Good morning, folks. This year’s EnterpriseAM Finance Forum kicks off in just a few hours at the St. Regis on the banks of the Nile.

We’ve been honored and delighted by the extent of interest we’ve seen from many of you and are looking forward to meeting those attending.

** For those of you joining us, please be ready to show your personal PIN code to be admitted to the venue. These PIN codes are non-transferrable and admit only one guest.

There will be ample parking available.

Taking the stage at the forum this year is Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib, who’s joining us to outline a vision for where we’re going as a community and as an economy.

The keynote interview will get underway at 9am sharp, and you won’t want to miss our exclusive networking breakfast from 8am. We’ll also have an extended coffee break and additional networking session immediately after our final panel.

You can tap or click here to view the agenda and full list of speakers.

PSA-

E. coli has been identified as the reason behind the spate of illnesses in Aswan, the Health Ministry announced after completing the analysis of patient samples and investigations in the Abu Rish and Daraw areas. Of the 480 people that ended up in the hospital, 78 are still recovering and 36 are in intensive care, Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said. Drinking water in the governorate was confirmed to be safe to drink and the crisis is expected to come to a close by the end of the week.

WEATHER- The weather is much like yesterday in Cairo today, with a high of 32°C and a low of 24°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a couple of degrees cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 30°C and a low of 23°C.

** DID YOU KNOW that we now cover Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

** Were you forwarded this email? Tap or click here to get your own copy delivered every weekday before 7am Cairo time — without charge.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Is the PIF after a stake in Egypt Gas? Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is reportedly looking into acquiring a stake in state-owned firm Egypt Gas, Al Mal reports, citing unnamed sources it says have knowledge of the matter. The company has yet to receive any official offers from Gulf investors.

As it stands: The Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) owns around 84% of Egypt Gas with the rest of the company trading on the EGX.

We’re already on the lookout for Egypt-bound investments from the PIF: Just last week, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced that he had directed the PIF to invest USD 5 bn in Egypt as part of the “first phase” of a larger program of investment.

#2- Sidpec-Ethydco merger to wrap up next month? The long-planned merger between state-owned Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (Ethydco) and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals (Sidpec) may finally be getting the green light, with unnamed sources telling Al Borsa that the agreement is expected to go through by the end of October after the Financial Regulatory Authority okays the share swap factor between the companies.

Remember: The merger has been a stop-start affair since it was first set in motion in 2022, with the agreement first put on ice in October 2023 after Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ inked contracts with the Sovereign Fund of Egypt to acquire 30% of Ethydco, along with 35% of Egyptian Linear Alkyl Benzene (Elab) and 25% of the Egyptian Drilling Company (EDC), for USD 800 mn. While negotiations resumed after ADQ’s acquisition went through, the merger faced another setback last month when it was reported that the transaction was back in the financial evaluation stage in light of the change in the USD-EGP exchange rate following the float of the EGP in March.

FROM THE DEBT MARKETS-

The CBE’s bond-selling bonanza is showing no signs of slowing down: The Central Bank of Egypt sold nearly EGP 54.5 bn in EGP-denominated, three-year treasury bonds yesterday — over 10x its target of EGP 5 bn — according to data from the bank. The bonds — marking the first issuance since the US Federal Reserve and other central banks cut rates last week — carry an average interest rate of 24.8%, down from 25.2% in the previous auction.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Interested in the Yousriya Loza-Sawiris Scholarship? Those interested can attend the information session scheduled for later today between 5-7pm at the Sawiris Foundation in Garden City. The scholarship aims to fully fund two Egyptian students to pursue a Masters in Development Practice at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Interested applicants have until 10 October to apply here and you can register to attend the information session here.

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

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Business news is once again taking a backseat, as the world’s press focus on Israel’s deadly bombardment of Lebanon that killed at least 492 and injured over 1.6k yesterday — establishing the grim milestone of being the country’s deadliest day since the end of its civil war in 1990. Roads in southern Lebanon were jam-packed Monday as people emptied out of the country’s south toward Beirut, as Israeli strikes rocked Lebanon’s south, the Bekaa valley, and the capital’s southern suburbs.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his government would “change the security balance, the balance of power in the north” through its assault and “eliminating senior figures, terrorists and missiles.” Despite Israel’s claims of undertaking targeted strikes against Hezbollah, 58 women and 35 children were killed yesterday, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The strikes have increased concerns about the conflict’s escalation into full-scale regional war, with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian accusing Israel of attempting to lay traps to lead its longstanding regional foe into a wider war. The US, meanwhile, has said that it is sending additional forces to the region in order to protect its assets, should a wider conflagration break out.

Calls for diplomatic intervention: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres registered his “alarm” at the escalating situation yesterday, with a UN spokesman telling all parties to “step back from the brink” of further hostilities. Both Egypt and Lebanon called for a binding resolution from the UN Security Council demanding that Israel stop its aggression on the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon, according to a joint statement by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib yesterday.

AND OVER IN BUSINESS NEWS- Fourteen of the world’s biggest financial institutions are putting their weight behind nuclear power by pledging to increase their support for nuclear power in a move to help triple global nuclear energy capacity by 2050 — a goal laid out in COP28. Observers expect that financial institutions’ increasing openness to an energy source once warily regarded as “controversial” could prove a boon to a sector that may yet have a big role to play yet in the green transition.

PLUS- The US Commerce Department proposed banning Chinese software and hardware from US roads yesterday, citing “national security concerns.” If the regulation goes through, Chinese cars would effectively be banned from the US market and American and other car manufacturers would be required to strip Chinese software and hardware from their cars sold in the US.

*** 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: We dive into the world of hydroponic farming and ask if it could be the solution to feeding Egypt amid rising temperatures?