Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome back from a much-deserved long break. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did — and that today and tomorrow are quietly productive for all those of you who are not bridging.

The BIG STORY TODAY: We’ve got a couple of big economy stories to get us back into the swing of things. S&P Global Ratings has left our credit rating unchanged, but downgraded its outlook on our debt to negative on worries over our ability to secure external financing. The Madbouly government, meanwhile, is boosting its spend on social support programs and subsidies in what it is positioning as a bid to take some of the bite out of high inflation.

PSA #1a- Daylight savings is coming this Friday: That’s right, folks. Get ready for some semi-jet lagged confusion and tardiness. Friday, 28 April, will be the first day of daylight savings — our first since 2016 — which will see Cairo Local Time (CLT) pushed forward by one hour. The move, which breezed through the House of Representatives earlier this month, was made with an eye towards potentially cutting down our natural gas consumption.

PSA #1b- Make sure you check your departure time if you’re flying out — expect your flight to leave one hour later.

PSA #2- Next week is another short one: We’ve got a three-day weekend next week to ease us all back into work mode, after Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly made Thursday, 4 May, a holiday for the public and private sector to mark Labor Day, which falls on 1 May.

SOUND SMART- India will become the world’s most populous country this week: India’s population is expected to surpass China before the end of the week to reach 1,425,775,850, Reuters reports citing UN projections.Go deeper into what this means here.

DATA POINT-Imports worth USD 23 bn have been released from our ports since January, said Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, adding that priority continues to be given to key commodities, food, medicine, and manufacturing components, according to a ministry statement.

One reason inflation has remained sticky in recent months is “supply issues including a backlog” of imports resulting from since-scrapped regulations on goods entering the country, central bank governor Hassan Abdalla noted earlier this month. 

ALSO- We now have our own charter for AI: The National Council for Artificial Intelligence has launched a charter for the responsible use of AI. The charter (pdf) encourages the consideration of five main principles when developing and implementing AI:human-centered design, transparency, justice, accountability, and security, according to a cabinet statement.

Other countries are looking to set boundaries for the new tech: In China, new rules mean AI-generated content will have to “embody core socialist values and must not contain any content that subverts state power.” US and EU regulators, meanwhile, are looking into “guardrails” for AI to reduce the risk of spreading harmful content.

Correction 26 April 2023: 

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that EGP 23 bn worth of imports have been released since the beginning of the year.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The international press is all over Biden’s 2024 re-election bid: US President Joe Biden yesterday officially announced (watch, runtime: 3:04) that he will run for re-election next year to “finish the job.” Current Vice-President Kamala Harris will run alongside him once again. If Biden secures another four years in office he will leave the White House at age 86, extending his run as the oldest serving US president. Biden may once again face off against former US President Donald Trump, who has already launched his bid for the Republican nomination despite being the subject of ongoing criminal investigations. (Reuters | AP | New York Times | FT | BBC | CNBC | WSJ| Washington Post)

SPEAKING OF ELECTIONS- Greece will hold parliamentary elections on 21 Mayafter President Katerina Sakellaropoulou approved the move to dissolve the country’s current parliament and elect a new one, Reuters reported.

IN THE GLOBAL BUSINESS PRESS- The banking crisis lives on: US lender First Republic Bank’s shares saw nearly half their value wiped out on Tuesday after the bank’s 1Q 2023 earnings (pdf) registered bigger outflows than expected amid banking volatility in March, the Wall Street Journal reports. Customers pulled some USD 100 bn from the bank amid fears of contagion following the abrupt collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the 1Q results showed — leading First Republic’s shares to drop 49% to close at a record low of USD 8.10. The bank will need “to pull off the mother of all pivots to survive,” one analyst wrote.

AND- Alexandria’s Mohamed Mahdy has taken home a World Press Photo award for his multimedia chronicle of a fishing community in El Max.

The Enterprise Exports & FDI Forum, our latest industry-specific conference, is taking place on Monday, 15 May. The Enterprise Exports & FDI Forum will give insiders and newcomers alike the chance to talk about how to develop an export-centered business and how their companies can help Egypt build an export-led economy that makes us a magnet for foreign direct investment (FDI).

Why exports & FDI? In the wake of successive floats of EGP, exports and FDI have never been more important to our economy — or our businesses. We’re gathering some of the CEOs, top execs from local companies and multinationals, investors, bankers and finance folks to speak on how businesses can adapt their strategies to be export-oriented and what Egypt as a country can do to draw foreign investment and much-needed FX. Expect it to be heavy on lessons learned in Egypt and other global growth markets — and lots of success stories.You can learn more on our conference website here.

And what better place to discuss moving our goods than Egypt’s original logistics zone — the Nile. That’s why we’re looking forward to holding the event by the river’s vistas at the Four Seasons, Nile Plaza.

Some of the biggest names in business and finance are on board — are you? The Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum is taking place with the generous support of our friends, including:

Banking partners: Banque Misr | Al Baraka Bank | Emirates NBD | HSBC

Lead partners: DB Schenker | DP World | East Port Said Development | IDG | IFC | Madinat Masr

Event partners: Beyti | Concrete | Global Corp | Grant Thornton | Hassan Allam Utilities

WANT TO BECOME A COMMERCIAL PARTNER? Ping a note to Moustafa, our head of commercial, here.

HAVEN’T REQUESTED AN INVITE YET? If you’re a C-suite exec, business owner, DFI staff, export executive, investor or banker, please fill out the form here to signal your interest, letting us know your name, title and where you work.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The NBA Basketball Africa League Nile Conference group phase kicks off today, 26 April, and runs through 5 May at Hassan Moustafa Sports Hall in Sixth of October City, according to a Youth and Sports Ministry statement. Six African teams will go head-to-head in Cairo to secure one of four slots in the playoffs and finals in Kigali, Rwanda in May, where they will face the top four teams from the Sahara Conference group phase that took place in Senegal in March, the NBA said.

Sustainable Debt Coalition Initiative to launch in 3Q 2023? Some 20 countries are interested in formally joining the sustainable debt alliance announced at last year’s COP27 summit when it makes its official launch in September, local media reported Finance Minister Mohamed Maait as saying at the IMF / World Bank Spring Meetings earlier this month. The coalition brings together debtor and creditor countries, ratings agencies, 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.

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

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: GCC and international investment is pouring into the government’s Darah Provincial Capitals Development Project to improve housing and infrastructure in key cities beyond Cairo.