Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a blockbuster morning for news, where the top headlines include the surprise sale of a large stake in Eastern to a UAE-based company and confirmation that Eni and its partners are planning a massive ramp-up in investment here.

^^ We have the rundown on both stories in this morning’s news well, below. But first:

EGP WATCH- Is the parallel market for greenbacks cooling? The EGP is reportedly now trading at 38-39 per USD in the parallel market — down from highs of 41 last week — as local banks step in to meet demand among importers for the greenback, Al Arabiya reports, citing unnamed sources. A large number of local banks have begun covering the hard currency needs of importers under certain unspecified conditions, the news outlet reports. The official exchange rate has remained pegged at EGP 30.96 since March.

Remember: The parallel market is, by definition, not transparent. Nobody has anything approaching “real” price discovery, meaning it’s near impossible to say with certainty “what the rate is” at any given moment in time — and that swings without regard to fundamentals are the norm. The EGP has lost almost half of its value against the USD since March 2022, and reduced inflows of hard currency has helped fuel a resurgent parallel market.

PSA- You may want to avoid the 26 July road for a while: A 400-meter segment of the 26th of July Axis has been shut down for six months for the construction of the Sixth of October monorail, according to a sta tem ent by Giza governorate. The road closed on Saturday in both directions from the top of the Nile Valley Street tunnel to the beginning of Lebanon Bridge. Detours are in effect, but don’t expect Google Maps to know them anytime soon.

UPDATE- The contract signed between Egyptian National Railways, Thales Group and Orascom Construction to upgrade the signaling systems on the Cairo-Beni Suef railway line is worth EUR 340 mn, according to a statement (pdf) put out by Orascom yesterday. The initial statement from the Transport Ministry on Friday didn’t disclose the contract’s value.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The Japanese FM is in Cairo: Japan’s chief diplomat Yoshimasa Hayashi will hold talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry during his visit to Egypt today, according to a statement from the embassy. He will also hold a three-way meeting with Shoukry and Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi. Hayashi was in Jordan yesterday, where he announced that Tokyo will extend a USD 100 mn loan to support the country’s electricity reforms, according to Reuters.

This comes four months after the Japanese prime minister visited Egypt, during which the countries upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership.

It’s Labor Day in the United States and Canada, so markets there are closed and your friends in finance will be celebrating the last ‘real’ weekend of summer.

Africa pharma expo: It’s the second day of the Pharmaconex exhibition at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre. The event runs through to Tuesday.

Climate talks in Kenya: Climate leaders from across the continent will gather in the Kenyan capital today for the three-day Africa Climate Summit. Egypt’s UN high-level climate champion, Mahmoud Mohieldin, will be among those in attendance.

Erdogan to discuss grain pact with Putin: Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attempt to persuade Russian leader Vladimir Putin to re-enter the Black Sea grain pact with Ukraine during talks in Sochi this week, according to Reuters. Moscow pulled out of the agreement in July and reimposed a partial blockade on Ukraine’s ports, threatening to provoke a fresh global food crisis.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

GO EAT HERE- The grand opening of Fôu. What do you do when you’re a rising star in the field of corporate law? If you’re arbitration lawyer Farah El Charkawy, late of Zulficar and Parters, you attend top European culinary schools (including Alain Ducasse in France) and then open your own patisserie (Instagram | website). Fôu’s grand opening is tomorrow (Tuesday, September 5) at 8pm in Zamalek at Marakez’s wonderful Villa M. Mabrouk, Farah — we can’t wait to taste what you’re creating.

PMI figures out tomorrow: S&P Global will publish August purchasing managers index figures for Egypt on 5 September. Private-sector activity has finally been showing signs of life in recent months, with the perma-contraction easing gradually over the past four months.

Foreign reserves figures will be out any day now. Expect the central bank to release figures for August before the week is out.

G20 summit: G20 leaders (sans Xi and Putin) will gather in New Delhi for the 2023 G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday. We’re also expecting an Egyptian delegation at the gathering, though it’s unclear which ministers will be in attendance.

Nigeria, newest G20 member? Nigeria is weighing membership in the G20, as President Bola Tinubu sets to attend the G20 Summit in India at the invitation of India’s PM Narendra Modi. (Reuters)

Bright Star 2023: The Egypt and US-led Bright Star military exercises started on Friday, and will continue through to 14 September. Some 19 countries are taking part in the drills while 15 others will be on hand as observers.. (Armed Forces statement)

FURTHER AFIELD- Other local news triggers to keep your eyes on as we move through September:

  • Inflation: Capmas and the CBE will publish the latest inflation data on Sunday, 10 September.
  • Interest rates: The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will gather to discuss interest rates on Thursday, 21 September.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

There’s no single story dominating the front pages of the global business press this morning: The soaring budget deficit in the United States is the lead story in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, while the Financial Times front page leads with a story on the assistance provided to Russian banks by Chinese lenders following Western financial sanctions.

ALSO- The financial press has quickly soured on Arm’s much-touted IPO. Two weeks ago it was being heralded as the savior of the US IPO market. This morning, it’s being described as a “disappointing bet” by the WSJ as investors ponder whether its potential future growth trajectory warrants SoftBank’s sky-high USD 50-55 bn valuation. We’ll find out the market’s response over the coming week or two as the pre-IPO roadshow begins.

FROM THE REGION-

Turkey + Israel are looking to deepen nat gas ties: “I had a productive phone call with Israel Katz, the Israeli energy minister, to discuss opportunities for bilateral and regional energy cooperation, including natural gas,” Turkish energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar wrote on X(formerly known as Twitter) yesterday. He will visit Israel to continue talks “at the earliest possible time,” he added.

ICYMI-

Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we featured Yasmine Khamis (LinkedIn), chair of Oriental Weavers, in our Manufacturer of the Month interview.

JOIN US FOR OUR FINANCE FORUM-

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.

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

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

PSA #2- Calling all prospective master’s students: Applications for the UK government’s Chevening scholarship will open from Tuesday, 12 September and close on 7 November. The scholarship offers full financial support for students to pursue an eligible master’s degree at over 150 UK universities. Applications will be open here.

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

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed.

In today’s issue: The government wants more bilingual students at public schools. Here’s how they’re doing it.

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