Happy Sunday, friends. It’s one of those surprisingly slow Sunday afternoons, but it’s still whizzing by as we recalibrate from what may (or may not) have been the last Sahel weekend of the season.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

New oil exploration bid round coming up soon? The Oil Ministry’s South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) is planning to kick off an international oil exploration bid round for at least 10 new concessions in the south, Al Mal reports, citing an unnamed government source.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

China is leading the conversation in the international business news. The highlights:

  • The stamp duty on Chinese stock trades has decreased, along with slowing the tempo of IPOs among other moves to tempt investors back into its equities market. No details on how it would do so were given. (Bloomberg)
  • China’s rare earths could jeopardize US supply chains, as it highlights Beijing’s ability to easily dry out the flow of these elements that make up the components of mobile screens, micro chips and more. (CNBC)

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

  • Egypt is joining Brics next year: Egypt was among the six countries invited to join the bloc of emerging economies known as the Brics during the organization’s annual summit in South Africa last week. Capping three days of talks, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa announced an agreement on a framework for expanding the bloc and said six new members would join in 2024.
  • Hotel prices soar amid tourism spike: The prices of hotel and resort accommodation are expected to rise by at least 35% y-o-y in 2023, with a 30% increase forecast for 2024.
  • Italian firm to build and operate a the new Tenth of Ramadan dry port: Medlog, the cargo subsidiary of Italy’s Mediterranean Shipping Company(MSC), has inked a contract with the government to design, construct, operate, maintain, and finance the new Tenth of Ramadan dry port and logistics center.

CHECK OUT OUR AGENDA-

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.

This is our first two-day event,which should give us plenty of time to dive into the nitty gritty of this industry we love. Our panels will see CEOs, bankers, investors and founders gather to discuss the future and trends shaping banking, finance, fintech and NBFS.

Our full agenda will be out at month’s end. Among the topics we’ll be discussing:

  • Looking into the crystal ball: Top industry CEOs will join us on stage to answer tough questions on where we are as an industry, the forces that will shape all of our businesses going forward, and their views on dealflow in the year ahead.
  • Surviving nuclear winter: We discuss how private equity and venture capital players are tackling challenges including fundraising and deployment in an environment in which it’s awfully difficult to price your local asset in USD terms.
  • The robots are coming: We explore what the coming AI and big data means for the industry in our part of the world and what can bankers, NBFI, and fintech players do to capitalize on them.
  • What do you do when nobody wants to be a banker — and when those who are already (investment or commercial) bankers are either (a) dreaming of doing their own startup or (b) moving to Dubai (or, increasingly, Riyadh)? We go deep into the weeds with industry leaders on how they’re building talent for tomorrow.
  • NBFIs are a bubble. Prove me wrong: We chart the explosive rise of NBFIs and ask whether the industry is ready for a wave of consolidation. We’ll dive into whether consumer finance is starting to mature as a segment — and ask which sector is next.
  • What does 2024 hold in store for fintech: We dive deep into which categories are getting traction, which segments will account for the lion’s share of future growth, what business they would start today if they could, and what we can expect of the sector in the year ahead.
  • What’s a bank, anyway? Wherein we talk challenger and neobanks with the players looking to shake up the brick-and-mortar industry.

** NEW: MORE NETWORKING TIME- Our agenda includes expanded networking time, including an expanded coffee break and a post-event networking room for you to interact with your peers and speak one-on-one with the team at Enterprise.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our exciting agenda in the weeks to come.

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.

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: Industrial companies’ share performances on the EGX30 on a year-to-date basis and in the past five months (since the beginning of 2Q 2023) are, for the most part, moving in the same direction as the gains reported in their earnings during the second quarter of the year. Three out of the four companies we’re looking at are in the green YTD, with the same companies reporting positive earnings in 2Q 2022.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury will rise to a slightly less scorching 38°C at its peak in the daytime and drop to a cooler 24°C in the evening, our favorite weather app tells us.

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