Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the first day of the workweek. Kicking off the week is news that at least USD 1.1 bn worth of agreements and MoU’s were signed at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum that wrapped Friday, an LNG import tender stretching into winter, confirmation of new electricity price hikes, and more. We’ve got a packed issue today, so let’s jump right into it.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- Inflation to creep down for the sixth consecutive month? State statistics agency Capmas is expected to publish August’s inflation figures on Tuesday, but analysts seem to split on which way the reading will go. The more optimistic of analysts see inflation continuing on its deflationary path, but some point to fuel price hikes that came into effect at the very end of July as potentially leading to a noticeable uptick in inflationary pressure that could — at least temporarily — push us in the other direction.

#2- The countdown to the EFG Hermes London Conference is nearly over: EFG Hermes will be offering up its insights into “what is shaping and moving the region” and exploring important investments in our part of the world in its annual conference in London that kicks off tomorrow and runs until Thursday.

#3- Egypt-Iraq investments, trade, partnerships incoming: An Egyptian delegation, led by Industry and Transport Minister Kamel El Wazir, is set to land in Iraq tomorrow to finalize a number of strategic partnerships between companies from both countries, regional media reported late last month. Egypt is reportedly looking to boost its trade with Iraq by 41% y-o-y to reach USD 1 bn in 2025.

We’re hearing more and more about local companies wanting to enter the Iraqi market: Just last week, we heard that Talaat Moustafa Group (TMG) is getting ready to expand in the country. TMG isn’t the only real local real estate giant looking to enter Iraq though, with Sawiris-owned Ora Developers inking an agreement at the start of the year with the Iraqi government to develop a new 120k unit residential city in Iraq — dubbed Ali Al Wardi New City. And it’s not just real estate companies interested in the country, with local companies from several industries making their interest in the Iraqi market known to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani during recent visit to Egypt.

#4- Kouchouk to address AmCham Tuesday: Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk will be speaking at AmCham’s monthly luncheon on 10 September. The event — which will be moderated by Grant Thornton Managing Partner Kamel Saleh — will be held at Cairo’s Nile Ritz Carlton from 1-4pm. Register to attend here.

#5- Technology conference Tech Invest 5 is scheduled for Tuesday, with a long list of experts in the field set to attend — including CIT Minister Amr Talaat and Information Technology Industry Development Agency CEO Ahmed Elzaher. The event will bring together over 200 tech companies, 50 investors, and 20 incubators and accelerators. The conference is taking place next Tuesday in New Cairo. Get your ticket for the one-day event on 10 September here.

PSA-

WEATHER- The hot weather persists in Cairo today, with a high of 36°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a bit cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 32°C and a low of 25°C.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Business France and the General Authority for Freezones (GAFI) will soon be holding the Egypt Business Forum to promote bilateral trade and investment, according to an Investment Ministry statement. The forum hosted by the French state’s Business France — which will take place in Paris on 30 September and in Marseilles on 1 October — will host French companies and the Egyptian companies they work with to discuss their experience of operating in Egypt and host several high-level figures from the public and private sectors, including Investment Minister Hassan El Kahtib, GAFI head Hossam Heiba, Elsewedy Electric CEO Ahmed El Sewedy, Shift EV CEO Aly El Tayeb, and SCZone head Walid Gamal El Din.

Keep your eyes peeled for investment and cooperation news: Already on the agenda is an MoU signing between Elsewedy Electric and Business France and another between GAFI and Business France, but the forum will surely bring up more announcements that we will keep you updated on in future issues of EnterpriseAM Egypt.

For more information on each day’s program and to register, click here. Registration closes 24 September.

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

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

As is usually the case on Sundays, the global business press is light on big announcements with several business stories fighting for space on the digital front pages alongside US election coverage, Gaza, and Ukraine coverage.

Even the business news is US election news today, with the Biden administration reportedly readying a proposal for a new national security-focused US sovereign wealth fund that would allow the US to invest in areas like energy, tech, and certain critical supply chains as the country seeks to counter competitor countries’ (read: China’s) hold on key raw materials and technologies. While details remain fuzzy, reports suggest that policymakers are discussing targeting investing in emerging technologies with high barriers to entry and the production of synthetic critical minerals, among others.

A similar proposal has been endorsed by Trump, raising hopes among the proposal’s advocates that such a plan could muster the bipartisan support needed to see Congress pass it into law before the close of the Biden presidency.

OVER IN THE OIL MARKET NEWS- OPEC+ has delayed planned production hikes for an additional two months after the price of Brent crude fell to its lowest levels this year on the back of weak Chinese demand and the suggestion that some Libyan oil could soon come back on the market.

WHILE IN BIG TICKET M&A NEWS- BlackRock’s USD 12.5 bn agreement to buy Global Infrastructure Infrastructure Partners finally earned the greenlight that would see the sprawling global asset-manager portfolio of infrastructure assets rise to a cool USD 150 bn.

AND IN AI NEWS- Apple’s new iPhone will be armed with Arm, with Arm’s most recent V9chip design used in the iPhone 16 set to drop tomorrow being talked up as Apple’s special ingredient to realize its AI ambitions.

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