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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TONIGHT

THIS EVENING: Auto sales fell again in July

Good afternoon, friends, and welcome to the last Wednesday of August as we brace ourselves for the last Sahel weekend. It’s also the last weekend before all private and international school students will be back in class — make the most of it.

THE BIG STORY TODAY

Auto sales down again in July: Monthly auto sales fell 50.7% y-o-y in July, with distributors selling 6.3k vehicles during the month, according to figures from the Automotive Marketing Information Council (AMIC). July’s automotive sales are flat m-o-m, as the industry continues to struggle with the ongoing FX crisis.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD

The two big themes in the international press this afternoon: China and Hurricane Idalia.

From China: A Chinese private equity fund has been using Goldman Sachs to own or acquire more equityin businesses in critical industries such as AI, drones and EV batteries (Financial Times). Meanwhile, Beijing is reiterating that China is open for business after US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said the country is “uninvestable” as US businesses say they suffer from raids, fines, and other obstacles (Reuters | CNBC).
Meanwhile, Hurricane Idalia is growing in ferocity and is now a category 4 storm as it approaches Florida. Schools have been closed and residents requested to evacuate to higher ground. The storm has also closed Tampa airport and airlines have issued waivers to passengers intending to travel to and from cities in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. (The Wall Street Journal | Associated Press | New York Times)

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

State ownership policy, v3: The government is aiming to draw USD 5 bn in investment through the privatization of state-owned companies and assets in the nine months between October 2023 and June 2024.
Military asset sales in the spotlight: The sales of military-owned firms Safi and Wataniya were spotli ghted in the latest iteration of the government’s state ownership policy out yesterday.
Energy as sets in focus: The Madbouly government is making the sale of several energy assets a priority.

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.
What does 2024 hold in store for fintech: We dive deep into which categories are getting traction, which segments will account for the lion’s share of future growth, 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- Temperatures are climbing as the mercury will hit 41°C at its peak in the day and drop to a cooler 25°C in the evening, according to our favorite weather app.

Japan influenced mini-forests in Amman + Internet preferred with digital nomads

Amman is expanding its urban green spaces in a bid to combat warming temperatures by relying on trees, which can lower temperatures by up to 12°C, Bloomberg reports. Together with a Japanese designer, a Jordanian architect has worked on five mini-forests, and the duo is working on their sixth and largest project yet. The mini-forests create natural cooling mechanisms to provide relief from record-high temperatures spurred by climate change.

A special Japanese technique to ensure the project’s sustainability: The duo has opted to emulate a technique developed in the 70s by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, which consists of packing seeds close together to promote rapid growth. This ultimately allows miniature forests to grow in as little as 10 years. Other pragmatic choices include focusing on endangered trees that can flourish in arid conditions to save water.

Part of the allure: Trees can be planted anywhere. While it is challenging to find appropriate spaces in urban settings due to their high density, all it takes is some creativity and the potential becomes endless. This brings to mind other projects in the region like Egypt’s Schaduf, which has been planting green roofs across the city.

Where do “digital nomads” flock to? Barcelona, Toronto, and Beijing are the top three cities where remote and hybrid employees prefer to work — or, as the youths call it, go on work-cation, according to a report by flexible workplace company International Workplace Group (IWG) cited by CNBC. The idea of work-cations — working while traveling — has recently gained popularity, along with remote work and hybrid work. IWG compared 26 cities worldwide grading them on a scale from 1 to 10 according to climate, culture, accommodation, transportation, food, happiness, broadband speed, and accessibility of flexible workspace.

What makes these spots special: Barcelona was described as “alluring” due to its combination of the sun, sea, and cosmopolitan atmosphere, as well as being relatively cheaper compared to other European cities. Toronto also offers affordable accommodation along with flexibility of workplaces as 18% of the city is dedicated to parks offering more space for digital nomads. The Chinese capital, meanwhile, contributes to the world-class art scene offering 1484 galleries and museums, along with cheap accommodation and transportation.

The Devil All the Time: A dark and cruel depiction of the impact of violence

? ON THE TUBE TONIGHT-
(all times CLT)

The Devil All the Time is an ambitious production of a multi-threaded and multi-generational narrative. Based on Donald Ray Pollock’s book and made for the silver screen by Netflix, It follows a single family that struggles with the concepts of faith and evil as it is impacted by murder and tragedy — sometimes at the hands of men of the cloth. Willard Russel (Bill Skarsgård) returns home from fighting in the second world war, riddled with PTSD and grasping at faith to ground him. His son Arvin (Tom Holland) grows up with a muddled sense of faith, and is taught to take matters into his own hands. When violence stirs his town, Arvin responds in the only way he knows how. The star-studded cast, which includes Robert Pattison and Mia Wasikowska, deliver powerful performances all around, though perhaps short-lived, due to the amount of ground they have to cover. Most surprising is Holland, who flexes his range in a role he would not be expected to play or carry well.

Sakura sushi is a not-so-hidden Maadi gem. We thought we were part of the select few who discovered the understated place, but as it turns out, probably so do the 18k other people who follow the Japanese restaurant’s Facebook page. Located in Degla, and only delivering in Maadi, the small venue is cozy with only a few tables, but their menu is vast: It features everything you expect — think Miso and Tom Yam soups, spring rolls and wasabi shrimp, and salmon and spicy tuna tartar salads. While we are very intimately familiar with rolls such as Nigiri and Oshi sushi, we ventured for lesser known options like Bermuda and Ligo sushi rolls and we were not disappointed. Sakura is also a nice option to bring your vegan friends along with options like mushroom Nigiri and Hoso avocado — and you can’t go wrong with Yakisoba vegetable noodles, of course. The prices are also budget friendly if you want to break your routine, without breaking the bank.

Save some energy for a concert featuring Double Zuksh, Omar Kamal, El Sawareekh , and Abu tomorrow. Tickets are available on Tazakrti.
Wegz will hit the stage this Friday, 1 September. Tickets are available on Tazkarti.
Sharmoofers will perform this Saturday, 2 September. Tickets are available on Tazkarti.

The Citadel Music and Singing Festival continues today and wraps up next Thursday, 7 September.The festival will be held at the Salah El Din Citadel with several acts lined up:

Ahmed Gamal and his band will be performing today.
Ali El Haggar will be performing this Thursday, 31 August.
Musician Hisham Kharma and the Tunsian singer Ghalia Benali will be performing on Sunday, 3 September.

El Morabba3 is coming to Egypt. Jordanian rockband El Morabba3 will be performing at two concerts, the first of which will be at the closing ceremony of the International Summer Festival at Bibliotheca Alexandrina this Friday, 1 September. The second will be at El Sawy Culturewheel on Sunday, 3 September. Tickets are available here for Bibliotheca Alexandrina and here for El Sawy CultureWheel.

Tamino is coming back to Egypt to perform on Friday, 22 September at 8pm at AUC’s New Cairo campus. The early bird tickets for his Sahar Tour are on sale on Ticketsmarche starting today.

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.

Get your running shoes ready for the 2023 edition of the El Gouna Half Marathon, which is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 11 November. You can sign up for the marathon from here — and catch the lowest registration price with the early bird special which starts today and ends Saturday, 30 September.

The Push : Ashley Audrain’s debut novel is a hard pill to swallow. While most mothers know the dark side of motherhood, Blythe Connor seems to have crossed a threshold. When she has her daughter, Violet, she and her husband Fox are over the moon. The smitten father bonds immediately with the angelic-looking child. Blythe, on the other hand? Not so much. Is it a classic case of postpartum depression? Maybe. We are inclined to believe that particularly as the narrative is interspersed with flashbacks from Blythe’s own childhood as well as her mother’s and grandmother’s: The protagonist’s matriarchal line is rife with complicated characters, emotions, and unsettling behaviors. But also, we are confronted with the issue of Violet’s strange and calculated behavior, Blythe’s transformation when her maternal instincts only kick in smoothly when she gives birth to baby boy Sam, and finally, a senseless tragedy that completely upends the family. Is Blythe an unfit mother, or is Violet a peculiarly difficult child to parent?

What the markets are doing on 30 August, 2023

The EGX30 rose 1.0% at today’s close on turnover of EGP 2.3 bn (11% above the 90-day average). Regional investors were net sellers. The index is up 28.9% YTD.

In the green: CIB (+3.3%), Heliopolis Housing (+2.5%) and Edita (+2.2%).

In the red: Orascom Construction (-3.4%), Alexandria Containers (-3.3%) and Beltone Financial Holding (-2.4%).

THE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT CALENDAR

AUGUST

30 August (Wednesday): Ahmed Gamal concert, Citadel Festival for Music and Singing, Citadel Salah El Din, Cairo.

31 August (Thursday): Ali El Haggar concert, Citadel Festival for Music and Singing, Citadel Salah El Din, Cairo.

31 August (Thursday): Double Zuksh, Omar Kamal, El Sawareekh concert, New Alamein Festival, New Alamein.

SEPTEMBER

1 September (Friday): Wegz concert, New Alamein Festival, New Alamein.

1 September (Friday): El Morabba3 band concert, Summer International Festival, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria.

2 September (Saturday): Sharmoofers band concert, New Alamein Festival, New Alamein.

3 September (Sunday): El Morabba3 band concert, El Sawy Culturalwheel, El Zamalek, Cairo

3 September (Sunday): Hisham Kharma and Ghalia Benali concert, Citadel Festival for Music and Singing, Citadel Salah El Din, Cairo.

4 September (Monday): Improv for All! With Radwan, The Greek Campus, Downtown Cairo

6 September (Wednesday): Improv for All! With Radwan, The Greek Campus, Downtown Cairo

7 September (Thursday): Um Kalthoum puppet show, Sawy Culturewheel, El Zamalek, Cairo

7-9 September (Thursday-Saturday): Handicrafts market, Sawy Culturewheel, El Zamalek, Cairo

9 September (Saturday): Badya SuperCycle, Badya, 6th of October

11 September (Monday): Improv for All! With Radwan, The Greek Campus, Downtown Cairo

18 September (Monday): Retro Concert at Sawy Culturewheel, El Zamalek, Cairo

21-23 September (Thursday-Saturday) L’Etape Egypt by Tour de France, Sharm El Sheikh

22 September (Friday) Tamino Sahar performance, AUC Main Campus

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.

13-20 October (Friday-Friday): El Gouna Film Festival (GFF).

28 October (Saturday): Djs Kygo, Tiësto, Kung and Frank Walker concert, Giza Pyramids.

NOVEMBER

11 November (Saturday): El Gouna Half Marathon 2023, El Gouna.

15-24 November (Wednesday-Friday): Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF).

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2023: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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