Good afternoon folks, and welcome to the weekend. We’ve got the wrap on the week’s news as we power our laptops down for the weekend.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

#1- Another 5.2 GW worth of renewables are in the works: UAE’s Alcazar Energy and a consortium of Taqa Arabia and France’s Voltalia could establish a total of 5.2 GW worth of renewable energy projects in the country after inking two separate build-own-operate MoUs with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) and the New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) today, according to a cabinet statement. Under the terms of the agreements, Alcazar Energy will initiate studies for a 2 GW wind power project, while the Taqa Arabia-Voltalia consortium will conduct studies for a hybrid project that produces 1.1 GW of wind energy and 2.1 GW of solar energy. The news comes as the government works to raise the share of renewables in its energy mix to 42% by 2030.

#2- United Bank mulls acquisition of local bank, tech company as IPO draws closer: Central Bank of Egypt-owned United Bank is currently studying the acquisition of an unnamed local bank in the coming period after the bank’s initial target was acquired by another party, CEO and managing director Ashraf Elkady told Al Mal. Elkady added that United Bank has also completed due diligence on a number of tech companies as part of a soon-to-be-announced plan to expand in the fintech arena. The news follows United Bank’s announcement that it will be floating 330 mn of its shares — equivalent to a 30% stake — on the EGX by the end of the year.

#3- Unemployment inches up to 6.7% in 3Q 2024: Egypt’s unemployment rate rose to 6.7% of the total workforce in the third quarter of the year, climbing 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to data by state statistics agency Capmas. On a year-on-year basis, unemployment dropped by 0.4 percentage points from the same period in 2023. The quarter-on-quarter rise in unemployment ends a streak that saw the jobless rate dropping for three consecutive quarters.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Hezbollah will abide by ceasefire terms with Israel, says a Lebanese official: A top aide to Lebanon’s speaker of parliament indicated this morning that Hezbollah would support Lebanon’s implementation of a 2006 UN Security Council resolution stipulating that a 30 km area between the Lebanese border with occupied Palestine and Lebanon’s Litani River remain free of weapons and fighters affiliated with Hezbollah or the Israeli military. If accepted by Israel — which itself routinely violates the resolution through breaches of Lebanese airspace — Hezbollah will retreat from the border it was defending against ground invasion attempts by Israel.

This comes hot on the heels of news of a possible truce in Lebanon being drawn up by White House envoy Amos Hochstein, which is awaiting response from Israel. The one point of contention is Israel’s insistence to “intervene … to enforce [the ceasefire] if it deems necessary.” The aide, Ali Hassan Khalil, stated that “no Lebanese … would accept Israel having freedom of movement in Lebanon,” but that they would not object to the US or France overseeing ceasefire compliance. (Reuters)

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

  • PHD’s Saudi expansion gains momentum: Real estate developer Palm Hills Developments (PHD) and Saudi investment group Dallah Albaraka subsidiary Dallah Real Estate made official their plans to develop integrated, multi-use urban projects and 15 international schools in the kingdom under a newly inked partnership agreement between the two firms.
  • New gold extracting and processing factory in the works: Canadian gold miner Aton Resources will set up a gold extracting and processing facility to process finds from its Abu Marwat concession in the Eastern Desert, with plans to launch the facility in 1Q 2026.
  • Earnings, earnings, earnings. The earnings just keep on coming, with more companies out with their financials for the third quarter of the year.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury remains stable during the day, when we expect a repeat of today’s 27°C. The temperature tomorrow night will be knocked down by a single degree at 17°C, according to our favorite weather app.

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