Good afternoon, wonderful people, and welcome to a brisk start to the week here in Omm El Donia.

Did you feel the quake? A 3.85 magnitude earthquake hit South Sinai this morning, according to a statement (pdf) from the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics. No damages or casualties have been reported so far.

The Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum istaking place tomorrow at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza. The event will see CEOs, top execs, bankers, and development finance folks attempt to solve the biggest economic issue of our time: How do we get out of our FX crunch by boosting exports and raising foreign direct investment.

We are very grateful for the interest we’ve seen from many of you and we cannot wait to meet those attending.

** Attendees who have confirmed and RSVP'd to their personal invitations do not need a QR code to enter the venue, but please do bring a business card you can give us in exchange for your name tag and lanyard.

We sent out the invitations to the event earlier today. These invitations were extended on an individual basis, and cannot be shared or substituted. Due to the incredible interest (for which we’re very grateful) we are unable to accommodate anyone who did not receive an invitation.

The event kicks off with an 8am networking breakfast, with the opening panels starting at 9am.

Who can you expect to see there? Our friend Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe. As head of projects and investments at one of the nation’s most valuable exporters, Tarek Hosny is going to be speaking at the forum about how we can continue to increase our non-oil exports. He is joined on stage for that discussion by Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete, and Shams Eweis, corporate affairs manager, Egypt, North Africa and Levant at Mars about how they succeeded in entering the international market and what they are doing to stay there.

Who else is speaking (in no particular order)?Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at Apis, Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at the EBRD, Tarek Kamel, CEO of Nestle Egypt; Omar Elsahy, general manager of Amazon Egypt; Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker; Shady William, managing director of IDG; Mark Wyllie, CEO of Beyti; Kareem Abou Ghaly, chairman and CEO of Pasta Regina; Yasmine Khamis, chair of the Orientals Group, Cheick-Oumar Sylla, director for North Africa and Horn of Africa at the IFC; Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman of Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; Helmy Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; Nada El Ahwal, CSO of Transmar; Nadia El-Tawil, investment officer at AfricInvest, Mostafa Bedeir, CEO of Giza Seeds and Herbs, Abdallah Sallam, CEO at Madinet Masr, Yassir Zouaoui, partner at McKinsey; and Mohamed ElGebely, team leader at USAID Trade.

Topics and live interviews will include:

  • Why exports and FDI are the way forward and what lessons have worked from around the world;
  • How to attract foreign partners and figure out what they are looking for;
  • What are the fundamentals to creating an export and / or FDI strategy;
  • What it takes to secure a place in a multinational’s supply chain.
  • How industrial clusters could expedite exports, FDI and possibly be an avenue for SME development;
  • How Egypt’s industries need to be open to evolution to become more competitive.

Tap or click here to explore the full agenda.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

TE’s secondary stake sale closes: Telecom Egypt’s secondary stake sale was executed on the EGX’s secondary market today with 162.2 mn shares sold to institutional investors for EGP 3.7 bn, representing 95% of the total 170.7 mn shares the Finance Ministry offered to investors, according to an EGX bulletin. The accelerated bookbuilding process wrapped on Thursday with a 3.11x oversubscription, according to a ministry statement. Further information about the buyers has not been made public.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Are we going to bid farewell to Erdogan? Turkish voters went to the polls today in a crucial election that could bring an end to the two decade-long rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Recent polls indicate that Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan’s primary opponent, holds a slight edge over Erdogan, but if neither candidate secures 50% of the votes, a runoff election is scheduled for 28 May. The outcome of the election has the potential to create ripple effects extending beyond Turkey’s borders, possibly affecting Turkey’s geopolitical position. (Reuters | Washington Post | Bloomberg | Wall Street Journal | New York Times)

ALSO- A powerful cyclone made its way towards the coast of Myanmar and Bangladesh today, prompting the evacuation of around 400k people residing in vulnerable areas. (Reuters)

HAPPENING NOW

The National Dialogue is rolling: National Dialogue sessions kicked off this morning, with the four sessions slotted for today set to end at 6pm. Two of today’s three-hour sessions are focusing on the electoral system, while the other two discuss discrimination, according toa dialogue’s statement. All sessions can be viewed on the dialogue’s Facebookand Youtubeaccounts.

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

  • The government has offered a 10% stake in Telecom Egypt (TE) through the EGX, reportedly raising EGP 3.95 bn (c.USD 129 mn) and valuing TE at around EGP 39.5 bn.
  • The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) will keep interest rates unchanged when it meets on Thursday after inflation came in slightly lower in April, according to our interest rate poll.
  • We’re unlikely to see another steep devaluation of the EGP before the end of this fiscal year in June, BNP Paribas and Citigroup analysts wrote in research notes last week.

enterprise

*** It’s Inside Industry day —your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: We break down the government’s sustainable development strategy for the upcoming fiscal year for transformative industries.

WANT TO START A CAREER IN INVESTOR RELATIONS ADVISORY?Enterprise Advisory (formerly known as Inktank Communications) is looking for smart, talented people to help us tell the stories of exciting companies. Enterprise Advisory is the region’s leading investor relations advisory company and works on investor and strategic communications issues that take you deep inside the c-suite. Our clients are in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and beyond. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply.

NEVER WORKED IN INVESTOR RELATIONS OR ADVISORY BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Advisory Development Program. The four-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran investor relations and advisory professionals, while also applying their knowledge in a practical setting. Those who successfully complete the program will be offered full-time positions on staff for a chance to work in a flexible and supportive — but still fast-paced — work environment that eschews micromanagement and rewards good work. Enterprise Advisory offers the chance to build a network of high-ranking individuals across some of the largest and most influential companies in the region through direct exposure to clients.

During the program, you’ll learn:

  • Finance for non-finance people;
  • How to analyze businesses, their business models, their strategic advantages, and their strategies;
  • How to take that information and then tell an audience of investors, journalists, and analysts a compelling and well-developed story;
  • How to frame individual companies’ stories within the wider macroeconomic environment.

Career switchers are very welcome.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “advisory development program” in your subject line.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect tomorrow to feel much like today, as our favorite weather app expects the mercury to rise just a notch to a daytime high of 35°C, with a nighttime low of 19°C.

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