Good morning, and a happy Thursday to you all. All eyes in the business community are firmly set stateside after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in over four years. But not all the business news worth knowing about today is coming out of the US, with important investment, green energy, and manufacturing updates from Egypt ready for you to get to grips with in the issue below.

BUT FIRST- We’re now only five days away from this year’s EnterpriseAM Finance Forum, taking place on Tuesday, 24 September.

Headlining the EnterpriseAM Finance Forum this year is Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib, who’s joining us to outline a vision for where we’re going as a community and as an economy. The keynote interview will get underway at 9am sharp, and you won’t want to miss our exclusive networking breakfast from 8am.

Among the topics on the agenda, which you can view here:

  • Welcome to the hot seat — top industry CEOs set the tone by addressing the biggest (and toughest) questions of the day.
  • Looking from the outside in — what foreign investors and strategics think about Egypt right now.
  • The only asset class in town — It’s real estate or nothing. We’ll get into the ins and outs of the industry, how it’s financing itself, which areas (and price points) are next, and more.
  • Gazing into that crystal ball — The outlook for dealflow in 2025, from M&A and IPOs to securitization, FX and more.
  • A once in a generation opportunity? — A deep dive into the promise and pitfalls of the emerging energy economy.
  • Do we really love banking SMEs? — With NBFIs and fintech players staking their claims, banks are starting to take the SME market seriously.
  • The NBFI panel — The resilience of the Egyptian consumer is the business story of the decade. How are banks and NBFS players building sustainable businesses? What are the opportunities — and credit worries — in the B2B space?

** IMPORTANT NOTE — If you’ve already received your invitation on email, you *must* click through to confirm you’re attending.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s unseasonably hot in Cairo today, with a high of 36°C and a low of 27°C, according to our favorite weather app.

The weather in Alexandria is also refusing to say goodbye to summer, with a high of 35°C and a low of 24°C.

And over the weekend, expect to see temperatures rise to 37°C on Friday in the capital before fizzling out. Temperatures for our friends on the Mediterranean will start falling as of tomorrow to around the 30°C mark.

** DID YOU KNOW that we now cover Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

** Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy delivered every weekday before 7am Cairo time — without charge.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Turkey could reroute a portion of its LNG imports to Egypt in a few years: Turkish state-run gas company Botas has inked a ten-year agreement to import LNG from French energy giant TotalEnergies with the option to redirect cargoes to Egypt and Europe, Bloomberg reports. The agreement, which will see TotalEnergies delivering some 1.6 bn cubic meters per year starting 2027, is part of Turkey’s efforts to become a gas hub on the EU’s doorstep.

We could also soon start seeing gas supplies coming from Cyprus: Egypt and Cyprus are reportedly exploring the construction of a 90-km marine pipeline to transport Cypriot gas to our Zohr field’s production facilities. Cyprus plans to start supplying 1 bn cubic feet of gas per day from its Aphrodite offshore field to Egypt between 2027 and 2028, according to unconfirmed reports.

#2- Swvl is the latest target of short seller Wolfpack Research: The short seller claimed Cairo-born, UAE-based mass transit app Swvl is a “few breaths away from bankruptcy” and in “dire financial conditions.” Wolfpack thinks Swvl’s operations will soon “grind to a halt as they run out of money.” Enterprise was unable to reach Swvl for comment by our deadline for dispatch.

The road to alleged bankruptcy: Swvl was hit with two delisting warnings from Nasdaq last year after the market value of its listed securities dipped below the required USD 50 mn, with its share price falling below the USD 1.00 mark for several months in 2023. This was mainly due to market volatility, as well as rising expenses and costs associated with the listing. The company exited several markets by selling off a number of its subsidiaries and laying off 50% of its global workforce as part of its portfolio optimization strategy. Swvl shares are currently down 68% since the company’s IPO in April 2022.

Market reax: Swvl shares were up 4.6% by the end of trading following the news to USD 3.19 a share. However, after hours trading tells a markedly different story, with Swvl shares down 1.6% at the time of writing.

#3- Gov’t to launch new investment and trade framework: The Investment Ministry is preparing a vision for investment and trade policies for 2024-2030, Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib said on Tuesday. The priorities include restoring investor confidence in state policies, promoting manufacturing for export, and enhancing the private sector’s role in the economy.

#4- Investment agreement with KSA sets the stage for uptick in bilateral investment: The signing of the anticipated Agreement on Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments between Egypt and Saudi could see upwards of USD 10 bn in bilateral investments over the next three years, chairman of the Egyptian-Saudi Joint Business Council Bandar Al Ameri told Asharq Business yesterday.

Remember: During a high-level visit to the kingdom earlier in the week, we heard that the agreement between the two countries, which aims to help protect Saudi investors as Egypt looks to double their investments in the country, will be put into effect in two months or less after both sides sort out the necessary legislative and regulatory issues.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- It’s the last day of Blinken’s three-day trip to Egypt: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip has so far seen him co-chair the US-Egypt Strategic Dialogue alongside Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and meet with senior government officials, including President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

The meetings — which we’ve summarized below — were somewhat overshadowed by two days of Hezbollah device detonations in Lebanon, which saw Blinken call on all parties to avoid “any actions that could escalate the conflict” in a joint press conference with Abdelatty. While Blinken did not name Israel as the party responsible for the explosions, he did note that there have been times during ceasefire negotiations when an incident “that makes the process more difficult, that threatens to slow it, stop it, derail it” has thrown a wrench in reaching a final agreement.

Talks between El Sisi and Blinken centered around advancing ceasefire negotiations in Gaza and the facilitation of humanitarian aid delivery, alongside ending Israeli transgressions in the West Bank, according to a statement from the Ittihadeya. The meeting also touched upon regional developments, including Egypt’s support for Lebanon amid the targeting of Hezbollah communications networks, according to the spokesman’s statement, and ongoing issues related to Nile water-sharing and the conflict in Sudan, according to the US State Department statement on the meeting.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abdelatty stressed the importance of increasing US investment in and economic support for Egypt during yesterday’s session of the Egyptian-American Strategic Dialogue, referring to economic and trade relations as “one of the main pillars” of the partnership between the two countries, according to a ministry statement. Abdelatty also reaffirmed its demand that Israel withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor as part of an immediate ceasefire in the war in Gaza. The dialogue participants also discussed regional developments in Sudan, Libya, and Somalia, alongside issues related to navigation in the Red Sea and Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

#2- It’s day two of BEBA’s business mission to the UK: The British Egyptian Business Association’s (BEBA) three-day Invest in Egypt: Your Gateway to Growth business mission to the UK is well underway and reports are starting to trickle in on what has been discussed.

British pharma, fruit produce, and railway parts companies have been meeting with Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib to discuss investment and trade. Fruit producer giant Blue Skies told El Khatib that it plans to expand in Egypt and railway signaling part manufacturer Park Signaling discussed the possibility of opening up factories in Egypt to serve local and regional markets.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

Calling all local proptech startups: Tomorrow will be the last day that startups can apply to take part in the region’s first proptech acceleration program — dubbed the Egypt PropTech Challenge 2024. Organizers PROPTEX describe the accelerator in a press release (pdf) as “Egypt’s first proptech competition, designed to showcase innovative solutions in the real estate sector.” The winning startups will be announced on 25 September following a demo day.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Even with everything going on in the world, the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates is topping the headlines in the international business press. US Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell announced late yesterday that the Fed had voted to lower interest rates by half a percentage point in its first rate cut since 2020, bringing the benchmark federal funds rate to between 4.75% and 5%. In its statement on the decision, the Fed noted that the decision reflects “greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.”

Gulf policymakers followed suit late yesterday, with the central banks of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain lowering their interest rates by 50 basis points, Qatar lowering rates 55 points, and Kuwait lowering rates by 25 basis points.

** We’ve got the complete rundown of the Fed’s decision to cut rates, what happens next, and how the market reacted in our Planet Finance section, below.

WHILE IN OUR CORNER OF THE WORLD- Lebanon was hit yesterday with yet anotherset of Israeli device explosions as Hezbollah continues to reel from what has been described as the most significant penetration of the armed group’s communication networks since the beginning of the war on Gaza. The latest set of explosions were of the group’s hand-held radios, which killed 20 and injured over 450 in Lebanon’s single deadliest day since Hezbollah and Israeli forces began exchanging fire over the border nearly a year ago. The episode has further heightened fears of an escalation on the Lebanese-Israeli border, with Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah set to give an address today.

AND OVER IN TECH NEWS- Google will not have to pay a EUR 1.5 bn fine levied on the company by the European Commission after winning an appeal, though the court accepted the commission’s assessment that the tech giant had engaged in anticompetitive practices with regard to its online advertising business. The decision marks a victory for big tech in the EU’s recent antitrust crusade just as Meta comes under scrutiny by the commission for anticompetitive practices linked to its Marketplace services, with a decision on the case — and an appropriate fine — to be decided as early as next month.

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