Are we looking to 4x our IMF loan?

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

Polls open in Egypt today for the first day of the presidential election

Good morning, friends. It’s shaping up to be a busy news week as we prepare for the final days of 2023, with no less than three big stories competing for your attention this morning:

Polls open today in the presidential election. We can expect first-round results next week.
The IMF could quadruple its assistance package, potentially giving the Madbouly government and CBE Governor Hassan Abdalla the firepower they need to properly float the EGP.
Will COP28 see an agreement of any form? There are just days left on the official schedule (overtime is always a possibility) as Saudi Arabia, Russia and other oil and gas producers look set to reject a final agreement that would phase out hydrocarbons.

Let’s unpack all of that:

#1- It’s day one of the presidential election. Voters nationwide will cast their ballots for one of four presidential hopefuls: incumbent President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, Al Wafd Party’s Abdel Sanad Yamama, the Egyptian Social Democratic Party’s Farid Zahran, and the Republican People Party’s Hazem Omar.

How to get blue ink on your finger: Find your nearest polling station by entering your national ID on the official website. You can also text your national ID number to 5151 or call the same number to find your nearest location and receive your voting number. Voting ends on Tuesday.

The vote abroad wrapped last week: Egyptian expatsin 121 countries around the world cast their ballots between 1-3 December. Votes are now being counted.

When’s the big announcement? We can expect to hear the results of the vote on 18 December. A runoff, if necessary, will take place in early January 2024.

BTW- Lights are staying on for the election period: The nation is getting a four-day holiday from the nationwide blackouts that have been a common feature of daily life since July. An Electricity Ministry source told Akhbar Al Yom that load reductions will be paused from Saturday through to Tuesday to ensure the lights remain on at polling stations.

#2- More inflation relief? New figures are expected to show that inflation continued to slow in November on the back of easing food costs and a favorable base effect, according to a poll of six analysts conducted by Reuters.

Where we stand: Annual urban inflation eased to 35.8%y-o-y in October from September’s record high of 38.0% thanks to slowing food price increases. Core inflation also eased to 38.1% from 39.7%.
Where we could be heading: The poll’s median projection has core inflation slowing to 37.2% in November from 38.1% in October.
Caveat: Lower figures or not, businesses aren’t feeling optimistic about how sharply higher prices are going to impact the economy over the next year, according to PMI survey data out last week.

#3- COP ‘til you drop: We’re in the final three days of COP28 in Dubai. If you want to go deeper on everything happening over at COP28, Enterprise Climate has the low-down on this year’s conference.

One of the key sticking points: How to (or even whether to) phase out fossil fuels. Oil producers led by Saudi Arabia and Russia are pushing back against an agreement that would commit countries to phase out the use of fossil fuels, writes Reuters. At least 80 countries are trying to seal a pact that would put an end date on the use of hydrocarbons but the Opec oil cartel is reportedly pressing its members to reject any mention of fossil fuels in the summit’s final agreement.

Sound smart: Under UN rules, the final agreement has to be unanimous..

#4- Trade run to KSA: The Engineering Export Council of Egypt yesterday kicked off a weeklong trade mission to Saudi Arabia, the largest importer for our engineering sector. The delegation is hoping to drum up orders and investments from the kingdom for pumps, car parts, boilers, and everything in between.

DATA POINT- Who’s using which exchange rate in their 2024 budget?EGX-listed Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals’ (Sidpec) board of directors penciled in the exchange rate at EGP 37 to the greenback in the company’s budget for next year, according to an EGX disclosure (pdf ) from the petrochemicals giant.

PSA- Gov’t launches new initiative to rescue Egyptians from Gaza: The Foreign Ministry has set up an online platform for Egyptians in Gaza (or their families outside the embattled strip) to register their information, which will then be delivered to the Rafah border authorities to facilitate their exit from the strip, it said in a statement last night.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

It’s a big week for global monetary policy: The Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will hold their final policy meetings of the year this week — meetings that Bloomberg notes will take place against growing market pressure on central banks to pivot to rate cuts. None of the central banks are expected to move rates higher this week with inflation rapidly falling back towards target, and attention is instead turning to slowing economic growth ,

The Fed (12-13 December): The market is currently pricing in the first rate cut for May, though economists surveyed last week see the central bank waiting until 3Q 2024. (Reuters | FT poll)
The ECB (14 December): The central bank will begin lowering rates earlier than expected in 2Q 2024 in response to an expected shallow recession during the winter. (Reuters poll)
The BOE (14 December): The Bank of England will likely leave rates at current highs until 3Q next year. (Reuters poll)

Remember: The Central Bank of Egypt will hold its final policy meeting of the year next Thursday, 21 December.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

No single story has gripped the imagination of the international press on this fine fall morning.

The big business story of the morning: TheEU puts up guardrails for AI: The European Union has agreed to regulate artificial intelligence by banning the use of biometric scanning that assesses people by political or religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or race, but live facial scanning in public spaces will be permitted with safeguards and exemptions, Bloomberg reports.

WAR WATCH- The big story in our corner of the world: Israel is warning it can “no longer accept” Hezbollah on its border, the Financial Times quotes Israel’s national security advisor as saying. The comment comes at the same time as the Houthis have said on X that they will target any ship heading to Israel.

AND- Vladimir Putin is running for a fifth term in office, having confirmed he will contest the March 2024 presidential election. (Reuters | Financial Times | Associated Press)

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Cairo Art Fair is now open at TAM Gallery at District 5: The exhibition will showcase more than 130 artists in the largest collection of contemporary Egyptian art to date with 1.5k artworks. The artworks will stay on display until Wednesday 24 January. Find out more by clicking here.

One for the 2027 calendars: Egypt will host the 2027 African Games after the Republic of the Congo withdrew and agreed to support Egypt’s bid, the Sports Ministry said yesterday. The country has received the final approval from the African Union to host the multi-sport event, which takes place every four years.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.

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IMF confirms talks with Egypt for additional financing

A top-up from the IMF is looking more and more likely: The IMF has given its clearest indication yet that it could agree to increasing the size of Egypt’s USD 3 bn loan program, with a spokesperson last week confirming that the subject is being discussed and that additional funds will be “critical” in light of the war in Gaza.

What they said: “It is clear that additional financing will be critical to ensure the success in the implementation of the policy package for Egypt,” IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack told reporters at a press conference on Thursday, noting the potential impact of the conflict on Egypt’s economy, particularly its tourism sector.

Amount TBD: The “exact size of the financing is part of the ongoing discussions” between the IMF and Egyptian authorities, Kozacksaid. Unconfirmed media reports in October had suggested that local authorities were negotiating for an additional USD 2 bn.

But the usually well-sourced nighttime talkshow host Lamees El Hadidi says we could get up to 4x what the fund had originally pledged. El Hadidi said unnamed sources told her authorities are in talks with the Fund over potentially raising the value of the loan to USD 10-12 bn (watch, runtime: 5:13). (We have more in Lat Night’s Talk Shows, below).

The head of the IMF recently hinted at a top-up: IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said last month that the Fund is “seriously considering” increasing the program in light of the war.

Also from the presser: The two sides have made “important progress” in the discussions over a flexible exchange rate, tighter fiscal and monetary policies, and lower inflation, Kozack said.

The IMF has postponed two reviews this year after authorities failed to meet several conditions of the facility, including a commitment to implement a fully flexible exchange rate.
Georgieva indicated the float of the EGP may not be in the cards for the immediate future, telling Asharq Business that the Fund is currently prioritizing getting inflation under control over exchange-rate reform.

IT’S NOT ONLY THE IMF WHO’VE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART-

The war in Gaza is likely to focus minds: The war means “more international partners will likely be willing to provide additional support,” Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank chief economist Monica Malik told Bloomberg.“No one wants to see Egypt fail now, or economic conditions to worsen.”

Exhibit A: The EU. The EU has been rumored to be putting together a plan to mobilize as much as EUR 10 bn of investment alongside debt relief measures to help stabilize the economy and curb migration across the Mediterranean.

Nerves in the bond markets are easing following the war: The escalation of the conflict inGaza has the bond markets pricing in a lower likelihood of default on expectations that our international backers will ride to the rescue. Egypt’s USD bonds are still trading well in distressed territory at around 15% but the spread with US treasuries has narrowed markedly during the conflict, falling 200 bps since the middle of October.

Bulge bracket sentiment on our debt is shifting:The hope of fresh assistance has had Goldman Sachs penciling in a lower likelihood of a debt crisis, and Morgan Stanley putting Egypt’s 30-year notes on a list of “nine bonds to buy.”

FRA rolls out new trading regs to reduce market risk

Attention, brokers and traders: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has introduced a group of changes it says aim to cap risk in the system:

The lowdown:

Riskier clients will do more KYC: Individual clients will be rated high-, medium-, or low-risk by brokerage firms. The information of high- and medium-risk clients will have to be updated every two years at most, while that of low-risk clients will need to be updated every five years.
Brokerages face a new capital adequacy requirement that demands they have at EGP 15 mn worth of capital, up from EGP 5 mn. Companies have six months to hike their capital and can apply for another six-month extension.
There’s now a lower cap on how much any one client can borrow from a brokerage for margin trading: No individual can account for more than 10% of a brokerage house’s margin trading pool. In cases where a margin client is also trading through vehicles over which they have control, the combined figure goes up to 15%. That’s a 5-percentage-point cut for both categories.
Securities as collateral: The amendments also allow clients to place owned securities as collateral for those they want to buy on margin provided the former are valued at no less than 100% of the securities they want to purchase.

Simpler coding procedures for foreign funds are in the pipeline, but the statement doesn’t unpack what those procedures could mean in practice.

Egypt’s foreign reserves flat in November

Net foreign reserves remained effectively flat in November, with USD 71 mn being added to the stockpile during the month, according to central bank data released Thursday. Reserves inched up to USD 35.17 bn during the month from the USD 35.1 bn in October, marking the fifteenth consecutive month of (albeit marginal) increases.

Rewind: Our FX reserves took a hit last year when the double-blow of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and tightening global financial conditions triggered capital flight from Egypt and other emerging- and frontier markets. Reserves fell almost USD 8 bn in the six months between February and August — USD 2 bn of which we’ve been able to recoup over the past 15 months.

Remember: The UAE and Kuwait recently rolled over a combined USD 5 bn in central bank deposits. The two Gulf states, together with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Libya, have some USD 30 bn on deposit at the central bank, accounting for over 85% of our reserves.

FACT CHECK- Remember that chatter a few weeks ago that Riyadh and Abu Dhabi could beabout to deposit another USD 5 bn at the CBE? Not true, Al Qahera News said last month (watch, runtime: 0:13).

TBS’ Damfi signs EGP 480 mn leasing and factoring agreement with Beltone

Beltone has a new leasing agreement fresh out of the oven: Beltone Financial subsidiary Beltone Leasing and Factoring has signed a EGP 480 mn leasing and factoring agreement with baked goods maker Dough and More Food Industries (Damfi), a subsidiary of TBS Holding, the financial services firm said in a statement (pdf) Thursday.

What is Damfi planning to cook up with all this fresh capital? The company behind the Breadway brand will put to use EGP 380 mn worth of assets and production equipment under the leasing component of the agreement, while the EGP 100 mn funds raised from the factoring portion will be used to purchase raw materials, beef up inventory levels, and support working capital needs.Gen X acted as advisor to TBS Holding.

Hot on the heels of Beltone’s debut factoring agreement: Beltone Leasing and Factoring wrapped its first factoring agreement, worth EGP 200 mn, with medical equipment and services provider EGMED last week, having received its factoring license in September.

Gaza displacement could “rupture” Egypt-Israel ties + US blocks ceasefire

Palestinian displacement into Egypt could mean goodbye Camp David: Egypt has reportedly warned Israel that an attempt to displace Palestinian refugees into Sinai could cause a “rupture” in the two countries’ relationship, Axios reported Thursday, citing four US and Israeli officials. Egyptian officials have expressed concerns to Israeli intelligence that its offensive in south Gaza could force thousands of people across the border into Egypt, triggering a serious crisis between the two countries.

Remember: A number of senior government officials — including President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly — have repeatedly warned that the forcible displacement of Palestinians into Egypt is a red line.

US blocks ceasefire call: The US on Friday blocked a UAE-authored Security Council resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza calling it “divorced from reality.” The vote was triggered by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoking a rarely-used power to push the Security Council to discuss the conflict because of the threat to international security.

Despite the catastrophic conditions on the ground: Half of Gaza’s population is starving - senior UN aid official | Israeli assault causing “unprecedented killing” - Haaretz analysis | At least 17.7k people killed since 7 October - Gaza Health Ministry.

Cue fury from the region: Palestine: US “responsible for bloodshed” | UAE: “deeply disappointed” with the vote | Oman: Veto “a shameful insult to humanitarian norms.”

ALSO- Putin continues regional diplomatic sweep with call with El Sisi: Presidents El Sisi and Putin agreed to continue pursuing a ceasefire in Gaza, according to an Ittihadiya readout of a phone conversation between the two leaders on Saturday. Putin visited the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, and hosted Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi in Moscow the following day.

Oil Ministry shakes up Elab leadership for second time this year

Elab has a new chairman, MD: Oil Minister Tarek El Molla has appointed Mahmoud Al Araby as chairman and managing director of the Egyptian Linear Alkyl Benzene (Elab) company, the ministry said Thursday. Al Araby succeeds Mohamed Dorra, who leaves the position after less than five months in the role.

Remember: The government recently sold a 35% stake in the company to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ for an undisclosed sum under its privatization program.

Election coverage and the IMF dominate Egypt’s talk shows

The nation’s airwaves were dominated by pre-election day coverage last night, with all the talking heads giving their final previews ahead of polling stations opening today. The hosts of Kelma Akhira (watch, runtime: 22:51),El Hekaya (watch, runtime: 1:11 | 1:45), Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 3:58), Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 7:56), and Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 5:58) all dedicated significant airtime to the three-day vote.

Elsewhere, Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi had some potentially crucial updates on our IMF loan, and the war on Gaza continued to get coverage.

The IMF could quadruple our USD 3 bn loan: That’s according to El Hadidi, who claimed to have been told by unnamed sources that authorities are in talks with the Fund over potentially raising the value of the loan to USD 10-12 bn (watch, runtime: 5:13).

That’s (a lot) more than we expected:Bloomberg is so far the only news outlet to have given a potential figure, reporting in October that the Fund could add another USD 2+ bn to the existing program, taking it beyond USD 5 bn.

We need a long-term solution to our debt problem: Appearing on Kelma Akhira, economist Medhat Nafei said that the current regional turmoil could “give us a good chance to reach long-term solutions for our debt problem,” and that the IMF could help to restructure our sovereign debt in a way that doesn’t impact our credit rating. “Debt restructuring has to be carried out and facilitated by the IMF to avoid [hurting our credit rating],” Nafei said (watch, runtime: 5:03).

What to expect when the CBE meets next week: The Monetary Policy Committee will likely hike interest rates when it meets on 21 December, El Hadidi said, citing the IMF’s call for a combination of tighter monetary policy and a more flexible exchange rate as a solution to the country’s economic woes. Masaa DMC’s Osama Kamel also had coverage (watch, runtime: 3:56).

The war on Gaza also got coverage:El Hekaya’s Amr Adib conducted an interview with a journalist in Gaza for updates on the situation on the ground (watch, runtime: 11:54) while Masaa DMC’s Kamel condemned the US’ decision to veto the ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council on Friday (watch, runtime: 3:58). Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa lauded UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’s attempt to bring about a ceasefire at the council (watch, runtime: 4:32).

This week’s presidential election dominates coverage on Egypt in the foreign press

This morning in the foreign press: This week’s presidential election is dominating coverage as voters prepare to head to polling stations across the country. (Reuters | AFP | CNN | Deutsche Welle | Africa News)

Also getting attention:

The FT is plugging Siwa as one of the world’s best hidden gems to visit in 2024:Historian William Dalrymple gets the Siwa Oasis onto the Financial Times’ list of the year’s best travel discoveries.
Reuterstakes a deep dive into our economic challenges, as the country battles FX shortages, high inflation, and the effects of the war in Gaza ahead of a widely anticipated EGP float later this month.

THE RACE IS ON FOR RAIL CONTRACT: Five international firms — including Chinese rail firms CRIG and CRRC, Siemens, Alstom, and Thales — have reportedly qualified for a USD 400 mn tender to install the signaling and control systems for the Cairo-Alexandria freight railway bypass. (Asharq Business)

ACUD LOOKS TO RESTRUCTURE AHEAD OF IPO — its HR systems, policies and procedures, and org chart, that is. The Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) said in a statement (pdf) last week that it has hired Jobmaster ahead of its planned listing on the EGX. ACUD Chairman Khaled Abbas said last month that the company could raise more than EGP 150 bn via a public share sale on the EGX, which he said could take place as soon as 2Q 2024. The company, a joint venture between the military and the Housing Ministry, could offer 5-10% of its shares on the bourse.

COP WATCH- Emirati sustainability firm Beeah Group will develop solid waste management infrastructure in the new capital under a contract signed with the Environment Ministry at COP28. (Environment Ministry statement)

TE GETS A TELLING-OFF: Telecom Egypt has been fined EGP 20 mn by regulators after a tech blip caused internet disruption for several hours across the country last week. The firm has handed out 10 GB in compensation to each of its users. (NTRA statement , pdf)

BIG WHEAT BUY- GASC has purchased 420k tonnes of Russian wheat for delivery in January. The state grain buyer purchased 180k tonnes of Russian and Ukrainian wheat last week.(Reuters)

A SWEETENER FOR RATION CARD HOLDERS- The Supply Ministry is making sugar available to ration card holders again in a move aimed at easing the impact of spiking sugar prices on vulnerable households. (Supply Ministry statement)

Dubai Taxi shares pop on stock market debut

Dubai Taxi IPO wraps: State-owned Dubai Taxi’s share price climbed as much as 20% on its market debut on Thursday following its USD 315 mn IPO on the Dubai stock exchange. The company’s shares hit an intraday high of AED 2.23 before paring gains to close at AED 2.11, up 14% from its IPO price, according to data from the Dubai Financial Market’s website.

ADVISORS- Our friends at EFG Hermes (pdf ) acted as joint bookrunners alongside First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Did you know? Dubai Taxi is the most-subscribed IPO in the city’s history. The sale received bids worth more than AED 150 bn (USD 41 bn), making it 130x oversubscribed.

SOUND SMART- Following a record 2022, the GCC IPO market has remained strong in 2023: Kicking off the year with the multi-bn USD IPO of Adnoc’s gas unit, 2023 has been a busy year for the Gulf IPO market, with the Saudi stock exchange seeing a raft of new additions over the past 12 months (see: ADES Holding, Lumi and Al Ansari). Meanwhile, Dubai / Abu Dhabi have had their fair share of stock market debuts (see: Presight AI, Adnoc Logistics & Services) and Oman closed its largest-ever IPO.

ALSO WORTH KNOWING-

The Careem super app has new owners: UAE-based telco e& has acquired a majority stake in Careem’s super app for USD 400 mn following its spinout by Uber. Careem’s ride-hailing business remains fully owned by Uber. (Company disclosure, pdf)
Deflation nation: Faltering demand resulted in consumer prices in China falling at their fastest rate in three years in November as the world’s second-largest economy battles deepening deflation. (Financial Times)

EGX30	24,686	-0.1% (YTD: +69.1%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 30.83	Sell 30.96
USD at CIB	Buy 30.85	Sell 30.95
Interest rates CBE	19.25% deposit	20.25% lending
Tadawul	11,225	+0.5% (YTD: +7.1%)
ADX	9,401	-0.7% (YTD: -7.9%)
DFM	3,952	-0.1% (YTD: +18.5%)
S&P 500	4,604	+0.4% (YTD: +19.9%)
FTSE 100	7,554	+0.5% (YTD: +1.4%)
Euro Stoxx 50	4,523	+1.1% (YTD: +19.2%)
Brent crude	USD 75.84	+2.4%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.58	-0.2%
Gold	USD 2,014.50	-1.6%
BTC	USD 43,996	-1.3% (YTD: +166.4%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.1% at Thursday’s close on turnover of EGP 3.8 bn (22.4% above the 90-day average). Local investors were net sellers. The index is up 69.1% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Development Egypt (+3.4%), B Investments Holding (+3.3%) and Egypt Kuwait Holding (+2.4%).

In the red: Orascom Construction (-3.5%), Juhayna (-3.1%) and Madinet Masr (-2.9%).

CALENDAR

DECEMBER

30 November-12 December (Thursday-Tuesday): COP28, Dubai.

9-15 December (Saturday-Friday) :The Engineering Export Council of Egypt’strade mission to Saudi Arabia.

10-12 December (Sunday-Tuesday): Voting in presidential election takes place in Egypt.

12-13 December (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

12-14 December (Tuesday-Thursday): Food Africa Expo, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

14 December (Thursday): Bidding deadline for five gold mine concessions in the Eastern Desert.

14-21 December (Thursday-Thursday): El Gouna Film Festival.

16-18 December (Saturday-Monday): Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to resume talks over the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

20 December (Wednesday): End of sugar export ban.

21 December (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

Signposted to happen sometime in December:

Gov’t expects to finalize sale of a stake in military-owned bottled drinks company Safi
Gov’t expects to finalize stake sale for military-owned fuel retailer Wataniya.
Gov’t expects to finalize sale of Zafarana wind farm
FRA to announce chosen consortium for credit rating license
Kenyan trade conference in Egypt.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2H 2023: Egyptian government expected to sign agreements with a consultant for the EuroAfrica electricity interconnector.

2H 2023: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expected to hold a summit.

3Q 2023: E-Finance to launch in Saudi Arabia.

4Q 2023: EGX to launch its new futures exchange.

4Q 2023: EGX to launch a shariah-compliant index.

End of 2023: A Developments’ first phase of the Lazoghly development completed.

2024: Standard Chartered Bank to open a branch in Egypt.

25 February 2024 (Sunday): Deadline for bidders for oil and gas expansion in the 23 new regions.

Q1 2024: Opening of the new developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

June 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of Beni Suef combined-cycle power plant.

1H 2024: Gov’t expects to finalize sale of four water desalination plants.

2H 2024: Gov’t to launch the Cairo Ring Road BRT buses.

End of 2024: The launch of the high-speed train line linking Ain Sokhna with Al Alamein City.

November 2024: Egypt to host the 12th session of the World Urban Forum (WUF12).

2Q 2025: Safaga Terminal 2 to start operations.

2024

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

The Grand Egyptian Museum could be officially open to visitors some time between February and May 2024 .

Q1 2024: Opening of the newly developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

JANUARY

1 January (Monday): Egypt to join the Brics.

7 January (Sunday): Coptic Christmas.

17 January (Wednesday): A delegation of Egyptian companies to visit Istanbul.

25 January (Thursday): Revolution day.

FEBRUARY

11 February (Sunday): The deadline to apply for the Chicago Booth Executive Program

APRIL

9 April (Tuesday): Eid El Fitr (TBC).

25 April (Thursday): National holiday in observance of Sinai Liberation Day (TBC).

MAY

1 May (Wednesday): National holiday in observance of Labor Day (TBC).

5 May (Sunday): Coptic Easter.

6 May (Monday): Sham El Nessim (TBC).

29 May (Wednesday): Chicago Booth Executive Program

JUNE

15-19 June (Saturday-Wednesday): Eid El Adha (TBC).

30 June (Sunday): June 30 Revolution Day.

JULY

7 July (Sunday): National holiday in observance of Islamic New Year (TBC).

23 July (Tuesday): Revolution Day.

SEPTEMBER

2-5 September (Monday-Thursday): Egypt International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport.

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

OCTOBER

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day.

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