King of Pop’s fedora for sale

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

THIS EVENING: All eyes on the Central Bank of Egypt’s MPC

Good afternoon, friends, and a very happy THURSDAY to us all. After a busy few days that showed no signs of slowing down, we’re rounding off the week with a rather quiet day for the news cycle.

Before we get underway, a quick correction from this morning's edition of EnterpriseAM: In our My Morning Routine column this morning, we erroneously reported Ranya Saadawi's title as CEO of Acasia Ventures. Ranya is CEO of Acasia Group. The story has been corrected on our web edition.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

It’s interest rate day: The Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee is meeting today, with the consensus being that interest rates will be left unchanged. That’s according to our customary rate poll, where seven of eight analysts forecast a pause due to slowing global tightening and lower prospects of a near-term EGP deval. Similar polls by Bloomberg and Reuters point to the same expectation, with analysts forecasting a hold.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 bps to 5%, according to a statement. The increase, which was in line with market expectations, comes as the BoE looks to bring down inflation to “the 2% target sustainably in the medium term.” The story is leading the conversation in the international business press this afternoon: Financial Times | Reuters | WSJ | Associated Press | CNBC

The Enterprise Finance Forum is our flagship gathering — the one so many of you have been waiting for. The two-day event takes place this September and will be the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings. Stay tuned for more information on the location.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Email mtaalab@enterpriseadvisory.com.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our exciting agenda in the weeks to come.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

SCA to IPO Canal Mooring and Lights: The Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) Canal Company for Mooring and Lights (CCML) is set to sell a 20% stakein an IPO on the EGX.
Making good on reforms to draw investment: The Madbouly cabinet approved several draft bills and amendmentsaimed at making the business environment more attractive to private-sector investors in its weekly meeting yesterday.
Tax changes are now the law of the land: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has signed into law the raft of tax changes recently passed by MPs aimed at raising state revenues and reducing the tax burden on low earners.

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.

That said, we're looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

During the program you will learn:

The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it's industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect more sun with the thermometer reading a high of 37°C and dipping to a cooler 23°C at night, as per our favorite weather app.

Yousry Nasrallah honored + Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean fedora on auction

Egyptian filmmaker honored: Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah has been named as the recipient of the Golden Pyramid Award for Lifetime Achievement, which he will be awarded during this year’s Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), taking place from 15-24 November this year, said the CIFF. The Golden Pyramid is the festival’s highest award, presented to exceptional Egyptian and international cinematic figures, with Lebleba earning the award last year. Nasrallah is a “unique director and his works are unforgettable, and extremely important in the history of Egyptian cinema,” CIFF President Hussein Fahmy said.

Michael Jackson’s Billie Jean fedora will be auctioned off in Hotel Drouot on 26 September in Paris, with a starting price estimated to range from EUR 60k to EUR 100k, auction organizer Artpeges announced. The King of Pop wore the hat as he performed Billie Jean in his legendary 1983 Motown concert (watch, runtime: 4:56), the premier of which had 47 mn viewers.

Also going up for sale in the same auction: Blues musician T-Bone Walker’s guitar, one of Madonna’s golden records, and a suit worn by Martin Gore. A complete list of 200 items relevant to music history will be published on Hotel Drouot by Monday, 4 July.

Amazon is getting into hot water with the FTC over sneaky subscriptions: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking legal action against Amazon over “manipulative” Amazon Prime subscriptions, the US consumer protection body said in a statement yesterday. While the details of the complaint remain confidential, the FTC claims that the company “used dark patterns” to mislead consumers into unknowingly renewing memberships many of them did not consent to in the first place and overly complicating and obscuring the cancellation process.

McGregor Forever: A snapshot into the boxer’s return to the ring

? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

McGregor Forever: Fans of mixed martial arts (MMA) and wrestling are sure to love this show. The four-part miniseries follows the boisterous career of Irish professional fighter Conor McGregor as he returns to the ring after a two-year-long recovery from an injury during his last Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) match against American fighter Dustin Poirier. As he returns, McGregor goes up against foes and challenges like Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, the pandemic that threatens to stall his progress, and the critics who seem to doubt his ability to perform on a pro level once more. Through the episodes, we learn that McGregor is “a very unreasonable” man who is therefore capable of unreasonable success. We get to peer beyond his professional persona by getting a glimpse of who he is as a partner and parent to maybe guess what might happen when the 34-year-old after “eventually, the fighting [ends].”

⚽ After a long pause, the Egyptian Premier League and Egypt Cup are back again: Al Ahly will be hosted by Haras El Hodoud for a match that was postponed from the 26th Gameweek of the Egyptian Premier League, with kickoff scheduled for 9:30pm. The Red Devils — which were crowned CAF Champions League champions earlier this month — have their eyes on the full three points from tonight’s match to secure the Egyptian Premier League title. Meanwhile, Haras El Hodoud — which is currently dead last in the league — is hoping for a miracle, and needs to come out on top in every one of its four remaining matches. Any ties or defeats will relegate the team to the second division (or maybe the Egyptian Pro League).

Meanwhile, the Egypt Cup’s Round of 16 continues throughout the weekend: Zamalek plays host to Pharco at 9:30pm tomorrow, in a match that Zamalek hopes will help it move towards cinching a championship before ending the season without a single title, while Pharco is hoping to take advantage of Zamalek’s subpar seasonal performance to steal a ticket to the quarter-final round.

Other matches taking place:

Al Ittihad Al Sakandary v Pyramids (6:30pm tonight)
Ceramica Cleopatra v Arab Contractors (9:30pm tonight)
Tala’ea El Gaish v National Bank (6:30pm tomorrow)
Nogoom v Smouha (6:30pm Saturday)

And in the semi-finals of the EFA Cup, Al Masry faces off against Future on Saturday at 9:30pm.

The U-23 Africa Cup of Nations also kicks off in Morocco this Saturday, with the hosts playing against Guinea at 11pm. The championship runs through 8 July, with eight national teams playing in two groups. The top three teams will qualify for the Summer Olympics in Paris next year. The Pharaohs begin their journey towards the title — which we last earned in 2019 — with a match against Niger next Sunday, 25 June at 8pm.

The French Institute in Egypt is hosting its three-day Grün Fête de la Musique from today through to Saturday at Al Azhar Park. The events will include discussions about music, as well as awareness workshops on the environment. The doors will open at 3pm, with the discussions set to kick off at 4pm, followed by a lineup of musical performances at 7pm. You can register for the events as of next week, and check out the event website here.

Noha Fekry’s concert at Elsawy Culturewheel today offers a delight of jazz and Arabic fusion, with the performance kicking off at 8pm. Tickets are available on Elsawy Culturewheel’s website.

Chill with Shahira Wel Nas El Khatira: Singer and songwriter Shahira Kamal will share the stage with the band El Nas El Khatira at Room Art Space tomorrow at 9pm. You can book your ticket through this link.

Run for a cause: Get a good night’s sleep this weekend and join the Cairo Runners’ marathon to mark World Refugee Day tomorrow at 6:45am. The marathon’s starting point is at Le Lac du Caire next to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. You can register for the marathon here.

Wegz lovers, this is for you. Don’t miss Wegz’s performance in ZED East in New Cairo tomorrow starting from 10pm. Reserve your place now through Ticketsmarche.

Hit the drums at the Drum Circle Festival:Join the playing circles of drums and percussion headed by professional drummers and percussionists tomorrow from 9am till 12:30pm at Gusour Cultural Center. Tickets will be available at the door.

Double dose of comedy: Elsawy Culturewheel will host Ali Kandeel’sstandup comedy show twice tomorrow, with the first showing at 4:30pm and the second at 8:30pm. Tickets are available here.

Watch the stars: The Egyptian Society for Astronomy and Fos7aa are arranging a two-day tripto Fayoum’s Wadi El Hitan for stargazing. The trip will kick off tomorrow at 10am till Saturday, 24 June at 11am. Check out their Facebook page for more details on how to reserve.

Take a trip back in time withIn A Lonely Place, a 1950s film noir screening at the Heliopolis library tomorrow. The film screening will begin at 5pm and will be followed by a discussion.

A walk through Cairo’s historical streets by Qahrawya: The Droob Heritage tour will be held this Saturday from 9am to 4pm in Al Khalifa District. It will include a visit to visual arts hubs, an Arabic Calligraphy Demo workshop by El Qalam, and the chance to attend a music show. Register for the event through this link.

Zawya’s two-week festival for Italian director Michelangelo Antonio continues today, as part of its Italian Cinema Focus program in cooperation with the Italian Cultural Institute. The cinema will screen Antonio’s films through to Tuesday, 27 June.

The annual Flower Exhibition — which is typically held at the Orman Gardens — is still open to the public at the Agricultural Museum in Dokki. The exhibition kicked off last month and wraps next Tuesday, 27 June.

Cairokee Empire returns: Cairokee is hitting the stage with two mega-concerts at New Cairo’s Manara Arena on Thursday, 27 June and Saturday, 29 June. Tickets are available on Tazkarti here and here.

Tech geeks, get ready for theRoute Tech Summit: The summit will be held on Friday, 28 July from 9am until 10pm in the Greek campus, offering a chance to meet tech recruiters, apply for jobs and attend workshops. You can register through this link to receive your invitation for the event.

How to be a Better Human is a podcast by TED, hosted by comedian and writer Chris Duffy. Every episode, Duffy invites a guest to discuss different ways to improve our lives and relationships, from setting boundaries and finding peace, to finding self-worth beyond the workplace, and navigating the murky waters of establishing new friendships as an adult. While most self-improvement podcasts venture into similar topics, we loved the topics broached by this one and learned some interesting insights from the conversations Duffy has with his guests, who range from data experts to relationship counselors.

One of our top episode choices: Cyber-bullying, online trolls, and doom-scrolling have become a pretty common part of our presence on the interwebs with a significant emotional and psychological toll — particularly on younger, more impressionable users. But all is not lost, according to this episode’s guest: The New Yorker’s Andrew Marantz, he believes there is still hope online and human connection can still be established and ethical conundrums can be overcome despite often overwhelming negativity — and guides us into how best to approach the online world in healthy ways.

Trespasses is a novel based on the “Troubles” that shaped the modern history of Northern Ireland. Hailed as an unpretentious read where “every page feels like a moral and intellectual event,” according to one review, the book is less concerned with stylistic decorum and more invested in the complicated and fiercely — often fatally — contentious identity politics of the European nation. The plotline follows the story of a young Catholic woman named Cushla Lavery who falls in love with Michael Agnew, a married protestant lawyer who is visibly her senior. But their personal matters aside, their illicit affair is complicated by larger forces at play. In a context where “what you are” inevitably trumps “what you do,” the secret couple’s very existence is at the crux of an unflinchingly splintered society. Despite the terrifying sectarian violence running amuck in 1975 Belfast, readers catch glimpses of humanity and empathy despite the seemingly boundless brutality that claimed the lives of thousands of people. Because of her attention to detail and richly nuanced account, it is no surprise, then, that Louise Kennedy’s first novel has earned award after award and reviews emphasizing her work’s emotional impact on readers.

What the markets are doing on 22 June, 2023

The EGX30 rose 0.04% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.80 bn. International investors were net buyers. The index is up 21.3% YTD.

In the green: Qalaa Holding (+7.2%), Ibnsina Pharma (+3.7%) and GB Corp (+3.3%).

In the red: Mopco (-1.8%), E-Finance (-1.5%) and Rameda Pharma (-1.2%).

The VC hubs of Africa: Startups in Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya continue to dominate

Startups in Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya accounted for two-thirds of venture capital investments in 2022, according to a report (pdf) from the Global Private Capital Association (GPCA). Overall, the value of VC investments in Africa hit USD 2.8 bn in 2022, down from USD 3.2 bn the year prior, although the number of investments was more or less stable y-o-y, with 376 transactions recorded in 2021 and 371 recorded in 2022, according to the report.

BY OUR COUNT- Our internal trackers counted 94 investments in Egyptian startups in 2022, marking a 24% increase from 76 in 2021. Local startups raised almost USD 507 mn throughout the year, up 36% from the USD 373 mn the year prior, according to our data.

VC investments are growing in smaller markets in Africa: At the same time that “major markets” continued to reel in the vast majority of the continent’s VC investment value, “investment activity has increased outside of those hubs, with capital invested growing in 16 different African countries year over year,” according to the report. Startups in French-speaking countries in particular raised “notable rounds,” the report says, pointing to Senegal-based fintech startup Wave, which raised USD 200 mn in a series A round in 2021 and secured a USD 91.5 mn syndicated loan agreement last year. Benin, Madagascar, and Sudan also recorded first-time VC investments last year, GPCA said.

Fintech once again took the majority of VC investments across Africa last year, although its share of overall investments dipped five percentage points to 51% of overall VC funding in the continent to USD 1.42 bn, according to the report. “VC activity increasingly includes startups with embedded finance capacities providing services across sectors,” the report says. These businesses include examples such as Nairobi-headquartered M-Kopa, which last year received USD 75 mn in investments “to further expand its ‘pay-as-you-go’ solar solutions for off-grid customers,” as well as Nigerian mobility startup Moove, which secured financing from several VC players “to expand vehicle financing into new markets.”

Where else did VC funding go? Enterprise software and IT services, along with e-commerce platforms and marketplaces, came in second place, with each accounting for 10% of VC investments in Africa during the year. Logistics tech fell back to third place with a 6% slice of the VC pie, followed by cleantech and mobility (5% each), healthtech (4%), and agtech (2%).

Women-led startups are increasing, but their share of overall investments is dipping: The number of women-led startups (i.e. startups with at least one woman among its founders) in Africa grew to 61 in 2022, compared to 42 in 2021 and 24 in 2020, according to the report. However, despite growing as a percentage of the overall startup market, women-led startups’ share of VC funding declined y-o-y. In 2021, women-led startups accounted for 21% of all startups and reeled in 18% of VC investments in Africa. Last year, they accounted for 25% of all startups, but only brought in 13% of VC investments.

The western world gets more of the funding going towards women-led businesses: “Female founders from North America and Europe captured 60% of capital deployed in women-led startups from 2019 to 2022,” the report notes.

Born and bred African startups are doing better than before: Startups led by African founders who were “educated exclusively on the continent” secured a record USD 586 mn in investments last year, the report notes. “In Egypt, startup funding has been concentrated in locally educated founding teams, with alumni from international schools such as the American and German Universities in Cairo capturing 57% of VC funding in 2022.” Last year, investments were concentrated in African startups with founding teams who were educated both locally and abroad, compared to the year prior, when African startups with founders who were educated exclusively abroad reeled in the largest share of investments.

THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

MAY

27 May-27 June (Saturday-Tuesday): Annual Flower Exhibition from 10am at the Agricultural Museum.

JUNE

14-27 June (Wednesday-Tuesday): Zawya’s two-week festival for Italian director Michelangelo Antonio.

21 June (Wednesday): Egyptian soprano Amira Selim performance, National Museum for Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).

20-25 June (Tuesday-Sunday): PSA World Tour Finals, Eastown District New Cairo, Sodic, New Cairo.

22-24 June (Thursday-Saturday): Grün Fête de la Musique at 3pm at Al Azhar Park.

22 June (Thursday): Noha Fekry’s musical concert, El-Sawy Culturewheel, El-Zamalek, Cairo.

22 June (Thursday): Ahmed Amin’s interview on SoldOut Live, El Falaki theater.

23-24 June (Friday-Saturday: Wadi El-Hitan Stargazing trip, El Fayoum.

23 June (Friday): Wegz Live Concert, ZED East, New Cairo.

23 June (Friday): Drum Circle Festival, Gusour Cultural Center, Zamalek, Cairo.

23 June (Friday): Cairo Runners marathon, Le Lac du Caire, Cairo.

23 June (Friday): Ali Qandil standup comedy show, Elsawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo

23 June (Friday): “In A Lonely Place” film display and discussion, Heliopolis Library, Cairo.

23 June (Friday):Shahira Wel Nas El Khatira concert, Room Art Space and Cafe, Qasr El Nile, Cairo.

24 June (Saturday):Droob Heritage tour, El Khalifa District, Cairo.

27 June (Thursday): Cairokee mega-concert, Manara Arena, New Cairo.

29 June (Saturday): Cairokee mega-concert, Manara Arena, New Cairo.

28 June-2 July (Wednesday-Sunday): Eid El Adha (TBC).

30 June (Friday): June 30 Revolution Day.

JULY

18 July (Tuesday): Islamic New Year.

19 July-23 July (Wednesday-Sunday): Egypt Summer Festival, Heliopolis.

20 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

23 July (Sunday): Revolution Day.

27 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Revolution Day.

28 July (Friday): Route Tech Summit 2023, Greek Campus, Tahrir, Cairo.

AUGUST

2 August-3 August (Wednesday-Thursday): Fintech Revolution Summit at 9:30am at Cairo Festival City.

SEPTEMBER

26 September (Tuesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

28 September (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

OCTOBER

6 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day.

13 October- 20 October (Friday-Friday): El Gouna Film Festival (GFF).

NOVEMBER

15-24 November (Wednesday-Friday): Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF).

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2023: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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