Stop trying to multitask

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

THIS EVENING: OIH could invest USD 1.2 bn in several projects in Uzbekistan

Good afternoon, nice people, and happy hump day — or earnings downpour day, depending on where you’re sitting.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

OIH could invest USD 1.2 bn in Uzbekistan: Orascom Investment Holding (OIH) is exploring several potential investments worth a combined USD 1.2 bn in Uzbekistan’s renewables, hospitality, food production, and mining sectors, OIH CEO Marwan Hussein confirmed to Enterprise today. OIH Chairman Naguib Sawiris discussed the investment plan during a meeting yesterday with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

Rare drone attacks on the Russian capital are leading the conversation in the international press. Eight drones attacked Moscow’s more affluent areas which house the residences of senior Russian government officials during the early hours of the morning. The skirmish resulted in two casualties and no deaths. Ukraine has denied its direct involvement in the attacks, while Moscow insists that this is a response attack following the Kremlin’s 50-drone attack on Ukraine yesterday.

This story is developing on: BBC| The Financial Times | The Wall Street Journal | CNBC | Reuters

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

House gives its final nod to tax hikes, income tax changes: MPs gave their final approval yesterday to a fresh batch of tax amendments — raising the threshold for income tax exemption and introducing a raft of tax, duty, and development fee hikes.
Auto sales dip to new lows in April:Auto sales fell 69% y-o-y in April as the shortage of foreign currency continued to impact the automotive industry. Distributors sold 5.1k vehicles during the month, compared to 16.6k in April 2022.
Edita Food Industries has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of frozen bakery producer Fancy Foods.

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.

That said, we're looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

During the program you will learn:

The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it's industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- Sunny skies will be bringing on the heat with a high of 38°C, with the mercury dropping to 25°C at night, as per our favorite weather app.

Our brains aren’t programmed to multiple things simultaneously + How do we register someone’s presence?

Multitasking is a myth: Our brains are programmed to do one thing at a time — in fact, everytime we assume that we are multitasking we are actually jumping from one task to another, a neuroscience professor at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory says, according to the Wall Street Journal. This practice impacts the quality of all of our tasks and eventually leaves us with brain fog — we can’t recall which task we started on first and have no idea where we stopped. This juggling of tasks butchers our creativity and makes us more vulnerable to making mistakes.

The solution? Monotasking: Silencing our notifications, organizing our emails into batches to be refreshed every 15 minutes, and assigning periods of deep work v breaks will result in true “productivity” as opposed to trying to do everything at once. We shouldn’t take advantage of pauses, too — a bowl heating in the microwave for 2 minutes, for instance — as a chance to “put that time to use” doing something else, suggests a productivity coach. In fact, allowing your brain to wander isn’t a waste. On the contrary, daydreaming is an activity we should be doing more of, rather than looking for distractions.

The illusion of a “felt presence”: Unlike hallucinations — which are typically registered by the senses — the impression that someone is “right there with us” originates less from a tangible sound, smell, touch, etc. and more from an unexplained feeling or intuition, according to BBC Future.

This could be a result of many things, but scientists have hypotheses: One possibility could be that this inkling is due to atypical activity in the parts of the brain that are responsible for creating meaning from the data collected by our senses — leading to a sort of blurring of our bodily boundaries, according to an associated professor of psychology at Durham University. Another theory refers to “predictive processing,” which is more likely to happen in situations where the brain fails to make sense of the world we live in — due to extreme physical stress, an illness, or something else. In that scenario, the mind may overcompensate for the gaps in knowledge by using data it has stored from experience.

Guardian angels or ghosts? “Felt presence” may sound ominous, but it isn’t always that way. While women and Parkinson’s patients are more likely to interpret the experience negatively as a threatening situation, it can be comforting to other people, particularly those who may be in physical danger.

Blacklist: A former intel officer turns into a high-profile criminal — and eventually succumbs to working with the FBI

? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

Blacklist on Netflix is one of James Spader’s most iconic roles playing one of the most elusive characters on prime time television. First airing in 2013 and currently on its 10th and final season, we meet Raymond “Red” Reddington, who plays an ex-US Naval Intelligence officer who suddenly disappears and transforms into a high-profile criminal landing himself on the FBI’s Most Wanted fugitives list. Years later, he surrenders to them after escaping arrest and offers to share his “blacklist” — a collection of the world’s most notorious criminals and their activities. Reddington makes two demands: First, that he’ll work with them in exchange for immunity and on his own terms, and to work with newbie FBI special agent and criminal profiler Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone). He initially appears to have no affiliation to Keen, but as the seasons unfold we discover that there seems to be more there than anticipated. With every episode beginning with the villain’s number on Reddigton’s Blacklist, the series puts you on the edge of your seat waiting to meet the #1 person on his list. The 10-year run series offers a binge-worthy experience as each episode resolves itself by its culmination.

Here at home, Zamalek hosts Tala’ea El Gaish in a match that was postponed from the Egyptian Premier League’s 32nd Gameweek at 8pm tonight. The White Knights are in fourth place and are hoping to improve their standing to close in on third-place Future, while Talae’ea is holding out hope for… something, despite being second-to-last.

? Meanwhile in the French Open, world no. 2 Daniil Medvedev is currently playing against Brazil’s Thiago Seyboth Wild in the first round of the championship, with the two currently neck-in-neck in the first set. The US’ Taylor Fritz (world no. 9) will begin his match against compatriot Michael Mmoh at 4:40pm. We’ll also be keeping an eye later tonight on Gaël Monfils v Sebastian Baez at 9:15pm.

Over in the women’s singles, world no. 1 Iga Świątek faces off against Cristina Bucșa at 4:20pm. Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur already secured her spot in the next round after defeating Italy’s Lucla Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 earlier today.

Picasso, las mujeres que bailaron su vida (Picasso, the women who danced his life) will be showing this Thursday from 7-8pm at Instituto Cervantes El Cairo. Itis an extraordinary performance art piece that immortalizes the women who graced Picasso’s paintings and life. This performance is a collaboration between the Cairo Contemporary Dance Center and the Cervantes.

The Jokers, a group of stand up comedians, will be performing tomorrow at 8:30pm at Rawabet Art Space. If you’re looking for a laugh to unwind mid-week, this is the show to see. Check out Ticketsmarcheto book your seat.

Have you checked out Zawya Cinema’s Cairo Cinema Days? The festival showcases the latest films from the Arab region, with this year’s edition including 16 documentaries and feature films from Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Morocco, Iraq, Palestine, Algeria, and Lebanon. Film screenings are ongoing through 10 June — you can check out the schedule and find more details here.

The annual Flower Exhibition — which is typically held at the Orman Gardens — is now open to the public at the Agricultural Museum in Dokki. The exhibition will run for one month until 27 June.

Dive into Egypt’s infinitely rich contemporary art world: The “Traces of Egypt” Exhibition began in late March and will continue until Thursday, 15 June, at the Grand Egyptian Museum. The exhibit is organized by Egyptian-German artist Susan Hefuna and celebrates the country’s Khayamiya tradition through 28 dresses celebrating local artisans and their craftsmanship.

Fancy a chuckle, or more? Watch Absurd & Beyond by ACT at Rawabet Art Space this Friday, 2 June and Saturday, 3 June starting from 8pm.

Start training for your next half marathon: The TriFactory is hosting another edition of itsMadinaty Half Marathon on Friday, 9 June at Madinaty. You can sign up for the event through the TriFactory website.

Hiba Tawaji is back with her first concert in Cairo after three years: The Lebanese singing sensation will be performing in the Cairo Opera house on Friday, 16 June starting from 8:30pm to celebrate the release of her new album, Ba’d Seneen. The performance will be conducted by Maestro Ahmed Aweida and under the supervision of Oussama El-Rahbani. Click here to reserve your tickets.

The Company: A Story of the CIA by Robert Littell is a fictionalized retelling of the CIA from 1950 to the 1990s. The beauty of this 900-page monster of a book that keeps you turning the pages is that the lines between history and fiction are so blurred that you begin to question the truth. The story’s characters are also a thrill, such as the main US agent, Harvey “The Sorcerer” Torriti, who is an anti-hero in comparison to the renditions of the American superhero spy that we see today. He is paunchy, an alcoholic, and listens to opera only to mask his voice should he be spied upon by his adversaries, the KGB. This saga will give you everything any fan of the Cold War era enjoys: Plots, assassination attempts, retelling of true historical events such as the Cuban Bay of Pigs incident, and the Hungarian Uprising. Littell also does not leave out the presidents — look for his versions of the Kennedy brothers and Ronald Reagan where he gives conspiracy theorists their day in the sun. Another key figure that he paints as one of paranoia is James J. Angleton, the former CIA Chief of Counterintelligence from 1954 to 1975 and his consistent search for a mole that permeates every chapter.

Earnings watch: Telecom Egypt, MM Group, Housing and Development Bank, Raya Holding, Eastern Company, and Abu Qir Fertilizers report results

EARNINGS WATCH-

Telecom Egypt reported EGP 4.1 bn in normalized net income in 1Q 2023, rising 144% y-o-y, according to its earnings release (pdf). The company’s revenues climbed 48% y-o-y to EGP 14 bn during the quarter.

MM Group for Industry and International Trade’s net income rose 201.7% y-o-y to EGP 153.0 mn in 1Q 2023, according to the company’s earnings release (pdf). Revenues grew 27.6% y-o-y to EGP 2.5 bn during the quarter.

Raya Holding’s net income more than tripled y-o-y to EGP 143 mn in 1Q 2023, according to its earnings release (pdf). Revenues grew 46% y-o-y to EGP 6.55 bn 1Q 2023. The company attributed the growth in its topline primarily to its trade business unit, which grew by 47% y-o-y, followed by the IT unit, the fintech NBFS unit, and Raya CX.

The Housing and Development Bank’s net income came in at EGP 1.3 bn in 1Q 2023, climbing 112% y-o-y, while the bank’s interest income for the same quarter stood at EGP 3.57 bn, up 75.2% y-o-y, according to the company’s EGX disclosure (pdf).

Eastern Company’s net income climbed 35% y-o-y to EGP 1.8 bn in 3Q 2022-23, according to the company’s earnings release (pdf). Meanwhile, revenues rose 10% to EGP 4.7 bn.

Abu Qir Fertilizers’ net income rose to roughly EGP 13 bn in 9M 2022-23, up 86.1% y-o-y, according to the company’s financials (pdf). Revenues stood at around EGP 17.3 bn during the first three quarters of the company’s fiscal year, climbing up 43.7% y-o-y.

MARKET ROUNDUP-

The EGX30 rose 1.9% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 3.21 bn. Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 20.1% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Construction (+9.0%), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (+8.5%) and Ezz Steel (+4.5%).

In the red: Taaleem (-2.0%), Ibnsina Pharma (-1.4%) and Rameda (-0.4%).

Meet our founder of the week: Rafeya founder and CEO Noura Galal

OUR FOUNDER OF THE WEEK– Every Tuesday, Founder of the Week looks at how a successful member of Egypt’s startup community got their big break, asks about their experiences running a business, and gets their advice for budding entrepreneurs. Speaking to us this week is Nour Galal (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of Rafeya Fashion.

My name is Noura Galal and I’m the founder and CEO of Rafeya. I’m currently 31 years old; I started Rafeya in 2016 with the aim of raising awareness about self-acceptance and making every girl feel beautiful through her clothing because there is no single, stereotypical idea of what a beautiful woman looks like. We offer women the chance to customize their clothes according to their specific measurements to avoid the typical restrictions imposed by the fashion industry.

I originally studied English literature and then worked for many years in an education-focused NGO called the Educate Me Foundation. I helped build the first two community schools and my interactions with the people there allowed me to see a gap. Despite very difficult circumstances ranging from FGM to domestic violence, to being the main earners in their families, the women there are heroes. And so I decided to support them in their quest to learn a craft that is lucrative and allows for growth because some of them sold products that did not necessarily have an important demand in the market. These women inspired me to start something that combines supporting these women and also advancing the cause of self-love and acceptance through custom-made products as someone who personally had a hard time finding garments I liked that also suited me.

An important part of Rafeya is the sense of ownership the women I work with feel. When I first started the business, the workers took a percentage of each garment we sold. Although this model is no longer feasible — because as we grew, we developed a different production system with many lines of clothing — I still very much care to instill this sense of being in this together. The better our work and the quality of our products the more we will grow together

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing processes unfold: I love watching different problems — and, trust me, there are many — get resolved. In this industry, there are constantly new challenges and things are never stagnant. From issues like sourcing raw materials to resolving quality and market penetration issues, I love seeing results, solutions, and growth. Another thing I like is seeing the factory and number of workers grow as well as the impact of the work we do on the people who make it.

The most challenging part of my job is that I’m always learning things on the go. I didn’t study fashion nor design and so things are not always easy, particularly since we’re doing something new. Unlike other brands that may say they are inclusive, we do not just offer plus size models — an XXXL garment in a regular store is an XL in our sizing charts. We also care to provide women with garments that are flattering, suitable to individual women’s shapes, and well-tailored with delivery services across all of the country’s governorates. The technical side is also challenging for two reasons: Producing using computers to create clothing is not easy, particularly as customers don’t always know how to take their measurements accurately. Another important challenge is that the stigma around local brands, despite having improved, is somewhat persistent. Customers don’t always trust that our products will correspond to the images we post, but that’s slowly changing.

We are a completely self-funded business. My brother and I are co-founders: He focuses more on the e-commerce and analytics side of things. We are not currently thinking of bringing in investors because the business is growing and we are yet to know exactly what our needs are going to be. We are in the process of scaling the factory — which we own — so we are very much still figuring things out.

Our energy right now is more focused on short-term goals without losing sight of our purpose. We also want to stand out from a market that is quickly becoming saturated with casual wear — particularly since the raw materials are the same across companies and brands. We want to do that by launching a new swimsuit line in addition to our couture collection in addition to printing our own fabrics with our in-house textile designer. Another important goal we want to accomplish is to narrate our story better. I want to introduce our positive social impact — which is supporting local artisans — without making clients feel like they have to compromise on quality in order to do good. I want them to feel like they can have both: High quality garments that also stand out from today’s exploitative fast fashion industry.

For advice, I mainly turn to my team. They are the most aware of what’s happening in the business. We make decisions together because generic business advice is not always possible to implement according to my specific situation. Because we customize all our products, our model is different and so we can’t always benefit from outsiders’ experience when it comes to specific issues.

The advice I would give people who are starting their business is to just try yourself out.The best thing to do is to set a plan, execute it, see the results, and then judge and amend accordingly — no two experiences or businesses are the same. Another thing is that marketing is one of the most important things. Because even if you have the most amazing product, with significant added value but if there is no channel linking you to your audience, you will not sell and your creations will be stuck in the conceptual stage — this is something I learned the hard way. There was a point in time where my business was losing money because, as an e-commerce brand, if I do not have appropriate visibility, I cannot survive. And the more data you have, the more information you have about what your customers need.

Having your own business is very consuming. I am burned out most of the time but I try to make time for my social life and health. So in my down time I try to slow down, rest, and establish a balance that can provide me with the stamina I need to keep going. I also love animals and love spending time with my dog, Goldie, and her friends — she has a busy social life.

My family resisted the idea of Rafeya in the beginning. They saw it more as a side thing to do in parallel with another job. But that changed as the business prospered. As I started traveling, appearing on television, growing the team, and becoming more financially independent, they started feeling like I was accomplishing something. They also felt that way when they saw my products.

A local brand that I think is killing it is Macrame.RouH. The founder and I previously worked together and she is now doing a tremendous job in Assiut teaching women the art of macramé. She has managed to take something that some thought to be obsolete and reintroduce it in fashion, home décor, and a lot of other products. She created jobs in Upper Egypt, which I think is very impressive. I also like Tawasol, an NGO which combines education and training for underprivileged families in Greater Cairo.

THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

MAY

17 May-10 June (Wednesday-Saturday): Cairo Cinema Days at Zawya Cinema, Downtown Cairo.

27 May-27 June (Saturday-Tuesday): Annual Flower Exhibition from 10am at the Agricultural Museum.

JUNE

9 June (Friday): TriFactory Madinaty Half Marathon.

10 June (Saturday): Thanaweya Amma examinations begin.

15 June (Thursday): Last day of the Traces of Egypt Exhibition at the Grand Egyptian Museum.

28 June-2 July (Wednesday-Sunday): Eid El Adha (TBC).

30 June (Friday): June 30 Revolution Day.

JULY

18 July (Tuesday): Islamic New Year.

20 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

23 July (Sunday): Revolution Day.

27 July (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Revolution Day.

SEPTEMBER

26 September (Tuesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

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

OCTOBER

6 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day.

13 October- 20 October (Friday-Friday): The sixth edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF).

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2023: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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