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Sunday, 20 Oct 2024

What We’re Tracking Tonight
For Your Commute
Enterprise Recommends
Go With The Flow
Inside Industry
The Enterprise Entertainment Calendar

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Today at a glance

1

The Big Story Today

Feerum allegedly pulls out of grain silo factory project.
2

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Can Egypt revive its foil industry?
3

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

Rise of the machines.
4

ON THE TUBE TONIGHT

Three sisters navigate the loss of their father.
5

Sports

The fields are seeing a lot of action tonight.
6

OUT AND ABOUT

A celebration of Arab music.
7

Ears to the Ground

A green thumbs up.

Sunday, 20 Oct 2024

What We’re Tracking Tonight
For Your Commute
Enterprise Recommends
Go With The Flow
Inside Industry
The Enterprise Entertainment Calendar
1

WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

Poland’s Feerum allegedly pulls out of grain silo factory project

Good afternoon everyone, and a warm welcome to the start of the workweek.

THE BIG STORY TODAY-

It looks like Port Said’s EGP 1.6 bn grain silo factory project has lost its foreign partner: The Egyptian arm of Polish grain silo company Feerum will pull out of its agreement to set up a factory to manufacture grain silos with with Egyptian construction and engineering firm Samcrete and the state-owned Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage, an anonymous Feerum Egypt official told Al Mal.

The why: The company official reportedly pointed to the refraction of its first order for a silo in the domestic market by the Supply Ministry — which hampered the project’s negotiations with local banks to finance the project — among other undisclosed reasons.

Remember: For years, the state has been working to boost its wheat storage capacity, building more silos and taking out loans to invest in silo development, all with the aim of ensuring none of our local harvest goes to waste due to lack of sufficient silo capacity and increasing wheat reserves. The Supply Ministry has a plan to increase the country’s silo capacity to 5.3 mn tons from its current 2.1 mn tons and cut down on the percentage of wheat that is wasted in the harvest and storage process.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The killing of Yahya Al Sinwar hasn’t deterred Israel’s attack on Gaza, with strikes against Lebanon intensifying. Southern Beirut was one target of the Israeli military’s strikes on Saturday, as was a residential building in the Palestinian town of Beit Lahiya, where at least 87 people were killed. Despite hopes in some diplomatic circles that the killing of Sinwar could open up the possibility of Israel's openness to a ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu has reiterated to Israeli media that the war on Gaza and Lebanon will continue. (Reuters | CNN)

In the realm of business, nuclear energy stocks have seen a major upswing in the wake of AI demand. Last week saw AI frontrunners like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft follow OpenAI’s steps in looking to nuclear energy to power their AI data centers. After landmark deals penned by Amazon and Google, shares in nuclear energy companies in the US have risen by 37-99%. (Financial Times)

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

  • Steady as she goes: The Central Bank of Egypt left record high interest rates unchanged on Thursday, in line with analyst expectations.
  • The fuel bill keeps going up: The fuel pricing committee decided to hike fuel prices by 8-17% as of last Friday, marking the third fuel hike of the year.
  • Stay positive: S&P Global Ratings decided to keep the country’s long- and short-term sovereign credit rating outlook as positive and affirmed its B-/B rating.

enterprise

*** 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.

☀️ TOMORROW’S WEATHER- As has been the case for the past week, the mercury is expected to reach a high of 31°C and a low of 21°C in the capital, according to our favorite weather app.

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2

FOR YOUR COMMUTE

Rise of the machines

The Terminator wasn’t too far off, says a new study. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that robotic systems that rely on LLM-based AI to make decisions could actually pose a threat to human life. AI hallucinations still make generated content unreliable, but the real issue is that the technology is extremely susceptible to hacking, which could be disastrous when the AI is being used to govern hardware.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to external sources.)

Hackers that exploit the vulnerabilities of AI systems can force them to harm people. The researchers were able to demonstrate this by implementing RoboPair, an “algorithm designed to jailbreak LLM-controlled robots,” sending instructions that elicit harmful physical actions to an Nvidia self-driving vehicle, a Clearpath Robotics Jackal UGV operating on OpenAI’s GPT-4o, and robot dog running on GPT-3.5. They achieved a 100% attack success rate.

The researchers aren’t presenting this issue for the sake of fear-mongering. “The findings of this paper make it abundantly clear that… [we] must address intrinsic vulnerabilities before deploying AI-enabled robots in the real world,” said Vijay Kumar, a co-author of the paper. The team is currently working on developing a system that only allows the implementation of orders that “conform to social norms” if implemented to robotic hardware, meaning that the AI won’t be able to make any decisions that can be seen as harmful.

The team has shared their findings with both AI companies and the manufacturers of the robots they used in their study in hopes that they will address these vulnerabilities.

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3

ENTERPRISE RECOMMENDS

Three sisters navigate the loss of their father

? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

Three sisters deal with the passing of their father. His Three Daughters is a deeply moving film that navigates the complexities of grief, family, and self-discovery in a way that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to external sources.)

To each their own: The story starts in the days leading up to their father Vincent’s (Jay O. Sanders) passing, focusing on sisters Katie (Carrie Coon), Christina (Elizabeth Olsen), and Rachel (Natasha Lyonne). Katie is pragmatic and controlling, fretting over her father's lack of a Do Not Resuscitate order, while Christina offers warmth and support, and Rachel appears more detached, focused on her own distractions.

Through natural dialogue, we learn about the sisters' lives, their pasts, and the burdens they carry. Coon’s portrayal of Katie is particularly striking as she channels her grief into action. Olsen brings a sense of nostalgia and warmth to Christina, while Lyonne’s Rachel provides a mix of humor and denial, highlighting her struggle to connect with their father.

Skip the melodrama. The film infuses humor into the narrative to balance the heavy themes of loss and introspection, but there’s a realistic, relatable atmosphere that makes the sisters’ interactions feel genuine and raw.

WHERE TO WATCH- You can watch the movie on Netflix or watch the trailer on Youtube (runtime: 2:25).

⚽ The Egyptian Super Cup is back with a new look. The Abu Dhabi-hosted tournament will be kicking off today after a system revamp and will run until Thursday, 24 October.

What to look out for: Pyramids, the previous champions of the Egyptian Cup, and Al Zamalek, which qualified via a Golden Card invitation, are first to face off, with their match scheduled for today at 4:05pm. They will be followed by an 8pm match that will see Al Ahly, the Egyptian premier league victors, going up against Ceramica Cleopatra, the Egyptian League champs. The victors of both matches will go up against one another in the final on Thursday, while the other two will vye for third place.

Things are heating up in the English fields of the Premier League: Matchday 8 of 38 is continuing today with two key matches. Man City, which sits in second place with 17 points, are up to play against Wolverhampton at 4pm. Later we will be seeing Liverpool, comfortable atop the scoreboard, will be going head to head against Chelsea at 6:30pm.

Their Spanish neighbors have one team eyeing the top spot: The whistle to Barcelona and Sevilla’s match will sound off tonight at 10pm in La Liga’s tenth matchday. Barcelona are currently at the top of the leaderboard, edging out Real Madrid (who have played an extra match) on goal difference. They aim to secure all three possible points to sit comfortably in first place ahead of next week’s El Clásico.

Other important European matches kicking off today:

  • Atlético Madrid vs. Leganés — La Liga (5:15pm).
  • Roma vs. Inter Milan — Serie A (9:45pm).

? OUT AND ABOUT-
(all times CLT)

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

The celebration of music continues at the Arab Music Festival. The festival’s lineup includes Medhat Saleh, Ali El Haggar, Abeer Nehme, Wael Jassar, Lotfi Bouchnak, and more. The festival will run until Thursday, 24 October — tickets can be booked through Tazkarti.

A reunion of five wealthy friends in Sahel takes a turn in the play Sa7ebna. Tonight is your last chance to follow the narrative where tensions rise, and buried emotions and conflicts come to light at AUC Tahrir. You can grab tickets at Ticketsmarche.

The largest collection of prints in the country. Cairopolitan is bringing together a collection of artwork from over 180 local and regional artists to display in the Cairo Prints Exhibition. The gallery will be open from tomorrow till Monday, 18 November in Garden City.

For the love of tapestry. Today in History is Amsterdam-based Egyptian artist Dina Danish’s first exhibition in Egypt in nearly a decade. Composed of a collection of appliqué tapestries that resemble medieval banners, the exhibition is still open at the Gypsum Gallery till Saturday, 30 October.

The fourth edition of Forever is Now is approaching. This year, a lineup of 12 global visionary artists are ready to display their work at the iconic Pyramids of Giza — including two groundbreaking AI-powered projects. The exhibition will start on Thursday, 24 October and continue till Saturday, 16 November.

HAPPENING LATER-

Creatives, assemble. SYNC Summit 2024 is here from Thursday 7 November to Saturday 9 November at District 5, Marakez. Prepare to dive into immersive workshops and inspiring talks across multiple creative tracks. It’s all about making connections in the industry, learning, and unleashing your creativity. You can grab tickets at Ticketsmarche.

Did somebody say cheese? The third edition of Egypt Cheese Festival will begin on Thursday, 31 October at Al Horreya Garden. This is the only dairy and cheese festival in Egypt and the Middle East so prepare to witness all the different sorts of this delicious delicacy. The festival will last till Sunday, November 3.

Prepare for the sixth edition of The Marakez Pyramids Half Marathon, organized by the TriFactory. Pick your race of choice and start training, because the marathon will take place on Saturday, 14 December. Note: Ticket prices will increase in a week, so get in line for early bird registration on the marathon’s website.

Egypt’s premier electro and dance music event. Witness immersive visuals and soundscapes with an electrifying lineup of international and local artists at the Aura Music Festival. The festival will take place on Friday, 13 December at Lac Du Caire. Tickets are available at Collard Tickets.

? EARS TO THE GROUND-

Does recycling sound complicated? Talking Rubbish is here to lighten your load. Hosted by sustainability gurus James Piper and Robbie Staniforth, this weekly show dives deep into the world of waste management.

In Are We Really Eating a Credit Card of Microplastic Weekly? discuss three types of plastics: Polypropylene, commonly found in yogurt pots and bottle caps; polystyrene, which can be expanded or rigid; and the other plastics category, encompassing 33 types, including biodegradable options that they promise to delve into later.

Trash Talk is the segment that we wait for. In this episode, they focused on the often-cited claim that we consume a credit card’s worth of microplastics each week. By examining the original study’s methodology and comparing it to more recent findings, they clarify that… No spoilers. But you’ll be surprised.

The podcast makes recycling approachable for everyone. Whether you're an eco-warrior or just looking to reduce your waste — you’ll get to learn how to sort your rubbish better while enjoying a good laugh.

WHERE TO LISTEN- You can listen to Talking Rubbish on their website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and Podtail.

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4

GO WITH THE FLOW

What the markets are doing on 20 October 2024

The EGX30 fell 2.0% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 4.2 bn (2.9% above the 90-day average). Non-Arab foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 18.6% YTD.

In the green: Ezz Steel (+6.1%), Oriental Weavers (+4.5%) and Eastern Company (+2.0%).

In the red: Elsewedy Electric (-4.5%), Cleopatra Hospitals (-4.2%), and TMG Holding (-4.0%).

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Read Inside Industry
5

INSIDE INDUSTRY

Can Egypt revive its foil industry?

There’s huge demand for foil in Egypt — but not a single factory producing it: Among other heavily imported items, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi recently pointed to the state's USD 512 mn import bill between 2014 to 2023 (watch, runtime: 1:26:24). Despite the sizable demand for the material that has numerous uses throughout the economy, Egypt does not currently produce foil — a fact that the president called for investors to help rectify.

(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to external sources.)

Local demand — and in turn our import bill — for foil has only been growing: The nation’s annual consumption of foil now sits somewhere between USD 120-140 mn, according to Industry Ministry data that Industry Minister Kamel El Wazir recently emphasized to the House. This equates to the local consumption of 46.7 mn tons of aluminum foil annually, member of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce’s home appliances division, Sherif Abdel Moneim, told EnterpriseAM.

The uptick in demand, however, is not necessarily a bad thing, representing significant growth in the nation’s home appliances industry. The growth of the air conditioning industry — which consumes large quantities of industrial foil — is also behind this huge import. Abdel Moneim also noted that the pharmaceutical industries require industrial foil and accounts for much of the imports.

The problem is that the demand is only met through imports: China is currently the main source of Egypt's aluminum foil imports, with Egyptian factories and companies primarily relying on it to meet their foil paper needs in the absence of any local alternatives, Abdel Moneim noted.

But Egypt hasn't always had to rely on imports for its foil needs: Industry insiders explained to EnterpriseAM that the country used to have two foil factories for industrial and household use. Chamber of Engineering Industries head Mohamed El Mohandes told Enterprise that Egypt was among the first countries to produce foil and was self-sufficient before the Helwan and Alexandria factories faced financial pressures and rising raw material and energy costs, forcing them to halt production to avoid accumulating losses.

With a new economic situation and the right incentives, it could be different this time: Understanding the reasons why local foil production came to a halt and figuring a way to address these challenges could help revive the industry, industry sources told us. It was reiterated to us that this is a no-brainer given the high domestic demand for the material.

Egyptian-made foil needs a helping hand to be competitive: El Mohandes noted the successive local price increases of the materials used for foil manufacturing amid a global rise in raw material costs and pressures on the country’s manufacturing industry. This means that imported products are often much cheaper. Raw material pricing intervention and provision could help give local manufacturers a boost and enable them to reach a competitive price point.

Energy costs are standing in their way of keeping the cost of the final product down: Rising energy prices are making it even harder for local manufacturers to offer their products at a competitive price, El Mohandes told us, adding that providing energy to these industries at a low price could help persuade manufacturers and investors to commit to projects to revive the local foil industry.

Modern production lines and export-oriented production are lao needed: Both Abdel Moneim and El Mohandes emphasized that the industry needs new production lines and modern machines to revive the industry. Abdel Moneim added that the factory needs rolling machines, which require production lines that cost about USD 3 bn.

Import tariffs on imported foil could also help boost local competitiveness: El Mohandes stated that the local industry does not get any kind of protection in terms of preventing imports from undercutting the price point that local alternatives could offer.

There’s already movement to try and revive the industry: EGX-listed Egypt Aluminium (EgyptAlum) is in negotiations with German rolling and foil slitting technology specialist Achenbach over its potential investment and funding of its USD 100 mn foil production line, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf) last month. EgyptAlum first unveiled its plans for the production line in April.

Your top industrial development stories for the week:

  • Dairy products producer Bel Egypt plans to invest some EGP 150 mn in Egypt in the coming two years. The new investments will be directed towards new production lines by next year and a 15% increase in production. (Asharq Business)
  • Saudi dairy giant Almarai inaugurated two new cheese production lines for its dairy and juice subsidiary Beyti. The Savola Group-owned company framed the EGP 1 bn investment as part of its “strategic vision to expand its regional footprint” and position in the F&B sector. (statement)
  • Turkish garments manufacturer Akay for Readymade Garments is planning to gradually invest EGP 1.5 bn over the next six years as part of its expansion agenda. The plan involves setting up a new factory in a freezone in Port Said to double the apparel maker’s production capacity, with an eye on exporting to foreign markets. (Al Borsa)
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THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

OCTOBER

28 September - 24 October (Saturday-Thursday): Bastet’s Daughters Exhibition at Craftastic.

7-21 October (Monday-Monday) First Wave exhibition at Downtown Cairo.

17-20 October (Thursday-Sunday): Sa7ebna play at AUC Tahrir.

18 October - 18 November (Friday-Monday): Cairo Prints Exhibition in Garden City

21-26 October (Saturday-Thursday): Premier Padel P2 Tournament at New Giza.

24 October - 16 November (Thursday-Saturday): Forever is Now art exhibition at the Pyramids of Giza.

24 October (Thursday): Omar Khairat Concert at Monaco Hall, Triumph Luxury Hotel.

24 October - 16 November (Thursday - Saturday): Art D'Egypte’s Forever is Now Bus Tour at the Pyramids.

25 October (Friday): TriFactory Trailmaster run at Wadi Degla.

29-30 October (Tuesday-Wednesday): Intelligent Cities Exhibition & Conference (ICEC) at Waldorf Astoria.

31 October (Thursday): TriFactory’s The Glow Run at Badya Palm Hills.

31 October- 3 November (Thursday-Sunday): Egypt Cheese Festival at Al Horreya Garden.

31 October - 8 November (Thursday-Friday): Cairo International Jazz Festival at the historic American University in Cairo.

NOVEMBER

7-9 November (Thursday-Saturday): SYNC Summit 2024 at District 5, Marakez.

8 November (Friday): TriFactory’s The Run for Upper Egypt at New Giza.

14-16 November (Thursday-Saturday): Raabta Wellness Festival at El Gouna.

15 November (Friday): Circoloco Ibiza at The Great Pyramids of Giza.

16 November (Saturday): Charlotte Cardin at Cairo Jazz Club 610.

16 November (Saturday): TriFactory Half Marathon at El Gouna.

22 November (Friday): TriFactory TMK run at District 5.

DECEMBER

6 December (Friday): TriFactory PMH warm-up run at District 5.

13 December (Friday): Aura Music Festival at Lac Du Caire

14 December (Saturday): TriFactory’s The Marakez Pyramids Half Marathon at the Great Pyramids of Giza.

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