Good afternoon, friends, and congratulations on making it to the weekend.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Shalateen looks to up its gold deliveries by 25% next year: State-owned Shalateen Mineral Resources Company is planning to deliver 1.25 tons of gold to the Central Bank of Egypt in 2025, up 25% from the 1 ton it expects to deliver this year, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed government source it says has knowledge of the matter. Shalateen delivered 720 kg of gold worth EGP 1.3 bn in 2023.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Trump, Musk torpedo federal spending plan: The US government is two days away from a partial shutdown as Congress faces pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump to reject a temporary federal spending bill. The bipartisan bill — which would avoid a shutdown in the days before Christmas holidays — includes some USD 100 bn for hurricane relief and USD 10 bn for agricultural aid. Elon Musk also pressured Congress earlier this week to reject the bill. (New York Times | BBC | AP | The Guardian)

ALSO GETTING INK- A French court sentenced Dominique Pélicot — who was found guilty of drugging and assaulting his wife with strangers for several years — to 20 years in prison. Another 46 defendants in the case were also found guilty of rape, while two were guilty of attempted rape. Two others were charged with [redacted] assault. The story got ink from Reuters and the Financial Times.

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

  • Fitch Solutions’ research unit BMI now expects the Egyptian economy to grow 5.1% in FY 2025-2026, up 0.4 percent points from its previous 4.7% projection.
  • Hassan Allam secures another big port construction project: The Emirati, ADQ-owned port giant Abu Dhabi Ports has chosen local construction and contracting leader Hassan Allam Construction to build the infrastructure for its Noatum Ports at the Safaga terminal in the Red Sea.
  • All gas, no brakes for plans to locally assemble MG-branded vehicles: Al Mansour Automotive and Chinese state-owned SAIC’s project to assemble traditional and electric cars for SAIC-owned brand MG in Egypt are moving along, with the government allocating a 21k sqm plot in Sixth of October for the project.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The temperature is expected to drop even lower this weekend, with tomorrow’s mercury expected to reach a high of 21°C in the capital, and a low of 13°C at night, according to our favourite weather app.

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