Good morning, folks. We have another busy issue for you this morning — leading today’s issue is fresh investment news courtesy of Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib’s Kuwait trip and the kickoff of FY 2024 earnings season, with Beltone turning in a strong set of results. We also have a dive into what universities are doing to support USAID scholarship students in the wake of the Trump administration’s foreign-aid freeze.

PSA-

WEATHER- The sun is out in Cairo today, with a high of 22°C and a low of 12°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s also set to be a sunny day in Alexandria, with a high of 21°C and a low of 11°C.

But before the sun comes out, we’re in for a foggy start to the day across most parts of the country, so take extra care on the roads this morning

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

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ICYMI- Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we looked at what the government has been doing to crack down on industrial land hoarding. Check out the story here.

DATA POINT-

Egypt’s birth rates fell below the 2 mn mark for the first time since 2007, with 1.97 mn births recorded in 2024, according to a statement from the Health Ministry. The figure for the year marks a 3.8% drop from the year before.

FACT CHECK-

No Emirati offer for BMIC? State-owned South Valley Cement Company hasn’t received any Emirati offers for its stake in Building Materials Industry Company (BMIC), it said in a disclosure to the EGX (pdf). The announcement follows a report from local media outlet Al Shorouk earlier this week that cited unnamed sources claiming that an unnamed Emirati company had submitted an offer to acquire a controlling stake in BMIC in exchange for settling its EGP 4 bn outstanding debt.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

Investors and VCs will gather tomorrow for the two-day Egypt VC Summit, set to take place at the Sofitel Cairo Downtown Nile, according to a statement (pdf) from the organizers. Hosted by the Egyptian Private Equity And Venture Capital Association and German development agency GIZ, the event will bring together global and regional investors to attend talks, network, and partake in roundtable discussions. You can check out the agenda on the website for the event.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The First Arab FraudCombating Summit will take place between 21-23 February at Sharm El Sheikh’s Savoy Hotel. The event is organized by the Union of Arab Banks, along with the Central Bank of Egypt and the Federation of Egyptian Banks. The event will bring together governors, directors, and senior officials from Arab central banks to discuss emerging fraudulent practices, cybersecurity challenges, and the importance of digitization.

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

IN MEMORIAM– Please join all of us here at EnterpriseAM in extending condolences to the family and friends of Mahmoud Hosny, who passed away earlier this week. Hosny was both a good guy and a pillar of the nation’s tight-knit investor relations and corporate finance communities, having worked at Orange, KPMG, and Banglalink. He was most recently chief investment and strategy officer at EGX-listed e-Finance.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Trump’s sweeping tariffs are still dominating the international press this morning, with the US facing retaliation from targeted countries and backlash from the global business community.

Canada has responded with a first round of 25% tariffs on imports worth some USD 107 bn, including USD 20 bn worth of goods that will be impacted starting Tuesday. Canada plans to implement the duties on the remaining USD 86 bn — including passenger vehicles and steel as well as vegetables and dairy — in 21 days. Mexico also retaliated with 25% tariffs, without specifying which US goods will be targeted. Meanwhile, China plans to challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization, vowing to take unspecified “countermeasures.”

Will the European Union be pulled into the trade war soon? The EU also responded to Trump’s statements that it would be “absolutely” going to face tariffs “pretty soon,” saying that the bloc “would respond firmly to any trading partner that unfairly or arbitrarily imposes tariffs on EU goods.” (FT | The Guardian | Reuters | Bloomberg)

ALSO- Another drama series is unfolding over the Panama Canal: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded that Panama must curb China’s influence over the global shipping route or “face immediate consequences” in a conversation with Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino yesterday. Trump, in earlier statements, called the canal fees “a complete rip-off” and called for making the canal American again. (Associated Press | FT | BBC)

*** 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 take a look at how Trump’s 90-day funding freeze for foreign aid has affected Egyptian students on USAID-funded scholarships and what universities and the Higher Education Ministry is doing to try to minimize the impact.

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