Good morning, friends, and welcome to the second week of Ramadan. Are you a “Ramadan is flying by” person or a “It is crawling at a snail’s pace” person? On most days, we’re the latter. Not helping is the flurry of privatization and M&A news…and the wait for the next Mosalsal episode.

SO, WHEN DO WE EAT? We’ll be breaking our fasts this evening at 6:14pm CLT and you’ll have until 4:20am tomorrow to hydrate and have a bite to eat.

Look for us each weekend for athree-minute guide to the week that was, and for stories to read, restaurants and movies to try, videos to watch, and podcasts to which you may want to listen on Friday and Saturday (that being the weekend for the vast majority of our readers).

Enterprise Weekend comes out each Friday at 9:00am CLT. We’ll be back on Sunday at 6am with EnterpriseAM. Until then: Enjoy the weekend.

LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS-

The week ended with a critical interest rate decision by the Central Bank of Egypt. The CBE hiked (pdf) interest rates by 200 bps amid rising inflation and continued pressure on the EGP — a decision widely expected by our pollof analysts last week. The CBE cited the rapid rise in consumer prices as the rationale behind its decision, adding that the decision aims to contain inflationary pressures” as well as “avoid secondary supply shocks” resulting from inflationary expectations.

^^ We’ll have chapter and verse on this in Sunday’s EnterpriseAM edition.

PRIVATIZATION WATCH-

#1- Bidding war for Pachin heats up: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) approvedseveral new takeover bids for state-owned paint maker Paint and Chemical Industries (Pachin), from National Paints Holding (NPH) and rival bidder Eagles Chemicals. The competition heated up on Monday when Eagle Chemicals raised its offer to EGP 37.00 per share — EGP 1.00 higher than the rival bid submitted by NPH last week. Shareholders of Pachin have until market close on 12 April to decide whether to sell shares to Eagle or NPH.

Compass enters the fray? Compass Capital could also be back in the race and could potentially submit a rival offer in the “coming days,” sources reportedly tell Al Mal.

#2- The privatization program gets a major co-sign from the IFC: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Regional VP for Africa Sérgio Pimenta was in town earlier this month for talks with the government on how best the IFC can participate in the program. In an exclusive interview with Enterprise, Pimenta details the many ways the IFC can help, including as an adviser as well potentially providing financing for investors. The IFC has been actively encouraging investors to take part, he tells us, adding that he believes it will pave the way for FDI.

#3- …And a gentle nod from Morgan Stanley: Morgan Stanley analysts noted this weekthat “large-scale” privatization is the key to ending our FX liquidity crisis. The bank estimates that Egypt could bring in as much as USD 7 bn through asset sales next year bringing us to USD 23-24 bn through to the end of FY2023-24. But large-scale privatization is not going to be easy and delays could be costly, they noted, warning against any stalling in the program.

#4- We’re still trying to add more to the list of energy and petchems on sale: EGX boss Ramy El Dokany held further talks with Oil Minister Tarek El Molla on Monday, to discuss potential new listings by state energy and petrochemical firms. Oil and petchem companies feature prominently in the program, with reports indicating that six out of eight of the first state firms selling stakes expected to be energy and petchem firms.

SHAKE UPS ON THE M&A FRONT-

#1- Another GCC suitor for Palm Hills? Unnamed Saudi investors are mulling the acquisition of Arab African International Bank’s (AAIB) 12.9% stake in EGX-listed Palm Hills Developments (PHD) as the bank looks to exit the high-profile real estate developer, sources familiar with the matter told the local press on Wednesday. AAIB was looking to sell its entire stake in PHD to Emirati investment company Al Ain Holding, but we haven’t heard anything on Al Ain’s offer since.

#2- Giza Systems’ new Saudi owners are on a USD 40 mn shopping spree: Giza Systems is looking to invest up to USD 40 mn to acquire three or four companies this year in the wake of its acquisition by Saudi data firm Solutions by STC. The company is planning to allocate USD 5-10 mn to each transaction, CEO Osama Sorour is reported to have said. While the targets were not named, Sorour noted that Giza Systems will target companies that have a significant presence in the Saudi market as well as an Egypt-based workforce.

#3-SODIC pulls the curtains on Orascom for Real Estate acquisition: Real estate developers Orascom Development Egypt (ODE) and SODIC have agreed to end talks on SODIC’s bid to acquire Orascom for Real Estate (ORE). SODIC in October submitted a non-binding offer to acquire 100% of ORE for almost EGP 2.5 bn.

#4-Al Baraka Bank is eyeing undisclosed shares in Banque du Caire’s digital paymentssubsidiary Taly and has tapped Elite Consultancy House to conduct a fair value study.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

Draft FY 2023-2024 budget makes it to the House: We should be getting a more detailed look at the FY 2023-2024 budget as the Finance Ministry should have submitted the draft FY 2023-2024 budget to the House of Representatives yesterday.

MPs should be happy as the Madbouly Cabinet approved on Wednesday a draft budget that will see more social spending. The government plans to increase its spending on social safety programs by 28%to an estimated EGP 455 bn, while also raising spending on food subsidies by 20% to EGP 108 bn and fuel subsidies by 24% to EGP 35.9 bn. The budget sees total spending increase 30.5% to EGP 2.8 tn.

The draft budget is expected to land with the House Budget Committee on Sunday. The committee will then hold discussions over the next two months before the committee issues its report, House Budget Committee chairman Fakhry El Feki told reporters on Wednesday.

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

YOUR MOST CLICKED LINKS-

  • AI is still on everyone’s minds, judging by the number of you who clicked on Bill Gates’ take on the topic. (GatesNotes)
  • A lot of you wanted to know more about the Nigerian last-mile delivery startup Fez Delivery in which local VC outfit Acasia Ventures invested. (Fez Delivery)
  • The CBE’s infographic (pdf) on Instapay’s metrics over the past year got some attention.
  • Cabinet’s approval of the FY 2023-2024 budget also got some clicks. (Statement)
  • Some LinkedIn profiles got some views, including A Developments’ Ahmed Osman (LinkedIn), EFG Hermes Research VP Ali Afifi (Linkedin), and Pasta Regina’s Kareem Abou Ghali (Linkedin).

AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS-

Israeli politics were everywhere in the foreign press last week, after huge protests and a general strike in opposition to the government’s controversial reforms brought much of the country to a standstill. The crisis saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sack his defense minister, who had come out in opposition to the reforms, and later bowing to the pressure and delaying the reforms.

Also getting attention: China’s threatsto Taiwan over President Tsai Ing-wen’s unconfirmed meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Mainland China sees the trip as a challenge and direct blow to the “One China” mandate.

The ongoing banking crisis also got more ink: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva gave a gloomy warning of increasing financial instability following the recent banking failures in the US and Europe at a conference in Beijing. Later, First Citizens Bank’s parent company said it is taking over Silicon Valley Bank’s (SVB) deposits and loans for USD 500 mn in equity appreciation rights under an agreement with the Federal Deposit Ins. Corporation (FIDC).

☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND- Thankfully, there are no storms this weekend. Just some sunny weather and chilly nights. The mercury rises today to 22°C, before dropping to 9°C at night. It will rise again tomorrow to 24°C, with an overnight low of 10°C.

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