THIS EVENING: Al Amal to suspend BYD assembly plant operations?

Good afternoon, wonderful people. We’re kicking off a fresh week with plenty of news — and a couple of blackouts to boot.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Al Amal could shutter its local BYD production line soon: Al Amal Auto could within two weeks temporarily suspend operations of its BYD assembly plant, Chairman Amr Soliman told Asharq Business, citing difficulty obtaining hard currency to import the required production components. Al Amal is the sole agent and distributor of BYD and Lada brand passenger cars and King Long microbuses in Egypt.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

There are a handful of headlines on Israel and Russia in the international press today. The crumbling relationship between Israel and its Abraham Accord countries as a result of the deteriorating Israeli-Palestinian relations has been leading the conversation in Bloomberg and CNBC as it will slow down investments further and undermine US efforts to bring Saudi Arabia into the fold. Meanwhile, t he surge in value of the Rouble-Tether crypto trade off during the aborted Wagner mutiny headlines the Financial Times. This came as Russians were looking for alternatives to their deteriorating currency while the mutiny was in its throes. Elsewhere in the conversation on Russia, President Vladimir Putin said that African and Chinese efforts could draw the roadmap for finding peace with Ukraine, reports BBC.

HAPPENING NOW-

Key Palestine reconciliation talks are taking place today: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh will attend a new round of reconciliation talks between Palestinian groups taking place in El Alamein today. The meeting, spearheaded by Egypt to heal the long-running divisions among different Palestinian factions, will be attended by representatives of Fatah, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is boycotting the talks.

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

• Brace for at least another month of blackouts: The ongoing rolling blackouts will continue until at least the end of August as the summer heatwave continues to put pressure on the country’s electricity network.
• Swiss firm in talks with gov’t for green hydrogen plant: Switzerland-based energy investment firm Smartenergy is close to reaching an agreement with authorities to establish a USD 1 bn green hydrogen facility.
• New gas and oil exploration agreements get the thumbs up: Ministers greenlit three oil and gas concession agreements worth USD 319.5 mn that will see three multinational energy companies digging at least 13 wells in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Suez.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- The Enterprise Finance Forum is taking place on 18-19 September at the St. Regis Hotel in Cairo. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations soon.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda.

DID YOU MISS THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast and listen for yourself : The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum, which took place in May.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami. We’re releasing a new episode every Sunday morning.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We ask some of the biggest multinationals and suppliers operating here — namely, in logistics, e-commerce, and FMCG — what it is they’re looking for in a local partner, product or service and what are some of the pain points they’ve had to cope with. We were joined on that panel by Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker Egypt, Omar Elsahy, General Manager at Amazon Egypt, Tarek Kame l, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé Egypt and Sudan.

*** 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: After struggling for years with losses, state-owned companies are looking to strike partnerships with private sector companies to help overhaul their factories, better manage their assets, and improve their financials.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The cooler temperatures will continue tomorrow as the mercury will stop at 37°C in the morning and dip to a cooler 25°C come night time, our favorite weather app tells us.