Good morning, ladies and gents, and welcome to another packed edition of the Enterprise Weekend Edition to match the relatively busy week that has come to a close.

ARE YOU STILL STRUGGLING WITH PROPERTY REGISTRATION? Worry not — we have a step-by-step guide on how to register property and explain the ins and outs of this often dreaded, but necessary, process — straight from a lawyer’s mouth.

Enterprise Weekend comes out each Friday at 9:00am CLT. We’ll be back on Sunday at 6am with EnterpriseAM. Until then: Enjoy the weekend.

LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS- There was no single big theme in the news this past week, which was filled to the brim with updates on the privatization front, economy, and diplomacy.

PRIVATIZATION WATCH-

#1- Gov’t could be putting up more of Telecom Egypt for sale…: The Madbouly government is considering divesting another 10% of Telecom Egypt (TE) to investors before the end of the year.

#2- …while QIA might soon be snapping up TE’s stake in Vodafone Egypt: The Qatar InvestmentAuthority (QIA) could wrap up talks by the end of September to acquire a portion of Telecom Egypt’s 45% stake in Vodafone Egypt.

#3- The government has received five offers from investors interested in acquiring the580-MW Gabal El Zeit wind farm, one of whom has been given two months to make a decision on whether to go ahead with the purchase. While no names have been disclosed, the government’s preferred bidder is most likely emerging markets-focused private-equity outfit Actis.

#4- Investors want a piece of Sinai Manganese: Several local and international investors are reportedly eyeing a stake in state-owned manganese producer Sinai Manganese. The company, which has been earmarked for a stake sale, is being shopped around by the Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE), whose pre-IPO fund has been restructuring some companies ahead of share sales to strategic investors, via the EGX, or a mix of both.

ECONOMY-

#1- Inflation hit another all-time high of 37.4% in August up from 36.5% the month before. August’s figures marked the third consecutive month of record-breaking highs and surpassed most analysts’ expectations last week.

#2- The CBE added another USD 50 mn to FX reserves in August: Net foreign reserves in August reached USD 34.93 bn, up from USD 34.88 bn in July. This is the 11th consecutive month that foreign reserves have seen a modest increase.

#3- The IIF thinks the EGP is overvalued by some 10% compared to its “real effective exchange rate,” the group said in a note. Analysts at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) blamed record inflation, diminishing inflation amongst trading partners, and the fixed exchange rate for the overvaluation, which they say could widen to 20% by the end of 2024.

INVESTMENT WATCH-

#1- Private-sector players spoke with the AIIB this week: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) officials virtually joined Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, Vice Minister of Finance Ahmed Kouchouk, and a number of private sector players to discuss how the Beijing-backed multilateral lender can benefit private-sector players ahead of the bank’s annual meeting in Sharm El Sheikh later this month.

#2- China could set up as much as USD 12 bn worth of chemicals-focused industrial facilities: Some 10-15 Chinese companies have shown interest in establishing a specialized industrial zone for chemicals with investments worth USD 7.5-12 bn in CNY over the next 3-4 years.

#3- NOSI gunning for Heliopark: State-owned National Organization for Social Ins’ (NOSI) offered Heliopolis Housing and Development (HHD) EGP 15 bn to buy 100% of the land allocated to the Heliopark project. HHD shareholders will consider the offer later this week.

DEBT WATCH-

#1- Egyptian Mortgage Refinance Company (EMRC) issued EGP 472 mn in securitized bonds. The three-tranche issuance was rated between AA+, AA and A by the Middle East Ratings and Investors Service (MERIS). The issuance is the first in a planned three-year, EGP 3 bn, program.

#2- The Finance Ministry is looking to secure USD 1.5-2 bn in fresh loans by 4Q 2023 that includes a planned USD 500 mn CNY-denominated panda bond issuance and a second JPY-denominated samurai issuance worth USD 500 mn.

M&A WATCH-

#1- Beshay Steel sold a minority stake to NSPO: Military-owned conglomerate the National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) acquired minority stakes in three private-sector steel companies owned by Beshay Steel Group. Beshay Steel sold up to 24% stakes in each of the three companies to the NSPO for around EGP 10 bn.

IPO WATCH-

#1- ADES is seeing strong demand from investors for its landmark IPO: Egypt-born regional oil and gas services driller ADES Holding’s initial public offering (IPO) on the Saudi stock exchange was reportedly oversubscribed within hours of the company releasing pricing on its shares.

KSA’s biggest debut so far this year: The company set the price range for the offering at between SAR 12.50 - 13.50 (USD 3.33- 3.60) per share, valuing the company at as much as SAR 15.2 bn (USD 4.05 bn) and raising up to SAR 4.5 bn (USD 1.2 bn) from the offering.

DIPLOMACY-

#1- President Abdel Fattah El Sisi led a delegation to New Delhi last Saturday to join G20 leaders for the 2023 leaders summit. Egypt was among the non-G20 countries invited by the hosts India to attend the events this year.

El Sisi held one-on-one meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel to discuss bilateral relations and regional issues.

El Sisi and Erdogan also met face-to-face for the first time: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hailed “a new era” for relations between Egypt and Turkey in his first-ever meeting with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi following the decision to restore diplomatic ties in July.

#2- Ethiopia completed the fourth and final phase of filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a social media post this week.

WHAT’S HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

WE HAVE JUST THREE SLEEPS until we see some of you at the Enterprise Finance Forum, which takes place 18-19 September (Monday and Tuesday) at the St. Regis Hotel on the Nile Corniche.This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only events, where CEOs, bankers, investors, founders, and corporate leaders will meet to discuss the trends shaping the future of banking, finance, NBFIs, and fintech — and of their clients.

You won’t want to miss this one: Join Basel El Hini (chairman, Housing and Development Bank), Hazem Hegazy (CEO and vice chairman, Al Baraka Bank), Ibrahim El Missiri (CEO, Somabay), Lamyaa Gadelhak (partner, Baker McKenzie), Ashraf Sabry (founder and CEO, Fawry), Dalia Wahba (CEO, Hassan Allam Utilities) and many others for talks on everything from how banks are transforming, to calling the future giants in fintech.

Tap or click here to view the FULL AGENDA with SPEAKERS.

** We are honored to count some of the region’s most important financial institutions as

our partners for this special event. The Enterprise Finance Forum could not take place without the support of our partners including Banque Misr, Al Baraka Bank, FABMISR, HSBC, Mashreq, Banque du Caire, CI Capital, Global Corp, Visa, Hassan Allam Utilities, the IFC, and Post for Investment.

We’ll be wrapping up the Enterprise FInance Forum as monetary policy decisions come into the spotlight both here at home and across the pond:

  • The US Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting will take place 19-20 September (Tuesday-Wednesday). The Fed is likely to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged at the conclusion of its policy meeting, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
  • The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee will follow on Thursday, 21 September with its own meeting to review interest rates. The rate review will follow shortly after inflation figures hit another all-time high of 37.4% in August and as a potential IMF review of our USD 3 bn loan program looms.

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

YOUR MOST CLICKED LINKS-

  • Egypt’s debt levels and how we measure up in terms of debt exposure in comparison to other emerging markets. (X link)
  • Investor’s interest in Sinai Manganese got several clicks. (Al Mal)
  • Julian’s Rooftop got some love after we recommended it for a date night option. (Instagram)
  • Readers are excited about our upcoming Enterprise Finance Forum. (Enterprise Finance Forum Agenda)
  • Jumia Egypt’s new CEO’s LinkedIn pulled in readers. (LinkedIn)

AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS-

The devastating earthquake in Morocco saw wide coverage: Over 2.8k people have died and another 2k were injured after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco over the weekend. Search and rescue efforts were underway throughout the week as aid workers scrambled to set up shelter and provide supplies to those displaced by the country’s deadliest earthquake since 1960.

The destruction left behind in the wake of Storm Daniel in Libya has also been getting ink: More than 5k people were declared dead and at least 10k missing after Storm Daniel unleashed massive flooding across Libya earlier this week. The eastern coastal city of Derna was among the areas hardest hit, with officials estimating that a quarter of the city was completely wiped out after the storm caused dams above the town to burst and sweep away tens of buildings.

The 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi earlier this week had the international press busy: Leaders at the summit released a joint declaration that touched on energy, global finance, artificial intelligence and most notably, the conflict in Ukraine — which caught the attention of Western news outlets for its omission of a direct condemnation of Russia. Also worth noting is the African Union’s formal admission to the bloc and the EU, India, Saudi Arabia, UAE and US’ agreement to construct a Middle East-South Asia infrastructure project that would link Middle Eastern nations and India by new rail networks and ports.

☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND- The weekend will begin hot with the mercury reaching a high of 37°C today and cooling to 24°C this evening. Tomorrow will begin slightly cloudy, with temperatures reaching 37°C and falling to 23°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND-

2023’s Medfest Cinematic Film Forum , Stigma, is ongoing at AUC’s Tahrir Cultural Center . The forum kicked off yesterday and wraps on Sunday. Get your tickets from Ticketsmarche.

Egyptian trance duo Aly & Fila are performing at The Great Pyramids of Giza today, 15 September. Get your tickets from Nacelle.

The Cairo Flea Market is back at Zamalek Fish Garden tomorrow from 11am-7pm.

Work on your breathing at Ahimsa tomorrow with anemotional healing breathwork session at 8 pm. Go to their Instagram page for more details and reservations.

Head to Dawar Arts for Yin Yoga with Nour tomorrow from 7pm-10pm.

HAPPENING NEXT WEEKEND-

Masar Egbari will perform at City Garage Live in City Centre Almaza on Friday 22 September. Tickets are available on Tazkarti.

Tamino is coming back to Egypt to perform on Friday-Saturday, 22-23 September at 8pm at AUC’s Tahrir campus.

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