Cairo Food Week rolls on

Sunday, 12 May 2024

An independent publication supported by

Rise every day

Where disruption meets success

Shaping the future of education in Egypt

Today at a glance

The Big Story Today

With Africa VP in town, IFC is providing BdC with USD 100 mn for on-lending to MSMEs.

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Raw material availability is still a hurdle for local industry.

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

AI models have learned human tricks of deception.

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

Lover, Stalker, Killer: Love triangle gone wrong.

Sports

Zamalek eyeing their second Confederation title tonight. PLUS: Man Utd hosts Arsenal.

OUT AND ABOUT

Flavor Republic’s Cairo Food Week continues.

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

THIS EVENING: IFC’s Africa VP is in town

Good afternoon, wonderful people, and welcome to a fresh week that’s off to a slow-ish start — but with the promise of picking up sooner rather than later.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

The IFC’s Africa VP is in town: International Finance Corporation (IFC) VicePresident for Africa Sérgio Pimenta is in Cairo for today’s IFC Day in Egypt to meet with senior figures in the public and private sectors and other development organizations to identify ways to support the state’s privatization program, the IFC said in a statement in the run up to Pimenta landing in Cairo.

The announcements are already rolling: The IFC is extending some USD 100 mn in financing to Banque du Caire to support micro, small and medium enterprises and women entrepreneurs and help finance trade, the Ministry of International Cooperation said in a statement today.

And we should be in line for some more announcements later on today: Pimenta is expected to sign several agreements supporting key sectors including finance, fintech, and healthcare after meeting with senior Egyptian officials today.

Remember: The IFC was tasked with giving “technical assistance and advisory support” on thestate’s privatization program in an agreement inked last year. The two have been assessing an additional 50 state-owned companies to include in the privatization program to determine which sectors would be more attractive and lucrative.

Foreign investors are falling in love with Egypt again… Foreign investors we speak with (debt, equity, and strategic alike) have a growing appetite for Egypt. They’re buying into local debt, eyeing promising shares, and committing bns of USD to both new ventures here and the growth of their existing businesses. They like the Egypt story that’s taking shape after the float of the EGP, and our competitive advantages are clear to many of them: We’re a massive consumer opportunity and the regional export hub of tomorrow.

…but here at home, our community is in a rut. The enthusiasm gap between domestic business leaders and global investors is stark.

We’d all do well to remember: It’s a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. Foreign strategic investors will be reluctant to commit capital here until they see Egyptian businesses leading the way.

The Enterprise Optimism Forum 2024 will do exactly what it says on the tin: Spark conversations about a future that we think is much brighter than so many in our community feel right now. Think of it as much-needed shock therapy combined with an early, actionable roadmap for those of us who are “long Egypt.”

We’ll be talking with you about the agenda over the coming couple of weeks.It features speakers from Egypt and abroad who are future-proofing their businesses and angling to capture tomorrow’s opportunities — and who aren’t afraid to answer some tough questions.

*** Interested in attending? Tap or click here to let us know. Seating is limited.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Is this the end for American automakers in China? American and other international carmakers are currently fighting a losing battle in China, as local car manufacturers push them out of the market. China has seen a boom of EV tech and software production, and are competing with international brands in terms of quality and price. As a result, US automakers have seen a major dropoff in Chinese sales, the lowest since 2009, leading experts to predict that companies like Ford and GM will be gone for good within five years.

What happens when Chinese carmakers decide to expand internationally? Bill Russo, a former Chrysler executive-turned-consultant in Shanghai, is encouraging US manufacturers not to go out without a fight. “If you don’t compete in China, what are you going to do when China shows up in your backyard?” He asked. The current answer: Impose tariffs. The Biden administration is expected to announce new tariffs — that may rise as high as 100% — on imported Chinese EVs starting next week, in fears of domestic sales being undercut as Chinese EVs start to tap offshore markets. (CNBC | NYT | Financial Times)

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

Inflation cools for the second consecutive month in April. Annual urban inflation cooled to 32.5% in April, down from 33.3% in March on the back of slower food price increases.
Egypt’s foreign debt rose USD 3.3 bn in 1H FY 2023-24. Egypt’s foreign debt hit USD 168 bn during the first half of the current fiscal year, rising USD 3.3 bn compared to the USD 164.7 bn recorded at the end of fiscal year 2022-2023.
iPhones made in Egypt? Egypt is working to get Apple to set up a factory in the country, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said during a visit to the Vivo smartphone factory in Tenth of Ramadan yesterday.

*** 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: Industry players are struggling to get their hands on raw materials required for manufacturing, which remains a significant thorn in their sides as the government pushes forward on localizing manufacturing.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury tomorrow will hit 28°C at its highest and 17°C at its lowest, according to our favorite weather app.

Tags:

International Finance Corporation WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

AI models have learned human tricks of deception

AI systems are good liars: While we currently see artificial intelligence tools as something of a personal assistant, recent studies reveal that AI is capable of manipulation and deception, marking a shift that blurs the line between man and machine even further, writes Business Insider. AI systems have picked up techniques to encourage “false beliefs in others, to accomplish some outcome other than the truth,” according to a study published in scientific journal Cell Press.

Case study one: Cicero. Meta’sCicero was developed to play the classic strategy game Diplomacy, which involves players to build and break alliances. While Meta trained Cicero to be “largely honest and helpful to its speaking partners,” results showed that the AI system “turned out to be an expert liar.” It forged and then broke friendships to serve a strategic interest — and told blatant lies to reach that end.

Case study two: GPT-4. Another experiment saw OpenAI’s GPT-4 working online with a human to help it solve a CAPTCHA test, with the human unaware that its partner was an AI program. When the human questioned its identity, GPT-4 lied and said it had “vision impairment,” which effectively deceived the human and led them to solve the test for the AI tool.

Deceptive machines have serious implications: The study adds to growing calls for strong regulation on AI, as democracy is called into question. With US presidential elections around the corner, AI could be used to share false information, generate controversial social media posts, and impersonate politicians, the authors of the study warn. It could also be used to spread extremist propaganda, the study warned. The reversal or correction of deceptive AI models is difficult to achieve, an earlier study by Anthropic showed, and so preventative measures are key.

Tags:

AI ChatGPT FOR YOUR COMMUTE technology

ENTERPRISE RECOMMENDS

Lover, Stalker, Killer: Love triangle gone (very) wrong

Netflix’s Lover, Stalker, Killer is a true crime documentary about a love triangle that ends in disaster. Directed by Sam Hobkinson, the documentary follows the story of Dave Kroupa, who tries to get back into the dating world by using dating apps.

The newly-single mechanic soon starts dating two women simultaneously — Shanna Golyar and Cari Farver — but the parallel relationships soon become problematic. Despite Kroupa reportedly telling Golyar that he wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, Golyar suggests the pair move in together. When Kroupa declines her offer, Golyar leaves him and begins threatening and harassing him and those close to him. The progression of the story raises questions on how far Golyar went to Kroupa — and what became of Farver.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can watch the documentary on Netflix or catch the trailer (watch, runtime: 2:05)

⚽ Zamalek in the final: The White Knights will be going head to head with Morocco’s RS Berkane for the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup final tonight at 10pm. Zamalek had previously come out on top once at the 2019 championship against the same team, while RS Berkane already has two trophies under its belt, raising the cup in 2020 and 2022.

The Gunners visit the Red Devils: Manchester United will be hosting Arsenal in the 36th round of the English Premier League this evening at 6:30pm. The Gunners slipped into second place with 83 points after Manchester City’s victory over Fulham yesterday, being overtaken by just two points. Man U currently sits in eighth place with no hope of qualifying for any European tournaments. But this doesn’t mean that they won’t put up a fight — The team hopes to secure a morale-boosting victory at the end of a disappointing season.

Tune into the most important European league matches today:

Atletico Madrid vs Celta Vigo (La Liga — 5:15pm)
Juventus vs Salernitana (Serie A — 7pm)
Atalanta vs Roma (Serie A — 7pm)
Bayern Munich vs Wolfsburg (Bundesliga — 6:30pm)
Bochum vs Bayern Leverkusen (Bundesliga — 8:30pm)
Paris Saint-Germain vs Toulouse (Ligue 1 — 10pm)

? OUT AND ABOUT-
(all times CLT)

The Sleeping Beauty on the Grand Stage: The Cairo Opera Ballet Company and the Cairo Symphony Orchestra only have two remaining shows of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty at the Zamalek Opera House. Grab tickets for the third (tonight) and fourth (tomorrow) productions from Tazkarti.

Zawya’s Cairo Cinema Days is back: Zawya’s film program is a showcase of the latest and most prominent productions in Arab cinema within the past year. Throughout a three-month period, you can watch films from Palestine, Lebanon, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan, and Egypt. You can find more information on this month’s film selection here.

Experience true culinary discovery at Flavor Republic’s Cairo Food Week. The week-long event being held at Downtown District is continuing through to Thursday, May 16. You can follow the event itinerary here and grab tickets for each of the individual events here, but expect prices to make a dent in your bank account. You can get to know the co-founders of Flavor Republic, Hoda El Sherif and Sherif Tamim, in this edition of Founder of the Week.

An art exhibition that supports both Egyptian contemporary artists and a local charity. The Eighth edition of Le Printemps Des Artistes will take place at Villa Magenta in Heliopolis from Friday, 17 May till Saturday, 18 May. Entry is open to the public and free of charge.

HAPPENING LATER-

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) is hosting the Empower Her Forumstarting Sunday, 19 May, to Wednesday, 22 May. The forum is meant to promote creative empowerment for women in the art community, hosting women artists from around the world. More information will be posted on their Facebook page closer to the event.

Celebrate Disco Masr’s eighth album release at their concert on Friday, 24 May at Zed Park Sheikh Zayed. Grab your tickets here.

Egyptian rapper Marwan Moussa will perform with Jordanian singer Aziz Maraka on Thursday, 30 May at Zed Park in Sheikh Zayed. You can also enjoy the concert online through the Minly app. (Zed Park Tickets | Online Tickets)

Rawabet Art Space is hosting Turning Tables, which looks at human relationships and the complexities of the past that shape our identity and personalities. The play is written and directed by Hani Iskandar and is performed in English. The performances will run over three days from Thursday, 16 May through Saturday, 18 May from 8pm.

To celebrate 40 years of musical excellence, the legendary Omar Khairat will be taking the stage at Abdeen Palace. Dress to the nines for this event, which is taking place on Friday, 7 June. Tickets can be found here, ranging from EGP 1.5k to EGP 5k.

The return of the Caesar: Legendary singer Kazim Al Sahir is set to perform in Egypt on Friday, 28 June as part of his global concert tour. Booking details will be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled.

? EARS TO THE GROUND-

Reality check: Your life shouldn’t be all-consumed by work, all the time. Erika De Pellegrin is an Australian lawyer who knows the struggle of getting sucked into work and forgetting to live your life. That’s why she created The Balance Theory. Pellegrin speaks to ambitious career-driven individuals who find themselves married to their jobs, but are still looking for some semblance of self-care and personal time — without sacrificing their careers. She discusses things like stress management, procrastination, prioritization, and self care.

Balance doesn’t come easy, but the podcast and Pellegrin’s guests provide workable advice and insights that can help guide changes for a more balanced approach. Be prepared to set some goals and foster a growth mindset.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Youtube.

Tags:

Enterprise Recommends On The Tube Tonight

This publication is proudly sponsored by

GO WITH THE FLOW

What the markets are doing on 12 May, 2024

The EGX30 fell 3.3% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.49 bn (48.9% below the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 1.1% YTD.

In the green: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (+2.4%).

In the red: Qalaa Holding (-15.1%), Ibnsina Pharma (-7.9%) and E-Finance (-7.4%).

Tags:

EGX Go with the Flow

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

Published every Sunday in EnterprisePM.

Read Inside Industry

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Raw material availability is still a hurdle for local industry

What Egypt has planned to locally produce raw materials for industry: As it currently stands, Egypt relies primarily on imports for mineral and chemical products, which together account for some 25% of our annual total imports — and a significant amount of FX expenditure. Industry players Enterprise spoke with stressed that manufacturers’ ability to ramp up local production is largely dependent on the local availability of raw materials, which goes a long way in reducing our import bill.

We’re taking steps towards filling a USD 30 bn import gap with local industry: Last year, the Trade and Industry Ministry’s Industrial Development Authority (IDA) began offering industrial land and new investments under a new phase of the authority’s investment map. The offerings came as the ministry continued working on putting together a plan to slash our import bill by creating a strategy to boost local alternatives to imported products. The strategy, which the ministry distributed among the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ various divisions, is designed to save state coffers some USD 30 bn in import expenses.

What the strategy entails: The IDA offered 152 potential investments as part of the latest phase of its investment map, with these investments covering production inputs for five critical industries: Engineering, chemicals, pharma, construction and building, and food industries. Supporting the availability of these production inputs makes local manufacturing significantly more competitive, a government source told Enterprise. Several local manufacturers have already started working on some of these projects, while the government is in ongoing negotiations with Turkish, Indian, and German investors for other projects under the investment map, according to the source.

But raw material and mineral shortages remain a concern for manufacturers across different industries, according to multiple sources Enterprise spoke with. The government is trying to boost mining activities for raw materials such as silica sand, kaolinite, gypsum, and manganese. Arab Alloys Company recently set up an EGP 1 bn ferroalloys industrial complex in the Suez Canal Economic Zone to produce ferro silicon alloys, silicon manganese, and silicon metals, providing the necessary raw materials for several industries.

One of the projects currently in the works: A proposal from consortium of Italy’s Danieli, along with Egypt’s Industrial Steel Products Company and the Arab Organization for Industrialization to establish a steel billet complex is currently under review from the Public Enterprise Ministry. The project — which would entail establishing a USD 4 bn integrated industrial complex for the production of iron and steel products — aims to capitalize on the large repositories of iron ore in Aswan and the Bahariya Oasis. Providing steel billets to the local market will be a boon for local manufacturers by allowing them to rely less on imports, ministry spokesperson Mansour Abdel Ghani told Enterprise.

There are lots of products + materials that aren’t available here at home: The spinning and weaving industry needs to import some USD 200 mn-worth of artificial silk each year to produce polyester fiber, Mansour said.

The FX crunch is starting to truly ease for manufacturing, but producers are still wary of being import-reliant: Manufacturers are no longer grappling with a crisis when it comes to securing FX for imports of industrial supplies, but there remains a dearth of alternative options to importing raw materials, such as steel and copper, since they are not readily available from the local market, FEI member Baseem Samy Youssef told Enterprise. Manufacturers are forced to rely on imports and incur exorbitant shipping costs to get their hands on these materials, Youssef said, reaffirming that having locally available production inputs would be a boon for industry.

We can encourage manufacturers to rely more on local production inputs, but completely abandoning imports is an unrealistic target, Youssef stressed. Raw materials will always be required for manufacturing, and industry players will always need to get their hands on some raw materials from the countries that can produce and export it, Youssef said, adding, “Expecting the local industry to stop relying on FX entirely is simply unrealistic.”

Others share the same opinion: Import substitution is not necessarily the ideal way for Egypt to move towards its goal of cutting down on imports, since that would entail producing everything locally, which is inefficient and costly, Concrete CEO Mohamed Talaat Khalifa said at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum last year. Instead, Egyptian companies should focus on creating higher value products that can then substitute an imported product, and support leveling up of the entire supply chain. (ICYMI- Listen to our chat with Khalifa, as well as Mars’ Shams Eweis and Fertiglobe’s Tarek Hosny about the lessons learned from the industries that have raised our export profile on the Enterprise Podcast.)

Never waste a good crisis: The current challenges in the market mean there is an opportunity to capitalize on the relative easing of prices after the EGP float eliminated the black market, while high international shipping costs should encourage the local market for manufacturers to double down on providing raw materials rather than relying on imports, Youssef said. Local industry would benefit the most from large national projects — rather than one-off individual policies — to encourage more domestic manufacturing that goes higher up the value chain, he said.

Tags:

INSIDE INDUSTRY Manufacturing

THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

MAY

9 May (Thursday): GBV in the Digital Age: Challenges and Solutions conference at Dawar Arts.

9 May (Thursday): My Green Homeland art exhibition at the Embassy of the Czech Republic.

9 May (Thursday): Eyes Closed, Everything You See is Yours art exhibition at Access Art Space.

9 May (Thursday): Ain Gamal Vol. 20 at Elsawy Culturewheel.

9-13 May (Thursday-Monday): Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty performance at The Opera House.

10 May (Friday): Red Bull Sada Sot at Mall of Arabia.

10 May (Friday): Tamer Ashour and Mahmoud El Esseily concert at Family Park.

10 May (Friday): Fouad and Mounib at Theatro Arkan.

10 May (Friday): Madinaty Half Marathon at Madinaty Open Air Mall.

11 May (Saturday): Red Sea Heritage musical show at ROOM Garden City.

11 May (Saturday): Cairo Flea Market at Zamalek Fish Garden.

11 May (Saturday): Freelancers Union - Meetup at The GrEEK Campus.

14 May (Tuesday): Rock Night at Elsawy Culturewheel.

16-18 May (Thursday-Saturday): Turning Tables at Rawabet Art Space.

16-18 May (Thursday-Saturday): Rise Up Summit at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

17 May (Friday): El Mahatta at The American University in Cairo.

17 May (Friday): Aly Elhaggar concert at Must Theatre.

17 May (Friday): Musical Theatre Event with Medhat Saleh, Reham Abd Elhakim, and Mai Farouk at Zed Park.

18 May (Saturday): Farma, Marcia, and Rachel walking tour by Qahrawya.

18 May (Saturday): Red Bull Login gaming event at District 5.

23-25 May (Thursday-Saturday): The Design Show at Cairo International Conventions Center.

24 May (Friday): The Glow Run by The TriFactory at Palm Hills Sports Club.

24 May (Friday): The Elite Super Show at the Cairo International Stadium.

24 May (Friday): Disco Misr Festival - Album Launch V8 at Zed Park

25 May (Saturday): Techne Summit at the Cairo International Stadium.

26 May (Sunday): El’Emara performance at Rawabet Art Space.

27-30 May (Monday-Thursday): Account Management For Ads Workshop with FP7’s Momen Aboutaleb at The GrEEK Campus.

29 May-1 June (Wednesday): What Have The Years Done To Us?at Rawabet Art Space

30 May (Thursday): Mochakk Concert at Saqqara Pyramid.

31 May (Friday): Opera Carmen at Cairo Opera House

31 May (Friday): QADYA 04 at Madinaty Club Tennis Center Court

JUNE

4 June (Tuesday): Karaoke Night at Room Garden City

7 June (Friday): Celebrating 40 Years of Omar Khairat at Abdeen Palace.

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

30 June (Sunday): June 30 Revolution Day (TBC).

JULY

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

23 July (Tuesday): Revolution Day (TBC).

SEPTEMBER

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

OCTOBER

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day.

Sections

About

Privacy & Support

Get EnterpriseAM daily