled afternoon with plenty of weekend leftovers to spare.

THE BIG STORY TODAY- Qatar’s sovereign fund has chosen a port it wants: The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is reportedly in talks with the Egyptian government to develop and manage the port of Safaga under a 25-year contract, Bloomberg Asharq quotes two unidentified sources as saying. The talks come after the Sovereign Fund of Egypt and the QIA inked an agreement to cooperate on ports last September.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD– Another rate cut for Turkey: The country has cut its benchmark interest rate down to 9% — despite annual inflation of over 85% — in response to president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call to bring rates down to the single digits before the end of the year. This is the fourth consecutive cut in a cycle of monetary easing as Turkey attempts to wrangle soaring inflation and keep a grip on its currency value. Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times all picked up the story.

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

• The Qatar Investment Authority’s talks with Telecom Egypt over a potential purchase of a 20% stake in Vodafone Egypt have “accelerated” and could close “very soon.”
• Some MPs are calling on ministers to reconsider their plans regarding a decision by the government to end the CBE’s role in providing funding for subsidized loans.
• ​​Japanese bank Nomura thinks that Egypt is the most vulnerable EM to a currency crisis over the next 12 months.

The Enterprise Climate X Forum is fast approaching, and we’re incredibly excited to meet with some of you in Cairo at the Grand Egyptian Museum on Tuesday, 6 December 2022. We get underway with a networking breakfast at 8am CLT.

What’s on the table? CEOs, execs, bankers and development finance folks will mull over a variety of topics, including:

• What’s this green hydrogen mumbo-jumbo you speak of?
• How are leaders building green businesses — from scratch, or as retrofits to decades-old family enterprises?
• How do we pay for it all?
• What do you really think of the green economy?

With that in mind, we’ll be dropping little notices in stories and topics we intend to explore more of at the forum. Study up if you’re coming.

Some of the biggest names in business and finance are on board — are you? 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 can learn more on our conference website here.

*** YOU MUST REGISTER TO ATTEND by clicking the link on your registration email. Attendance is by invitation only. You’ll need a special QR code to gain access to the GEM on event day.

???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Payment and fintech conference Pafix will be held as part of Cairo ICT 2022 from Sunday, 27-30 November at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in New Cairo.

The US and Russia will hold nuclear talks in Cairo next week: Washington and Moscow will discuss resuming mutual nuclear inspections during week-long talks from Tuesday, 29 November through to 6 December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to CNN.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- There’s a possible chance of a rain shower tomorrow, with a daytime high of 24°C and nighttime low of 15°C, our favorite weather app tells us. Enjoy a partially cloudy Saturday with highs of 23°C before cooling off to a chilly 13°C in the evening.