Good morning, friends. While most of the global press are looking stateside as the world prepares for a second Trump presidency ahead of his inauguration later today, we here at EnterpriseAM are doing what we do best: taking a deep dive into local business, financial, and economic news.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another overcast day in Cairo today, with a high of 22°C and a low of 12°C, according to our favorite weather app.

Those hoping for a bit of sun up north in Alexandria also aren’t in luck, with overcast skies, a high of 21°C, and a low of 12°C forecast for the day.

It’s set to be another foggy morning in most parts of the country, so take care on the roads this morning, the Egyptian Meteorological Authority warned in a statement.

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ICYMI- Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we looked at Egypt's non-oil export performance in 3Q 2024. Check out the story here.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

A USD 1.5 bn textile freezone in Minya? The General Authority for Investment and Freezones is looking into setting up a freezone in Minya that would house textile projects from a Chinese investment alliance that is eyeing USD 1.5 bn in initial investments, authority boss Hossam Heiba told Hapi Journal. Heiba added that the authority is mulling allocating 1 mn sqm for the project, down from the alliance’s ask of 2-3 mn sqm.

Chinese investor appetite for Egypt seems to already be emerging as a trend in 2025, with the just few weeks of the year bring news of an up to USD 10 bn — not a typo — phosphate fertilizer complex planned for Upper Egypt, a USD 60 mn textiles factory in Sadat City’s Industria Sadat zone, and a USD 135 mn auto factory expansion, to name but a few.

FROM THE DEBT MARKETS-

Yields on three- and nine-month t-bills fell for the fifth consecutive auction yesterday, with the average yield for the longer bills falling 0.62 percentage points and those for the shorter bills by 0.04 percentage points, according to data from the central bank. The two issuances raised a combined EGP 72.8 bn, with the bank surpassing its target for nine-month bills by over 50%, but missing its target for three-month bills by nearly the same amount.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1 It’s day one of Davos: World leaders, banking sector titans, and global private sector players are in Switzerland this week for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting being held from 20-24 January. This year the meeting is being held under the title Collaboration for the Intelligent Age and will focus on five main points — rebuilding trust, reimagining growth, investing in people, safeguarding the planet, and industries in the intelligent age.

Some of our own will be taking the stage: Planning and International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat will be on stage tomorrow alongside Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and others for a session titled Back into the Black: How to Ease the Debt Burden. Al Mashat will also join the governor of the Central Bank of Peru Julio Velarde and the board chairman of the Swiss National Bank for a session titled Inflation: Past, Present and Future on Thursday.

Also stay on the look out for: Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk, alongside the Kuwaiti and Saudi finance ministers, will touch on the region’s economic growth in a session on the Long View on MENA’s Growth scheduled for Wednesday. Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib will touch on “ what strategies are needed to ensure fair and sustainable practices in this new work landscape? ” in a session being held on Thursday.

#2- WiFi calling services are set to launch in Egypt today, with the new service to be officially unveiled in a National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority planned for later today, Al Ahram reports. The new service will enable mobile phone users to make high-quality voice calls over internet connections, rather than via mobile networks, and aims to fix coverage gaps in dense neighborhoods and high rises.

Remember: The service — originally slated to kick off in 2023 — was reportedly being tested by mobile operators in August, with sources saying at the time that the calls would have the same rate as regular calls per each network operator.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

#1- Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty is joining the British Egyptian Business Association for dinner on Thursday for a discussion centered around the challenges and opportunities of the Egypt-UK Association Agreement. The event will be held at the Nile Ritz Carlton.

#2- The Finance Ministry will launch an electronic tax system for clearing investors’ receivables and debts next month, Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told members of the business community at the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce.

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-

It's a busy day around the world as international media outlets focus equally on day one of the Gaza ceasefire and Donald Trump’s inauguration this evening — two events that observers believe are not coincidental. The first day of the Gaza ceasefire saw the exchange of three Israelis held by Hamas for 90 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. This came amid joyous celebrations by Gazans and a remarkable reappearance of Qassam Brigades militants on the ground. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Financial Times | New York Times)

Trump’s immediate impact was also felt on TikTok, which returned to life in the United States hours after it was shut down. The Chinese app had stopped operating in the US early yesterday in compliance with a US Supreme Court ruling, before Trump announced that he would issue an executive order on Monday giving TikTok a “period of time” to reach an agreement with the new administration that would address US concerns about national security. The app restored the service in the US a few hours later and thanked the incoming president by name, adding that it will work with Trump “on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.” TikTok CEO Shou Chew will reportedly attend Trump’s inauguration, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30pm Cairo time tonight. (Bloomberg | BBC | CBS)

*** 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: We dive into the proposed Egyptian baccalaureate system and what it would look like if implemented.

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