Good afternoon, friends. Happy last Thursday of 2025 and a very Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating today. We hope that you will all have a bit of time to slow down these last few days of the year. We’re not big on New Year’s resolutions, but the end of the year is always a good time to reflect.

This piece of good advice caught our eye recently: “95% of your day should be spent doing things that you like doing, you’re good at doing, around people that you like and are life enhancing.” These are aspirational words from Jim VendeHei, the co-founder of Axios and Politico, that we are taking to heart as we head into 2026.

It’s a slow news day both at home and abroad, but stay tuned for the outcome from the central bank’s final interest rate meeting of the year. Will we get the 100-200 bps rate cut that analysts are expecting? We’ll have coverage and all the details on the decision in our Weekend edition out tomorrow.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

📍There are a couple of stories grabbing headlines this afternoon. The Finance Ministry is set to issue EGP 5 bn in local sovereign Sukuk next Monday, with settlement scheduled for Tuesday. This latest issuance brings the total raised under the current sovereign Sukuk program to EGP 20 bn, a target of EGP 200 bn by the end of the current fiscal year in June 2026. The three-year Sukuk Al-Ijara (sale and leaseback) instruments carry an annual yield of 21.22%, with coupons paid semi-annually.

ALSO- The Transport Ministry is in advanced talks to launch a series of mega-projects focused on shipbuilding and marine shipyards with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and a consortium of Chinese maritime giants, a senior government source told Enterprise. A preliminary agreement is close to being finalized for large-scale projects, but the final investment figures are still under negotiation, according to our source. The move would further support Egypt’s bid to become a regional hub for maritime manufacturing and maintenance, according to our source.

More details: The projects are expected to kick off during the first half of next year, with a primary focus on the Red Sea ports. The negotiations also include Damietta Shipyard, which produces around 60% of Egypt’s ships and fishing vessels, in addition to shipyards in Port Said and Port Tawfik.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

🌐 It’s all quiet on the newsfront as businesses and markets take the day off for Christmas, but few business stories are still making the rounds:

  • US Stocks hit another high on Wall Street yesterday. Read more on Bloomberg.
  • Nvidia is set to acquire USD 20 bn worth of assets from AI chip designer Groq, marking its largest purchase ever. Read more on CNBC.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- We’re in for a cool and cozy start to the weekend, with the mercury set to peak at just 22°C before cooling down to 13°C, according to our favorite weather app.

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