Good morning, all and happy last day of November. Macro news leads today’s newswell as we dive into the economy’s performance during the first quarter of the current fiscal year. We also have a lot to look forward to as the week unfolds, with an IMF mission scheduled to land in town tomorrow.

PSA-

Worried about the Airbus fiasco delaying your flight? It seems like you should have the all-clear. Some 6k A320s were grounded yesterday in an emergency recall for a software update to fix a newly-discovered vulnerability in the system, but national carrier EgyptAir was soon out with a statement that it updated all its aircraft and that there was no resulting disruption to flights. Other airlines — but not all — have followed suit in confirming that flights are running as scheduled.

WEATHER- It’s another cool day in Cairo, with a high of 23°C and a low of 13°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s just as cool in Alexandria, with a high of 22°C and a low of 14°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- It looks like it will soon be the mining sector’s turn to get an incentive package to boost investment, with Oil Minister Karim Badawi — who also oversees the mining industry — teasing an upcoming program to encourage investment in the sector, according to a ministry statement. He told Australian mining companies that incoming reforms and incentives would include reductions in annual fees — making initial exploration less financially burdensome — and tax and customs exemptions for exploration equipment. The reforms would also simplify the mining licensing system, he added.

REMEMBER- The government is looking to raise the mining sector’s share of GDP to 5-6% from less than 1% currently.

#2- Morocco’s anti-dumping duties on Egyptian PVC imports are here to stay after the Trade Ministry’s anti-dumping investigation into Egyptian imports of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) found evidence of significant dumping, which had harmed local industry, Moroccan news outlet Hespress reports. The Egyptian Petrochemicals Company, which cooperated with the investigation, will face a 74.87% duty, while non-cooperating exporters will be subject to the higher rate.

REMEMBER- Morocco first introduced the anti-dumping duties on Egyptian PVC imports in June, at the time for a four-month period.

HAPPENING TOMORROW-

#1- IMF mission lands in Cairo tomorrow: The IMF mission that will carry out the combined fifth and sixth reviews of the country’s USD 8 bn extended fund facility program and the first review of the resilience and sustainability facility will arrive tomorrow, according to what Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said last week. The mission is scheduled to leave the country on 12 December.

The visit follows improvements in key economic indicators that the fund had been looking for progress on. Among these developments is Qatar’s recently announced USD 29.7 bn Alam El Roum project, where a few hundred mn of the proceeds will go toward reducing public debt, a key priority for the IMF.

#2- The Egypt Business Solutions Summit is taking place tomorrow at the InterContinental Citystars. The one-day event — held under the theme From Local to Global — will bring together business leaders, SMEs, and innovators for discussions on scaling beyond borders, with sessions covering leadership, export planning, international branding, and investor readiness.

#3- The Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) is also kicking off tomorrow and will run until 4 December at the Egypt International Exhibition Center. The event will showcase the latest land, sea, and air defense technologies and is expected to bring together over 40k visitors to check out the 450 exhibiting companies.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The latest escalation against Venezuela is dominating front pages this morning. US President Donald Trump said yesterday that commercial airlines should consider the Venezuelan airspace “to be closed in its entirety.” It’s unclear what Trump meant by the warning, which closely follows US military mobilization and threats to escalate its lethal operations against alleged drug traffickers on Venezuelan boats into a land-based assault.

ALSO- The shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, DC intensified immigration backlash, with Trump announcing a permanent pause on immigration from unnamed “third-world nations,” and the US halting asylum decisions for all nationalities, as well as processing of visas for Afghan nationals. The suspected shooter is an Afghan national that came into the US in 2021 fleeing Taliban rule. (AlJazeera | BBC)

AND- Unsafe scaffolding and foam materials used during maintenance work at the residential building in Hong Kong that caught fire might be the culprit behind the rapid spreading of the fire, police have alleged. Several employees and consultants at the construction firm that built the building have been arrested after the fire took over 120 lives. (Guardian | Reuters | NYT)

ALSO WORTH READING THIS MORNING-

  • A controversial new 1.1km oil pipeline agreement that will link Canada’s Alberta oil sands to the Pacific coast is facing backlash from environmentalist groups and Canadian cabinet members. (Financial Times | Guardian | NYT)
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