Good afternoon, wonderful people. As we have our eyes set on the weekend just around the corner, we are also happily surprised with a four-day weekend coming up:

Thursday, 20 July and Sunday, 23 July will be national holidays for the public sector to mark the Islamic New Year and Egypt’s Independence Day, according to a cabinet statement. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for confirmations from the Manpower Ministry, the Central Bank of Egypt, and the EGX that the same holidays will apply for the private sector, the banking sector, and the bourse.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

EBRD earmarks USD 532 mn to support Egyptian private sector: The National Bank, Banque Misr, and Mediterrania Capital Fund will receive a total of USD 532 in soft development financing from the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction (EBRD), the International Cooperation Ministry said in a statement. The financing will be earmarked for the Egyptian private sector, the statement notes.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

It’s another afternoon of Ukraine’s bid to enter NATO dominating headlines in the international press. After members of the defense alliance refused to set a timeline for Ukraine’s membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is now lobbying for security assurances from NATO allies. The story is on the front pages of the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, and CNBC.

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

  • The government has signed agreements worth USD 1.9 bn to sell state-owned assets under its privatization program aimed at ending the ongoing FX crunch and increasing the private sector’s role in the economy, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said yesterday.
  • The government is out of Al Ezz Dekheila: The government has sold its entire 31% stake in Ezz Steel subsidiary Al Ezz Dekheila for USD 241 mn.
  • The Madbouly government is looking to secure some USD 3 bn in financing from bond issuances through the end of the year, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said yesterday.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- The Enterprise Finance Forum is taking place on 18-19 September at the St. Regis Hotel in Cairo. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.

Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.

** NEW: MORE NETWORKING TIME- Our agenda includes expanded networking time, including an expanded coffee break and a post-event networking room for you to interact with your peers and speak one-on-one with the team at Enterprise.

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

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Ping a note to Moustafa Taalab, our head of commercial, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda.

DID YOU MISS THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast and listen for yourself: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place in May.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami. We’re releasing a new episode every Sunday morning.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We explored the lessons learned from the industries that have raised our export profile: Food and beverages, fertilizers and chemical products, and textiles and garments. We were joined on that panel by Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete, Shams Eweis, corporate affairs manager for North Africa and the Levant at Mars, and Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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.

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.

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 on subject matter knowledge, while also working on constructing and filing Enterprise 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- We’re cracking into the 40s: The mercury will peak at 41°C tomorrow, with a nighttime low expected at 23°C, our favorite weather app suggests.

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