Good morning, friends, and happy THURSDAY to you all. We’ve got a particularly packed issue for you this morning, starting with a rundown on President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s appearance at the World Economic Forum yesterday with Donald Trump.

The highlights: Trump made it clearer than ever that he’s siding with us on Gerd — and El Sisi continues to single-out the importance of the private sector, signalling yesterday that he would be hosting a business conference in Egypt later this year. The president offered no details about the gathering.

We also have for you this morning news that tweaks to the VAT could be in the works (good for manufacturers and professional services firms alike) and a sit-down with the head of the Egyptian Exchange, who dropped hints about who might be next in line to list after Gourmet.

^^ All of that and lots more is below.

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WEATHER- It’s going to be a warm day in Cairo, with a high of 24°C and a low of 13°C, according to our favorite weather app. Look for cool nights and warm days (20-24°C) for the next week or so.

Watch this space

ENERGY — Egypt aims to bring arrears owed to energy companies down to just USD 1.2 bn by June 2026, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday during his weekly presser. The state is following a structured repayment plan to bring arrears owed down from the USD 6.1 bn we had on the books back in June 2024. The move is part of a wider push to boost domestic production by convincing foreign oil companies to once again start investing here.

Happening today

Shareholders of Orascom Construction will meet today to vote on the proposed merger with Netherlands-listed OCI Global, the EGX and ADX-listed company said in a statement yesterday (pdf). The transaction is backed by Sustainable Capital Africa Alpha Fund — the company’s largest shareholder outside the Sawiris family — despite the fund’s reservations about the share-for-share exchange ratio.

But the fate of the deal remains an open question. The merger has been widely welcomed in MENA, but a Dutch court sided on 19 January with a group of minority shareholders opposed to the transaction. The court flagged what it said were conflicts of interest and shareholders having to go open ADX brokerage accounts to remain on the cap table. The court also took issue with the standard marketing disclaimer on a third-party research note used to explain the transaction to investors.

Where do we go from here? We can’t tell. The court appointed two temporary independent directors who effectively have veto power over any merger. The companies did not respond yesterday to requests for comment.

Egyptian-Swiss Business Circle and SwissCham Egypt will host a webinar on the future of talent and leadership today, featuring Boyden executives from Cairo and Zurich. The discussion will touch on how organizations in the Middle East and Europe are rethinking executive pipelines to identify “tomorrow’s leaders.” The webinar starts at 10am and runs until 11:30am. You can register here.

It’s day four of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos — and senior figures from Egypt’s private and public sectors are once again taking the stage. Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk will join the panel A Prosperity Agenda for the Middle East, alongside CIB CEO Hisham Ezz El Arab and others.

Day three was plenty eventful, with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi sitting down with US President Donald Trump to discuss the Gerd dispute among other things. El Sisi also delivered a speech that touched on Egypt’s economic reforms and urged investors to take advantage of the facilities and incentives currently offered.

^^ We dive deeper into what went down during day three of the forum in the news well, below.

Happening next week

AmCham’s flagship real estate conference takes place next Tuesday, 27 January at the Nile Ritz Carlton, with registration from 8:30am.

Patrick, our editor-in-chief, is moderating a panel on the market for real estate as an investment, with appearances by our friend HIsham Ezz Al-Arab from CIB alongside Hazem Badran from Palm Hills Developments, and Tamer Nasser from City Edge Developments.

Tap or click here to check out the full agenda or visit this link to register.

Smart policy

A digital platform to streamline land legalization requests: The Madbouly government launched the National Platform for Regularizing the Status of State-Owned Land, allowing citizens to submit and track requests to legalize their stay on state-owned land online, according to a statement. Egypt has a massive backlog of land legalization requests, following the introduction of the regulatory framework that sets out the rules and timeline for the process last year. The framework granted citizens a six-month window to apply to legalize their status.

It’s about a lot more than just regulation: By ensuring squatters legalize their stay, the state is hoping to attract more investments into state-owned land.

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The big story abroad

US President Donald Trump’s about-turn on Greenland and a potential detente between the US and the EU is dominating headlines everywhere, after he said the US has agreed on a framework for a future deal on the Danish country after meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump had earlier threatened to impose tariffs on eight European countries who had opposed his plans to take over Greenland, and the EU bloc was mulling ways to retaliate.

Market reax: US stocks rallied on the news, while the USD recovered from an earlier slump this week.

ALSO- More Middle East countries have joined the US’ Board of Peace, including Egypt, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar. The board is set to begin executing Trump’s 20-step Gaza peace plan, and then reportedly address other global conflicts. (Reuters)

In AI news, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has been meeting with investors in the Middle East, including state-backed funds in Abu Dhabi, ahead of a new investment round that could see the ChatGPT maker raise up to USD 50 bn, Bloomberg reports.

ALSO- Siri is set to be revamped and turned into an AI chatbot as Apple looks to move ahead in the AI race. (Bloomberg)

Morning must-read

“If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.” When future historians try to explain the world order post Trump II, they’re going to do it through the lens of this speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at the World Economic Forum. Invoking Václav Havel, Carney declared the rules-based order dead — a “rupture, not a transition” — and called on middle powers to stop pretending otherwise. Canada’s response: radical diversification, doubling defense spending, and building coalitions issue-by-issue with whoever shares enough common ground to act.

Carney got a standing ovation for his remarks earlier this week. He arrived in Switzerland after a swing through China and Qatar to build ties and attract investment. Tap or click here to read his remarks or catch the speech in full on Youtube (watch, runtime: 17:08).

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