Good morning, friends, and welcome to a holiday-shortened workweek for our readers in Egypt.

It’s a macro-heavy kind of morning thanks to Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk’s roadshow to London last week and the good folks at the IMF. In short order, we have for you news that the ministry hopes to unlock USD 2.5 bn after it wraps the next two IMF reviews this fall; that tax reforms could double collection this fiscal year; and the inside track on where we stand in the phase-out of subsidies.

We also have word that the Customs Authority is mulling the imposition of a levy on royalties and reviews of both venture capital and M&A activity in Egypt in the first half of the year.

^^ All of this and more below and in this morning’s news well.

PSA-

#1- Egypt is in for a long weekend: The public and private sectors will be taking Thursday, 24 July as a holiday in observance of the 23 July Revolution.

We’re off, too: EnterpriseAM Egypt will be taking a publication break on Thursday, but we’ll be back in your inboxes on Sunday, 27 July.

#2- Fly directly from Abu Dhabi to Alamein: Etihad Airways kicked off service to Alamein from Abu Dhabi on Thursday — the new route offers twice-weekly flights on Thursdays and Sundays, Etihad Airways said in a statement. “As leisure travel continues to grow, destinations like Al Alamein offer tremendous appeal for our guests seeking premium summer experiences,” the statement read.

WEATHER- It’s another sunny day in Cairo, with a high of 36°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a little cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 31°C and a low of 22°C.

MORNING MUST-READ-

#1- Bragging to your clients about how much time you’re saving with AI may not be good for business. That’s what PwC found: It had to “cut prices for some services as clients raised the fact that the consultancy is using artificial intelligence to complete its work quicker. ‘Clients would hear us talking about using AI and say, ‘We want our fair share of those efficiencies,’ PwC Chief AI Officer Dan Priest” told Bloomberg.

Some AI tools are now handling up to 90% of certain processes during an audit, TheFinance Story notes. AI is also “showing up in supply chain optimisation and risk analytics … [and] automating GST filings, transfer pricing reviews, and global tax strategies.”

The catch: You still have to believe what the AI says. Tech strategy pundit and former VC sage Benedict Evans put it nicely: “I find it puzzling and frustrating that OpenAI and Anthropic keep launching new models where they propose as use cases highly specific information retrieval in professions that require zero defects, when their systems are inherently incapable of doing that. These are use cases where ‘80% correct’ is meaningless — there is only right or not right. There are lots of scenarios where a system that produces a fantastic first draft is useful. But ‘build me a DCF’ where you should presume that there are mistakes everywhere is not useful.”

#2- Mansoura University grad Mahmoud Felfel (LinkedIn) has sold his California-headquartered startup PlayAI to Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the former Dubizzle engineer, who co-founded PlayAI in April 2020 but worked for Meta-owned WhatsApp as a software engineer for part of 2021 and 2022.

What’s PlayAI? The company bills itself as a “platform for generative speech and voice cloning” and is used by teams at companies including Amazon, Coursera, and Chevron as well as by the US Army, according to its website.

The PlayAI team joins Meta this week, according to Bloomberg. There’s no word on how much the acquisition cost Zuckerberg. PlayAI said last November that it had raised USD 21 mn in seed and pre-seed funding from outfits including Kindred Ventures, Y Combinator, and 500Global.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- HSBC has launched a new bid to figure out who will succeed Sir Mark Tucker as chairman after none of the 100 or so names considered in the first search worked out. “Some of the candidates of interest to the board were unavailable while others had declined when approached,” the Financial Times reports.

#2- Russian energy giant Lukoil plans to invest around USD 23 mn in oil exploration in the Eastern Desert, a government official told Asharq Business. Operations are expected to focus in the west Gulf of Suez. The Russian company is set to conduct a seismic survey this month and drill six exploratory wells throughout a three-year research period in the region.

#3- More Egyptian projects in Libya? The value of Egyptian projects in Libya is expected to double to USD 10 bn by 2028, an official from the General Libyan Union of Chambers of Commerce told Asharq Business. Libya’s Reconstruction Fund has allocated LYD 69 bn (c. USD 12.7 bn) for companies participating in the rebuilding effort, with Egyptian firms expected to take a significant share, he added.

REFRESHER- Egypt is already ramping up its investment presence in Libya, moving forward with plans to set up two industrial zones in Libya worth USD 250 mn, with at least 22 local companies having expressed interest in the projects. Egyptian firms are also forming joint ventures with Libyan counterparts to ease market entry.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Trump’s lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal is dominating global headlines this morning: US President Donald Trump has filed a USD 10 bn libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal, owner Rupert Murdoch, Dow Jones, and News Corp after the newspaper published claims that Trump had contributed a suggestive letter to a scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday, marking his most aggressive legal challenge to media coverage since entering office. Reactions to the WSJ report and lawsuit have been sharply divided — even within Trump’s base. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | New York Times | The Guardian)

AND- Trump wants higher tariffs on EU goods: Trump is pushing for a 15-20% baseline tariff on EU imports, in an aggressive turn that could derail talks ahead of his self-imposed 1 August deadline, writes the Financial Times, citing sources familiar with the matter. Trump is also unwilling to lower 25% auto tariffs and “would be happy to keep duties on the sector,” according to the sources. The EU, which has already faced steep US duties on steel and aluminum, appears divided on countermeasures.

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