Accidental potato chips?

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

THIS EVENING: Parliament signs off on a raft of bills, including scrapping tax exemptions for state entities

Good afternoon, friends, and happy hump day. We have a legislation-heavy day with which to mark the week’s midpoint, while all eyes are on Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, who’s expected to begin his privatization presser any minute now.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

The House had a busy day: The House of Representatives signed off today on several bills, including a bill that will eliminate tax exemptions — including customs and real estate tax exemptions — that were previously granted to some state entities, according to a House statement. Parliament also gave its final approval in today’s plenary session to seven other bills, including amendments to the Investment Act that will allow projects predating the 2017 bill to benefit from its incentives; a bill to establish an Intellectual Property Authority; and a bill allowing the Suez Canal Economic Zone to hand a 30-year contract to Sky Logistics to design, construct, manage, operate, and maintain a new multi-purpose terminal at the East Port Said Port.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Ukraine’s fight for their NATO membership is continuing to lead the conversation in the international press. After a speech that promised Kyiv to be invited to the alliance with no time frame indicated, Volodymyr Zelensky issued a written statement rebutting the tempo of Ukraine’s admittance to the military alliance, saying that Ukraine’s survival against Russia relies on its membership. Reuters | BBC | CNBC | Wall Street Journal | Financial Times

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

OECD parties debate tax plan targeting multinationals: Representatives from over 130 nations are at the OECD’s Paris headquarters for three days of talks to settle disagreements on a landmark tax plan targeting multinational companies, the Financial Timesreports. The plan seeks to levy taxes on the world’s largest 100 companies — including Tech giants Google, Facebook, and Amazon — in countries where they make sales rather than where they have physical offices. While the plan is backed by the world’s biggest economies, it has been held back by delays and opposition from emerging markets.

The opposition: Some developing countries, including India and Sri Lanka, worry that the arrangement will impinge on revenues, partially because the biggest multinationals make more sales in richer countries. The plan is also opposed by Republicans, meaning that it may not win the two-thirds majority Senate vote it needs to get ratified in the US.

** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:

Actis to acquire Gabal El Zeit wind farms? Emerging-market private equity giant Actis is in line to acquire the state-owned 580-MW Gabal El Zeit wind farm.
Inflation has never been higher: Inflation accelerated at its fastest-ever rate in June as the impact of multiple currency devaluations combined with higher seasonal demand to send food prices soaring. The annual urban rate of inflation rose to 35.7% y-o-y during the month, up from 32.7% in May.
A less chaotic second EGX debut for Taqa: Taqa Arabia had a decidedly less chaotic second debut on the EGX yesterday, with the company’s shares avoiding the dramatic fluctuations seen on Sunday and only a few transactions reportedly being canceled by the exchange.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- 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.

Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.

Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.

** 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.

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, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda.

DID YOU MISS THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast and listen for yourself: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place in May.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami. We’re releasing a new episode every Sunday morning.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We explored the lessons learned from the industries that have raised our export profile: Food and beverages, fertilizers and chemical products, and textiles and garments. We were joined on that panel by Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete, Shams Eweis, corporate affairs manager for North Africa and the Levant at Mars, and Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe.

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

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists on subject matter knowledge, while also working on constructing and filing Enterprise stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury will be on the rise as the thermometer will read a high of 38°C in the daytime and drop down to a cooler 24°C in the evening, as per our favorite weather app.

The start of the gender pay gap: Unpaid internships + Everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur is getting an adult adaptation

The gender wage gap starts earlier than you think: High school and undergraduate students typically look to secure internship experiences throughout their educational careers in hopes of previewing a potential career and bolstering their work experience before formally entering the workforce. However, nearly half of internship positions at money-making businesses remain unpaid — and are likely to “carry that [compensation] inequity forward” in future employment positions, says Bloomberg. The c.60% of interns who get paid typically begin their careers earning higher salaries than the 40% who do not, according to data cited by Bloomberg. Unpaid interns also typically have fewer prospects for full-time paid employment down the line.

Where the gender gap starts: Women make up 77% of unpaid interns, meaning they’re statistically more likely to start their careers in less secure, lower-paid jobs. It also suggests that some women will face two career downgrades: Initial unpaid internships and unpaid maternity leaves if and when they choose to have children. These further showcase how internship wage gaps snowball into unequal pay.

Closing the gap: Lawmakers can push for salary transparency laws, suggests Mary Gatta, thedirector of research and public policy at NACE. Companies could also look at responsibilities held in past internships or jobs while hiring and setting salaries.

Barney for adults? Mattel Films is producing a “surrealist” and “A24 type” Barney movie for grown ups, the New Yorkerand The Guardian report. British Oscar winning actor and producer Daniel Kaluuya, will both star in the movie and act as a producer. “It’s really a play for adults. Not that it’s R-rated, but it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney,” Mattel Films’ VP of film production Kevin Mckeon said. Mattel, which co-produced the upcoming Barbie movie, is planning to bring more toy-based stories to the light.

Need a reminder of who the big purple dinosaur is? Barney was first introduced in a video in the late 1980s by the creator of the children's show Barney and Friends,Sheryl Leach, as an entertainment show for her son. It aired for the first time as a television series in 1992 featuring Barney delivering educational messages through cheerful songs. Barney’s Great Adventure, the first Barney film, was released in cinemas in 1998.

Potato chips may or may not have been created by accident: Historians are debating whether the urban legend that our favorite snack was actually made in a fit of rage is true, according to this Jstor Daily article. The narrative is as follows: In 1853, African American / Native American George Crum — the inventor of potato chips — worked as a chef at The Moon Lake lodge resort which was famous for its french fries. One day, Crum was handling a very difficult customer — a certain Cornelius Vanderbilt — who didn’t share the public’s opinion: He constantly returned his dish, complaining that his fries were too thick, too soggy, and too mushy. Eventually, Crum, who despised criticism, decided to retaliate: To return his insult, he cut the potatoes paper-thin, fried them in grease till they were brown, and added a volume of salt to them. It was a surprising hit. Vanderbilt enjoyed his snack immensely, and soon, patrons lined up to try Crum’s new accidental creation, and the rest is history.

Kizazi Moto: Afrofuturist series by the director of Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse

? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

Welcome to Africa of the future: Kizazi Moto is an Afrofuturist series from Disney and Peter Ramsey (director of Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse) which explores universal themes within an action-packed sci-fi world set in Africa. Released last week, the first season from Triggerfish Studios comprises 10 shorts, each of which is under 20 minutes long. Despite this, each film has a compelling and comprehensive story to tell, with charming characters living in familiar (albeit more technologically advanced communities). This anthology features creators from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, and Egypt, and is currently standing at an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Stream it now on Disney+.

⚽ CAF postpones the North America FIFA qualifiers draw: The FIFA World Cup 2026 African qualifiers have been postponed to this Thursday, rather than tomorrow, while the venue has been moved to Cote d'Ivoire instead of Benin, says Yalla Kora. The nations battling to host the next World Cup are the US, Canada, and Mexico.

The action in the Egyptian Premier League continues in its 33rd gameweek with one match tonight between Enppi and Smouha at 8:30pm.

? Meanwhile at Wimbledon, the quarter-final round kicks off today:

In the mens’ singles: World no. 2 Novak Djokovic will be hitting the green court with Andrey Rublev (world no.7) at 4:45pm today, after Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Russia’s Roman Safiullin begin their match at 4:15pm.

In the women’s singles: The US’ Jessica Pegula (world no.4) is currently on the court with the Czech Republic’s Markéta Vondroušová, with Pegula already breaking Vondroušová’s serve in the second game, giving her a lead in the first set. World no.1 Iga Swiatek will be taking on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina just a few minutes after we dispatch this afternoon’s issue, with the match scheduled to begin at 3:30pm.

Bookworms, Dawayer Cultural Festival is for you: Tanmia and Diwan are co-organizing a cultural festival which began last Thursday and continues until Saturday, 15 July at Cinema Radio in downtown Cairo. The festival will include several activities that vary between creative writing workshops, storytelling circles, seminars for prominent authors and novelists such as Buthaina Al Essa and Ibrahim Abdel Majid. Check out Dawayer’s website for more information and the full schedule of events.

Ici le Soudan: A cultural event honoring Sudanese artists, hosted by the French Institute in Egypt: The event will include “an exhibition of Sudanese visual art, roundtable discussions, short film screenings, book discussions and a major concert featuring more than 25 artists.” The two-day event will end today at the French Institute of Egypt, Mounira branch.

Mahmoud Saad will host movie star Karim AbdelAziz in a new installation of the SoldOutlive interviews series this Friday, 14 July at 8:30pm. The live interview will be held at Ewart Hall at AUC’s Tahrir campus. You can book your ticket from Tazkarti.

Enjoy the beats with shaabi pop star Abdel Baset Hamouda, who will perform at El Sawy Culturewheel on Saturday, 15 July at 8pm. You can book your ticket here.

In celebration of the new Islamic year, the Cairo Opera house is arranging a festivalfeaturing singers performing religious songs on Tuesday, 18 July starting from 8:30pm in the main hall. Tickets are available on TicketsMallfor reservations.

Sharmoofers, Shaheen and El Walili x Alexandria:Sharmoofers will share the stage with the rap star Shaheen and the music producer El Waili at Al Ittihad Alex Club, Smoha branch next Thursday, 20 July. Doors will open at 4pm. You can book your tickets through TicketsMall.

Muslim x ElSawy Culturewheel. The Egyptian pop performer Muslim will perform at El Sawy Culturewheel on Thursday, 20 July at 8pm. Tickets are available on the website through this link.

Get ready for the New Alamein Festival 2023: The superstar Tamer Hosny will be performing the first concert of El Alamein festival on Friday, 21 July at 8pm. The concert will be at El Alamein Arena. You can book your tickets now on the Tazkarti.

Cairokee Empire returns: Cairokee is hitting the stage with two mega-concerts at New Cairo’s Manara Arena on Thursday, 27 July and Saturday, 29 July. Tickets are available on Tazkarti here and here.

Samer Tarek x El Sawy Cultural Wheel. The singer Samar Tarek is having her first musical concert at El-Nahar Hall, El Sawy Cultural Wheel on Thursday, 27 July at 8pm. Tickets are available on El Sawy Culturalwheel website.

Get your shot of the chuckles. The standup comedian Ali Qandil will be performing his set at El Sawy Cultural Wheel on Friday, 28 July at 8pm. You can book your tickets from ElSawy Cultural Wheel website.

Travis Scott at the Pyramids: The American rapper is performing at the Giza Pyramids on Friday, 28 July at 9pm. Tickets were sold out an hour after they went on sale.

Tech geeks, get ready for theRoute Tech Summit: The summit will be held on Friday, 28 July from 9am until 10pm in the Greek campus, offering a chance to meet tech recruiters, apply for jobs and attend workshops. You can register through this link to receive your invitation for the event.

El Sawy Culturewheel book fair 2023: Get ready for a knowledge-nourishing week starting from Sunday, 13 August until Saturday, August 19 at El Sawy Culturewheel. The fair will include a variety of events such as workshops, panel discussions, cultural competitions and book signing events.

The Anthropocene Reviewed, penned by John Green, is a book that offers an ambitious review of our times and is a clear deviation from his previous writing, like teen hit and bestselling novel-turned-movie The Fault in our Stars. In this collection of essays, Green seeks to write as himself, rather than in code through multiple protagonists that fans often conflate him with, he said in an interview. And, as himself, he offers his readers a looking glass through which we can examine with wit, introspection, and humor, an era that is inundated with a continuous and inordinate flow of change that makes it difficult to stay afloat. In the face of such overwhelming immenseness, Green tackles what he perceives to be the hallmarks of our times and reviews them. This is how we come to see the author rate the Internet a 3 out of 5, the Plague a single star, and Liverpool’s “You'll Never Walk Alone” earning a 4.5 out of 5.

Earnings watch: QNB Alahli

EARNINGS WATCH-

QNB Alahli’s net income rose 82% y-o-y to EGP 8.67 bn in 1H 2023, according to the bank’sfinancials(pdf). Net interest income registered a 56% y-o-y to EGP 13.9 bn during the same period.

The EGX30 rose 1.1% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 1.98 bn. Regional investors were net buyers. The index is up 17.5% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+5.5%), Heliopolis Housing (+4.1%) and EFG Holding (+3.6%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-2.7%), Ibnsina Pharma (-1.8%) and Orascom Construction (-1.6%).

Meet our founder of the week: Himanshu Shrimali, cofounder and CEO of Menthum

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK– Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Himanshu Shrimali (LinkedIn), cofounder and CEO of Menthum.

My name is Himanshu Shrimali, and I’m the cofounder and CEO of Menthum, a digital saving proposition in its current form, which makes your money work harder for you. Eventually, we want to be a fresh way to make money.

Menthum is Egypt’s first digital money market fund. We are licensed and regulated by the Financial Regulatory Authority of Egypt, and launched in partnership with a leading investment manager. We want to make ourselves the go-to place to smartly and securely save money, after which we want to offer a payment tool and then empower other players to provide embedded finance.

I’ve been working in the banking and financial services sector for over two decades across different regions. I’ve been in Egypt for almost 13 years now, of which I spent nine years at the Arab African International Bank, with my last position being head of retail banking.

During my journey, I discovered that current and savings accounts were the most profitable products. This is the case across most Egyptian banks, as the net interest margins on these accounts are very high. About 60-70% of banking assets are invested in treasury bills, with the rest going to the private sector. This gave me the idea that you don’t have to be a bank to deliver proper customer value in this context, and that is how Menthum was born.

At heart, I’m an entrepreneur. Before joining the banking industry, I built my first venture during the dotcom-era in the early 2000s, where I established a financial planner library and sold it off to a company. My keenness on making an impact in an accelerated manner was the main motivation for me to leave the banking industry and go into the entrepreneurship world. The best part of my job is creating new things and making a positive difference in a customer’s life. This is what gives me a kick in life.

I’m a believer in the Japanese concept of Kaizen, which means “continuous improvement through baby steps.” Big ideas are good, but implementation takes one step at a time, so I like making incremental changes. I’ve learned that smaller setups allow me to have a much bigger impact than large ones.

The most challenging part of my job is the effort it takes to make people understand what you’re saying and doing. Generally, people are very bound to norms and steering them away from these norms can be very difficult. So, as an individual changemaker, it can become challenging to make people understand the big picture or a logical way of doing things. That plays into multiple areas, like establishing partnerships with other players or hiring a team.

A lot of people say to put yourself in your customer’s shoes, but I believe as an entrepreneur, you need to be the customer first. Don’t think on another person’s behalf. Rather, look at your own needs and fulfill them. Unless you feel a need for something intensely, you will not be able to build a robust enough product to fulfill other people’s needs.

The two most important KPIs I look at everyday are the number of customers and assets under management. Since we don’t run any marketing campaigns, when more and more strangers give Menthum a try, it makes me happy.

When I’m facing a challenge, I mainly turn to my business partner, my wife, and my sons. I’ve known my cofounder Ismail Sarhank for only three years now, but our value system in life is very similar, which is why I love going to him with challenges. My other three advisors are my wife, who has been a management and marketing professional for many years, and my two sons, both of whom are in high school. They know more things than me because they look at the world very differently, which is why I especially like to bounce new product ideas off my sons.

My children think what I do is very cool because it is very different from what most parents of their classmates do. My wife has a bit of anxiety around the stability and security of my career choice, but she’s ok.

Tipping Point and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell are two of my favorite books. I’m re-reading Outliers at the moment, because it is such a great book.

THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

JULY

6 July-15 (Thursday-Saturday): Dawayer Cultural Festival, Cinema Radio, Downtown, Cairo.

10-11 July (Monday-Tuesday): Ici le Soudan, French Institute of Egypt, Mounira, Cairo.

14 July (Friday): Amr Diab Sunset Party, SOL Beach Bar, Marassi, North Coast.

14 July (Friday): SoldOut live interviews, Ewart Hall, The American University in Cairo (AUC), Tahrir.

14 July (Friday): Charlie, Movenpick Media City, Cairo.

15 July (Saturday): Abdel Baset Hamouda concert, ElSawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo.

18 July (Tuesday): Islamic New Year.

18 July (Tuesday):Islamic New Year festival, Cairo Opera House, Zamalek, Cairo.

19 July-23 July (Wednesday-Sunday): Egypt Summer Festival, Heliopolis.

20 July (Thursday): Muslim’s musical concert, ElSawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo.

20 July (Thursday): Sharmoofers, Shaheen and El Waily concert, Al-Ittihad Alex Club, Smouha, Alexandria.

20 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

21 July (Friday): Tamer Hosny Concert, New Alamein Festival 2023, Al Alamein Arena, North Coast.

23 July (Sunday): Revolution Day.

27 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Revolution Day (TBC).

27 July (Thursday): Samar Tarek’s concert, ElSawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo.

27 July (Thursday): Cairokee mega-concert, Manara Arena, New Cairo.

28 July (Thursday): Travis Scott at the Pyramids, Giza Pyramids.

28 July (Friday):Ali Qandil’s stand up comedy show, ElSawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo.

28 July (Friday): Route Tech Summit 2023, Greek Campus, Tahrir, Cairo.

29 July (Saturday): Cairokee mega-concert, Manara Arena, New Cairo.

AUGUST

2 August-3 August (Wednesday-Thursday): Fintech Revolution Summit at 9:30am at Cairo Festival City.

13 August-19 (Sunday-Saturday): El Sawy Culturalwheel bookfair, ElSawy Culturewheel, Zamalek, Cairo.

SEPTEMBER

26 September (Tuesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

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

OCTOBER

6 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day.

13 October- 20 October (Friday-Friday): El Gouna Film Festival (GFF).

NOVEMBER

15-24 November (Wednesday-Friday): Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF).

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2023: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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