Happy Monday, friends. It’s relatively calm on the news front here at home so far, although it’s been a grim day for the region as thousands have been killed in Syria and Turkey with two massive earthquakes. We have the details below.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Will 45% of Banque du Caire be up for grabs in 1H 2023? State-owned Banque du Caire (BdC) will offer a 45% stake in sales to strategic investors and an EGX offering in 1H 2023, Al Mal quotes House Planning and Budget Committee head and economist Fakhry El Fiky as saying. El Fiky did not specify the expected value of the stake. The stake sale, which has been postponed several times due to unfavorable market conditions, could be expedited as the government pushes through its privatization plans in the lead-up to the first IMF review of our USD 3 bn loan agreement in March, El Fiky suggested. BdC has until 31 March 2023 to wrap up IPO procedures.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Twin earthquakes in Turkey and Syria kill 1.4k people: Two earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.8 and 7.5 hit Southern Turkey and northwest Syria, killing at least 1.4k people and injuring thousands more. The first earthquake struck at 4:17 AM local time on Monday, destroying hundreds of buildings in several cities, triggering rescue searches for survivors trapped beneath the rubble on both sides of the Turkey-Syrian border. Strong aftershocks have been felt across the region, with tremors jolting residents out of their beds in Lebanon and effects felt as far away as Cairo.

News of the earthquake is everywhere in the foreign press: Reuters | Bloomberg | WSJ | CNBC | BBC | CNN | AP

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

• Private sector starts the year with sharper contraction: Activity in Egypt’s non-oil private sector contracted for the 26th consecutive month in January as high inflation continued to weigh on businesses, according to S&P Global’s purchasing managers’ index.
• EGX investors could be in line for a fresh capital gains tax break: Proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act have been pulled from the House while policymakers consider amending capital gains tax rules in response to the current exchange-rate volatility, two government sources told Enterprise.
• Yesterday in M&A: Palm Hills’ second-largest shareholder could be about to sell its entire stake to an Emirati investor. Also yesterday, International Company for Medical Industries shareholders greenlit proposals to acquire a majority stake in a Mansoura-based textiles company.

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???? CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Palestine talks in Cairo: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected to fly into Cairo this week to hold talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel and other security officials, a Hamas spokesperson said in a statement picked up by the Jerusalem Post. The secretary of Palestinian Islamic Jihad was in Cairo yesterday for talks, the Israeli newspaper reported. The invite came days after Kamel visited Ramallah for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other officials in a bid to end the recent violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Inflation: The CBE and Capmas will publish inflation data for January in a few days.

Unis go back this week: The second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year begins for public universities on 11 February.

Petro-show next week: Oil and gas industry figures from Egypt and the region will congregate at the Egypt International Exhibition Center for the Egypt Petroleum Show (Egyps) starting next Monday. The three-day conference runs 13-15 February.

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 temperatures to rise to 15°C during the day tomorrow before falling to 7°C at night, our favorite weather app tells us.