Good morning, ladies and gents: Privatization is continuing to lead the domestic news agenda this morning after the central bank yesterday rebuffed a report claiming three banks had started due diligence on United Bank, and rumors that Phillip Morris is interested in acquiring a stake in state-owned Eastern Company.

MEANWHILE- Dominating the conversation in emerging markets across the world…

Brics annual summit kicks off: The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will kick off the three-day annual Brics summit in Johannesburg today. Expect talk of de-dollarisation, investment and geopolitics to dominate proceedings as the countries look to expand the use of local currencies for trade and, perhaps, invite new countries into the five-member bloc.

The big question: Is anyone else joining? There’s plenty of speculation about whether the five countries will agree on whether to expand the organization and what sort of expansion that would be. China is reportedly pushing to turn the Brics into a geopolitical rival to the G7 (though there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for confrontation with the West outside of Moscow) while as many as 40 countries have expressed interest in joining.

Egypt is one of those countries: Egypt has reportedly submitted a bid to join the alliance, having earlier this year became a member country of the group’s multilateral lender. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is among the heads of state that have received invites to Johannesburg, though the presidency is yet to confirm whether he plans to attend.

The one to watch: Inviting Saudi Arabia into the fold will be a “pretty big deal” given the kingdom’s importance in the energy markets and close ties to the US, Jim O’Neill — the former Goldman Sachs economist who first coined the Brics acronym — told Bloomberg. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that have formally applied to join the organization, and reportedly has the backing of Russia and Brazil.

For more commentary: Reuters | New York Times | Wall Street Journal.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#2- Tansik results out Wednesday: Prospective students who applied for places in public universities during the second phase of tansik will know by Wednesday where they’re heading, the Higher Education Ministry said this week. The third and final phase will be announced after the results are announced.

#3- The financial markets will have their eyes on Wyoming this week when global central bankers, economists and policymakers head to Jackson Hole for an annual meeting of central bank officials. US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech will be the headline event as investors try to gauge where interest rates are heading in the coming months. The event runs Thursday through Saturday.

The sell-off in the US bond market is continuing ahead of the meeting: Yields on US government debt hit 16-year highs yesterday as investors continued to exit bonds on fears that interest rates will remain high for longer than expected. The rate on the 10-year note climbed as much as 0.1 percentage points to 4.35% during trading yesterday, the highest level since November 2007.

FROM THE RUMOR MILL-

A suitor for Blom Egypt Investments? An article published by Al Shorouk on Saturday claimed that the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has given the all-clear to Cairo Financial Holding(CFH) to fully acquire Blom Egypt Investments, a subsidiary of Blom Bank Egypt, the former Lebanese lender that was acquired by Bank ABC in 2021. We were unable to reach the FRA, CFH or Bank ABC for comment on the report, which cited “informed sources”.

What we know: Bank ABC is looking to sell down its entire 49% stake in Blom Egypt Investments. Blom Securities Trading Company — which owns the remaining 51% of the firm — also wants to exit.

Who’s NOT managing the share sale: Contrary to what was reported by Al Shorouk, Enterprise understands that CI Capital is not working on the transaction.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

Trump is turning himself in: Former president (and current frontrunner for the Republican 2024 nomination) Donald Trump will turn himself in to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges that allege he attempted to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The move will ensure that Trump will continue to dominate the news cycle after Wednesday night’s Republican presidential debate, which the former president has refused to attend. Instead, an exclusive interview with Tucker Carlson will air on Twitter X at the same time of the debate. (Associated Press | Reuters | Financial Times | New York Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal)

The big story in the global business press? UK-based semiconductor giant Arm Holdings just filed for its US IPO. We have more in Planet Finance, below.

Ukraine nears lifeline for grain exports: Ukraine is in talks with global insurers to cover vessels transporting grain from its Black Sea ports, a step which would help the country protect its exports following Russia’s suspension of the grain pact last month, the Financial Times reports.

CHECK OUT OUR AGENDA-

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.

This is our first two-day event,which should give us plenty of time to dive into the nitty gritty of this industry we love. Our panels will see CEOs, bankers, investors and founders gather to discuss the future and trends shaping banking, finance, fintech and NBFS.

Our full agenda will be out at month’s end. Among the topics we’ll be discussing:

  • Looking into the crystal ball: Top industry CEOs will join us on stage to answer tough questions on where we are as an industry, the forces that will shape all of our businesses going forward, and their views on dealflow in the year ahead.
  • Surviving nuclear winter: We discuss how private equity and venture capital players are tackling challenges including fundraising and deployment in an environment in which it’s awfully difficult to price your local asset in USD terms.
  • The robots are coming: We explore what the coming AI and big data means for the industry in our part of the world and what can bankers, NBFI, and fintech players do to capitalize on them.
  • What do you do when nobody wants to be a banker — and when those who are already (investment or commercial) bankers are either (a) dreaming of doing their own startup or (b) moving to Dubai (or, increasingly, Riyadh)? We go deep into the weeds with industry leaders on how they’re building talent for tomorrow.
  • NBFIs are a bubble. Prove me wrong: We chart the explosive rise of NBFIs and ask whether the industry is ready for a wave of consolidation. We’ll dive into whether consumer finance is starting to mature as a segment — and ask which sector is next.
  • Handicapping the winners and losers in fintech in 2024: We dive deep into which categories are getting traction, where the untapped opportunities are, what business they would start today if they could, and what we can expect of the sector in the year ahead.
  • What’s a bank, anyway? Wherein we talk challenger and neobanks with the players looking to shake up the brick-and-mortar industry.

** 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.

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

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.

LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST-

MISSED OUR PREVIOUS FORUMS? The EnterprisePodcast has you covered : The Enterprise Podcast’s forum series has been bringing you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum and the Enterprise Climate Forum.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- In our second panel from the Enterprise Climate Forum, We dive deep into what the business leaders in the climate industry in Egypt and the region have to say about how the private sector is adopting greentech, where they see the opportunities and what they’d like policymakers to do to encourage further participation. We were joined by Amr Allam, co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding, Mohamed Ismail Mansour, CEO and co-founder of Infinity, and Sherif El Kholy, longtime partner and head of MENA private equity at Actis.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

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

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: How far has global climate finance come since COP27? With exactly 100 days to go until the COP28 global climate summit in the UAE, we’re taking a look at what’s changed in the world of climate finance since the last COP summit.

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