Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and happy Thursday. The weekend is finally here and the news cycle seems relatively subdued this afternoon.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

10 mn vehicles running on our roads: Total number of licensed vehicles across Egypt saw a slight increase to 9.95 mn by the end of 2023 from 9.94 mn a year before, according to data released by state statistics agency Capmas today (pdf).

By the numbers: Private passenger cars accounted for 52.3% of total licenced vehicles in the country, while the number of buses reached 172.4k or 1.7% of total vehicles by the end of last year.

Cairo (obviously) led the motorcade with 26.2% of total licensed vehicles (2.6 mn vehicles), followed by 1.4 mn vehicles in Giza, then Alexandria with 731.4k vehicles, while North Sinai was the least with only 41.9k vehicles by the end of 2023.

PSA- EgyptAir has resumed flights between Cairo and Dubai after one day of suspension following Tuesday’s bout of torrential rain that hit the UAE, the national flag carrier said in a statement today.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s a busy day today with a lot of news making the rounds in the international press. Emergency workers in the UAE are still on damage control after the rainstorm that flooded the country on Tuesday. Damage assessment is still underway, with the airport still facing disruptions. Netanyahu is still deliberating whether or not to respond to Iran’s attack despite urges from leaders around the world to deescalate the situation. The financial world has seen the largest sovereign wealth fund report a first-quarter profit of USD 109.9 bn thanks to the technology boom. The national investor reported that the robust yields from tech stocks were offset by excessively weak returns from real estate. (Reuters | Bloomberg | CNBC)

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

PHD has another North Coast project brewing: Real estate developer Palm Hills Development (PHD) is teaming up with Cleopatra Group todevelopa project in North Coast’s Sidi Heneish. PHD confirmed the news in a disclosure to EGX today (pdf) without naming the other partner company.

There is a clarification though: The real estate developer clarified that the project’s expected revenues and the partnership structure that were first mentioned in news reports yesterday are both not correct, as the project’s general plan is not finalized yet. The company aims to begin selling units at the project by 2Q 2024, the disclosure added.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Friday’s weather is more of the same with the mercury rising to a 30°C high and dropping to a low of 18°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.°C

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