Happy hump day, friends. We have another busy news day in our neck of the woods, as well as across the pond.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

EFG Hermes closes EGP 200.6 mn securitized bond issuance for Premium: EFG Hermes has closed the seventh tranche of Premium International’s EGP 2 bn short-term securitized bond issuance, EFG Hermes said in a statement (pdf). The EGP 200.6 mn issuance comprises two tranches valued at EGP 150.45 mn and EGP 50.15 mn.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The crypto king is still leading the conversation: The US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled co-founder and ex-CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX with defrauding his investors. Bankman-Fried is expected to face a litany of other charges from the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District for New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission later today. The story is on the front pages across the international business press this afternoon: The Financial Times | Bloomberg | Reuters | The Wall Street Journal.

HAPPENING NOW-

The US will pledge USD 55 bn of investments in Africa over the next three years, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said ahead of the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit, which kicks off later today, according to Reuters. The investment commitment comes as the US is working to secure stronger ties with African countries. US President Joe Biden is expected to host a dinner for 50 African leaders tomorrow, where he plans to announce the US will support admitting the African Union to the G20, according to Sullivan. Biden will also reportedly advocate for a permanent African member on the UN Security Council.

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

• PIF could acquire United Bank this month for USD 600 mn: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund could acquire state-owned United Bank for around USD 600 mn as soon as this month, according to Bloomberg.
• valU closes third securitized bond issuance: EFG Hermes’ consumer finance arm valU has issued EGP 854.5 mn worth of securitized bonds.
• Local healthcare company EDAM has new shareholders: PTS Investments Holdings’ Egyptian arm PTS Projects has acquired a minority stake in local healthcare startup EDAM in a USD six-figure transaction, marking its first transaction in our local market

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Enactus Egypt and the Citi Foundation launched the second phase of social entrepreneurship program Impact@Work, according to a press release (pdf). Some 54 university teams representing 9.7k students from various governorates will participate in the competition in July 2023 to demonstrate their efforts in generating a social impact based on their entrepreneurial ideas. The winning team will compete in the Enactus World Cup in the Netherlands in October 2023.

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

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures in Cairo will hit 25°C tomorrow during what is forecasted to be a mainly sunny day, before falling to 15°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.