Good morning, dear readers — and a very happy Thursday to you all.

HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s the penultimate day of the AfDB annual meetings: The African Development Bank (AfDB) annualmeetings in Sharm El Sheikh continue today.

Avior — HC Egypt Conference: HC Brokerage and Avior Capital Markets’ virtual conference concludes today. The four-day event brings representatives from 29 EGX-listed companies together with financial institutions from the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa, the UAE, and Egypt to discuss investment opportunities.

Another four sessions are taking place at the National Dialogue: Two discussing pre-university education — including a draft decision to establish a National Council for Education — and two on ways to improve housing, according to the dialogue’s agenda. You can catch the full sessions on the dailogue’s Facebook page.

It’s deadline day for Telecom Egypt employees to subscribe to the company’s share offering: The government is selling 0.5% of its stake in the state-owned company (8.5 mn shares) as part of its 10% stake sale. If the employee tranche is undersubscribed, the government has the option to sell any remaining shares to investors. Share transfers to employees will be executed by 1 June.

Remember: The government sold 9.5% of the company to investors earlier this month, raising almost EGP 3.75 bn.

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

  • IEF-IGU Ministerial Gas Forum: The International Energy Forum and the International Gas Union will hold its Ministerial Gas Forum on Monday, 29 May.
  • Deadline for 1Q financials: Listed companies have until Tuesday, 30 May, to report and publish their 1Q results.

We’ll know who’s going to leading Turkey for the next five years: Turkish voters will head to the polls on Sunday for the run-off vote after the two leading candidates — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu — failed to receive 50% of the votes needed in the country’s elections earlier this month.

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

Qatar “committed” to Egypt investment: Qatar is “committed” to fulfilling its pledge last year to invest USD 5 bn in Egypt, Qatari Finance Minister Ali Al Kuwari told Bloomberg yesterday, without providing a timeline.

But deposits are a thing of the past: “Just giving grants and charities are no longer the case for Qatar … When it comes to grants and cash and just checks, it’s becoming very difficult,” he said, speaking during the Qatar Economic Forum.

Remember: The oil-rich nation has deposited some USD 3 bn into the Central Bank of Egypt over the past year as part of a wider Gulf effort to prevent Egypt from sliding into an economic and financial crisis triggered by tightening financial conditions and the war in Ukraine.

FinMin wants to take out more loans: The Finance Ministry is looking to secure more long-term concessional loans from regional and international development banks to fund healthcare, education, and food spending, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said yesterday during a meeting with Citibank officials, the ministry said in a statement.

Debt to multilateral lenders has surged in recent years: The amount of money owed to multilateral lenders has more than quadrupled over the past decade, rising from USD 11.4 bn in 1Q 2012-2013 to USD 49.7 bn at the end of 1Q 2022-2023, according to central bank data. Multilateral institutions accounted for a third of Egypt’s USD 155 bn external debt as of the end of September.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

How not to announce your bid for the presidency: Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ courting of Elon Musk and Twitter to launch his presidential campaign went badly wrong yesterday when glitches plagued the live stream. The audio of the hour-long conversation between DeSantis and Musk went down, and thousands of viewers were either dropped from the stream or were not able to join. (Associated Press | Reuters | Financial Times | New York Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal)

US could face rating downgrade as debt ceiling impasse continues: Rating agency Fitch warned yesterday that the US could lose its AAA credit rating due to the ongoing standoff over the debt ceiling. Republicans and Democrats both said yesterday that talks have been productive but that several issues remain unresolved. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | Wall Street Journal | CNBC)

THE REALIGNMENT-

Egypt + Iran to normalize ties this year -The National: Cairo and Tehran will appoint ambassadors in the coming months under a mediation process led by Oman, the National reported yesterday, citing Egyptian officials. The news outlet also reports that a meeting between President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi has been agreed on in principle, and is likely to take place before the end of the year.

The Sultan of Oman was in Cairo this week: Haitham bin Tarek held talks with President El Sisi in Cairo this week about what the Oman Foreign Ministry said was “various regional and international developments.”

And now he’s going to Iran: Bin Tarek will travel to Iran on Sunday for a two-day visit, the Oman News Agency said yesterday.

This hasn’t come from nowhere: Recent optimistic statements from Iranian officials and media reports have heightened speculation that the two countries are seeking to normalize relations. Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has played down the rumors, calling them “unfounded speculation” in a recently televised interview.

An Egypt-Iran would be the latest in a series of of shock rapprochements in the region:Previous arch-foes Saudi Arabia and Iran are getting ready to reopen embassies, Syria has been welcomed back into the Arab League, and Egypt and Turkey are talking seriously about ending years of hostilities.

Ever better friends: Russia and China solidified economic ties through a set of agreements during a visit to Beijing yesterday by Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin, who said relations between the two countries “are at an unprecedented high level.” (Reuters)

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