It’s almost time to head to the polls

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What We're Tracking Today

IMF boss meets CBE’s Abdalla + Gaza war could trigger “little pause in investments”

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to what is (on the home front at least) one of the slowest news days of the year.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

There have been more huddles between IMF and Egyptian officials ahead of the anticipated currency devaluation after this month’s presidential election. This time it was IMF head Kristalina Georgieva and Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hassan Abdalla, who met on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on Tuesday, according to local media. This came a few days after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks with the IMF head.

What you need to know:

Delay: The IMF has postponed two reviews of our USD 3 bn loan program this year after authorities failed to meet several of the key commitments, including transitioning to a fully flexible exchange rate.
Liftoff: Egypt is widely expected to devalue the EGP for a fourth time following this month’s ballot, a move which should lead to the IMF signing off on the reviews and disbursing almost USD 700 mn in loan tranches.
Plot twist: In an interview this week, the IMF head indicated that another devaluation may not be in the cards for the immediate future, telling Asharq Business that the Fund is currently prioritizing getting inflation under control over exchange-rate reform.

#2- Wataniya could be sold as late as February: The government is looking to wrap up the Wataniya stake sale “within a month or two maximum,” Planning Minister Hala El Said said in an interview yesterday (watch, runtime: 7:00). The government had originally indicated that the sale would wrap in December at the latest.

WAR ECONOMICS-

The good: Tourist bookings to Egypt will return to growth after the holiday season as “confidence returns and customers seek what is a value winter sun destination,” travel agency TUI CEO Sebastian Ebel told Reuters. His comments come following the company’s latest earnings release (pdf), which reported a “temporary slight slowing of bookings to Egypt” due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
The bad: Egypt may see a “little pause in investment” as investors wait and see how the war on Gaza unfolds, El Said said in the interview.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- Shoukry meets Blinken in DC to talk Gaza: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will join other Arab and Islamic ministers for a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken amid ongoing efforts to put an end to Israeli aggression. Shoukry has been in DC since Tuesday for meetings with senior lawmakers and foreign policy officials to talk Gaza and other regional issues.

Tomorrow- UAE to push for ceasefire: The UAE will reportedly submit a resolution to the UN Security Council tomorrow calling for an immediate ceasefire. This came in response to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres yesterday invoking a rarely-used article of the UN charter to push the Security Council to revisit the situation in Gaza.
Standing in the way: The US will likely continue to allow Israel to wage war on Gaza and block the adoption of a resolution that calls for a ceasefire.

#2- COP28, Day 8: It’s a relatively quiet day in COP Land today. A panel organized by Fertiglobe will discuss how to promote the use of sustainable marine fuels — as they’ve been doing here — and there are discussions elsewhere on food waste and textile circularity. There’s also a ‘mindful origami’ workshop, for those inclined.

Want to go deeper on everything happening over at COP28?Enterprise Climate knows what’s what.

#3- The Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) wraps today: The four-day event at the Egypt International Exhibition Center in Cairo saw discussions on regional stability and peacekeeping in light of the war on Gaza.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

#1- Counting the greenback stacks: The Central Bank of Egypt should be out with November’s foreign reserves figures this week.

Where we stand: FX reserves edged up to USD 35.1 bn in October from USD 34.97 bn the month before. The stockpile has been gradually on the up since the middle of 2022 after the war in Ukraine triggered drastic capital outflows.

#2- A trade mission to Saudi: The Engineering Export Council of Egypt starts a weeklong trade mission to Saudi Arabia — the largest importer for our engineering sector — on Saturday. The delegation is hoping to drum up orders and investments from the kingdom for pumps, car parts, boilers, and everything in between.

HAPPENING NEXT WEEK-

#1- It’s nearly time to vote: Polling stations will open this Sunday and close on Tuesday for those here at home to cast their votes in the presidential election. You can check your nearest polling station online if you haven’t already. We should hear the first round of results by 18 December.

#2- More inflation relief? New figures released on Sunday could show that inflation continued to slow in November on the back of easing food costs and a favorable base effect, according to a poll of six analysts conducted by Reuters.

Where we stand: Annual urban inflation eased from September’s record high to 35.8%y-o-y in October thanks to slowing food costs. Core CPI eased to 38.1% from 39.7%.
Where we could be heading: The poll’s median projection has core inflation slowing to 37.2% in November.
Caveat: Lower figures or not, businesses aren’t feeling optimistic about how sharply higher prices are going to impact the economy over the next year, according to PMI survey data out this week.

#3- There’s an app for that: E-payments, telemedicine, smart farming… Looks like the digital turn is in full force across pretty much all sectors. Business leaders will head to the St. Regis Almasa Hotel in the new capital this Sunday and Monday to discuss how to make industries a little smarter at the e-Globe Expo.

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

OIL BEARS- Oil sinks to six-month low: Oil prices fell for the fifth day running yesterday, as bearish market sentiment continued despite some OPEC+ members agreeing to voluntarily reduce output last week. Brent futures tumbled almost 4% to USD 74.24 a barrel — its lowest level since June — in a fresh bout of selling attributed by Reuters to renewed concerns about global demand.

Sound smart: A market is said to be in bearish territory when it falls 20% or more below its most recent peak. Brent is now 23% below its September peak.

DIPLOMATIC ENERGY- It was against this backdrop that Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rare overseas trip yesterday, making official state visits to the UAE and Saudi Arabia to bolster ties with the oil producers. The Russian leader discussed deepening ties on oil policy with Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying. In Abu Dhabi, Putin described Russia-UAE ties as reaching “an unprecedented high” during talks with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, which included discussions about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. (Reuters | Bloomberg | WSJ | Financial Times)

Remember: The three countries were among the OPEC+ members that agreed to extend supply cuts into the new year in a bid to stabilize prices.

Also getting attention in the business press:

The folks who took down NMC Health are coming for Blackstone’s mortgage REIT:Hedge fund Muddy Waters has taken a short position against Blackstone Mortgage Trust, the New York-listed real estate investment trust owned by the private equity giant. (Financial Times)
Hone those PowerPoint skills: Earning partner status at McKinsey is becoming an increasingly tough gig, with the consulting firm shrinking its partner class by almost third this year. (Wall Street Journal)
Two things Jamie Dimon doesn’t like: Higher capital requirements and crypto. (Financial Times | CNBC)

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD- No one story is dominating the international front pages this morning: US media are covering last night’s Republican presidential debate and the GOP’s latest middle finger to the Ukrainian war effort. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has attracted a USD 175 bn valuation, while Reuters says that Saudi Arabia is warning the US to not do anything stupid in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

Introducing Google’s most powerful AI model: Google introduced its “most capable” AI model thus far — dubbed Gemini — which it claims processes more sophisticated reasoning and understanding of information. Google’s chatbot Bard will use Gemini to help the chatbot out with advanced reasoning, planning, and understanding. The company will release the most advanced version of Gemini early next year. (Reuters | CNBC | New York Times | CNN)

HELP GAZA-

Want to support relief efforts in Gaza, but don’t know how? We’ve got you. More than 1 mn people in Gaza have been thrown from their homes and every human being there lacks access to food, water, and fuel amid the most intense bombardment any population has endured this century.

The folks at Talabat are processing donations for a range of Gaza relief appeals by charities including the Egyptian Food Bank and Misr El Kheir. Pay in EGP using your credit card.

Or check out our list of charities to which you can make direct donations via bank deposit and / or Fawry.

COUNTING COSTS- How much are we really spending on fuel subsidies this year? We’re getting mixed messages…

More than first thought, says one official: Asharq Business reported yesterday that the government has upped its fuel subsidies allocation for FY 2023-2024. According to an official who spoke to the news outlet, we’re now looking at spending around EGP 130 bn this year, up 9% from previous calculations.

Remember:The government allocated EGP 119.4 bn towards fuel subsidies in the 2023-2024 budget.

Slow down there, says another: It’s too early to determine whether the subsidy spend will increase this year, a Finance Ministry official told us yesterday when we reached out for comment on Asharq’s reporting. Fuel hedging contracts signed this year should mean that the government doesn’t have to cough more than expected on fuel subsidies, they said.

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INTERESTED IN APPLYING? To apply for the position, drop us a line at jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “Enterprise Advisory” in your subject line. Please send a solid cover letter telling us a bit about who you are and why you’re a good fit for our team. We want to see your CV, but the most important thing is a cover letter that makes us want to pick up the phone and give you a call.

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Arab sovereign funds in talks to acquire 20% of ACDIMA’s pharma ingredients production arm

Ahead of launch, Arab SWFs are vying for a slice in ACDIMA’s pharma ingredients producer: Arab sovereign funds are in talks with the Arab Company for Drug Industries and Medical Appliances (ACDIMA) to acquire a 20% share in a new subsidiary it is setting up for producing active pharma ingredients, reports Al Mal, citing sources it says are in the know. The subsidiary will be responsible for ACDIMA’s new USD 165 mn factory, which will produce 28 active ingredients and is expected to start operations in 2026.

As things stand: ACDIMA will own a 60% stake in the EGP 10 mn company, its subsidiary EIPICO will own 30%, and the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) will own 10%, according to a provisional ownership structure published (pdf) yesterday by EIPICO. The final shareholder structure could change after the completion of ongoing feasibility studies, the company said.

Naguib Sawiris announces new real estate projects in Egypt and UAE

A lot in the pipeline for Ora Developers: Sawiris-owned Ora Developers has acquired 175 feddans in New Cairo and 128 feddans in the North Coast, where it will set up new real estate projects, which it will start selling off next year, Naguib Sawiris said during a presser yesterday.

Even more: The real estate developer also has plans to set up three new hotels – two in the North Coast and one near the Pyramids. The Pyramids hotel is pending the necessary approvals and we should hear more about the partners Ora Developers is working with for the project in the near future, he said, without providing details.

Across the Red Sea: Sawiris is preparing to set up a USD 15 bn mega real estate project in the UAE over the coming 10-15 years.

ALSO FROM SAWIRIS-

Naguib’s lost interest in a digital banking license: Sawiris will not be applying for a digital banking license as central bank regulations were not in line with his investment goals, Al Arabiya reported.

ICYMI: It has long been Naguib’s dream to open a bank in Egypt — though not necessarily a digital one. As far back as 2017, he was quoted saying that, “if the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt gives me a license for a bank, I’ll open it tomorrow.”

Sawiris-backed Akh Gold starts digging in Wadi Dubur:Altus Strategies subsidiary Akh Gold has begun exploring for gold in Wadi Dubur, under the exploration licenses the company secured in 2021, Sawiris said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Egyptian cabinet greenlights stricter penalties for unauthorized groundwater drilling

It was a less-than-eventful cabinet meeting: During their weekly meeting, ministers approved a series of decisions aimed at better regulating water resources, protecting coral reefs, and ramping up our green energy transition.

#1- Illegal groundwater drilling will come at a hefty cost: Ministers approved amendments to the Water Resources and Irrigation Act executive regulations, which would introduce tougher penalties for illegal groundwater drilling. Under the amendments, violators who drill wells illegally will face at least a month in prison and / or a fine of EGP 50-500k. The amendments also introduce tougher penalties for violators who fail to set up the necessary infrastructure to manage rainfall or operate without getting the necessary licensing and approvals.

#2- Better protected coral reefs: The cabinet also approved a decision to protect all coral reefs not protected under the Natural Reserves Law. Officials will make an official announcement regarding this step over the coming few days during COP28.

#3- Hydrogen-powered Burullus? The Egyptian Electricity Holding Company and Siemens will ink an MoU to look into using a hydrogen-natural gas blend to power the Burullus Power Plant turbines.

Gaza violence threatens international peace and security, Guterres warns in plea to Security Council

Guterres steps up pressure on world leaders to end Israel’s war on Gaza: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has formally warned the Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza threatens international peace and security and invoked a rarely-used article in the UN charter to push the council to avert a full-blown catastrophe. In a letter to the council, Guterres warned that the humanitarian system in the besieged territory is at “severe risk of collapse,” which he expects to trigger the “complete breakdown” of order. The spread of epidemic diseases and mass displacement could unfold in such a situation, he said. Under Article 99 of the UN charter, the secretary-general has the power to bring the council’s attention to any matter that “threatens the maintenance of international peace and security.”

Tomorrow: The UAE will reportedly submit a resolution to the Security Council tomorrow calling for an immediate ceasefire in response to Guterres letter.

Israel responds: The Israeli ambassador to the UN called the letter a “new moral low” and said that Guterres is acting “according to the script written by Hamas” with a bias against Israel.

ON THE GROUND- Israeli forces surrounded Hamas’ leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar’s house in Khan Younis | Israeli attacks continued across Gaza | Violence between Israeli troops and Hamas forced tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to flee to Rafah.

DIPLO- G7 leaders called for fresh humanitarian pauses in Gaza | Former Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said the US is “losing a tremendous amount of credibility in the Arab world” due to its handling of the war.

Top arbitration practitioners + Visa’s She’s Next awards three female business leaders

Top arbitration practitioners named: Who’s Who Legal (WWH) and Global Arbitration Review (GAR) have named Zulficar & Partners’ Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Youssef & Partners’ Karim Youssef as “global elite thought leaders” in their latest list of top-ranked arbitration practitioners.

Seven lawyers received recommendations: Shahid Law Firm’s Girgis Abd El Shahid and the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration’s Ismail Selim were among seven lawyers recommended by WWH and GAR. Other lawyers included in this ranking:

Amr Abbas, Matouk Bassiouny;
Mohamed Abdel Raouf, Abdel Raouf Law Firm;
Khaled El Shalakany, Shalakany Law Office;
Tarek Fouad Riad, Tarek Riad - Legal Consultants and Attorneys at Law;
Karim Hafez, independent arbitrator.

Visa and CIB team up to support women-led businesses: Visa and CIB awarded grants worth USD 10k to three Egyptian women that run their own small businesses under the second iteration of the She's Next program, they said in a joint statement. The three entrepreneurs were chosen from over 4k applicants and were also awarded a year of business coaching from USAID.

And the awards goes to…

Nihal Ali (LinkedIn), co-founder and CCO of shipping and financing solutions provider Fincart.
Salma Tammam (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of health diagnostic solutions company Reme-D.
Hadeer Shalaby (LinkedIn), founder and managing director of social enterprise Green Fashion. **We sat down with Shalaby last year for our founder of the week column.

Vodafone Egypt recognized for diversity, inclusion: Vodafone Egypt received an award for diversity and inclusion at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) MENA 2023 conference, it said in a press release (pdf).

The 2023 presidential election dominate Egyptian talk shows

Tik, tok. It’s election o’clock. The nation’s talking heads solely focused on the 2023 presidential election as Egyptians prepare to head to the polls next week.

Last-minute campaigning: Members and managers of the various presidential candidates’ campaigns took over the talk shows to do some last-minute campaigning and try to sway the public vote in their candidate’s favor. The head of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s re-election campaign Mahmoud Fawz joined Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amer (watch, runtime: 3:28) to tell us what to expect from a new term for El Sisi. Meanwhile, members of Al Wafd Party’s Abdel Sanad Yamama, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party’s Farid Zahran, and the Republican People Party’s Hazem Omar’s presidential campaigns took over Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:41) and Masa’a DMC (watch, runtime: 2:40 | 2:37).

ALSO ON THE AIRWAVES- Now’s not the time for a Marsa Alam getaway: Heavy flooding resulted in authorities closing down a number of roads leading to the Red Sea resort city. Some, but not all, of the blocked roads have been fixed and reopened since, Red Sea Governor Amr Hanafi told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa (watch, runtime: 8:08).

EFG Holding exits Jordan, Air Cairo expands to West Africa + GASC buys 180k tons of wheat

GOODBYE, AMMAN- EFG Holding has completed its exit from Jordan. (Company disclosure, pdf ).

HELLO, WEST AFRICA- Air Cairo will begin flying to Burkina Faso and Senegal later this month. (Civil Aviation Ministry)

MORE WHEAT- State grain buyer GASC has purchased 180k tons of Russian and Ukrainian wheat. (Reuters)

CLOSE CALL IN THE CANAL- Rescue crews averted an “emergency situation” at the Suez Canal yesterday, successfully refloating a Singapore-bound container ship that had ran aground for five hours. (Suez Canal Authority)

Fed to hold off on rate cuts until 3Q 2024 -FT poll

The Federal Reserve won’t start cutting interest rates until at least July 2024, a Financial Times poll showed, with nearly 60% of the participants expecting cuts to begin in 3Q 2024 or later. Some 75% of the 40 economists surveyed believe that the Fed will only trim rates by half a percentage point or less in 2024 from its current 22-year high of 5.25-5.5%. Most of them, however, agreed that the Fed’s rate hike cycle is now over.

Wall Street expects officials to act sooner: Investors rushed into stocks, bonds, gold, and risk assets at the end of last week as markets were flooded with bets that the Fed will begin cutting rates as early as March, expecting rates to stand at around 4% by the end of next year.

EGX30	24,704	-1.7% (YTD: +69.2%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 30.83	Sell 30.96
USD at CIB	Buy 30.85	Sell 30.95
Interest rates CBE	19.25% deposit	20.25% lending
Tadawul	11,174	+0.3% (YTD: +6.6%)
ADX	9,481	-0.4% (YTD: -7.2%)
DFM	3,969	-0.2% (YTD: +19.0%)
S&P 500	4,549	-0.4% (YTD: +18.5%)
FTSE 100	7,515	+0.3% (YTD: +0.9%)
Euro Stoxx 50	4,483	+0.7% (YTD: +18.2%)
Brent crude	USD 74.24	-3.8%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.57	-5.4%
Gold	USD 2,047.90	+0.6%
BTC	USD 43,834	0.0% (YTD: +165.3%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.7% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 5.3 bn (72.7% above the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net buyers. The index is up 69.2% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+2.7%), Palm Hills Development (+2.3%) and Madinet Masr (+1.8%).

In the red: Alex Container and Cargo Handling (-5.6%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (-5.5%) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (-5.4%).

Asian markets are mostly in the red during early trading this morning. Futures suggest a mixed open in Europe later this morning while major US benchmarks are likely to open down.

My Morning Routine: Noha Barakat, CEO of Barakat for Bookstores

Noha Barakat, CEO of Barakat for Bookstores: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Noha Barakat, CEO of Barakat for Bookstores.

My name is Noha Barakat and I am the CEO of Barakat for Bookstores and owner of Sheikh Zayed’s Bibliothek, which opened its doors in 2021. A few years after I ended my career in banking in 2014, my brother Amr proposed the idea of creating a cultural hub catering to the Sheikh Zayed community. Today, Bibliothek is divided into a bookstore and art gallery, both of which I am in charge of, and a cafe run by my sister-in-law.

A place for reading, browsing, and immersing: Customers can read or work in the cafe, browse the art gallery, or attend a book signing or talk at the store. We want to create a hub that targets people of a certain age who want to spend time in a quiet place — one of the reasons we have avoided stocking children’s books.

Our offering differs from other players in the market: We wanted Bibliothek to be comprehensive in its selection and offer works that are not available in the Egyptian market. We particularly saw a gap in the market for special interest books and coffee table books on business and economics, architecture, art, fashion, Egyptology, and more. At the moment, we only stock Arabic and English-language books, although we are looking to introduce French publications next year.

Books were a big part of my childhood: My father was an ambassador so we used to travel a lot. Any country we went to my parents would make sure that we always read and encouraged us to use our pocket money to buy books. When you go to a new country, you know no one, so you take your books with you.

People still love to read: We see that Egyptians are looking to read books that they can actually buy, keep on their shelves, and turn the pages of, not just use Kindles. That said, we will be potentially introducing e-books in 2024.

Arab writers are flying off the shelves: In the past, classical works by authors like Naguib Mahfouz and Taha Hussein have largely driven sales of Egyptian writers. Yet, over the last 15 years we have started to see a rise of a younger generation of writers, many of which are women — writers such as Jawary El Ishq author Rasha Samir, Blue Aubergine author Miral Al Tahawy, and Language and Identity in Modern Egypt author Reem Bassiouney. Many of these writers have successful careers as professors or as journalists and I think we are now seeing them turn to literature in order to pass their knowledge onto the next generation.

My everyday role is to make sure that we’re always on top of things and curating an innovative selection of books: Our collection is guided by our customers as we realize what they find most interesting and accommodate that. I spend my days managing the finances for the store and the gallery, meeting with my staff to discuss new trends and ideas, or on the shop floor interacting with customers.

There’s a lot planned for 2024: Much of my time is currently occupied with our new store inTagamoa, which will hopefully open by 1Q 2024. We have also got our website up and running, which contains all our previous exhibition information and current publications for sale, and we’re looking into launching e-commerce operations next year.

Before I head into the office, I always like to have my breakfast and catch up on what’s happening in the world, including via Enterprise — which I have been receiving for many, many years. On my way home in the evenings, I have a book with me or try to keep myself updated on the art market and what other galleries are doing in Egypt.

I absolutely enjoy every day of my life: I challenge myself to learn more about art, so I visit galleries in Downtown and Zamalek, cultural events at Rawabet TheatFor a longer read, I would recommend Omar Taher’s The Industrialists of Egypt. I also enjoyed Maximum Speed Zero by Ashraf Ashmawi, who is hosting a book talk at Bibliothek on Saturday, 9 December.

The best advice I’ve ever received was from my father: He taught me that “when you give, give 100%, don’t cut corners and don’t compromise on your work because good things always come out of hard work.”

**On the calendar: Bibliothek will be at the Cairo Art Book Fair today, Thursday, 7 December, where it will be showcasing special edition artworks from five female Egyptian artists.

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

30 November-12 December (Thursday-Tuesday): COP28, Dubai.

4-7 December (Monday-Thursday): Egypt Defence Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

9-15 December (Saturday-Friday) :The Engineering Export Council of Egypt’strade mission to Saudi Arabia.

10-11 December (Sunday-Monday): eGlobe Expo, St. Regis Almasa Hotel, Cairo.

10-12 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Voting in presidential election takes place in Egypt.

12-13 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

12-14 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Food Africa Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

14 December (Thursday): Bidding deadline for five gold mine concessions in the Eastern Desert.

14-21 December (Thursday-Thursday): El Gouna Film Festival.

16-18 December (Saturday-Monday): Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to resume talks over the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

20 December (Wednesday): End of sugar export ban.

21 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

Signposted to happen sometime in December:

Gov’t expects to finalize sale of a stake in military-owned bottled drinks company Safi
Gov’t expects to finalize stake sale for military-owned fuel retailer Wataniya.
Gov’t expects to finalize sale of Zafarana wind farm
FRA to announce chosen consortium for credit rating license
Kenyan trade conference in Egypt.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2H 2023: Egyptian government expected to sign agreements with a consultant for the EuroAfrica electricity interconnector.

2H 2023: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected to hold a summit.

3Q 2023: E-Finance to launch in Saudi Arabia.

4Q 2023: EGX to launch its new futures exchange.

4Q 2023: EGX to launch a shariah-compliant index.

End of 2023: A Developments’ first phase of the Lazoghly development completed.

2024: Standard Chartered Bank to open a branch in Egypt.

25 February 2024 (Sunday): Deadline for bidders for oil and gas expansion in the 23 new regions.

Q1 2024: Opening of the new developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

June 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of Beni Suef combined-cycle power plant.

1H 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of four water desalination plants.

2H 2024: Gov’t to launch the Cairo Ring Road BRT buses.

End of 2024: The launch of the high-speed train line linking Ain Sokhna with Al Alamein City.

November 2024: Egypt to host the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12).

2Q 2025: Safaga Terminal 2 to start operations.

2024

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

The Grand Egyptian Museum could be officially open to visitors some time between February and May 2024 .

Q1 2024: Opening of the newly developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

JANUARY

1 January (Monday): Egypt to join the Brics.

7 January (Sunday): Coptic Christmas.

17 January (Wednesday): A delegation of Egyptian companies to visit Istanbul.

25 January (Thursday): Revolution day.

FEBRUARY

11 February (Sunday): The deadline to apply for the Chicago Booth Executive Program

APRIL

9 April (Tuesday): Eid El Fitr (TBC).

25 April (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Sinai Liberation Day (TBC).

MAY

1 May (Wednesday): National holiday in observance of Labor Day (TBC).

5 May (Sunday): Coptic Easter.

6 May (Monday): Sham El Nessim (TBC).

29 May (Wednesday): Chicago Booth Executive Program

JUNE

15-19 June (Saturday-Wednesday): Eid El Adha (TBC).

30 June (Sunday): June 30 Revolution Day.

JULY

7 July (Sunday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

23 July (Tuesday): Revolution Day.

SEPTEMBER

2-5 September (Monday-Thursday): Egypt International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport.

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

OCTOBER

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day.

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