CBE expected to leave interest rates unchanged today

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What We're Tracking Today

Central Bank of Egypt expected to leave rates unchanged today

Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY. Power cuts continue to dominate the headlines in a morning that is otherwise moderately slow. Barring any new developments on the electricity fronts, you can expect today’s interest rate decision at the central bank to be the big news driver when the monetary policy committee announces its decision toward the end of the day.

Our best wishes to you all for a wonderful weekend — and a safe drive to the coast if you are Sahel-bound.

Late-night power cuts are a thing of the past: The Electricity Ministry will stop cutting the power in the 12-hour period between midnight and noon, the state-owned Middle East News Agency quotes an unnamed source at the Electricity Ministry as having said. This came less than two days after it introduced a new blackout schedule to let the public know the exact times they will be without power.

Remember:The state-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC) was forced into starting rolling blackouts two weeks ago as soaring electricity demand due to the heatwave put pressure on the network and burned through fuel supplies. To reduce load, the government has ordered public-sector workers to work from home on Sundays and is trying to cut electricity consumption in public spaces. It is also importing additional supplies of heavy fuel oil to fire electricity generation amid a shortage of natural gas.

HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s interest rate day: The Central Bank of Egypt is expected to leave interest rates unchanged when it holds its policy meeting later today. That’s according to a consensus of analysts and economists we spoke to last week, who expect the central bank to hold fire.

PMI: S&P Global will publish its purchasing managers’ index for Egypt today. The non-oil private sector contracted at its slowest rate in 22 months in June amid signs at the time that inflationary pressures could be easing.

The Greek PM is in town: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will hold talks this morning with Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in El Alamein, according to Mitsotakis’ office.

Dialogue Day: The National Dialogue will discuss a draft law establishing a new council for education and training, as instructed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi earlier this week. The proposed legislation aims to empower the council to unify education policies and align them with the needs of the job market and improve scientific research. The council’s board would have 16 members including ministers and education experts, be chaired by the prime minister, and be affiliated to the president. Participants will also discuss post-divorce issues.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK-

OPEC+ to maintain supply levels: Oil cartel OPEC+ is expected to leave output at current levels when it meets tomorrow, Reuters reports, citing six OPEC+ sources.

Remember: Oil producers have embarked on a series of production cuts since November in a bid to lift prices, most recently in a surprise decision in April. The group last month agreed to extend the cuts into 2024, with Saudi Arabia, Russia and Algeria announcing additional voluntary cuts.

Oil had a good July: Brent and US crude reached three-month highs last month on the back of tightening supply and growing Asian demand.

THE BIG STORIES ABROAD-

Trump to appear in a DC court today: Former US President Donald Trump is due to appear in court today in DC after having been indicted for allegedly lying in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, as well as the events leading up to the attacks on the US Capitol in 2021. The Biden administration is trying to get this over and done with as soon as possible as the presidential race begins to heat up, much to the chagrin of Trump’s legal team, which called the idea of holding a trial in 90 days “absurd.” Trump has a commanding lead in the Republican primary polls and is the overwhelming favorite to be the party’s nominee to face Biden next year.

Fitch US credit downgrade sparks market sell-off, consternation in Washington: Senior figures in the Biden administration and Wall Street yesterday criticized Fitch Ratings’ downgrading of the US’ credit rating, a decision which helped spark a sell-off in the financial markets. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the move was “flawed” and “completely unwarranted” while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called it “ridiculous” in an interview with CNBC.

ICYMI- The rating agency cut the country’s sovereign credit rating from AAA to AA+ on Tuesday, citing expectations for fiscal pressure over the coming three years and the repeated high-stakes congressional battles over raising the debt ceiling.

Fitch defends the move: The downgrade came as a result of concerns about the country’s fiscal situation, a “deterioration of governance,” and rising political polarization, a senior director at the rating agency said yesterday.

The markets didn’t like it: The downgrade combined with the Treasury’s plans to increase debt issuance and unexpectedly strong labor data to trigger a sell-off in the US equity and bonds markets yesterday. Following a weeks-long rally, stocks suffered their worst day since April, with the S&P 500 losing 1.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq falling 2.2%. A sell-off in US treasuries sent yields to new 2023 highs.

The sell-off is hitting Asia, where most markets are in the red this morning. European markets are expected to open lower while US stocks could stage a rebound, according to equity futures.

MORE NATURAL GAS FROM ISRAEL?

Could we see more natural gas production + exports from Israel? Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz wants to send more of the country’s natural gas reserves abroad, as the country looks to ramp up its gas production and link up with new markets looking for replacements for Russian hydrocarbons, reports Reuters. Israel’s gas reserves are protected by government export limitations that ensure local market capacity, but without improving access to foreign buyers, companies are likely to avoid making investments needed to boost production. Greater gas exports would strengthen Israel’s position as a player in the region and the world, Katz said.

Egypt is pushing for more: Israeli business daily Globes reported last week that Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel asked Israel’s national security head to increase gas exports in a recent meeting.

It would be a good time to get our hands on more Israeli gas as the country suffers through the first sustained bout of blackouts in a decade on the back of a shortage of gas supplies and soaring temperatures. Egypt is also hungry for more natural gas to liquefy and sell on the international market to shore up our foreign exchange position.

CIRCLE 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-suite-level gatherings that allow senior members of our community to openly and frankly discuss critical issues in key sectors of the economy.

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, or fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

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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Shell Egypt to drill new gas wells in the Med this September

Shell to drill new gas wells in the Med: Shell is set to begin drilling new gas exploration wells at its concession areas in the Mediterranean in September, Asharq Busines s reports, citing a government source. The first of these deepwater wells will see Shell investing more than USD 80 mn, the source said, adding that the seismic survey work for three of Shell’s concessions in the Mediterranean has been completed.

Remember: Shell last year acquired 100% of the North East El Amriya offshore gas block from ExxonMobil. In 2020, Shell and Malaysia’s Petronas were granted the North Sidi Gaber and Al Fanar concessions, which are close to Amriya. Shell also operates the West Delta Deep Marine (WDDM) offshore gas concession, which is also next door to the Amriya block, in partnership with Petronas. It offloaded its onshore oil and gas assets in the Western Desert in 2021, shifting its focus to other projects including the WDDM concession.

More gas exploration to come this year: Shell and its partners will drill three new development wells in the WDDM concession later this year, the company said last month.

Demand for gold hits record high in 2Q 2023

Demand for gold bars and coins in Egypt more than tripledy-o-y in 2Q 2023 as savers searched safe havens amid the ongoing currency crisis. Figures included in a World Gold Council report out yesterday show that Egyptians bought 10.4 tons of gold during the three-month period, up from 3.3 tons in the same time in 2022.

Record volumes: This is the largest quantity of gold bought in Egypt going back to at least 2010, when the WGC started tracking the gold market. It also accounts for a third of the demand across the entire Middle East region. Some 18.6 tons of gold bars and coins were bought in Egypt in the first six months of the year, almost the same amount as bought in the whole of 2022.

In search of safety: Egyptians have turned to gold to protect their savings in response to the currency crisis and soaring inflation rate sparked by the war in Ukraine and tightening financial conditions globally. The country is facing its worst hard currency shortage in years, fuelling a re-emergence of a parallel market, while a run of three devaluations since March 2022 has almost halved the EGP’s value against the USD.

This has triggered a gold-buying frenzy: Egyptians have bought 37.8 tons of gold since the beginning of 2022 alone. This is almost the same amount that was bought over the preceding 11 years.

HSBC profits more than double in 1H on rising rates

Higher rates fuels strong net income, revenue growth at HSBC: HSBC Holding Plc’s net profit surged 102% y-o-y to USD 18.1 bn in 1H 2023 on the back of rising central bank rates around the world, according to the London-based lender’s earnings release (pdf). Revenues, meanwhile, rose 50% to USD 36.9 bn during the period. The lender attributed the figures to rising interest rates worldwide — which drove up net interest income across all of its global businesses — in addition to tight cost control. Net interest income rose 36.5% y-o-y to USD 18.3 bn in the first half of 2023.

Wealth + commercial banking underpinned revenue growth: The wealth and personal banking segment was the largest contributor to pre-tax profits, bringing in USD 8.6 bn during the six-month period and rising 40% y-o-y. Commercial banking contributed USD 7.9 bn to the group’s pre-tax income, up 37% y-o-y.

CLOSER TO HOME- HSBC Bank Middle East turned in a strong performance as it continued to dominate the regional equity- and debt-capital-markets league tables in the first half. The unit reported profit before tax in the first half of USD 673 mn (+78%) on net operating income of USD 1.2 bn (+50%). Its wealth and personal banking unit saw net operating income up 93%, commercial banking grew 57%, and global banking and markets was up 22%.

Looking ahead: HSBC Plc has upped its full-year guidance for net interest income from USD 34 bn to more than USD 35 bn due to the current market consensus about global central bank rates, the bank said. HSBC’s board approved an interim dividend of USD 0.10 per share, which will be paid out in September. It also approved a share buyback of up to USD 2 bn which it expects to complete within three months.

REAX- The market cheered the results as HSBC’s shares in London rose 2.7%. The bank’s stock is up 68% over two years, Reuters notes, while rival Barclays is down 14% in the same period.

Blackouts, interest rates and gold ownership get attention on Egypt’s talk shows

It was a quiet night on the airwaves, with Kelma Akhira, El Hekaya and Yahduth Fi Masr all taking a night off. Earning a mention last night: blackouts (of course), today’s central bank meeting, and new figures about the soaring demand for gold in Egypt.

POWER CUTS-

We might be able to get some uninterrupted sleep starting today: A local news outlet reported that there won’t be any power cuts starting from midnight to noon every day, said Masa’a DMC host Ramy Radwan (watch, runtime: 3:00).

IT’S INTEREST RATE DAY-

THE CONSENSUS- CBE to hold rates: The Central Bank of Egypt is expected to hold rates when it holds its policy meeting today, economist Moustafa Badra told Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa in a phone interview, in agreement with almost all the analysts we have heard from (watch, runtime: 3:03). Badra also discussed the new USD-denominated certificates launched by Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt last week, without providing any new information (watch, runtime: 3:33).

A NATION OF GOLDBUGS-

Egyptians are resorting to gold like never before: Radwan covered the new report from the World Gold Council which showed that Egyptians bought a record 10.4 tons of gold during the second quarter, more than triple the volumes in the same period last year. We have more in the news well, above (watch, runtime: 2:34).

In the foreign press: Food security and the demolition of public gardens in Cairo

It’s another slow morning in the foreign press:The Associated Press talks to Cairo residents worried about what Russia’s exit from its grain pact with Ukraine will mean for the country’s food security. Meanwhile, there’s an op-ed by Yasmine El Rashidi in the Washington Post about the loss of green space in the capital amid the government’s construction spree.

Thndr to debut in Saudi Arabia next year, says CEO. PLUS: News from aiBank, an export subsidy boost, and another wheat tender

STARTUPS-

Keep an eye out for Thndr Saudi, UAE: Local stock-trading appThndr Securities wants to move into the Saudi and the UAE markets, co-founder and CEO Ahmed Hammouda told Al Borsa. Thndr has reportedly applied for a license from Saudi regulators and is in talks with several banks to provide its services with the aim of starting operations in early 2024, he said. The company is also considering getting licensed in Abu Dhabi if it is able to launch before the end of 2023.

REAL ESTATE-

aiBank x Social Housing and Mortgage Finance: The Arab Investment Bank (aiBank) expects to provide up to EGP 800 mn in home loans at subsidized rates to low- and middle-income earners after signing an agreement with the Housing Ministry’s Social Housing and Mortgage Finance Fund, according to a joint statement (pdf) yesterday.

Refresher: The central bank’s subsidized mortgage scheme for middle-income earners was axed last year and the responsibility for providing soft loans was transferred to the Housing Ministry. This was one of the conditions of our USD 3 bn loan program agreed with the IMF last year.

aiBank already works with the fund: The agreement will step up aiBank’s partnership with the fund, with which it provides home loans at subsidized rates ranging between 3% and 8%. The bank has financed almost 6.2k clients under the initiative, with its portfolio growing 60% y-o-y to EGP 782 mn so far this year.

Remember: EFG Holding and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt acquired 76% of the bank in 2021, with EFG taking a controlling 51% stake.

NBFS-

Contact launches financing services for weddings:Contact Financial has rolled out financing services for weddings and social events, it said in a press release (pdf) yesterday. It is offering up to EGP 1 mn in finance with no down payment, with repayment plans of up to three years.

TELECOMS-

NTRA fines mobile service providers: The National Telecoms Regulatory Authority (NTRA) fined mobile service providers around EGP 20 mn in 2Q 2023 for poor service quality, it said in a report (pdf). The number of cell towers increased by 37% y-o-y in the April-June quarter with the launch of 862 new cell towers, according to the report.

EXPORTS-

Export subsidy program receives a boost: The cabinet yesterday approved an additional allocation of EGP 2 bn to the sixth phase of the export subsidy program, increasing the total amount earmarked for this phase to EGP 12 bn, it said in a statement following its weekly meeting yesterday.

Remember: The Finance Ministry is in the middle of paying out subsidies under the sixth phase of the program. A third batch of payments will be made on 16-17 August.

COMMODITIES-

GASC buys Russian, Romanian wheat: GASC bought 300k metric tons of wheat from Russia and another 60k metric tons from Romania in an international tender yesterday, Reuters reports, citing a statement from the state grain buyer. The grain was bought on the free-on-board basis and will be delivered between 1 September and 25 October. The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation is providing the finance.

KUDOS-

Madinet Masr + Misr El Kheir bring medical care to Assiut residents: Madinet Masr for Housing and Development (MNHD) teamed up with Misr El Kheir to fund zero-cost medical services to low-income residents in Assiut Governorate, the company said in a press release (pdf). A medical convoy on 30-31 July aims to examine more than 400 patients and provide medical services free of charge in the health unit in the village of Abanoub.

Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority picks banks for IPOs

Dubai’s RTA to take subsidiaries to market: Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has reportedly appointed Citigroup, Bank of America, and Emirates NBD Capital to the listing of its taxi business this year, while our friends at HSBC together with Emirates NBD and Goldman Sachs will quarterback the listing of its parking business scheduled for next year, according to Bloomberg.

Citi is expecting a new spate of IPOs in the coming months: Citigroup’s MENA capital markets chief said this week that the bank is preparing for a spate of IPOs in the Gulf later this year and 2024, telling Bloomberg that it had been approached by a number of companies to work on the listings.

Also looking to list: Tobacco firm Advanced Inhalation Rituals and private-sector K-12 education provider Alef Education.

ADQ x IHC: Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ and the International Holding Company (IHC) are merging key real estate assets into a jointly-held firm, Q Holding, Bloomberg reports. With an implied market value of around USD 12 bn, the company will be one of the largest of its kind in the Middle East.

ALSO WORTH NOTING-

The company formerly known as Etisalat wants to up its stake in Vodafone: e& is mulling increasing its stake in Vodafone to 20%. The Emirati mobile network operator bought a 9.8% in the company in 2022 and has gradually upped its ownership to around 14.6%. (CNBC Arabia)
Companies lose appetite for IPOs in Europe: The number of companies that went to market in Europe plummeted to a 14-year low in 1H 2023 as they chase the more lucrative US market. (Financial Times)

EGX30	17,456	-0.3% (YTD: +19.6%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 30.83	Sell 30.96
USD at CIB	Buy 30.85	Sell 30.95
Interest rates CBE	18.25% deposit	19.25% lending
Tadawul	11,478	-1.4% (YTD: +9.5%)
ADX	9,826	+0.5% (YTD: -3.4%)
DFM	4,084	+0.2% (YTD: +22.4%)
S&P 500	4,513	-1.4% (YTD: +17.8%)
FTSE 100	7,562	-1.4% (YTD: +1.5%)
Euro Stoxx 50	4,337	-1.6% (YTD: +14.3%)
Brent crude	USD 83.46	-1.7%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.49	-2.9%
Gold	USD 1,971.50	-0.4%
BTC	USD 29,118	-0.3% (YTD: +76.2%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 0.3% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 2.9 bn. Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 19.6% YTD.

In the green: Alexandria Containers (+2.8%), Eastern Company (+2.6%), and Beltone Financial (+2.0%).

In the red: GB Corp (-5.9%), Alexandria Mineral Oils (-3.9%), and Palm Hills Development (-3.0%).

Egypt, Turkey want to boost trade volumes by 50% over 5 years

Samir talks trade in Turkey: Trade Minister Ahmed Samir and his Turkish counterpart Ömer Bolat agreed yesterday to increase bilateral trade by 50% to USD 15 bn over the next five years during talks in Ankara, the countries said in separate statements (here and here) on Tuesday. Samir’s visit to Turkey started Tuesday and will wrap up today.

This is the first visit to Turkey by an Egyptian trade minister in 10 years: The meetings come a few weeks after presidents Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and appoint ambassadors after 10 years of hostilities.

Business ties have been improving: The two sides reconstituted the Egyptian-T urkish BusinessCouncil for the first time in 10 years in May and Turkish companies have pledged to invest USD 500 mn in Egypt. In the past three months, Turkish healthcare firm Hayat and leather maker Iskefe Holding have announced plans to invest a combined USD 250 mn to expand manufacturing operations in Egypt.

MEANWHILE- Shoukry x Blinken: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry yesterday to discuss “economic, developmental, military and security” issues, the Egyptian foreign ministry said yesterday. The two also talked about efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Sudan, as well recent developments in Libya and Palestine, according to the statement.

My Morning Routine: Pablo Albrecht, co-CEO of Shemsi

Pablo Albrecht, co-CEO of period underwear brand Shemsi: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Pablo Albrecht (LinkedIn), co-CEO of Shemsi.

My name is Pablo Albrecht and I am the co-CEO of Shemsi, the first washable and reusable period underwear brand in the Middle East and North Africa, our main market. Along with my co-founder I am a huge believer in period underwear and moved to Cairo in August last year to operate the company and our factory in Egypt.

My days are split into two halves, broken by lunch: I’m up at 7:30am and at my desk by 8:30am, having read Enterprise in the Uber. Mornings are for synchronicity; we run a lot of half-hour, 45-minute meetings and do tasks that connect people or don’t require a lot of focus. After lunch I work until around 8pm, in chunks of 3-4 hours where (ideally) no one interrupts me. Perhaps I have four hours with a dedicated team or I visit the factory.

It’s a hot, free, chef-made lunch for the team: Everyday we have a chef that comes in and makes the team a different menu. We calculated that this saves around a half hour of everyone deciding what to eat plus what you save in productivity is at least 25x what the food costs. It’s also a great way for the team to be together and we can ensure that the food is healthy and good for efficiency. Regardless of the money, every office should do it.

After that it’s a work dinner: Usually I eat around 9pm with a colleague or my co-founder when he is in the country. I find people tend to be more relaxed in a restaurant environment so you can talk honestly and work on solving the real issues.

Weekends are also for work: We’ve been really busy since I’ve arrived and I’ve only managed one weekend out of Cairo. Building a company is a sacrifice, and if you're not willing to make it then don’t do it. It’s just not possible without it.

Success takes preparation: Every quarter we set objectives as a team building exercise. These are translated into weekly and daily goals and to-do lists that are shared with the team or the whole company. It's a way to recognise the small wins alongside the big plus see how others have solved problems.

Our product is a great alternative to sanitary towels and tampons as the underwear can be washed and reused. Shemsi’s underwear is also more comfortable with different styles on offer, better for your health and the environment as they contain no microplastics, and an economical option as they last for years.

The consumer potential here is huge: We started by selling period underwear in Europe and saw that 80% of the women who used the product never wanted to go back to sanitary towels or tampons. We moved to Egypt as there are few period alternatives in the Middle East and with a customer base of close to 200 mn people it’s a market that makes sense. Not to mention the ease of working in Egypt; within the first month we had an office and five employees, something that wouldn’t be possible in Europe.

It’s a Made-in-Egypt brand: Shemsi underwear is manufactured at our factory in Tenth Ramadan and we have our own supply chain and quality control team. The location provides proximity to our other markets: Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Algeria. We also retail in the US, Mexico and Canada and produce products for European companies to sell under their own brand.

Quality is key: Unlike a T-shirt, underwear needs to be made to exact dimensions, or the whole product is a disaster. There is no room for even a 1% or 2% failure rate. When we first arrived in Egypt we did quality control on 100% of the units we manufactured to ensure success. We also flew in a textile engineer who had extensive experience at a French competitor to teach our team the exact process to create the product.

What the industry needs is competition: We have a small amount from companies in Morocco, Dubai and Lebanon but unlike Shemsi they aren’t integrated with the manufacturing process, instead importing the underwear or producing it in a factory they don’t own. It would be great to have some more competitors to get the word out about period underwear.

Our focus is moving towards offline sales: There is a strong e-commerce trend currently, boosted by the presence of buy-now-pay-later schemes. We want to enhance our offline retail, but we’re facing challenges with marketing. Online marketing through social media has been relatively successful and many of our customers have seen us on Instagram or Facebook. Yet as the underwear is a lingerie product there are greater sensitivities when we look to scale up our advertising. We want to sign up distributors as the more we can sell offline in pharmacies and supermarkets, the easier it is to convince others to join us.

My favorite piece of advice is from Jeff Weiner, the executive chairman of LinkedIn. It is only when you get tired of repeating something that people start to pay attention to it. It’s a response I always hear when I ask people for their pieces of advice. You can’t give up.

CALENDAR

JULY

Late July-14 August: 2Q2023 earnings season.

AUGUST

August: Hassan Allam Utilities + Agility to open Yanmu East logistics park.

3 August (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

4 August (Friday): OPEC+ meeting, Vienna.

3 August (Thursday): National Dialogue.

10 August (Thursday): Shalateen Mineral Resources gold mining tender closes.

16-17 August (Wednesday-Thursday): Finance Ministry to pay out the third batch of the sixth phase of the export subsidies.

22-24 August (Tuesday-Thursday): BRICS summit, Johannesburg, South Africa.

SEPTEMBER

September: Sustainable Debt Coalition Initiative agreed at COP27 to launch.

September: IDH to open first branch in Saudi Arabia.

September: The Egypt-Germany trade and investment joint conference in Cairo.

September: JETRO’s second delegation arrives in Cairo.

1 September (Friday): Application deadline for the Smart Green Projects initiative.

9-10 September (Saturday-Sunday): G20 summit, New Delhi, India.

10-12 September (Sunday-Tuesday): The International Agricultural Exhibition for Africa and the Middle East, Sahara.

13-14 September (Wednesday-Thursday): Hydrogen Egypt Summit, Nile Ritz Carlton, Cairo.

15 September (Friday): IMF to review USD 3 bn program.

15 September (Friday): Deadline for FX bureaus to comply with new capital requirements.

17-18 September (Sunday-Monday): Arab Security Conference and Exhibition, Nile Ritz Carlton, Cairo.

17-19 September (Sunday-Tuesday): Sharm Rendezvous, Rixos Premium Seagate, Sharm ElSheikh.

18-19 September (Monday-Tuesday): Enterprise Finance Forum, St. Regis Hotel, Cairo.

19-20 September (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

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

25 September (Monday): Nasdaq deadline for Swvl Holdings Corp to increase its market value of publicly held shares to a minimum of USD 15 mn.

25-26 September (Monday-Tuesday): Egypt to host the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s annual board meeting, Sharm El Sheikh.

26 September (Tuesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday (TBC).

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

28-29 September (Thursday-Friday): Medical Tourism Conference, Sharm ElSheikh.

30 September (Saturday): The start of the new academic year for Egyptian universities.

OCTOBER

October: Deadline for ins. providers to link their databases with the FRA.

2-4 October (Monday-Wednesday): Sharm Rendezvous - Ins. Market, Rixos Premium Seagate, Sharm ElSheikh.

2-5 October (Monday-Thursday): ADIPEC 2023, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center.

6 October (Friday): Armed Forces Day.

9 October (Monday): The Narrative PR Summit, Somabay Red Sea.

9-11 October (Monday-Wednesday): Arabs Savings and Financial Literacy Conference, Four Seasons Hotel.

13 October- 20 October (Friday-Friday): The sixth edition of El Gouna Film Festival (GFF).

Late October-14 November: 3Q2023 earnings season.

15-17 October (Sunday-Tuesday): Egypt Automotive Aftermarket Exhibition, Cairo International Convention Center.

26 October (Thursday): Daylight saving time ends.

29-31 October (Sunday-Tuesday): Egypt Energy, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

29 October - 2 November (Sunday- Thursday): Cairo Water Week.

30-31 October (Monday-Tuesday): Intelligent Cities Exhibition and Conference, Dusit Thani LakeView, Cairo.

30-31 October (Monday-Tuesday): Global Business School Network (GBSN), American University of Cairo.

31 October - 1 November (Tuesday-Wednesday): Federal Reserve interest rate meeting.

NOVEMBER

2 November (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

9-15 November (Thursday-Wednesday): Intra-African Trade Fair, Cairo.

14-15 November (Tuesday-Wednesday): Destination Africa, Royal Maxim Palace Kempinski Hotel.

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

19-22 November (Sunday-Wednesday): Cairo ICT, Egypt International Exhibition Center.

23 November (Thursday): Worldview Education Fair, Cairo. (Register here)

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

DECEMBER

10-11 December (Sunday-Monday): eGlobe Expo, St. Regis Almasa Hotel, Cairo.

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

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

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

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2023: The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Summer 2023: EGX to launch a shariah-compliant index.

1H 2023: GAFI roadshow set to launch to drum up foreign investment for golden licenses

1H 2023: Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank intends to launch a digital consumer finance company

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.

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

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

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

2Q 2025: Safaga Terminal 2 to initiate operations.

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