Good morning, friends. Welcome back to another workweek — one in which we’re leading with two quality-of-life announcements: First, the CBE is making it a tiny bit easier to use your credit card abroad. We have the rundown on that in this morning’s news well, below. Second:

We expected the blackouts to be over by now, but they may actually be getting worse. The Electricity Ministry has begun extending the duration of daily power cuts to 90 minutes from one hour, several local news outlets (here, here) reported yesterday, citing anonymous ministry sources. It isn’t clear to us whether this is a change in policy or a one-off prompted by something new in the mix — nor is it clear what has prompted the change.

A few of us at Enterprise HQ can testify to this: From Alexandria to Maadi, several of us noticed a longer-than-usual blackout yesterday.

Remember: The ministry began reducing the electrical load in late July onthe back of an extended heatwave and challenges to domestic natural gas production. While temperatures have now fallen below peak, officials have noted that the cut saves the country some USD 300 mn per month. Egypt’s gas supply was dealt another blow earlier this month when Chevron halted shipments of Israeli gas from its Tamar field due to the ongoing war in Gaza.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The city of a thousand minarets and endless conferences:

  • Energy professionals are heading to Egypt Energy for the region’s biggest energy conference. The gathering wraps on Tuesday;
  • The people over at Cairo Water Week are also kicking off their sixth edition of their annual conference running until Tuesday to tackle our most pressing water issues.

IN THE HOUSE-

The House of Representatives is back in session today following a two-week break. MPs will discuss and vote on a USD 500 mnloan from Deutsche Bank and the Arab Banking Corporation to support the state budget. MPs will also look into two draft laws, one establishing the Egyptian Export and Investment Guarantee Agency to promote Egyptian exports — replacing the Export Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt — and one establishing a new National Council for Childhood and Motherhood.

On the agenda tomorrow: The House will discuss and vote on three draft bills authorizing the Oil Ministry to contract ExxonMobil and Pico Petroleum to explore for oil in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Suez in partnership with various local players. MPs will also vote on a EUR 670k grant from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation to help overhaul how the agriculture sector uses water.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK:

#1- The CBE’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet on Thursday to review rates. The bank kept interest rates unchanged during its September meeting in response to a slight decline in core inflation. We’ll be out with our customary pre-MPC poll later this week.

#2- The CBE will be keeping a close eye on what happens in Washington on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve concludes its penultimate policy meeting of the year. The market is pricing in a 99.5% chance that the Fed keeps rates on hold as inflation tempers and the war in Gaza triggers fresh uncertainty for the global economy.

#3- A third downgrade in the cards? Fitch Ratings will publish its review of our sovereign credit rating on Friday, 3 November. Moody’s and S&P Global Ratings both downgraded our rating deeper into junk territory in recent weeks due to our foreign-currency shortage and mounting debt problems.

#4- Egyptian tech bros need to look toward DC this week as the White House prepares to release an executive order regulating AI. A “sweeping” new order (which doesn’t require asset from Congress) will “deploy numerous federal agencies to monitor the risks of artificial intelligence and develop new uses for the technology while attempting to protect workers,” Politico writes.

#5- Apple is promising a “scary fast” Mac event tomorrow night. Don’t expect to watch it stream live unless you’re a serious night owl: It starts at 2am CLT.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Is a carbon tax on its way? The Madbouly government is drafting legislation that would introduce a carbon tax, reports Al Borsa, citing anonymous sources. The bill is expected to be presented to the House of Representatives within days, according to the newspaper. No further details about the cost of the tax or its mechanism for implementation were reported.

Good for the climate, good for the public purse: Global tax receipts from carbon taxes and emissions trading have reached about USD 95 bn, the World Bank said earlier this year.

#2- Linking up Greece Egypt’s grid could soon receive funding: The EU may include the plan to link the power grids of Greece and Egypt on a list of “projects of mutual interest”, which would help the project secure licensing and funding, Bloomberg reports. Local renewable energy developer Infinity Power signed an agreement with Greece’s Copelouzos Group in May to conduct a feasibility study into the proposed 950-km, 3-GW link.

There could be more to come: GREGY is among five proposed projects to link Egypt’s power grids to Europe, which if implemented, would see Egypt exporting its surplus to Italy, Cyprus, and Greece.`

#3- State-funded factory construction boom on the way? The state is ready to support factory construction projects by building the core structure of factories for companies to then fit with their own production lines, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on the sidelines of the second annual International Industry Forum (watch, runtime: 1:54). The initiative is hoped to stimulate local industry, El Sisi added.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD remains Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israel says the “second stage” of the war has begun as it lays siege to Gaza: The Israeli military has sent forces into Gaza and is subjecting the besieged territory to the most devastating aerial bombardment yet. Stopping short of announcing a ground invasion, the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said yesterday that the “second stage” of the war has begun, a day after a total communications blackout was imposed over Gaza as Israeli jets pounded the territory and tanks rolled over the border.

Global condemnation is growing, but don’t expect Israel to listen: Netanyahu reiterated yesterday that it will be a “long war” and vowed to completely destroy Hamas.

The Arab world is not happy: Egypt, together with Arab nations including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman slammed Israel’s decision to send troops into the strip. The Foreign Ministry warned of “the grave risks and unprecedented humanitarian and security repercussions” of the invasion and said it amounts to “a new flagrant violation” of international law.

Erdogan is even less so: Turkish president Recep Tayip Erdogan labeled Israel a “war criminal” and blasted Western countries for being “the main culprit behind the massacre” taking place in Gaza. “Israel, we will also declare you as a war criminal to the world,” Erdogan told thousands of protesters at a pro-Palestine rally, according to Turkish media.

Turns out that speech wasn’t great for Turkish-Israeli relations: Israel will “reevaluate” its relationship with Turkey and has withdrawn all diplomatic staff from Ankara in response to Erdogan’s speech, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said yesterday.

The UAE has called for an emergency session at the UN Security Council in light of Israel’s escalation, the Jerusalem Post reported anonymous diplomats as saying yesterday.

THE BIG BUSINESS STORY ABROAD-

SBF takes the stand. FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried gave testimony to a New York court on Friday alleging that he had little to no information regarding the financial relationship between the collapsed crypto exchange and its affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried — who is facing a hefty list of criminal charges following the implosion of the exchange — denied having defrauded customers, though admitting “a lot of people got hurt. Customers. Employees…I made a number of small mistakes and a number of large mistakes.” (Reuters | New York Times | Financial Times | CNN | Axios)

ALSO- Sudan’s two warring parties meet in Riyadh: Sudan’s warring factions announced that they have resumed the latest round of Saudi and US-mediated peace talks in Jeddah, reports AFP. The negotiations, which restarted on Thursday last week, are held “in partnership” with the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement on X said. Saudi Arabia called for the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces to abide by the Jeddah Declaration to protect civilians and a short-term ceasefire deal, both of which were signed by both sides in May.

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