Good morning, wonderful people. A week from today, we’ll be meeting many of you at our first-ever two day event on finance. We’ll be talking about everything from AI and digital banks to fintech, the outlook on 2024, and why nobody seems to want to be a banker anymore. If you’ve received an invitation, please make sure to RSVP right away — space is strictly limited.

ONE WEEK TO GO- There are just seven days until the Enterprise Finance Forum, which takes place 18-19 September (Monday and Tuesday) at the St. Regis Hotel on the Nile Corniche. This flagship forum is the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only events, where CEOs, bankers, investors, founders, and corporate leaders will meet to discuss the trends shaping the future of banking, finance, NBFIs, and fintech — and of their clients.

What to expect : Join Amr Allam (co-CEO, Hassan Allam Holding), Pakinam Kafafi (CEO, Taqa Arabia), Sherif El Kholy (partner and head of MENA, Actis), Tarek Abdel Rahman (managing partner, Compass Capital), Tarek Assaad (managing partner, Algebra Ventures), Ahmed Sobhy (chief investment officer, Banque Misr), and many others for talks on everything from how PE and VC players are tackling fundraising in a challenging climate to what major corporate customers of banking and finance need to see from their institutions.

Tap or click here to view the FULL AGENDA withSPEAKERS.

We are honored to count some of the region’s most important financial institutions as

our partners for this special event. The Enterprise Finance Forum could not take place without the support of our partners including Banque Misr, Al Baraka Bank, FAB Misr, HSBC, Mashreq, CI Capital, Global Corp, Visa, Hassan Allam Utilities, and the IFC.

MORNING MUST-READ- Can we pitch ourselves to Chinese companies as the lynchpin in their China +1 strategy? That’s the suggestion in this morning’s fortnightly column from HSBC (below), wherein Egypt CEO Todd Wilcox reports on investor interest after a spell on the road in Asia.

DATA POINT- More gas from Israel: Egypt’s gas imports from Israel rose 21.5% y-o-y to 903 mn cubic feet per day (cf/d) on average in 1H 2023, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed official source. Gas imports from Israel are not only used to meet local demand but also to supply our two LNG plants, where gas is liquefied for re-export to Europe.

Expect another increase starting October: Israel gas imports could rise as high as 1.05 bn cf/d starting October due to falling seasonal demand in Israel, A sharq report ed previously.

REMEMBER- More Israeli gas could help us restart exports: Soaring domestic energy demand and falling domestic gas production have caused rolling blackouts across the country this summer, leading to an effective pause on our LNG exports since June. Israel has long-term plans to significantly boost its gas exports to Egypt over the next 11 years, following a landmark gas agreement the two countries signed with the EU last year to ramp up exports to the bloc as it looks to phase out reliance on Russian fossil fuels.

HAPPENING TODAY-

Sahara expo: The Sahara agriculture exhibition continues today at the Egypt International Exhibition Center (EIEC), showcasing agricultural machinery, water management systems, and post-harvest technologies. The event runs through to tomorrow.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- DEBT WATCH- Fresh securitizations from EFG Corp Solutions and Al Ahly Tamkeen this week? That’s according to an unconfirmed report from Al Borsa, which said yesterday that:

  • The EFG Finance unit will sell about EGP 800 mn worth of bonds;
  • Al Ahly Tamkeen, the microlending unit of the National Bank of Egypt, will take about EGP 700 mn of bonds to market.

Advisors: Both parent companies are running financial advisory services on the issuances, with EFG Hermes working for EFG Corp-Solutions and Al Ahly Pharos helming the Al Ahly Tamkeen sale, according to Al Borsa. Dreny & Partners will reportedly act as the legal counsel.

COMING SOON- Another huge issuance from NUCA: The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) will issue EGP 15 bn in securitized bonds in November, completing its EGP 30 bn program started in July, Al Borsa reported separately.

NUCA is by far the biggest player in the local securitization market: NUCA has securitized EGP 55 bn of its portfolio over the past five years, accounting for more than a third of total securitization volumes during the period, according to data tracked by Enterprise. The total value of securitized bonds taken to market this year is up almost 12% on 2022 as of this week at EGP 50.8 bn.

#2- The National Dialogue: The National Dialogue will hold a new round of closed-door meetings this week to draft a new batch of recommendations, said Mahmoud Fawzi, the secretary-general of the Dialogue’s board of trustees. The group sent its first batch of recommendations to the president for approval last month.

#3- US to make decision on military aid by Thursday: The US State Department is set to decide whether to withhold a portion of Egypt’s annual USD 1.3 bn of military aid on human rights grounds by 14 September.

Remember: A number of Democratic lawmakers in the House and the Senate have called on the Biden administration in recent weeks to withhold a quarter of the USD 1.3 bn. This would be the third consecutive year that Egypt has had some of its military aid withheld: the Biden administration blocked Egypt from receiving USD 130 mn of aid in 2021, a figure that rose to USD 205 mn last year.

#4- The Hydrogen Egypt Summit opens its doors at the Nile Ritz Carlton on Wednesday and Thursday. Industry leaders at local and global energy players will discuss how to realize Egypt’s potential to become a regional green hydrogen hub.

TECH TUESDAY-

We’ll get our first look at the new-look iPhone tomorrow when Apple holds its annual product event. Expect updated iPhones, two refreshed watches, and a switch away Lightning ports to USB-C (thanks, European Union, for making all of our cables redundant). You can watch the event here at 8pm CLT on Apple’s website or its Youtube channel.

Other tech unveilings this fall: Microsoft will show off new hardware on Thursday, 21 September and Google will formally announce the Pixel 8 and an updated watch on Wednesday, 4 October.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

The devastating earthquake in Morocco is still dominating the global front pages this morning: The death toll from Saturday’s disaster has now risen to more than 2.1k while more than 2.4k have been injured. The number of dead is expected to rise further in the coming days as rescuers continue to search collapsed buildings in mountain villages. (New York Times | Washington Post | Wall Street Journal)

The closing day of the G20 summit is still getting a lot of attention in the Western media, which is still focusing on the Ukraine-lite joint declaration as well as Biden’s meeting with Chinese premier Li Qiang yesterday (Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | CNBC).

What you need to know from the final day:

  • Empowered MDBs? The role of multilateral development banks in helping to restructure debt and finance the climate transition was a key point of discussion during the summit, with India’s prime minister Narandra Modi calling for increasing the mandates of banks. Separately, the EU backed handing low- and middle-income countries more power over decision-making at the World Bank, an idea unlikely to go down well in Washington, should it give China more power in the institution. (Financial Times)
  • Fresh climate pledges. Sort of. Leaders pledged to triple global renewable energy usage by 2030 and work to phase out the use of coal but did not agree to any new targets to make it happen. (Reuters)
  • Day 1 recap: The African Union now has permanent representation at the G20 + the US and EU want to help fund new trade links between the Middle East and India. Read more here.

** The G20 presidency is heading to Brazil in 2024, where world leaders will convene in Rio de Janeiro on 18–19 November.

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed.

In today’s issue: The government just introduced new caps on education tuition fees, and school operators aren’t happy.

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