Good morning, folks. In an otherwise quiet day in local business and economy news, Lamees El Hadidi’s sit down with Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk and the government greenlighting wind farm projects are leading today’s issue of EnterpriseAM Egypt. We’ve got the rundown on these stories and more in the news well below.

FROM THE DEBT MARKETS-

Investors kicked off 2025 with a rush back into Egyptian t-bills, with last Thursday’s heavily oversubscribed auction by the Central Bank of Egypt seeing the weighted average yield on six-month t-bills dropping a whole 2.52 percentage points to 27.26% and those for year-long bills down 0.21 percentage points to 26.02%, according to data from the central bank.

Remember: Holdings of our short-term debt took a dip during the tail-end of last year, with experts suggesting that investors were opting to maximize their year-end profits rather than roll over their positions as the year came to a close. While many anticipated the new year to see investors pile into our long-term debt — particularly amid widespread expectations that the CBE will begin cutting interest rates in 1Q — it seems that our short-term debt remains attractive for investors of all stripes.

PSA-

Don’t forget that tomorrow’s off in observance of Coptic Christmas, with private and public sector workers entitled to a day of paid leave — or a day of work with double the pay if your employer needs you on the clock, the Labor Ministry clarified.

EnterpriseAM Egypt will also be taking a one-day break from your inboxes, but we will be back bright and early on Wednesday with a rundown of everything you need to know to keep yourself up to date on the local business news cycle.

WEATHER- Expect cloudy skies and the chance of light rain in Cairo today, with a high of 20°C and a low of 11°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Scattered showers are on the horizon in Alexandria, with temperatures reaching a high of 20°C and a low of 14°C.

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HAPPENING TODAY-

Will Egypt’s non-oil private sector break its three-month contraction streak? Egypt’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for December is set to be released by S&P Global this morning, offering a read on the health of the non-oil private sector.

November’s numbers showed signs of stabilization, rising to 49.2 from 49.0 in October — leaving us just below the 50.0 mark that separates growth from contraction and marking the highest figure since August when the sector briefly entered growth territory after three years of contraction.

DATA POINT-

Egypt imported 14 mn tons of wheat in 2024, up 40% y-o-y, Al Arabiya reports, citing unnamed government sources. The rise was driven by higher private sector purchases — which grew by 63% y-o-y to 7.5 mn tons — and the government’s efforts to build up its strategic stockpile — which saw former state grains buyer GASC import 6.5 mn tons in 2024, up 20.3% y-o-y.

Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we spoke to industry players about why they think 2025 holds a lot of potential for the sector and the ongoing challenges they will face. Check out the story here.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

It’s another mixed bag in the foreign press this morning, with updates on yet another round of Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks, a powerful US winter storm, and Nippon Steel’s blocked USD 15 bn bid for US Steel getting plenty of ink.

#1- Reuters and Bloomberg are both leading with US President Joe Biden’s blocking of Nippon Steel’s USD 15 bn bid for US Steel. Bloomberg took note of Nippon Steel’s shares slipping in the first day of trading following Biden’s announcement, and Reuters has an exclusive on another headwind that had been facing Nippon Steel, as the CEO of steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs — which also made a failed bid for US Steel in 2023 — spread doubt over the transaction in the months leading up to Biden’s blocking of the bid. The newswire also looks at potential scenarios following Biden’s blocking, including the potential impact on US-Japan relations.

#2- Israeli and Hamas officials are still at odds in the latest round of ceasefire talks, which took place in Doha yesterday, after Hamas said it handed over a list of hostages it is prepared to return in exchange for the promise of a ceasefire and Israel’s withdrawal, France24 reports. Israel denied it received a list, even though Reuters says it has seen the list which was handed over by Hamas. The talks came against the backdrop of another brutal weekend in Gaza, with over 100 killed in airstrikes and bombardments.

#3- The US has been hit by a powerful winter storm, disrupting travel and prompting speculation over potential delays in government operations on the day where Congress is set to certify the results of the elections in November and formalize president-elect Donald Trump’s victory ahead of his inauguration on 20 January. US lawmakers confirmed the meeting will take place as planned. (WSJ | Axios | Reuters)

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed.

In today’s issue: We took a look at the Education Ministry and Higher Education Ministry plan to transform Egypt’s education system into a private sector-friendly and investment-friendly ecosystem, along with their roadmap for 2025 to expand universities, enhance basic education infrastructure, and boost Egypt’s appeal as an education destination for international students.

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