Good morning, folks. It’s another busy morning led by the latest on our awaited EU package — we are now looking at up to EUR 7.4 bn in funding likely to be inked and announced on Sunday.

^^ We have the full story in the news well, below.

So, when do we eat? Maghrib prayers are at 6:03pm in the capital, and you’ll have until 4:38am tomorrow to hydrate and caffeinate ahead of fajr.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1-Gov’t has a plan to pay down overdue arrears: The government intends to pay off our commitments to “foreign partners,” Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday. Local reports last week estimated the current arrears to international oil and gas companies at USD 6.25 bn, adding that the Oil Ministry has been working to pay USD 1-1.5 bn of it.

#2- Efforts to clear backlogs in port are well underway: Madbouly said at yesterday’s cabinet meeting that some USD 3 bn worth of goods have been released from ports over the past few days. Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said the state has released some USD 1.7-bn worth of basic commodities and production materials over the last ten days.

Remember:A top government official told us following the USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement that addressing the import backlog and paying arrears owed to foreign partners are among the cabinet’s top priorities. The Madbouly government last week ramped up efforts to clear the backlog of goods in ports, with an emphasis on prioritizing strategic goods and production requirements.

FX WATCH-

Remittances have increased 10-fold since the float: Egypt-bound transfers from Egyptian expats have increased 10-fold since the central bank floated the EGP, Banque Misr Chairman Mohamed El Etreby told Extra News, without providing further information (watch, runtime: 3:06).

Remember:Remittances were down 30% y-o-y to USD 22 bn in 2023 as Egyptians abroad held onto their money or sent it back through parallel mechanisms. The government said it wants to raise remittances — one of Egypt’s biggest sources of FX — from Egyptian expats by 10% each year to reach USD 53 bn by 2030.

DATA POINT- The total value of imported passenger cars was up 9% y-o-y to USD 2.1 bn in 2023, according to data from state statistics agency Capmas.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Get ready to meet the new face of Arafa Holding: The EGX will halt trading on Arafa Holding, the company behind fashion brand Concrete, starting Sunday as the holding company carries out a demerger, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf). The transaction will see our friends at Arafa rebrand to Concrete Fashion Group for Trade and Industrial Investment and spin off subsidiary Gtex for Trade and Industrial Investments.

Shares of the two companies will be trading on the EGX starting Sunday, 24 March. We’ll have more next week, but the star to watch will be Concrete Fashion Group, which will make its market debut with an impressive board, strong management team, and assets that include domestic fashion player Concrete as well as a strong export portfolio.

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

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s a toss-up between the US presidential election and Tiktok for which story is getting the most attention this morning in the global business press. Media outlets around the world are taking stock of Trump v. Biden, Round II — it’s the first rematch between US presidential contenders since 1956. They’re also asking what’s next for Tiktok after the House of Representatives voted yesterday to give owner ByteDance six months to sell it or face a ban in the US of A.

Must-read on the US election:Biden and Trump clinch nominations, setting the stage for agrueling general election rematch (Associated Press).

Must-read on TikTok:What’s next for TikTok and its US users after House approves ban (Financial Times).

Cue the protectionists: Overseas takeovers of high-profile western companies are raising hackles in London and Washington. Rishi Sunak is pushing for legislation that would prevent UAE-backed RedBird IMI from bidding for The Telegraph. And across the pond, Joe Biden is expected to speak out today against Nippon Steel’s USD 14.9 bn bid for US Steel.

WHILE CLOSER TO HOME- Adnoc and BP’s USD 2 bn bid for Israeli natural gas giant NewMed Energy has been put on ice, amid “uncertainty created in the external environment.” There is still potential for the companies to complete their bid, which would see them acquiring 50% of NewMed, once geopolitical tensions have cooled, Bloomberg cites a person familiar with the matter as saying.

Adnoc and BP have other plans in the meantime:Last month, the companies agreed to form a joint venture to develop natural gas assets in Egypt. Adnoc will provide funds to support the venture’s expansion, while BP will contribute its stakes in three development concessions. The JV is scheduled to go live in 2H 2024.

Remember: NewMed owns 45% of the Leviathan gas field that feeds into Egypt’s Idku and Damietta LNG processing plants. Egypt is hoping to pump more LNG to Europe in the coming years after Israel agreed in August to ramp up exports from Leviathan.

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