Good morning, all. It is a very exciting morning here at EnterpriseAM HQ with the first episode of Morning Drive dropping.

What to expect? Think of it as your daily 10-minute audio download of the essential business headlines shaping Egypt hosted by ‘Synthetic Salma’ — an AI-powered version of our Executive Editor Salma El-Saeed.

Where to get it? You can find the daily drops of the podcast here and on your favorite podcast app.

IN TODAY’S ISSUE- We lead today’s issue with two scoops — the Madbouly government has completed its census of state-owned firms, giving us reason to believe that the fourth wave of privatization is closer than we think, and an IMF mission will be heading our way early October to wrap up the fifth and sixth reviews of our USD 8 bn loan program.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another warm day in Cairo, with a high of 36°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app. The days will gradually get cooler as the week goes by.

It’s a little cooler in Alexandria, which will see a high of 32°C and a low of 23°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

The FY 25-26 budget made simple: The Finance Ministry has released its citizen budget for the fiscal year 2025-2026 — an initiative first rolled out in 2013 to give the public a simplified look at state finances and encourage wider participation in policy-making, according to a statement (pdf). You can check out the citizen budget (pdf) for the year for yourself on the Finance Ministry’s website.

What does the FY 25-26 budget look like? You can read our full rundown of the FY 2025-2026 budget here.

MARKET WATCH-

Orascom Construction made a strong debut on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) on Thursday, with its shares closing 26.4% higher at AED 38.10, up from a listing price of AED 30.15. The company saw nearly 34k shares change hands, reflecting robust investor appetite. EFG Hermes served as Orascom’s listing and financial advisor.

Orascom is the first Egyptian contractor to pursue dual-listing in both Abu Dhabi and Cairo, a move that underscores the ADX’s growing appeal as a regional financial hub. For the contractor, the shift away from Nasdaq Dubai opens access to deeper institutional flows, while for other Egyptian corporates it could set a precedent on where to anchor secondary listings.

What they said: “We are pleased to begin trading on ADX today. We are already an active player across construction and infrastructure investments in Abu Dhabi, and we look forward to bringing our unique track record of delivering major projects and investments across our global markets to both new and existing shareholders,” CEO Osama Bishai said in a statement (pdf).

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Days after Israel’s strike in Doha strained relations with a key Gulf ally, President Donald Trump on Friday met Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in New York for a private dinner aimed at shoring up relations. The White House confirmed the closed-door dinner, which was also attended by Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but released no details of what was discussed. Almost nothing else has emerged about what went on behind closed doors. (Bloomberg | Reuters | Axios | New York Times)

ON WALL STREET- The US IPO market just had its busiest week since late 2021, with seven large-cap listings — including Klarna, the Winklevoss twins’ crypto exchange Gemini and Blackstone-backed engineering group Legence — raising over USD 4 bn. Bankers say it’s the strongest signal yet that the long-frozen listings market is thawing after “very dry years” following Trump’s April tariffs. “In addition to the relative stability requisite for a healthy IPO market, the pent-up demand … was real and almost aching,” said Marc Jaffe, managing partner at Latham & Watkins, which counseled on four of last week’s big offerings.

Investor appetite was back: Figure Technology Solutions surged 28% on debut, Black Rock Coffee Bar jumped 38%, and Via, Legence, and LB Pharma also posted gains. Klarna, which raised more than USD 1 bn, slipped back toward its USD 40 offer price on Friday after a 15% first-day pop, while Gemini raised USD 425 mn at a USD 3.5 bn valuation and at one point soared 64%. “We had three years that were very dry … so in that context, it’s really significant now that this year has seen many companies come public and be well received,” said Atomico’s Niklas Zennström. (Financial Times | Bloomberg | Reuters)

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