Good afternoon, friends, and happy almost-THURSDAY. We’re closing in on the weekend as the Brics summit is picking up steam in Johannesburg, while here at home there are reports of more natgas imports coming our way to help cope with a supply shortage.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

We could be welcoming more Israeli gas imports soon: Egypt is looking to increase its imports of Israeli gas by 31% starting October, Asharq Business reports, citing an unnamed government official. The government wants to boost its imports of Israeli gas to 1.05 bn cubic feet per day (cbf / d), up 31% from its current imports of 800 mn cbf / d.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The international business press can’t agree on one unifying story this afternoon, giving us a couple of things to keep our eyes on:

• Updates on the Brics meeting in South Africa are gaining traction as leaders from Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Russia meet in Johannesburg. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed for the creation of a Brics space consortium, which comes in the hours before his nation launches Chandrayaan-3 to land on the moon’s south pole. (Bloomberg | CNN | BBC)
• General Sergei ‘Armageddon’ Surovikin has been fired from his post as the head of the Russian military aerospace forces. Reports cite that this move was in response to Surovikin’s support of Wagner and their aborted mutiny in June. Whether he continues as deputy commander of Russian invasion forces in Ukraine remains unclear. (Financial Times | CNN)

HAPPENING NOW-

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly is in South Africa, where he will participate in the Brics summit on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, according to a cabinet statement. Madbouly will join the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa in their discussions centered around trade, investments, and geopolitics. The summit kicked off yesterday and will wrap up tomorrow.

REMEMBER- Egypt is among the 20 countries to have submitted a bid to become a member of the bloc, having earlier this year become a member country of its multilateral lender.

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

• Eastern Company confirms reports of potential stake sale : The government could sell up to 15.3% of state-owned tobacco manufacturer Eastern Company after receiving offers from several foreign investors.
• ADES IPO slated for 4Q 2023? Cairo-born regional oil and gas services company ADES International will make its long-awaited Tadawul debut in 4Q 2023.
• Valu rebrands to reflect an expanded footprint in the fintech industry: Valu has announced a strategic rebranding to reflect its push into the region’s growing fintech market.

CHECK OUT OUR AGENDA-

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.

This is our first two-day event,which should give us plenty of time to dive into the nitty gritty of this industry we love. Our panels will see CEOs, bankers, investors and founders gather to discuss the future and trends shaping banking, finance, fintech and NBFS.

Our full agenda will be out at month’s end. Among the topics we’ll be discussing:

• Looking into the crystal ball: Top industry CEOs will join us on stage to answer tough questions on where we are as an industry, the forces that will shape all of our businesses going forward, and their views on dealflow in the year ahead.

• Surviving nuclear winter: We discuss how private equity and venture capital players are tackling challenges including fundraising and deployment in an environment in which it’s awfully difficult to price your local asset in USD terms.
• The robots are coming: We explore what the coming AI and big data means for the industry in our part of the world and what can bankers, NBFI, and fintech players do to capitalize on them.
• What do you do when nobody wants to be a banker — and when those who are already (investment or commercial) bankers are either (a) dreaming of doing their own startup or (b) moving to Dubai (or, increasingly, Riyadh)? We go deep into the weeds with industry leaders on how they’re building talent for tomorrow.
• NBFIs are a bubble. Prove me wrong: We chart the explosive rise of NBFIs and ask whether the industry is ready for a wave of consolidation. We’ll dive into whether consumer finance is starting to mature as a segment — and ask which sector is next.
• Fintech in 2024: What’s hot and what’s not: We dive deep into which categories are getting traction, where the untapped potential is, what business they would start today if they could, and what we can expect of the sector in the year ahead.
• What’s a bank, anyway? Wherein we talk challenger and neobanks with the players looking to shake up the brick-and-mortar industry.

** 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.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our exciting agenda in the weeks to come.

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.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- The mercury will rise again to peak at 41°C during the day and cool to 24°C after the sun sets, our favorite weather app tells us.