Good morning, friends. We’ve got a busy issue for you today, with a whole lot of news — welcome and unwelcome. Hopefully helping you wake up on the right side of bed this morning is news that Kouchouk and Madbouly are set to announce tax incentives later today and some big ticket local M&A news to dig your teeth into. But over in the bad news corner, is data showing that inflation has picked up again after easing for five whole months. We’ve got all this and more in today's packed issue, so let’s jump right in.

HAPPENING TODAY-

#1- The government’s new tax incentives and other tax measures will be announced later today, a senior government source told Enterprise earlier this week. Finance Minister Ahmed Kouchouk told the American Chamber of Commerce yesterday that the new rules would lay the foundations for greater cooperation with the business community, according to a ministry statement.

There’s already some hype being built up in the run up: The talkshows, which later confirmed that Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly would announce the incentives together with Kouchouk during a presser today, saw Ahmed Moussa describe the upcoming announcement as “a new beginning for the relationship between the tax authority and the financial, business, and investment sectors” (watch, runtime: 5:27). We’ve got more reactions to the news from the nation’s talking heads in our Last Night’s Talk Shows section below.

A stamp tax replacing the proposed capital gains tax may be part of the plan: The government is studying alternatives to tax EGX capital gains, including imposing a 0.15% stamp tax to replace the long-awaited, and many times postponed capital gains tax for EGX transactions, a senior government source told Enterprise.

The why: The alternative tax is being explored amid reports that the government is thinking about scrapping its proposed capital gains tax that is supposed to begin collecting taxes on capital gains incurred from trading EGX-listed financial securities starting March-April 2025. The government is reportedly concerned that the tax could be detrimental to the country’s investment climate and Investment Minister Hassan El Khatib confirmed that “work is underway” to assess the situation.

#2- Mohamed Farid to take to the stage at the 10th EFG Hermes London Conference: Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) head Mohamed Farid is in London today to participate in the four-day annual conference in London, EFG Hermes said in a statement statement(pdf). Farid will be taking part in a fireside chat — under the title Regulations as a Catalyst for Growth: Unleashing Innovation in Capital Markets, Insuretech, and Fintech — that will dive into the latest in capital markets, regulations and fintech.

It’s day three of the four-day conference that aims to “delve into the profound potential emerging in key sectors across the global economy, offering participants unparalleled insights and connections in a rapidly evolving landscape.”

WATCH THIS SPACE-

The showdown between egg producers and the competition watchdog continues: The Table Egg Division of the Poultry Producers Union yesterday shot down allegations of price collusion leveled against its members by the Egyptian Competition Authority (ECA). The division said it has not received an official notification from investigating authorities in a statement yesterday, insisting that the market is driven by supply and demand. The ECA’s “vague announcement, lacking data on the accused, is a disservice to investment in the egg sector, which serves mns of Egyptians daily,” the division said. The body is considering submitting a memorandum to the cabinet to highlight the risk posed to investment by the ECA’s statement.

PSA-

#1- The EGX is also getting a long weekend: Traders, brokers, and everyone else as the bourse will also be off next Sunday in observance of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday, according to a bulletin by the bourse. The day was announced as a holiday for the private and public sectors earlier this week.

#2- Uber introduces new safety features: The ride hailing app has added a number of new safety measures for both riders and drivers, including on-trip audio recording, an in-app emergency button that connects riders and drivers to the police, and phone masking — which deletes any phone number shared in chats between riders and drivers, the company said in a press release (pdf). Uber has also introduced new layers to its screening process, including validating a driver’s documents and visual identity before they are able to create an account on the app and conducting monthly random drug testing for drivers.

WEATHER- A heatwave is pushing temperatures up in Cairo today, with a high of 40°C and a low of 28°C, according to our favorite weather app. This should be as hot it gets this week, with temperatures in the capital projected to gradually fall starting tomorrow.

It’s also much hotter than originally projected in Alexandria, with a high of 36°C and a low of 26°C. But the hot spell won’t last long up north, with the daily high falling to 32°C as of tomorrow and continuing to slowly fall throughout the rest of the week.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

The much-anticipated Harris-Trump debate ends with bang, not a whimper, as the two presidential hopefuls repeatedly accused each other of lying and clashed on the economy, January 6, abortion rights, Gaza, migration, and of course crowd sizes throughout the night.

Trump remained firm on his insistence that he won the 2020 election against Biden, going on to say that there was “so much proof” — conveniently without providing any. Doubling down, Trump alleged that Democrats were ferrying in undocumented migrants across the border to “get them to vote.”

Harris was keen to present Trump as a danger to democracy, telling the camera that the former president “incited a violent mob to attack our nation's Capitol, to desecrate our nation’s Capitol” after being “fired by 81 mn people.”

“She hates Israel. If she is president I believe that Israel will not exist in two years from now,” Trump argued, adding in Trumpian fashion that the war would have “never started” if he were still in the White House.

The economy was also an important point of contention, with Harris accusing Trump of leaving the country with the “worst unemployment since the Great Depression.” Trump hit back with how she and Biden had handled inflation that has “been a disaster for people, for the middle class, for every class.”

At points the debate got personal and verged on name-calling, with Harris telling Trump that world leaders described him as a “disgrace” and Trump calling Harris “the worst vice-president in history.”

Let the polls roll in: Prior to the debate, the two candidates appeared to be neck and neck for the US government’s top job. In the coming days, we’ll get more of a sense of how each candidate’s performance played with potential voters, as the US presidential elections, only 54 days away, inch closer.

WHILE IN FINANCE NEWS- The US Federal Reserve has halved its proposed increase in capital requirements for the US’ biggest banks from 19% to 9%, the central bank’s top regulator Michael Barr announced yesterday. The lower increase represents a big win for the banking lobby, which has decried the capital requirement hike as damaging for the economy and potentially crimping lending since it was first proposed last year.

The “reproposal,” as Barr has called it, will still introduce capital requirements related to operational risk for banks with USD 250 bn in assets — one of the key targets of banking sector lobbying efforts. Assessments of operational risk, however, will now exclude asset management and other of banks’ biggest non-lending businesses. The new proposal has also nixed provisions that adjust capital requirements based on past operational losses, and has reduced risk weighting on certain kinds of financing deals.

AND ON THE OIL MARKETS- Oil futures reached near three-year lows yesterday after OPEC’s downward revision of its demand forecasts for 2024 and 2025, Reuters reports. Brent crude futures were down USD 2.65 or 3.69% yesterday to USD 69.19 at market’s close.

*** It’s Hardhat day — your weekly briefing of all things infrastructure in Egypt: Enterprise’s industry vertical focuses each Wednesday on infrastructure, covering everything from energy, water, transportation, and urban development, as well as social infrastructure such as health and education.

In today’s issue: We speak to a number of contractors to learn more about why Egyptian construction and real estate players are ramping up efforts to expand abroad.