Welcome to the last day of a forgivingly short work week. The public and private sectors along with the banks have tomorrow off in observance of Police Day and the 25 January revolution.

And that includes EnterpriseAM Egypt, which will be taking a break from your inbox tomorrow.

But we’ll be back from the long weekend on Sunday with big news as we launch EnterpriseAM KSA. Our newest addition to the Enterprise suite is written for decision makers in Saudi Arabia as well as executives, investors, and others doing business or deploying capital there. It will be published 7am KSA, Sunday through Thursday. You can also check our newly launched EnterpriseAM UAE edition here.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

#1- Attention, bookworms: The Cairo International Book Fair opens its doors to thegeneral public starting tomorrow from 10am to 8pm — except for Thursdays and Fridays, when doors will close at 9pm. The fair will be held at the Egypt International Exhibitions Center and run until Tuesday, 6 February.

#2- National Dialogue round two is around the corner: Get ready for the second round of the National Dialogue that will kick off, according to the National Dialogue’s Samir Sabry who spoke with Al Shorouk. The dialogue is set to address the exchange rate, monetary policy, soaring commodities prices, and the economic impact of geopolitical tensions, Sabry added.

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

THE BIG STORY HERE AT HOME-

Construction of Dabaa’s fourth reactor kicks off: Russian President Vladimir Putinvirtually joined (watch, runtime: 32:22) President Abdel Fattah El Sisi yesterday for a ceremony marking the beginning of concrete pouring for the Dabaa nuclear power plant’s fourth and final reactor. “Now all four power units of the El Dabaa nuclear power plant are under construction. This means that our Egypt site is becoming one of the two largest nuclear construction projects in the world,” Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev said, according to a press release (pdf). The story got ink in Reuters.

** Egypt’s Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant is the focus of today’s Hardhat vertical.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

Egypt to launch tenders for three more logistics projects worth USD 600 mn? The government is preparing to launch a tender for the development of three projects in March, with investments that could amount to a combined USD 610 mn, unnamed officials told Asharq Business yesterday. The projects include: A dry port in Fayoum, a logistic center in Upper Egypt’s Qustul, and another logistics center in Damietta.

DATA POINT-

Exports largely flat in 2023: Egypt’s exports stood at USD 35.5 bn in 2023, remaining unchanged from their 2022 levels, Trade Minister Ahmed Samir told Asharq Business. Exports remained flat due to a number of factors — not related to exchange rate instability — including the global decline in fertilizer prices, Samir said.

Remember: The government wants to increase exports to USD 100 bn a year by 2025 andpush that figure to USD 145 bn by 2030.

FACT CHECK-

Anti-dumping duties on steel imports aren’t going anywhere: The Trade Ministryhas denied rumors that it is looking to cancel anti-dumping duties on reinforced steel coming from China, Turkey, and Ukraine. The anti-dumping duties in effect since 2017 were extended last June until 2027.

WAR WATCH-

Biden’s top Mideast advisor was in town: American diplomat Brett McGurk landed in Cairo to begin his tour of the region to meet stakeholders in the region and push for a humanitarian pause in the fighting and the release of Israeli hostages, Reuters reports. The US envoy met with Defense Minister Mohamed Zaki to discuss the conflict’s impact on the wider region, the importance of protecting civilians, and how to keep aid flowing into the enclave, according to a ministry readout. McGurk is stopping next in Doha.

Is a month-long ceasefire in the cards? Israel and Hamas are broadly in agreement about having a month-long ceasefire in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages hostages, several unnamed Egyptian and Palestinian sources told Reuters. However, the mediation efforts led by Egypt, Qatar, and the US have reportedly been held up by Hamas wanting a longer-term peace plan to be settled before freeing hostages, while Israel has been reluctant to agree to anything long-term.

The deadliest day for Israeli troops pales in comparison to the daily death toll of Palestianians. Monday was the deadliest day of the conflict for Israeli troopswith 24 reported dead, while 190 Palestinains were killed on the same day.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Trump 2, Haley 0: Days after Trump’s victory in Iowa, the former presidentis now projected to win over last-opponent-standing Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary as early results start trickling in. Haley has vowed to fight on, telling supporters that “New Hampshire is the first in the nation. It is not the last.” (NYT | CNBC | CNN | The Guardian | Associated Press | Reuters |FT |WSJ)

ALSO- The Turkish parliament has voted in favor of Sweden becoming a NATO member state, after stalling for 20 months. With Turkey out of the way, Hungary is the only NATO member that is still against Sweden becoming a fellow member. (Washington Post | BBC | Associated Press | FT | WSJ | NYT | AFP | Reuters | Politico | Bloomberg)

AND- Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer nabbed 13 Oscar nominations for best picture, director, acting and craft categories, dominating the 2024 Oscar nominations. Nolan has never won an Oscar before despite his rich blockbuster portfolio, but critics think this might be the one. (Associated Press | FT | Reuters | The Guardian | NYT | CNBC | Bloomberg)

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: We check on how Russian state-owned Rosatom is getting on with the construction of Egypt’s Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant.

Tags: