Good afternoon, friends, and happy hot hump day.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

EFG Hermes acquires minority stake in Kenzi Wealth: Our friends at EFG Hermes have acquired a minority stake in the Danish fintech wealth manager Kenzi Wealth and inked an MoU which will allow EFG Hermes to leverage Kenzi’s AI tools to streamline the management of investment portfolios and give investors a more personalized experience, according to a joint statement (pdf).

New features coming to EFG platforms? Under the partnership, EFG Hermes will roll out new AI-powered services to its customers, such as advanced investment risk analytics, investment selection, portfolio construction and rebalancing, Kenzi’s CEO Mohamed El-Masri said. In addition, Kenzi will help EFG Hermes add new features to its online trading platform EFG Hermes ONE as it seeks to transform it into a one-stop investment platform, the statement showed.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Semiconductor giant ASML reveals chip machine “kill switches” that can be used in case of China’s invasion of Taiwan. US government officials reached out to the Dutch company to express concern over China’s imminent invasion of Taiwan, whose semiconductor firm TSMC produces the global majority of advanced semiconductors. ASML reportedly reassured US and Dutch officials of their ability to disable the machines remotely, citing successful risk assessment simulations. ASML has long been prohibited from selling their machines to China at the behest of the US, which fears that it would help give its competitor a leg up in the global chip war. (Bloomberg)

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

  • Jordan’s liwwa wants to set up shop in Egypt:Jordanian SME lenderliwwa has secured (pdf) a USD 5 mn loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) which will be used for on-lending to SMEs in Jordan and supporting the company’s plan to launch in Egypt.
  • Valu has raised EGP 616.8 mn in securitized bonds, part of a EGP 9 bn securitization program.
  • A Molto good start to the year for Edita:Snackmaker Edita Food Industries saw its bottom line surge to EGP 436.4 mn in 1Q 2024, marking a 16.2% y-o-y increase on the back of strong sales across all segments.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury will hit a high of 40°C with a cooler low of 25°C in Cairo, according to our favorite weather app.

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