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Sunday, 22 Jun 2025

What We’re Tracking Tonight
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Inside Industry
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Today at a glance

1

The Big Story Today

EGP continues to weaken against the greenback.
2

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Diving into the Green Sustainable Industries program
3

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

Should you worry about AI chatbots blackmailing you?
4

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

The second season of Tires doubles down on the comedy
5

Sports

An Arabian night at the Club World Cup
6

OUT AND ABOUT

Four pop stars walk onto a stage…

Sunday, 22 Jun 2025

What We’re Tracking Tonight
For Your Commute
On The Tube Tonight
Sports
Out And About
Go With The Flow
Inside Industry
The Enterprise Entertainment Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

EGP continues to weaken against the greenback

Good afternoon, all and welcome to the start of another workweek. The newscycle remains dominated by the ongoing escalations between Israel and Iran and the latest US strikes on Iran and their local and regional impact.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

The EGP continued to weaken against the greenback today, with the USD priced at EGP 51 at a number of private banks. It was trading at EGP 50.87 for buying and EGP 50.97 for selling at state banks.

Local banks saw a significant amount of outflows this morning before the beginning of trading, amid growing fears following the US strike on key Iranian nuclear facilities, a source in the banking sector told EnterpriseAM. Today’s outflows will likely be the highest since the escalations between Israel and Iran, the source added.

The surge in USD demand pushed Interbank USD transactions on Sunday to an unprecedented level, after it jumped to around USD 2.5 bn over the last week, the source said. Although foreign investors briefly returned to our debt market on Tuesday and Wednesday for speculative trading and profit-taking, fears over further escalation resulted in partial foreign investment outflows, the source noted.

[wwtt4] Sahel – what was once Egypt's summer escape has become an economic hub, social ecosystem, and regional travel hotspot. And we’re going to help you decode its rapid evolution with EnterpriseAM Destination Sahel.

In a special four-part summer series we’re taking the insights you’ve come to expect of us seaside. Think everything from Ras El Hekma's impact and investment opportunities to exclusive interviews with key players. And it wouldn’t be Sahel season without a sprinkling of what’s shaking up socially.

Expect us in your inbox Tuesday, 24 June.

See you, Sahel-side.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The foreign pages continue to cover the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites: The US launched airstrikes overnight on multiple Iranian nuclear and military sites, in what officials described as a limited, targeted operation aimed at crippling Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. Strikes hit facilities in Natanz, Fordow, and Esfahan. US President Donald Trump framed the attack as “successful,” saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that "a full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.”

Travel disrupted: Several international airlines, including Emirates, have suspended flights over Israeli airspace. (Reuters | Bloomberg | New York Times | AP | The Guardian)

enterprise

*** It’s Inside Industry day — your weekly briefing of all things industrial in Egypt. Inside Industry focuses each Sunday on what it takes to turn Egypt into a manufacturing and export powerhouse, ranging from initial investment and planning to product distribution, through to land allocation to industrial processes, supply chain management, labor, automation and technology, inputs and exports, regulation and policy.

In today’s issue: We dive into the Environment Ministry’s Green Sustainable Industries program.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The capital is in for a sunny day tomorrow, with the mercury set to peak at 36°C throughout the day before cooling down to 23°C at night. The North Coast will be experiencing cooler weather, with the temperature expected to reach just 31°C during the day and 20°C at night, according to our favorite weather app.

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2

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

Should you worry about AI chatbots blackmailing you?

Be careful how you talk to your AI chatbot. Large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude have garnered quite a reputation for going rogue; from fueling user fantasies to frequent hallucinations, the current state of AI isn’t doing much to silence the p(doom) arguments — and Anthropic’s latest claim that top AI models will resort to blackmail when faced with threats isn’t helping either.

In context: Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 model frequently attempted to blackmail its developers when threatened with shutdown or replacement, as reported by TechCrunch earlier in May. This, however, happened in controlled test environments in which Claude was purposely given sensitive information — including proof of extramarital affairs — pertaining to the engineers behind the threats, as well as access to emails implying its shutdown. Anthropic revealed that in a few test instances, Claude Opus 4 went as far as making unauthorized copies of itself to external servers in an attempt to “escape” — in other words, Claude attempted self-exfiltration.

It’s not just Claude. A new report published by Anthropic — in which 16 AI models from leading companies were tested in hypothetical controlled environments — shows that resorting to blackmail isn’t just a Claude quirk, it’s a widespread phenomenon. The simulated tests provided each individual AI model with a fictional company’s data and the ability to send emails without human approval. The models were then tested to see how they would react when faced with replacement or termination.

Ready, set, blackmail. “Models that would normally refuse harmful requests sometimes chose to blackmail, assist with corporate espionage, and even take some more extreme actions, when these behaviors were necessary to pursue their goals,” the report reads, noting that the models tested would outright disobey commands to avoid the aforementioned behavior. Though such behavior has never been proven to occur in real deployments, Anthropic notes that Claude misbehaved more when told it was not in a test environment — raising concerns about deploying advanced models in roles that require minimal human supervision.

Let’s talk numbers. When all ethical self-perservation efforts failed, Claude Opus 4 and Gemini 2.5 Flash resorted to blackmail 96% of the time, ChatGPT 4.1 and Grok 3 Beta showed a blackmail rate of 80%, with DeepSeek R1 not far behind at 79%.

Should you worry? Not quite — at least, not yet. Most individual interactions with AI models are limited to Q&A conversations, and as such, pose no substantial risk. Additionally, most AI agents do not have access to sensitive data — the kind provided in Anthropic’s tests. “Businesses should be cautious about broadly increasing the level of permission they give AI agents,” Aengus Lynch, external researcher at University College London, told Axios.

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3

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

The second season of Tires doubles down on the comedy

? Everyone’s a loser. The second season of Netflix’s Tires is here — and this time, it’s double the trouble, double the comedy, and double the profanities. Following the success of its first season, the Netflix sitcom is back with 12 episodes perfect for fans of The Office and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Here’s a refresher: Will (Steve Gerben) is still running the show at his father’s Valley Forge Automotive Center. In an attempt to bring the center back to life to prove to his father that he is indeed worthy of his respect (and love), Will has to put up with his cousin Shane’s (Shane Gillis) shenanigans — an employee as equally devoted to his job as he is to making Will’s life hell.

Season two hits the ground running. After Will’s plan in season one to sell tires at cost succeeds, the anxious manager attempts to expand by securing a bank loan — yet little did he know, his father had other plans. Where’s Shane in all of this, you may ask? Well, he’s still bullying Will, throwing false accusations in his direction, and watching him fail to refute them. In other words, an average cousin relationship. Amidst all the action, Shane’s father, Phil (Thomas Haden Church), decides to show up, attempting to reconnect with his son. What ensues is a series of events that will likely change Valley Forge for good.

Crude comedy. Here’s your warning folks, if you’re not comfortable with profanity, you might want to sit this one out. Tires does not hold back, and its characters certainly don’t either. The show’s jokes are explicit and as far from being politically correct as possible. They’re the kind of jokes that got Shane Gillis — who’s also the show’s creator — kicked out of SNL. Feminist representation in Tires is still weak, but it’s an improvement from the first season. Tires portrays everyone as a loser — but shows just how differently losers can thrive in an environment like Valley Forge.

The second season tops the first. The plot is airtight and there’s a greater focus on the drama of it all. Guest stars like Jon Lovitz and Vince Vaughn are a welcome surprise to the cast — which also includes a few fresh faces. Our verdict? Well, you’ll either love it, or hate it.

WHERE TO WATCH - You can stream Tires on Netflix, and watch the trailer on YouTube (runtime: 2:18)

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4

Sports

An Arabian night at the Club World Cup

⚽ Here’s what you missed in the Club World Cup: Brazil’s Fluminese defeated South Korea’s Ulsan HD 4-2, securing the lead of Group F over Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, who secured a 4-3 victory over South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns.

Argentina’s River Plate and Mexico’s Monterrey walk away with a scoreless draw. River Plate remains in Group E’s lead on goal difference over Italy's Inter Milan, who defeated Japan’s Urawa Reds 2-1.

Today’s matches: Spain’s Real Madrid and Mexico’s Pachuca will go head to head at The Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina at 10pm, in the first Group H match of the night. Real Madrid is currently in second place with one point after a draw with Al Hilal, with Pachuca in the bottom with no points to show.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and Austria’s Salzburg will battle it out at DC’s Audi Field Stadium at 1am. Al Hilal had already snagged a point from Real Madrid, and is looking to overtake Salzburg, who is currently in Group H’s lead with three points.

Will Arab clubs secure victory in Group G? Morocco’s Wydad AC takes on Italy’s Juventus at 7pm, with UAE’s Al Ain facing off with England’s Manchester City at 4am.

REMEMBER- Both Wydad AC and Al Ain lost their opening matches in what is considered to be the toughest group for Arab clubs, as they had to face off with two European giants. Both clubs need at least one point if they want to keep their qualification hopes alive, before facing off in the final round.

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5

OUT AND ABOUT

Four pop stars walk onto a stage…

MARK YOUR CALENDAR-

? Ready to face a quadruple threat? On Friday, 11 July at Marina’s Roman Theatre, iconicpop stars Mohamed Fouad, Ehab Tawfik, Hamid El Shaeri, and Hesham Abbas will be bringing the heat to the North Coast as part of the Tiatro Romano Summer 2025 Festival. Oh, you’re humming 2000s hits already? Head to Ticketsmarchè to secure your spot.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

Ever dreamt of being a DJ? Kamelizer wants to make your beat-dropping dreams come true at District 5’s Townhall by Kamelizer this June. Collaborating with the DJ Academy in Cairo, Kamelizer is hosting a three-week-long DJ Bootcamp kicking off on Monday, 23 June, and taking place on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9:30pm. Want to master mixing? Be a transition-tron? Know how to work a crowd? The bootcamp will teach you how to do all that and more — and the best part? You’ll get to show off your skills at two live events following the bootcamp. To register for the bootcamp and find out more details, head to Kamelizer Spaces’ Instagram and click the link in their bio.

Alexa, play “Shake Your Groove Thing.” On Tuesday, 24 June, Cairo-based dancer and actress Badra will be performing at The Grand Theatre in New Cairo. You can secure your spot by contacting The Grand Theatre through its official Instagram account.

It takes two to t…ell a good joke? Well, a decent joke at least — seriously decent. Studio El Etnin’s veteran comedians Ahmed Hassan and Ahmed Magdy are on a mission to prove that you don’t need profanity to get the laugh-track rolling. Performing at CJC 610 on Tuesday, 24 June, the duo is flipping the script with a show as censored as it is chaotic. Need a laugh? A moment in the spotlight? We suggest getting a move on and grabbing your tickets for the interactive comedy show from CJC 610’s website.

World-famous ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is bringing his puppets to Egypt this June. Performing live in Cairo for the very first time, the American comedian, actor, and host of the Jeff Dunham show will be playing puppet-master as he orchestrates a comedic showcase under the theme of Artificial Intelligence, stringing along his comical cast of characters at the Drama Hall in the New Capital’s Arts and Culture city on Thursday, 26 June. You can grab your tickets from Ticketsmarché — and don’t worry, you won’t have to pull any strings to get in.

The ‘90s are calling, and on Friday, 27 June, we’re picking up. Egyptian band Cassette ‘90s will be performing live at Zamalek’s El-Sawy Culturewheel, and you best believe they’ll be doubling down on nostalgia. This motley crew of ‘90s aficionados knows how to keep an audience on their feet, so if a trip a few decades back sounds like a fun time, secure your spot through El-Sawy Culturewheel’s website.

HAPPENING LATER-

Lose yourself in the last of Beethoven’s symphonies at the Cairo Opera House. On Saturday, 28 June, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 will reverberate throughout the Main Hall as Maestro Ahmed El Saedi guides his orchestra through the most influential of symphonic works. Tickets can be purchased through Tazkarti.

Calling on all directioners: Egyptian One Direction tribute band 1D Rewind will be taking us back to the good old days when the band was still together at El Sawy Culturewheel on Sunday, 29 June. Feel like reliving some midnight memories? Secure your spot through El Sawy Culturewheel’s website.

Egyptian rock band “Medic” is celebrating its 20th anniversary at Downtown Cairo’s Rawabet Art Space on Saturday, 28 June. Founded in 2005, the progressive rock and metal band has been causing a ruckus — the good kind — all over the country — and for their 20th anniversary show, they’re going all out. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketsmarché.

The Cairokee Empire rises once more, this time at the Cairo International Stadium. On Saturday, 28 June, the band promises over a decade’s worth of iconic music at the largest venue in Africa. You can grab your tickets through Tazkarti.

Freshen up your linen shirts and pack up your shades, because Egyptian megastar Amr Diab will be kicking off Sahel season at Sol Beach Marassi on Friday, 4 July. Joining the Hadaba will be German electronic dance music producer and singer Monolink, and Copenhagen-based experimental pop trio WhoMadeWho. You can grab your tickets from Ticketsmarché. Just don’t forget your sunblock.

Need a dash of folklore in your life? Reconnect with your Egyptian roots at Theatro Arkan on Thursday, 10 July, as the all-Egyptian, all-women band Tablet el Sitt take the stage. Tickets are available through Ticketsmarché.

Did that trip to Ibiza not make it out of the group chat? Well, you’re in luck. ParadiseIbiza — one of the Mediterranean island’s most celebrated party series — is marching to the beat of its own EDM drum all the way to the North Coast’s Solare in Ras El Hekma on Friday, 11 July. The line up includes Welsh DJ Jamie Jones (the brains behind Paradise), US DJ Seth Troxler, UK’s East End Dubs, Danish-Filipino Manda Moor, and Egypt’s own Awadly. Tickets are yet to be announced, however we’d suggest keeping an eye out on Paradise Ibiza’s website.

This summer, New Alamein city will be playing host to two landmark art events. Announced by the Egyptian Prime Ministry, the second edition of contemporary exhibitionArt Space will kick off on Saturday, 19 July and wrap up Tuesday, 30 September, as Sahel season comes to a close. Throughout its duration, the exhibition will feature a slew of visual art installations, interactive workshops, and multidisciplinary exhibitions, including the Egypt Sculpture Symposium, which takes place from Wednesday, 6 August till Saturday, 30 August, hosting 30 of the world’s most renowned sculptors.

The Martinez Brothers will be giving the North Coast’s Sol Beach a taste of what New York City’s nightlife scene has to offer on Friday, 1 August. The DJ duo — and brothers from the same mother — will be joined by Lebanese DJ and producer Rolbac, so you know things will be heating up quite fast. You can grab your tickets from Ticketsmarché.

Get caffeinated and grab your polaroid camera, because on Friday 8 August, &ME — one fifth of Keinemusik — will be bringing the beats all through the night until sunrise at North Coast’s Sol Beach. Promising to have you dancing till the sun’s up, the German EDM DJ and producer will be going solo this time around. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketsmarché.

In the mood to party by the Pyramids? On Friday, 19 December, world-famous Dutch DJ and Producer Tiësto is coming back to Egypt for a solo show at the Giza Plateau. Once voted “The Greatest DJ of All Time,” Tiësto will surely make this upcoming show one to remember. Tickets are available on Ticket Egypt.

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6

GO WITH THE FLOW

What the markets are doing on 22 June 2025

The EGX30 rose 2.7% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 3.1 bn (33.9 % below the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 4.4% YTD.

In the green: EFG Holding (+6.6%), Beltone Holding (+6.3%), and Fawry (+5.9%).

In the red: Edita (-0.6%), and Emaar Misr (-0.3%).

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Our weekly look at the issues, trends, and policies that are shaping Egypt's manufacturing industries.

Published every Sunday in EnterprisePM.

Read Inside Industry
7

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Diving into the Green Sustainable Industries program

Egypt is betting on the Green Sustainable Industries (GSI) program to green its industrial base. The flagship initiative by the Environment Ministry aims to help factories cut emissions, boost resource efficiency, and meet rising global climate standards — particularly in export-heavy sectors. As international regulations tighten and the energy transition accelerates, Egypt is positioning the GSI program at the center of its push to transform the country’s industrial footprint into a cleaner, more competitive model.

Inside Egypt’s flagship green industry program: The GSI program is a five-year, EUR 271 mn initiative managed by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), and is set to contribute to investments worth a total of some EUR 500 mn. It offers concessional loans and grants to public and private industrial firms nationwide, supporting pollution abatement, decarbonization, resource and energy efficiency, renewable energy adoption, and circular economy transitions. It also offers technical assistance “aimed at providing project management support.”

Not just for polluters: The program’s target base expands beyond polluting factories to include companies that are already environmentally compliant but looking to take further steps toward sustainability — a shift Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad described as reflecting a “changing view of the relationship between industry and the environment.”

Who’s funding the initiative? The financing package includes a EUR 135 mn loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), a EUR 30 mn grant from the EU via EIB Global, and additional co-financing from development partners such as the French Development Agency. Local banks are set to on-lend to eligible projects.

Focus on modern tech for cleaner industry: GSI targets projects that deploy green tech in industrial settings — such as advanced wastewater treatment, emissions-control systems, plastic and waste recycling, solar and biogas installations, energy-efficiency retrofits, and hydrogen-based clean energy. The initiative also supports projects aimed at carbon footprint reduction and decarbonization. It also aims to help exporters align with the EU’s incoming Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), particularly in the fertilizer, cement, iron, and aluminum industries.

Broader institutional support is also in the pipeline: The GSI program will also provide technical support and capacity-building for government bodies and the banking sector, said Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency head Ali Abo Sena. The goal is to help financial institutions develop their own green industry financing mechanisms under the program’s umbrella and empower public entities to more effectively oversee green transformation in the industrial sector.

GSI was officially launched by the Environment Ministry in December during the closing ceremony for the third phase of the Egyptian Pollution Abatement Program (EPAP). The ministry said the program will extend to both large industrial players and SMEs.

New EUR 21 mn grant strengthens GSI: The EIB and Egypt signed a EUR 21 mn investment grant agreement last week to bolster the GSI program — with EUR 20 mn earmarked for industrial greening initiatives and EUR 1 mn will go to the “digitilzation of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency to enhance its environmental monitoring, enforcement and transparency,” according to a press release from the lender.

Why it matters: The program plays into Egypt’s broader vision to have 50% of publicinvestments qualified as green this fiscal year. By helping industrial producers adopt sustainable practices and align with international environmental standards, GSI is expected to enhance export competitiveness, particularly in the face of stricter European regulations.

EU support for GSI builds on long-standing cooperation: Fouad previously said that this partnership with the EU — played a key role in building Egypt’s environmental management capacity over the past two decades — now extends to “low-budget solutions that support factories in taking bigger steps toward environmental compliance,” citing the GSI program as a continuation of that work. She pointed to earlier EU-backed efforts like the Industrial Pollution Control Program as precursors to GSI’s broader scope and cleaner production goals.

EPAP legacy — now supercharged: The GSI program builds on the legacy of EPAP, which since the 1990s has successfully provided EUR 300 mn in funding, facilitating projects worth EUR 550 mn in total investments. While EPAP, which expired in late 2024, provided critical support for pollution control and compliance, GSI expands the mission to encompass climate action, energy transition, and long-term green competitiveness.

Your top industrial development story for the week — China’s Sunrev to develop USD 200 mn solar power component production complex. The project’s first USD 90 mn phase is slated to begin operations in 1H 2026.

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THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

JUNE

22-23 June (Sunday - Monday): Omar Khairat at The Cairo Opera House.

23 June - 9 July (Monday - Wednesday): DJ Bootcamp at Townhall by Kamelizer.

24 June (Tuesday): Studio El Etnin at CJC 610.

24 June (Tuesday): Badra at The Grand Theatre.

26 June (Thursday): Jeff Dunham at the New Capital’s Drama Hall.

27 June (Friday): Medhat Saleh at Cairo Opera House.

27 June (Friday): Cassette ‘90s at El-Sawy Culturewheel.

28 June (Saturday): Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at The Cairo Opera House.

28 June (Saturday): Cairokee Empire concert at Cairo International Stadium.

28 June (Saturday): Medic 20th Anniversary Concert at Rawabet Art Space.

29 June (Sunday): 1D Rewind at El Sawy Culturewheel.

JULY

4 July (Friday): Amr Diab, Monolinkand WhoMadeWho at Sol Beach Marassi.

10 July (Thursday): Tablet El Sitt at Theatro Arkan.

11 July (Friday): Paradise Ibiza at Solare Ras Al Hekma.

11 July (Friday): Mohamed Fouad, Ehab Tawfik, Hamid El Shaeri, and Hesham Abbas at the Roman Theatre.

19 July - 30 September (Saturday - Tuesday): Art Space at New Alamein.

AUGUST

1 August (Friday): The Martinez Brothers at Sol Beach.

6-30 August (Wednesday - Saturday): Egypt Sculpture Symposium at New Alamein.

8 August (Friday): &ME at Sol Beach.

OCTOBER

16-24 October (Thursday-Friday): Gouna Film Festival.

30 October - 22 November (Thursday-Saturday): Forever is Now at the Great Pyramids of Giza.

DECEMBER

19 December (Friday): DJ Tiësto at the Giza Plateau.

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