Good afternoon, friends, and welcome to the last Wednesday of August as we brace ourselves for the last Sahel weekend. It’s also the last weekend before all private and international school students will be back in class — make the most of it.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Auto sales down again in July: Monthly auto sales fell 50.7% y-o-y in July, with distributors selling 6.3k vehicles during the month, according to figures from the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC). July’s automotive sales are flat m-o-m, as the industry continues to struggle with the ongoing FX crisis.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The two big themes in the international press this afternoon: China and Hurricane Idalia.

  • From China: A Chinese private equity fund has been using Goldman Sachs to own or acquire more equityin businesses in critical industries such as AI, drones and EV batteries (Financial Times). Meanwhile, Beijing is reiterating that China is open for business after US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the country is “uninvestable” as US businesses say they suffer from raids, fines, and other obstacles (Reuters | CNBC).
  • Meanwhile, Hurricane Idalia is growing in ferocity and is now a category 4 storm as it approaches Florida. Schools have been closed and residents requested to evacuate to higher ground. The storm has also closed Tampa airport and airlines have issued waivers to passengers intending to travel to and from cities in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. (The Wall Street Journal | Associated Press | New York Times)

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

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.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Temperatures are climbing as the mercury will hit 41°C at its peak in the day and drop to a cooler 25°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

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