Good afternoon, wonderful people, and welcome back to the grind after what we hope was a restful weekend. We’re starting off the week with a surprisingly brisk news cycle here at home, starting with murmurs of renewed privatization interest.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

New suitors for United Bank? Credit Agricole Egypt, Mashreq Bank Egypt, and the National Bank of Kuwait Egypt have begun due diligence on United Bank to acquire a stake in the CBE-owned lender, Asharq Business reports, citing a source it says has knowledge of the planned sale. A second source is reported as confirming that three local banks have begun due diligence, without naming them.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Russia’s Luna-25 spacecraft moon crash is dominating the conversation in the international press. Contact was lost with the spacecraft on Saturday, according to Roskosmos, Russia’s state space corporation after it had moved into an “unpredictable orbit” and collided with the moon. The Luna-25, follows the Luna-24 — which was sent into space 47 years ago — and was set to land on the Moon’s south pole before India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which is scheduled to land there next week to explore the terrain. The collision has undermined the Kremlin's effort to illustrate its space presence despite the conflict in the Ukraine and pressure of Western sanctions. (Reuters | BBC | Wall Street Journal | CNBC | CNN)

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

• No change to household electricity prices for another 4.5 months: The Madbouly cabinet has approved a decision to leave household electricity prices frozen until 1 January, 2024, following a directive from President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is expected to approve a USD 125 mn loan on 4 October to finance the “superstructure and purchase of equipment” for Damietta Port’s second container terminal.
• Cabinet greenlights fresh development finance: The Madbouly cabinet approved at its weekly meeting a number of loans and grants recently agreed with multilateral lenders and the Canadian government.

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.
• Handicapping the winners and losers in fintech in 2024: We dive deep into which categories are getting traction, where the untapped opportunities are, 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.

LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST-

MISSED OUR PREVIOUS FORUMS? The EnterprisePodcast has you covered : The Enterprise Podcast’s forum series has been bringing you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum and the Enterprise Climate Forum.

WANT TO LISTEN? Head to: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- In our second panel from the Enterprise Climate Forum, We dive deep into what the business leaders in the climate industry in Egypt and the region have to say about how the private sector is adopting greentech, where they see the opportunities and what they’d like policymakers to do to encourage further participation. We were joined by Amr Allam, co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding, Mohamed Ismail Mansour, CEO and co-founder of Infinity, and Sherif El Kholy, longtime partner and head of MENA private equity at Actis.

*** 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: As the country continues to struggle with a prolonged FX pinch, the Industrial Development Authority is rolling out a new phase of its investment map to encourage manufacturers to locally produce components and products that are typically imported.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect more sunny skies with a high of 39°C in the daytime, dropping to a cooler 24°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.