Good morning, friends. We hope this Friday treats you well. We are counting down the days until Ramadan begins.

What would Ramadan be without the spirit of giving? Kicking off the season, we are sharing the lowdown on some of the Ramadan charitable boxes and bag options in the capital and the different ways you can get them to the right people: Either through the click of a button or lending a hand to the awesome folks preparing the packages.

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

LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS-

One single story drove the national narrative this week: The Abu Dhabi wealth fund acquiring the development rights to Ras El Hekma in a USD 35 bn agreement and the agreement’s aftermath.

KICKING OFF WITH MAJOR INVESTMENT NEWS…

The government dotted the Is and crossed the Ts on the mammoth Ras El Hekma agreement: The Madbouly government inked a USD 35 bn agreement with ADQ, giving the Abu Dhabi wealth fund and longtime investor in Egypt the development rights to Ras El Hekma on the North Coast, marking the “largest direct investment agreement in Egypt.”

ADQ on Tuesday deposited the first USD 5 bn of the funds at the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). The CBE will receive another USD 5 bn today, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly confirmed in a cabinet statement yesterday.

Remember: ADQ agreed to make the first USD 15 bn payment for the development rights to Ras El Hekma on the North Coast within a week of signing the agreement, which was inked last Friday. Of the first payment, USD 10 bn are fresh inflows and USD 5 bn are in the form of a previous UAE deposit at the CBE. The remaining USD 20 bn will be paid within two months.

Market reax: The EGX fell by 5.0% at the closing bell on the Monday after the news broke, while the EGP strengthened in the parallel and derivatives markets. The USD was changing hands at EGP 47.8-48.3 on Wednesday.

IMF said that the agreement is “completely separate” from IMF discussions: The agreement “is not linked to the Fund’s discussions with Egypt. These two topics are completely separate,” the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia head Jihad Azour said. That being said, IMF staff and Egyptian officials continued to make “excellent progress” towards finalizing the long-stalled first and second reviews of Egypt’s loan program, the Fund’s director of communication Julie Kozack said on Saturday.

IN OTHER PRIVATIZATION NEWS- New investors in the running for United Bank: Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) and Kuwait Finance House completed their due diligence for United Bank in December. The transaction could reportedly reel in the USD equivalent of EGP 22 bn.

AND- The government will soon launch an international tender for the management and operation of all the airports in the country.

More money rolls in: The government also received USD 520 mn yesterday as part of the sale of seven historic hotels to Talaat Moustafa Group’s Icon, Madbouly added. Icon finalized the acquisition of 51% stake in the hotels last month for USD 800 mn.

This all came as good news for the EGP: The strengthening of the EGP in the parallel market indicated the EGP could trade between 45-50 against the greenback in the event of a devaluation, Goldman Sachs wrote in a note of their five key takeaways on the state of the economy. The Ras El Hekma agreement was an “inflection point” alleviating FX supply pressures, which “is likely to sharply reduce speculative/hedging demand for FX, driving the parallel rate lower,” the note wrote.

ENERGY-

Egypt announces USD 41 bn worth of investment in green hydrogen and renewable: Egypt has inked seven MoUs with international and local companies to develop green hydrogen and renewable energy projects worth USD 41 bn in the Suez Canal Economic Zone over the next ten years, according to a statement from the cabinet.

AND A TAD OF TELECOMS UPDATES

Telecom Egypt and Chinese tech giant Huawei announced a partnership to deploy5G services in Egypt. The partnership has enabled Huawei — a world leader in 5G technology — to establish 5G sites in “hotspot areas” throughout Egypt.

AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS-

WAR IN GAZA-

Over one quarter of Gazans are on the verge of famine. It is “almost inevitable” that a widespread famine will occur if action is not taken, warned a senior UN aid official at the UN Security Council earlier this week.

Egypt, Qatar could help form a new Palestinian technocratic government: A newPalestinian technocratic government following the resignation of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday would be aided by both Egypt and Qatar, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot said. Although the new government to run Palestine, once Israel’s war on Gaza is over, will not contain any Hamas members, the group and all other Palestinian parties and factions will take part in the consultations to set up the new entity, Zomlot added.

The newsflow of the international business press was awash with stories on one techgiant in particular: Apple is ending its secretive, decade-long effort to build an electric car | The US Department of Justice may be on the verge of hitting Apple with an antitrust suit | Apple shareholders want the iPhone maker to be more transparent about its guidelines for the ethical use of AI.

?️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND- Friday brings us a warm day with an afternoon high of 30°C and an early morning low of 14°C . Meanwhile, Saturday is slightly cooler with a high of 26°C before dropping to a low of 15°C later in the night, according to our favorite weather app.

HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND-

ARTS-

Cairo Design Week is coming to a close this weekend. The week-long event is allocated in five different areas in Cairo: The Citadel, Heliopolis, Downtown, Zamalek, and Maadi, and brings creatives and industry experts together in a venue that showcases the latest in Egypt’s design industry. Get your ticket now through their website.

Bibliothek Art Gallery is hosting an artist talk featuring Amani Mousa, Eman Hussin, and Yasmine Shash, moderated by Ismail Fayed, to discuss their Lines of Intimacy Exhibition which continues untiltomorrow. You can find the catalog here.

ENTERTAINMENT-

Like comedy and want to get in on the fun? Presented by Al Mothalas, El Khatba is an interactive comedy experience at Rawabet Art Space tonight at 8pm.

EVENTS-.

Bibliothek Egypt is hosting yet another book signing for Reem Basyuni’s two latest works, Mario Abu al-Abbas and In Search of Happiness, tonight at 6:30pm. Along with the book signing will be a seminar titled Architecture and Impact.

Fancy yourself a detective? Murder-mystery fans can pull out their magnifying glasses to crack this case. Cluedupp and Crime Scene Investigator are staging a hard-boiled outdoor event tomorrow where you have to solve four murders around the city by solving puzzles, interrogating witnesses, and hunting for clues. Find more details here.

For all the mothers who need a break — or a bit of fun — Rahet Bally is collaborating withEl Malahy to give moms a day of fun with their children tomorrow. All you have to do is download the Rahet Bally app, sign up for entry without charge for you and your kids, and buy your playing credit — at a marked-down price — for you to play all day alongside endless competitions and prizes.

Dust off your tote bags: The Cairo Flea Market is back at the Zamalek Fish Gardentomorrow. You’ll have a day of second-hand shopping where you can browse the products of over 250 local vendors selling handmade products, antiques, secondhand items, and more. It only happens once a month so be sure not to miss it. The market runs from 11am to 7pm but we’d recommend getting there early to avoid the crowds.

HAPPENING NEXT WEEKEND-

ARTS-

Catch a glimpse of Egyptian cinema through Mohamed Bakr’s lens at Photopia in FiftyYears of Cinematic Portraits. This exhibition opened yesterday and continues until Saturday, 9 March (except for Sunday) where you’ll get to see a selection of portraits taken from his extensive collection of over 2000 artistic works captured since 1956. The exhibition showcases around 100 images from 80 films, covering various genres including literature, cinema, performance, comedy, and realism.

COMMUNITY SERVICE-

Join Ultra Ibex on their Wadi Degla clean-up event this Saturday, 9 March. All you have to do is wear your trainers, sunglasses, and refillable water bottles and head down to Wadi Degla Protectorate at 10am. You can sign up here.

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