Good morning dear readers: Last week’s rapid-fire news flow doesn’t seem to have let up much over the weekend, with the MPC meeting, an update on the Safi / Wataniya sales, and new unemployment figures all making news since EnterpriseAM last landed in your inboxes on Thursday morning. Let’s get to it.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Oman sultan in town: Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarek is landing in Egypt for an official two-day visit on the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, according to the Oman News Agency. Six MoUs covering a number of fields including education, tax transportation, and aviation will be signed during the visit, Oman’s ambassador to Cairo Abdullah bin Nasser bin Musalam Al Rahbi told the state-run MENA news agency.

We know about one of these agreements: The Finance Minister said recently that the two countries will this month sign a double taxation treaty.

National Dialogue, week 2: The dialogue has four politics-centered sessions scheduled for theday: two discussing the future of political parties and two on the local council law. Thursday’s sessions, on issues related to national identity and the issue of guardianship over money, had around 480 attendees who were engaged in discussions for 7 hours. You can catch the sessions on the dialogue’s Facebook page.

Senate reconvenes: The Senate is back in session after a two-week break and its committees have a packed Sunday ahead:

  • The Senate General Assembly will discuss the export potential of our pharma industry;
  • The Industrial Committee will look into the economic challenges faced by industrial firms;
  • The Energy Committee will discuss the fertilizer industry, carbon tax, and the performance of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation;
  • The Tourism Committee will hold a session on promoting religious tourism.

There’s an election happening across the Med: Greek voters go to polls today to decide the country’s next government, and the final polls are pointing to the prospect of a coalition government. Conservative incumbent Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is slightly ahead of the leftist Syriza party but looks unlikely to get enough votes to form a government. Reuters has more.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

The African Development Bank’s (AfDB) annual meetings kick off in Sharm El Sheikh. The theme of this year’s meetings, which run until Friday, is “mobilizing private sector financing for climate and green growth in Africa.” Hassan Abdalla, Central Bank of Egypt governor and chair of the AfDB’s board of governors, welcomed participants to the meetings in a video message over the weekend (watch, runtime: 05:37).

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

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

There a number of stories jostling for attention in the global front pages this morning:

#1- No breakthrough in debt ceiling talks: Democrat and Republican lawmakers were no closer to securing an agreement to lift the debt ceiling and avert a default on Saturday evening. (Associated Press | Reuters | Financial Times | Bloomberg | Washington Post | New York Times | Wall Street Journal | CNBC)

#2- Russia claims to have taken a key city in Ukraine: The Russian defense ministry said this morning that Russian troops and soldiers from private military contractor Wagner are in full control of Bakhmut following an eight-month battle for the east Ukrainian city. Ukraine is yet to respond to the claim. (Associated Press | Reuters | Washington Post | New York Times | Wall Street Journal)

#3- Zelenskiy at the G7: The appearance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the ongoing G7 summit in Japan is dominating coverage of the event. During the three-day summit, which finishes today, western powers have announced fresh sanctions targeting Russian exports and are planning new measures to respond to China’s “economic coercion.” (Associated Press | Reuters | Financial Times | Bloomberg | New York Times | CNBC)

PSA- EGX-listed companies can account differently for FX losses on the back of the EGP devaluation: The government has made amendments to local accounting standards that allow companies to account separately for losses that came as the direct result of the EGP’s recent devaluation, per a decision in the Official Gazette. Companies can use the different accounting method for financial results spanning the period from 27 October — when the EGP was allowed to slip against the USD as the central bank moved to a flexible foreign-exchange rate regime — to the end of 2023, the Financial Regulatory Authority saidWednesday.

DATA POINT-The expat car import initiative raised some USD 900 mn, with almost USD 370 mn of that already transferred to the government, Al Shoroukquotes Finance Minister Mohamed Maait as saying last week. That’s a little over a third of the USD 2.5 bn originally targeted by the ministry. Some 167k Egyptian expats reportedly registered for the scheme, which wrapped on 14 May after it was extended for three months in a bid to maximize FX inflows.

COME WORK FOR OUR ADVISORY ARM-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.

We’re running a four-month training program for fresh grads and career switchers and will hire every successful grad of the program.

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

Tags: