Shelf help for local brands

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We arrive late in your inboxes due to a jam-packed Headlines section this afternoon as we send you off into the weekend. The USD crossed the EGP 55 threshold today, as the need for USD to cover foreign outflows pushed the rate to a record high. We speak to two analysts below to unpack what happened and what might come next.

In our Made in Egypt series, we unpack how multi-brand showrooms are giving Instagram-born brands their first real shelf space. Locally and Go Native walk us through how they’ve set up shop in Cairo’s biggest malls without paying for the real estate and why they’re working on making sure Zara and H&M shopping habits don’t make a comeback.

Elsewhere in the issue: We review Brothers, a bite-sized comedy series starring two of Hollywood’s most beloved faces, and highlight a roundup of the matches worth planning your weekend around.

But first, the news…