Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome back. We hope you had a restful Eid break and are returning to work this morning feeling recharged and rejuvenated.

Not everyone is back in the office: Our American friends — and the US financial markets — are off today as the country celebrates Independence Day. Happy Fourth, folks. (And a belated happy Canada Day to our Canadian friends, who observed on 1 July.)

There’s always the next holiday to look forward to: We’ll likely get two more days off this month. Islamic New Year falls on Tuesday, 18 July, while Revolution Day falls on Sunday, 23 July. The big question: Will we get two three-day weekends — or one four-day break, running Thursday, 20 July-Sunday, 23 July?

THE BIG STORY here at home: The news cycle is easing us gently back into things this morning, with a smattering of investment, M&A, and automotive news. Topping the headlines is the news that Abu Dhabi Tourism Investment Company could invest some USD 175 mn in Egypt to both expand its footprint and refurbish existing properties. We have all the details below. But first…

IT’S A NEW MONTH — and a new fiscal year for the state, including most state-owned financial institutions. Here are the key news triggers to look out for in July:

• PMI: S&P Global will release PMI figures for June on Wednesday, 5 July.
• Foreign reserves: The Central Bank of Egypt should publish foreign reserves figures for last month before the end of this week.
• Inflation: Capmas and the central bank will release June’s inflation figures on Monday, 10 July.
• EGX: Taqa Arabia shares are expected to start trading on the EGX this month, making the company the first debutant on the EGX of 2023.
• Interest rates: The central bank will hold its next policy meeting on Thursday, 3 August.

The private-sector minimum wage rose 11% at the beginning of this month under the recent decision by the National Council for Wages to bring private-sector wages closer to the public-sector minimum. Businesses now have to pay staff a gross salary of least EGP 3k per month, up from EGP 2.7k previously. This is the second time the government has raised the minimum wage for private-sector workers under efforts to alleviate the impact of the soaring cost of living on households.

We’re officially out of the UN grain treaty: Egypt’s planned exit from the Grains TradeConvention (GTC) has come into effect, a source at the Agriculture Ministry confirmed to Enterprise yesterday. Cairo in February gave notice that it will withdraw from the convention by the end of June — a move aimed at cutting the USD-denominated membership fees paid for what state officials had told Reuters is a treaty of “no added value.”

The gov’t is lining up alternatives: The government is in talks with 22 countries — including India, Brazil, and other South American nations — to sign wheat import agreements, our source told us.

TODAY IN THE HOUSE-

House committees reconvene: The Defense and National Security Committee will discuss a draft bill regulating the rights of refugees and asylum seekers; cabinet greenlit the measures last month. The bill will regulate the legal status of refugees and set up a committee to oversee refugee affairs. It will be up for discussion and a vote next week.

ALSO:

• The Local Administration Committee will discuss a draft law that widens the scope for property owners to pay “reconciliation fees” if they have violated the building code; the fees allow them to legalize the status of their buildings. The draft law was approved by the cabinet late last year.
• The Social Solidarity Committee will look into a draft bill setting up a fund to support people with disabilities.

On the agenda tomorrow: Cabinet’s new investment incentives. The Budget Committee will look into a draft bill reinstating taxes on state entities in a bid to level the playing field with private firms. The Economic Affairs Committee will discuss amendments to the Investment Law aimed at boosting foreign inflows. Cabinet approved the new legislation before the Eid break.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events,

national holidays and news triggers.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

The SCZone’s roadshow has six stops planned for 2H 2023. The Suez Canal Economic Zone’s (SCZone) will be drumming up investment in South Korea, Germany, the UK, Vietnam, Singapore, and Brazil before the end of the year, SCZone boss Walid Gamal El Din said, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The roadshow just wrapped up its trip to India, during which it lined up investments from a number of energy, industrial, and construction companies. It has also been to China, Japan, the Netherlands, and Vietnam so far this year.

DATA POINTS-

#1- The EGX was the MENA region’s best-performing stock market in the first half of 2023 (albeit in local currency terms), rising 21%. The Dubai Financial Market index was the second-best performer, finishing 1H 2023 up 13.7%, while the Saudi’s Tadawul gained 9.4%. On the other side of the ledger, Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange lost 6.5% in the first half.

#2-Imports worth USD 32 bn received customs clearance over the past fivemonths, the Finance Ministrysaid on Sunday. Priority was given to essential commodities, food manufacturing components and inputs, and medical supplies.The statement gives no comparative period for the previous five-month period or for the same time last year.

There’s no one BIG STORY ABROAD dominating the international headlines this morning. New oil production cuts by Saudi Arabia (read more in our Planet Finance section) and a major Israeli raid in the West Bank (full story in our Around the World section) are both getting wide coverage.

The business pages are heavy on tech drama, as new daily viewing limits imposed on Twitter posts by Elon Musk over the weekend sent (some) users running to join(the waitlist for)Jack Dorsey-backed social media newcomer Bluesky. (CNBC | The Verge)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS- 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-ssuite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

Day one is our Banking Forum, where we’ll dive deep into topics of interest to commercial and investment bankers, from an outlook on the 12 months to come in M&A, IPO, and debt capital markets to the national, regional, and global trends that are (re)shaping our industry.

Day two is all about Fintech and Non-Banking Financial Services. We’ll take a deep dive into everything from the magic of client acquisition to the prospects of consolidation and the coming of challenger banks.

** 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.

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? Please click here.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our agenda.

DID YOU MISS THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast and listen for yourself: The Enterprise Podcast is back with another installment of our forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum,which took place in May.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE- We looked at how Egyptian companies can identify and pitch foreign partners and how they can identify them. We asked how do companies figure out what they’re looking for — and whether that dovetails with what they want or need. We were joined on that panel by Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at PE firm Apis, Cheick-Oumar Sylla, director for North Africa and Horn of Africa at the International Finance Corporation, and Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean) at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Expect us to drop an episode every Sunday morning. You can listen to the Enterprise Podcast where ever you get your podcasts including: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.

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 “reporter development program” in your subject line.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: What to expect from round two of the Smart Green Projects initiative.