Interest rates held steady for the fourth consecutive time

☀️ Good morning, friends, and congratulations on making it to the weekend. We’re in for a few days of moderately warm weather — so if you’ve been looking forward to some outdoor activities, now’s the time — especially as we near the end of summer and the start of the school season.

Speaking of which: If you’re a parent, you already know what August means. Today, we’re introducing The Spend, our new Weekend Edition vertical that follows the money on the things you’re already buying — the market dynamics, the business models, and the economics behind what lands on your plate, in your wardrobe, and on your household budget. This week, we follow the money on Egypt’s back-to-school season: what parents are actually spending, how prices have changed, and why retailers treat August like a second Black Friday.

Elsewhere in today’s issue: Anne Hathaway’s new film, Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s Fooled by Randomness, a Chinese-Egyptian fusion restaurant in New Cairo doing something genuinely interesting with mombar, and more.

But first, your weekly recap…

🗞️ LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS-

ECONOMY-

The Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) moved to leave interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive time this year, according to a CBE statement, holding rates steady since its last 100 bps cut in February. This leaves the overnight deposit rate at 19.0% and the overnight lending rate at 20.0%, in line with analyst expectations. This follows the country’s annual urban inflation rate speeding up to 14.9% in July — its first acceleration since March, but well below a prediction of 15.6%.

AND- The country’s economy is proving more resilient than expected in the face of the US-Iran conflict, prompting the CBE to slightly raise its growth forecasts and lower its near-term inflation projections. The CBE now sees real GDP growth at 5% in FY 2025/26 and 4.9% in FY 2026/27, up 0.1 percentage points from its previous forecasts for both years, before growth accelerates to 5.4% in FY 2027/28.

BANKING-

Hassan Abdalla will lead the CBE for a fifth consecutive one-year mandate. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued a presidential decree renewing Abdalla’s assignment as acting CBE governor for one year, effective from 18 August 2026 to 17 August 2027. Abdalla first took office on 18 August 2022; his assignment has been renewed annually since.

CAPITAL MARKETS-

Four names are graduating to the EGX30, while four drop out under the exchange’s newly overhauled index methodology. Misr Fertilizer Production (Mopco), Alexandria Containers and Goods (ACLN), Cleopatra Hospital, and Sidi Kreir Petrochemicals (Sidpec) will join the bourse’s benchmark index, effective Tuesday, 1 September, replacing Arabian Cement, Egyptian Chemical Industries (Kima), Oriental Weavers, and Orascom Investment Holding.

AND- The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) issued a new rulebook for short selling, five months after the regulator first laid out the rules in March. Brokerages already approved for short selling get one month from the decision’s effective date to have the tech ready. The decision will be published within days and is set to take effect the day after.

INDUSTRY-

The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) opened its first tender under the new lease-to-own system for industrial land on Saturday, offering 540 plots spanning more than 5.7 mn sqm across 20 industrial zones in 15 governorates. Investors have until 31 August to apply electronically through the Egypt Industrial Hub, with results promised 15 days later.

AND- The government is raising prices for plots allocated to investors while expanding payment and tenure options to include ownership, usufruct, and lease-to-own. The increases shown in the new tariff table are generally lower than the 10-250% hikes approved last September, while discounted pricing remains in place for unserviced plots and areas targeted for industrial investment.

ENERGY-

Egypt’s renewable energy buildout has new backing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which aims to plug USD 192 mn into the 900 MW Shadwan wind farm owned by Norway’s Scatec. The EBRD’s senior debt financing will go toward the construction and operation of the facility based in Ras Shukeir on the Red Sea.

AND- The government is looking into adding at least two reactors to El Dabaa nuclear power plant, with expansion potentially reaching four additional units. The government will discuss the proposed expansion with Russian state-owned Rosatom over the first two proposed units, but no final investment decision, cost, or timeline have been announced.

IPO WATCH-

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation are reportedly circling a combined 10% stake in state-owned lender Banque du Caire’s (BdC) upcoming float. The two multilateral lenders are looking to buy into the planned IPO, which will wrap up in November. The tranche will be covered within a week of launch.

M&A-

E-finance says it bought an 8% stake in wealth management platform Wilzy for around EGP 100 mn (c. USD 2 mn). The move comes days after the EGX-listed fintech player announced its multi-bn EGP takeover of MSME lender Tamweely, buying out a consortium of international investors, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and British International Investment.

Decoding AI with Tarek Assaad: Past the doom and gloom, what the heck is actually going on with AI?

On this episode of Making It, Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures, joins Patrick to decode the latest in AI.

This is an episode for both the novice and the pro, about what we should make of the recent technological breakthroughs, and what we’re yet to find out.

Listen to the episode on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Anghami | YouTube

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🌍 AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS-

This week’s headlines were dominated by the formal collapse of the US-Iran truce — the 60-day MoU expired Monday with no agreement, no extension, and US President Donald Trump threatening to bomb Oman — alongside fresh fighting across Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen, and a surge in global sovereign borrowing costs. Here’s the rundown.

The 60-day US-Iran memorandum of understanding expired Monday with nothing to show for it. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had already slowed to a near halt over the preceding weekend — only five cargo ships transited on Saturday and none on Sunday — as both sides hardened positions ahead of the deadline. Trump ruled out any extension and threatened to strike Oman if the key mediator “gets in the way” of Washington’s plans to reopen the waterway.

Iran declared a “fully offensive” military posture and issued a fresh list of demands — lifting the naval blockade, releasing frozen assets, ending oil sanctions, and halting all military operations. Brent crossed USD 90 / bbl and WTI breached USD 85 / bbl in response. There’s still a thread of ambiguity: Trump said back-channel discussions with the IRGC are underway, while Iran and Oman were still working on a “shipping map” to regulate Hormuz traffic. Meanwhile transit fees remain unresolved, and two more Adnoc vessels were struck in the strait over the weekend. By Wednesday, Trump pulled the plug entirely.

ELSEWHERE IN THE REGION- Yemen’s Houthis struck Mokha port on the Red Sea with more than 25 missiles in recent days — killing seven, causing an estimated USD 16 mn in damage, and forcing a suspension of port operations. Israeli strikes on Gaza and Lebanon killed 11 people, including senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa, while Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner held back-to-back meetings with Hamas leadership in Egypt and Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, pushing Washington’s 15-point Gaza peace plan — which the Israeli prime minister has already rejected.

MEANWHILE- Russia launched missiles on Kyiv early Sunday, sparking fires in at least two city districts, in retaliation for one of Ukraine’s largest-ever drone offensives. Moscow claimed more than 800 Ukrainian drones were shot down overnight.

AND- A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in eastern Indonesia killed at least 51 people, displaced around 5k, and triggered more than 340 aftershocks.

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS- US national debt hit a record USD 40 tn, rising USD 3 tn in a year, the fastest pace outside the pandemic. Sovereign borrowing costs are surging globally, with 30-year US Treasury yields hitting their highest levels since 2007, driven by Washington’s Iran campaign and tariff volatility — France, Germany, the UK, and Japan all recording sharp rises. Nvidia disclosed a USD 21 bn stake in SpaceX, now worth around USD 17 bn after the post-IPO slide. In addition, Stripe agreed to acquire AI model marketplace OpenRouter for over USD 7 bn, and China’s Unitree, the world’s largest humanoid robot maker by sales, debuted on the Shanghai exchange with shares climbing more than 600%.

The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum is back — and we’re devoting the full day to the singular set of questions on everyone’s mind: What does AI actually mean for your company, your people, your economy, your own job — and your kids’ future?

Every session on stage answers one question: “So, what do I actually do about it?”

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only.

Request your invitation here.

☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND-

The warm weather continues this weekend, with sunny highs of 36°C in Cairo today and tomorrow. Overnight temperatures dip to 24°C today and tomorrow. Up North, it’s similarly sunny but milder, with the mercury reaching 31°C today before dropping to a clear 23°C overnight. Tomorrow brings a similar high of 32°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app.

🎤 HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND-

Up for another summer comedy play? Rising comedy star Mostafa Gharieb takes the lead in Leila Assal, a comedy-packed production showing at Sheikh Zayed’s Theatro Arkan across two consecutive weekends — tonight and tomorrow, Saturday, 21 August, and Thursday, 27 August to Saturday, 29 August. Joining him on stage will be fellow comedy stars Donia Sami, Rahma Ahmed Farag, Ismail Fargaly, and Aly Sobhy. The play starts at 8pm, with tickets available on TicketsMarché.

Feel like heading to Alexandria? Alt band Wust El Balad is heading to the coast tomorrow to perform at Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s Open Air Theater as part of the venue’s summer festival. Jamming to the band’s songs against the Mediterranean breeze and backdrop is an experience we’d think you wouldn’t want to miss. The concert starts at 8:30pm — you can get tickets through Bibliotheca Alexandrina’s website.

Revive Heritage Week by Revive Heritage & Arts returns this year from Saturday, 22 August to Wednesday, 26 August, celebrating cultural and architectural preservation across Cairo and Giza, and bridging heritage with contemporary culture. This year’s theme follows “Invisible Layers, untold stories,” and brings together a network of Egyptian cultural and academic institutions, initiatives, and programs for a line-up of workshops, talks, tours, and cultural experiences. Registration for workshops and further information is available through this link.