Good afternoon, wonderful people, and happy almost-THURSDAY to us all. The tension that we started this morning with is still carrying over throughout the day, and continues to lead the conversation in the region and the world.
THE BIG STORY TODAY
FinMin in talks for USD 500 mn in financing from Deutsche Bank and Bank ABC: The Finance Ministry is looking to take out two loans worth USD 500 mn from Deutsche Bank and the Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) to finance and refinance some of the projects included in this fiscal year’s budget, Al Mal reports, citing unnamed members of parliament. The newspaper did not specify the projects, saying only that they are compliant with ESG standards.
THE BIG STORY ABROAD
US President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s claim that the bombing targeting a Gaza hospital was a result of “friendly fire” is dominating the conversation in the international press. The bombing of the Al Ahli Al Arabi hospital yesterday that took the lives of c. 500 people, many of them children, prompted the Arab leaders of the region to call off the meeting with Biden in Jordan to discuss the crisis. (Reuters | Bloomberg | Associated Press | Wall Street Journal | Washington Post | Financial Times)
** CATCH UP QUICK on the top stories from today’s EnterpriseAM:
Exchange controls are tightening:The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has asked (pdf) banks to impose limits on the use of credit cards for foreign-currency transactions at home and abroad, a week after introducing curbs on debit cards in response to the country’s FX shortage.
Dice’s founding family is set to increase its share of the company to c. 80%: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) published the offer (pdf) from the founders of EGX-listed clothing company Dice Sports and Casual Wear to purchase more than 838 mn of its shares — 46.9% of the company.
☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Expect sunny skies with the mercury reaching 31°C in the daytime and dropping to a cooler 21°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.
Elon Musk’s war on bots continues, but users need to pitch in USD 1 per year for the cause: Xrolled out a test subscription model on Tuesday that requires new users in New Zealand and the Philippines to pay an annual fee of USD 1 to use the platform, reports the Wall Street Journal. Musk believes that this subscription plan, creatively named Not A Bot, is the only way to fight, well, bots — automated programs that operate to perform predefined tasks — and not accidentally block real, human users.
Bot activities are worse than ever, despite Musk’s early promise of a crackdown. Before his USD 44 bn purchase of the company, Musk pledged to eliminate bots on the platform. But since his acquisition, bot activity has just gotten worse. Even though bots comprise less than 5% of current users on the platform — the same amount since before the Musk takeover — they now generate between 21-29% of the content coming from the US. This isn’t the first time Musk has claimed that a subscription would deter bots — this was his reasoning behind the USD 8 monthly verification fee as well.
Existing users are safe from the subscription fee, whichis only required for people setting up new accounts. While they are able to refuse payment, the platform will only be available to them in a read-only capacity, meaning that they would not be able to post, like, and reply to content, along with other key functions. “This won’t stop the bots completely,” posted Musk, “but it will be 1000x harder to manipulate the platform.” By some estimates, two thirds of Musk’s followers are bots.
Breakthrough in battling therapy resistant prostate cancer:Scientists have discovered a potential way to reverse the resistance to therapy of advanced forms of prostate cancer, according to the results of a study published in Nature. The study found that, when administered alongside the usual hormone therapy used for treatment, a new drug stopped healthy white blood cells getting hauled into cancerous tumors. As a result, tumors shrank, and some stopped growing altogether. The study was conducted by cancer institutes from the UK and Switzerland where 23 patients with prostate cancer whose tumors no longer responded to hormone therapy participated. Out of the 23, five had a positive response, where their tumors shriveled by 30%, reports The Guardian.
Geopolitical advisors in businesses are the latest accessory to navigate the new world order: With the ongoing geopolitical hot-pockets of concern growing at an unprecedented rate many companies are hiring former government officials or employees to advise on political risks to their business, according to the Financial Times. Retired diplomats, and retired government officials have answered the call in a surge following the Russian-Ukraine and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts, as well as the potential re-election of Donald Trump, and finally China’s tense relations with Taiwan. For now, multinationals will be relying on these advisors to predict and prevent any business loss due to geopolitical conflicts and possibly consolidating industries in the future. “It’s fair to say the state of the world went from relative stability and order to far less stable; this disruption to globalization of course has implications for business,” Chief executive of US construction company Barton Malow, Ryan Maibach, told the salmon-backed paper.
Geopolitical advisors are not new but are growing in popularity. Oil and gas companies have been frequent customers of these well-seasoned international figures, but other businesses are biting on. US tech companies, with their businesses reliant on chips that are subject to Taiwanese-Chinese volatility, are buying in. Other household names have their own key risk officers, already: Ex-UK National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove was re-employed as a senior advisor at the investment bank meanwhile the previous head of MI6, Sir Alex Younger, found himself as an advisor in Goldman Sachs starting from 2021.
Over two decades ago, someone murdered “the Golden Girl of British television” and in Who Killed Jill Dando? a cold case that left Britain in shock back in 1999 is reopened. Dubbed the “TV Diana” for more than their similar looks, the popular 37-year old television presenter of shows like Crimewatch was at the height of her career when she was fatally shot at her own doorstep. While speculations about motives unfurled, the Metropolitan police could not come up with anything beyond conjecture. An arrest, conviction, and eight years later, an acquittal were nonetheless made when the closest thing to a killer was found: Barry George, who lived near the victim, had a record of assaults on women, and was allegedly interested in firearms. But that is all. The new documentary, which is well-researched and pretty thorough, examines all of these theories in the hopes of finding new evidence so that the victim’s surviving family may one day find closure and peace.
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⚽ It’s a quiet night on the fields. Move along, folks.
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☕ DRINK THIS TONIGHT-
Coffee with a cool backstory: Located in Maadi, Villa Sumatra is a labor of love. Starting as an idea where father and son wanted to open their own coffee place and with the son, Haytham Al Aamer, fulfilling the dream as his father passed away before he could see the project come to fruition. Villa Sumatra in Degla is not just a coffee place — you can go there after work for a fresh salad, such as their caramelized onion and mushroom rocca salad, or a quick sourdough bagel, or sample one of their smoothies or coffee concoction. Villa Sumatra is also an initiative where Al Aamer has taken it upon himself to develop a quality drink based on quality relationships with farmers in Indonesia — one of the world’s leading coffee bean producers and exporters. By collaborating closely with farming communities, Villa Sumatra helps bean producers increase their income while creating the highest-quality coffee. Villa Sumatra also contributes to minimizing the mechanical processing of beans for a more sustainable operation with a lower carbon footprint. As fall looms ever closer, make sure to pass by the villa and enjoy a rich cup of joe in their cozy garden along with a croissant or fresh salad. You can also purchase the beans here and enjoy your coffee at home.
The Downtown Contemporary Arts Festival (D-Caf) has kicked off and will continue until Sunday, 5 November. The festival is taking place in several places and art centers in the downtown area. You can check the events and buy the tickets through D-CAF’s website.
Don’t miss the stand-up comedy showat Falaki Theater, Tahrir tomorrow.The show will start at 8pm. You can buy your tickets from TicketsMarche.
Award-winning film Dirty, Difficult, Dangerous will be screened at The Netherlands-FlemishInstitutetomorrow from 7-8:30pm, with doors opening at 6pm. There’s no reservation or purchasing of tickets — it’s on a first-come-first-serve basis with limited seats.
Dust off your windbreakers this weekend at Room Art Space in Garden City for theirBack to the nineties event with performances of your favorite Arabic 90s songs on Friday, 20 October from 8pm. Get your tickets at the branch or from this link.
Lab coats and goggles on for Kidzania’s Halloween Adults immersive party with Lab of Horrors on Thursday, 26 October from 6-11pm. Tickets are not on sale yet but stay tuned for more information on their Facebook page.
Music enthusiasts, this one’s for you: The annual Cairo International Jazz Festival is happening at AUC’s Tahrir campus from Thursday, 26 October to Friday, 3 November. For more information contact them on their page.
We’ve got you covered this Halloween:Cairo Jazz Club is hosting a Haunted Mansionnight of eeriness and hit tunes on Friday, 27 October. Costumes are mandatory and you can reserve your spot on their Facebook page.
DJs Kygo, Tiësto, Kungs, and Frank Walker are performing on Saturday, 28 October at the Giza Pyramids. The concert will be part of the next edition of the four-day Palm Tree Music Festival (PTMF) which will be held from Thursday, 26 October until Sunday, 29 October.
The Russian Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra is coming to Egypt for the first time, with three concerts scheduled in Cairo and Alexandria. The Cairo concerts are scheduled for Sunday and Monday, 5 and 6 November at the Cairo Opera House in Zamalek, while the Alexandria concert will follow on Tuesday, 7 November at Sayed Darwish Theater. You can book your tickets for the concerts from here, here and here.
Don’t miss Tamer Ashour at Sheikh Zayed’s Zed Park on Friday, 10 November at 8pm. Tickets are available on TicketsMarche.
Russell Peters is coming to Egypt for the second time: He will be performing on Saturday, 11 November at the Marquee Theatre, Cairo Festival City (CFC). The show will start at 8pm. Tickets are available on TicketsMarche.
The Masr El Gedida Carnival is back and will take place in Merryland Park on Saturday, 25 November at 10am.
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? UNDER THE LAMPLIGHT-
What You Are Looking For is in theLibrary is an ode to librarians and dreamers. The debut novel by Michiko Aoyama has made its way to the American literary scene after being originally written in Japanese. Within its pages, there are five distinct narrators, spanning different ages and stages of life. Despite their seemingly separate lives, these characters find themselves intricately connected — where each character encounters Mrs. Komachi, the enigmatic librarian at the Hatori Community House, whose book recommendations have a profound impact on their lives, leading them down unexpected paths. The essence of these characters are refreshingly genuine and curious, without any pretensions to impress. The writing style is intimate and laid-back, a common trait seen in contemporary Japanese literature.
Ezz Steel’s bottom line plummeted nearly 120% y-o-y to a loss of roughly EGP 809.8 mn in 1H 2023, while revenues grew 61.7% y-o-y to EGP 62.3 bn from EGP 38.5 bn in the same period, according to the company’s financial statement (pdf).
REMEMBER- In July,Ezz Steel committed to a USD 241 mn buyout of the government’s 31% stake in its subsidiary Al Ezz Dekheila, which was delisted from the EGX.
MARKET ROUNDUP-
The EGX30 rose 0.2% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 4.1 bn (85.6% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net buyers. The index is up 51.5% YTD.
In the green: Alexandria Mineral Oils Company (+4.2%), E-Finance (+3.4%) and SIDPEC (+2.7%).
In the red: Egyptian Kuwait Holding (-7.7%), Orascom Development Egypt (-5.0%) and Oriental Weavers (-5.0%).
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