EGX closed up 11.4% in 2Q, and down 4.12% in June

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WHAT WE’RE TRACKING TODAY

IMF to make a decision on seventh review by mid-August

Good morning, folks. Two stories today that are really one story: how and where money is moving.

The EGX numbers first. The benchmark index closed 2Q up 11.4% — a strong quarter, even after a June selloff gave back some of the April-May gains. Profit-taking and mid-year portfolio rebalancing are the explanation, not a change in fundamentals.

And in banking, one-year savings certificates are disappearing as banks reposition for lower rates — but bankers and analysts tell us this is a transitional phase, not a permanent shift. If you have savings decisions to make before the next cut, this morning's piece is the one to read.

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The EnterpriseAM Egypt Forum is back — and this year, we’re giving the full day to the one question on every business leader's mind: What does AI actually mean for your company, your people, and your own job?

Leaders in New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore are asking the same things, and nobody has built a playbook that works yet. We're all figuring it out in real time — and for Egypt, the stakes are unusually high.

Egypt could leapfrog a generation on the back of this technology — or watch AI hollow out the industries and jobs we can't afford to lose. The leaders who get literate early will be the ones who get to decide which road we take.

Every session on stage answers one question: “So, what do I actually do about it?”

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Seats are limited and attendance is by invitation only.

Request your invitation here.

IMF board timeline

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board is expected to decide on the seventh review of Egypt’s loan program by mid-August, Mohamed Maait, executive director for Arab States and the Maldives at the IMF, tells EnterpriseAM. Board procedures usually run four to six weeks after a staff-level agreement, he says, and Cairo should receive around USD 1.6 bn within days of board approval.

REMEMBER- After reaching a staff-level agreement with the Fund at end-June, Egypt is set to receive USD 1.5 bn under the Extended Fund Facility and around USD 136 mn under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility. The program is meeting its targets, Maait says, with around USD 3.5 bn in total left to disburse before it ends in December — covering both the seventh review and the eighth and final review due in the fall.

Post-program decisions rest with Cairo, Maait says. Asked whether geopolitical tensions might warrant a new program, he said recurring external shocks are now a basic part of economic planning — and that Egypt “has settled this matter beyond doubt.” Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly signaled last month that there will be no successor program.

Saudi registers Egypt contractors

Saudi Arabia’s Investment Ministry has begun registering Egyptian contractors, a step toward licensing them to bid on infrastructure projects under the Kingdom’s Housing Ministry. The Investment Ministry is working with the Egyptian Federation of Construction Contractors to facilitate the move, board member Shamseldin Youssef tells EnterpriseAM. The target client is Saudi's National Housing Company, which wants large Egyptian names to bid, including Orascom, Hassan Allam, and Arab Contractors. The move also opens the door for “thousands of smaller firms” to bid as well, Youssef says.

Registration requirements include paid-up capital of EGP 10-20 mn or more, annual revenue of at least EGP 50 mn in each of the past five years, eight years of contracting experience, EGP 100 mn in completed work over five years, and one single project worth EGP 60 mn in that window.

REMEMBER- The push builds on a trend we've flagged: local contractors, pressured by high domestic interest rates, are increasingly taking on work across the Red Sea. Youssef says 25 firms have already qualified to bid on the National Housing Company's SAR 200 bn (c.USD 53 bn) project pipeline.

Why it matters: Financing , not qualification, is the sector’s bottleneck. Outside a few giants that can self-fund, Egyptian firms struggle to get bank guarantees for work abroad — and even the Saudi branches of National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr operate only as accounting units there, not lenders that can serve Egyptian companies, Youssef says. Saudi banks issue guarantees to firms with a long Kingdom track record but require 60% of the value as cover, against roughly 10% at home — six times the cash tied up for the same guarantee, squeezing the liquidity left for more work.

PSA-

WEATHER- Another hot day in Cairo today, with a high of 35°C and a low of 25°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s slightly cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 32°C and a low of 24°C.

The big story abroad

The US continued to strike Iran yesterday in efforts to force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. US officials say that US President Donald Trump is considering a significant expansion of military operations in the Islamic Republic that could include escalating airstrikes, deploying ground forces to seize strategic Iranian islands near the strait, and bombing a heavily fortified site that could host covert nuclear development.

That being said, Trump said yesterday that Tehran wants to return to the negotiating table and make a deal. Trump claimed that Iranian leaders “want to settle so badly,” yet defense analysts speaking to CNBC say they see no realistic path toward settlement.

Oil markets are already reacting to the closure of Hormuz, with traders warning that the latest flare up threatens a fresh crude supply crunch. The market now lacks the reserves that helped absorb price shocks earlier in the war — “we’ve burned through all of the buffers we had. Everything,” the FT quotes one trader as saying. “All of that’s now gone.”

IN OTHER NEWS- Anthropic is moving ahead with its planned IPO and plans to begin meeting with prospective investors over the coming weeks, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Claude developer is looking to make its market debut as soon as October, joining a growing list of AI players going public.

PLUS- Argentina and Spain will face off in the 2026 World Cup final on Sunday, after Argentina secured its spot following a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory against England last night. England will take on France hours earlier in the third place play-off.

Good quarter, bad month

The EGX closed 2Q in the green, despite a June selloff that ate into two months of gains. The benchmark index rose 11.4% over the quarter to close at 50.5k points, according to the bourse’s latest quarterly report (pdf), with travel and education the standout sectors. The bulk of the rally came from April and May, with momentum cooling in June as the EGX30 gave back 4.12% on profit-taking before the month was out, data from the monthly report (pdf) shows.

Why June cracked after a good April-May run: “This is entirely natural after a strong rally,” Sameh Gharib, capital markets expert at Tycoon Securities, tells EnterpriseAM. “Following [the April-May] rise, profit-taking around the second half of June is what ultimately pulled the index down,” he says. “June coincides with mid-year and semi-annual portfolio closures. It’s also a period characterized by index weight rebalancing, which naturally prompts institutions to shift or swap positions at certain price points,” he adds.

Breadth carried 2Q more than the blue chips did. The EGX70 climbed 23.68% last quarter, while the EGX100 added 21.32%, both comfortably outpacing the EGX30. “Small and mid-cap stocks are much easier to move because their freefloat is significantly lower than that of large-cap stocks. Consequently, they do not require massive buying power to be pushed upward, as opposed to blue-chip stocks,” Gharib tells us.

The turnover story: Trading topped EGP 6.9 tn during the quarter, with the EGX’s market capitalization climbing 13.7% to EGP 3.68 tn. Equities accounted for 8.8% of traded value, while bonds and T-bills dominated activity with the remaining 91.2%.

Who pulled their weight: Travel & leisure stocks (+63.6%) and education services (+62.6%) carried the 2Q rally, followed by real estate names (+35.6%) and contracting and construction engineering (+32.7%). Basic resources was the only sector in the red last quarter, down 10.4%.

Local institutions and individuals were the market’s only net buyers, picking up EGP 9.4 bn and EGP 2.1 bn worth of equities, respectively. Foreign and regional institutions, meanwhile, were net sellers to the tune of EGP 4.8 bn and EGP 5.1 bn, while foreign and Arab retail investors offloaded another EGP 298.3 mn and EGP 1.4 bn.

Why regional investors sold harder than their foreign counterparts: “Most Arab investors who operate in the region keep the bulk of their portfolios in the Gulf, with smaller allocations in Egypt. If they faced margin calls in their home markets, they liquidated assets in external markets, especially where they had made good profits, to cover their leveraged positions back home.” Unlike a global emerging-markets investor who can absorb a Middle East drawdown elsewhere in their book, he adds, regional investors “are heavily concentrated in the region and are directly exposed to its economic shocks.”

What brings foreign investors back?

Easing geopolitical tensions: “In the short-term, this is largely out of our hands. It depends heavily on the stabilization of geopolitical events in the Middle East,” Gharib says. Structurally, he points to lost ground. “15 years ago, Gulf markets were not as open or accessible to foreign investment as they are today. Egypt was the primary destination for foreign investors looking at the region. This is no longer the case.”

A market depth problem: “We suffer from a lack of listed large, high-value companies, and several large-cap companies have exited the market, shrinking its size,” which Gharib argues is what the state’s IPO pipeline is meant to address.

Zeroing in on June

While the EGX30 cooled in June (-4.1%), the broader market held up. The EGX70 etched out a 5.8% gain, and the EGX100 added 3.2%, meanwhile, the EGX33 Shariah dipped 3.3% roughly tracking the benchmark. The results make March — due to the outbreak of the Iran war — and June the only red months YTD.

Market cap followed the blue chips down. Total market cap fell 2.1% m-o-m in June to EGP 3.68 tn, despite a rise in trading value to EGP 204.8 bn in June up from EGP 172.7 bn in May. “This high volume does not necessarily indicate a broad market sell-off; rather, a significant portion of it represents a change of hands between institutions adjusting their stock weightings and allocations,” Gharib says.

Shipping & transportation services (+12.6%) was June’s best performing sector, followed by contracting and construction engineering (+7.8%) and industrial goods, services and automobiles (+6.7%). Basic resources was the worst performer by a wide margin, down 15.1%.

June’s trading flows mirrored a broader trend: Locals were the only net buyers last month. Egyptian institutions bought a net EGP 3.4 bn, while foreign institutions sold EGP 2.1 bn and regional institutions offloaded EGP 1.8 bn. Local retail investors were net buyers to the tune of EGP 726.1 mn, even as regional retail sold EGP 167.7 mn. Foreign retail was close to flat, selling just EGP 5.4 mn.

Looking ahead: “The most significant upward movements typically occur in 4Q,” Gharib says. “3Q is generally characterized by a phase of accumulation. The market tends to move sideways as it builds up new buying power, or takes a breather before rising,” he adds. Egyptian institutions are already buying, he notes, but a large-cap rally needs foreign and Arab institutions to at least slow their selling pace — outflows right now are concentrated in the heaviest large-cap names, which is what's keeping the blue chips range-bound.

IN OTHER EGX NEWS

The bourse plans to meet with listed companies to discuss reviving the Global Depository Receipts (GDR) market, as it looks to draw foreign investors and deepen liquidity in local stocks, EGX Vice Chairman Mohamed Sabry tells Al Borsa. Only six companies — CIB, Lecico, Madinet Misr, Telecom Egypt, EFG Holding, and Orascom Investment — currently have GDRs trading on the London Stock Exchange.

A play for foreign money: A GDR is a London-listed instrument that gives foreign funds exposure to an EGX-listed company without holding the local shares directly. That matters for capital that would otherwise sit out — either due to custody friction, index eligibility, or internal mandates.

The vanishing one-year CD

One-year savings certificates are fading away as banks reposition for lower rates. Having leaned on short-term certificates with exceptional yields during the tightening cycle to pull in liquidity, banks are now less inclined to lock in high deposit costs for a year as further cuts loom. But bankers and analysts tell EnterpriseAM that the disappearance of one-year savings certificates is a transitional phase tied to the monetary easing cycle and rate expectations, not a permanent shift in local banks’ strategy.

Competition has moved to three-year certificates: Banks are steering savers toward three-year variable-rate certificates that reprice down as the CBE cuts — the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr rolled one out at 19.25%, pegged to the overnight deposit rate plus 25 bps, which sheds cost for the bank with each cut rather than locking in a high fixed yield. CIB, Egypt's largest private-sector bank, also raised its three-year fixed-rate certificate by 0.5 pp last week to 18% — below the exceptional yields the vanished one-year certificates carried — a retention play to hold savers who still want to lock in a rate before cuts deepen.

Filling the gap left by vanishing one-year certificates: CIB is taking a different route, having just introduced a 12-month EGP time deposit paying up to 17% annually, with a minimum balance of EGP 5k, per a customer notice released yesterday and seen by EnterpriseAM. Another option is the Citizen Bond — the government launched two issuances of the bond in February, offering retail savers a fixed 17.75% over 18 months. The Finance Ministry opted for the 18-month tenor after finding no comparable product in the banking sector, a senior government source previously told EnterpriseAM.

A transitional phase

The disappearance of annual certificates “doesn’t reflect a structural shift in banks’ strategy, but rather a transitional phase linked to the current monetary policy cycle and interest rate expectations,” says banking analyst Mohamed Abdel Moneim. Banks are working to “reduce their average cost of funds in line with declining interest rates and give themselves greater flexibility to reprice deposits with each new rate cut, rather than being locked into a high yield for a full year,” he explains, adding that long-term certificates “enjoy exemptions from the reserve requirement ratio, which gives banks greater freedom and pricing power.”

Why banks favor longer tenors: “The primary purpose of issuing savings certificates is to provide long-term funding sources,” says AASTMT economics professor Shaimaa Wagieh, with short-term deposits still serving short-term needs. Issuing high-yield short-term certificates is the exception, not the rule, she says, since it “represents a high funding cost for commercial banks and limits their ability to generate [income].” Veteran banker and EG Bank board member Mohamed Abdel Aal says the CBE introduced three-year certificates to “build a base of long-term deposits at banks and fund medium- and long-term credit, while avoiding a mismatch between asset and liability maturities.”

High-yield one-year certificates were never part of the traditional structure — they came in during the 2022/23 inflation spike, when price hikes hit around 38% and real returns turned negative, Abdel Aal says. He calls them a positive trap: “Someone who invested for a year at a 30% yield found themselves, upon renewal, facing much lower interest rates,” while those who locked into three-year certificates at 23% came out ahead as inflation eased.

Far from target

Is this a savings gap? Veteran banker and former Banque Misr deputy chair Sahar El Damaty doesn’t see one, pointing to “a significant degree of diversity that covers different investment needs and preferences.” She argues a longer lock-in may suit some savers, saying “the longer the investment term, the better it is for an investor looking to lock in a high yield,” and notes “the central bank remains far from its 7% (±2 pp) inflation target,” meaning the easing cycle has far to run.

The CBE held rates steady for a third straight meeting last week, with headline inflation easing to 14.3% y-o-y in June from 14.6% in May — even turning negative m-o-m at -0.4% — while core inflation ticked up to 14.3% y-o-y from 13.8%, on what the bank called “an unfavorable base effect.” It expects headline inflation to accelerate through 3Q 2026, before easing back to single digits and hitting its 7% (±2 pp) target in 2H 2027.

Could one-year certificates come back? Yes, but only under exceptional conditions. Abdel Aal lays out three: “Inflation running high enough to exceed deposit interest rates; real returns turning negative; and the central bank being confident that inflation will decline going forward.” Abdel Moneim expects one-year CDs to return again “if the market sees a new cycle of rising interest rates, or if banks need to attract additional liquidity.”

What’s next: “Competition between banks won’t be based on certificate and deposit rates the way it used to be — it will shift toward the quality of services offered to customers and more advanced, secure digital services,” Abdel Aal says.

Capacity growing in the SCZone

TEDA wants more room: The China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (TEDA) is asking the government for additional land to double its size inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone to accommodate rising investor demand, according to statements made by TEDA marketing and promotion head Mohamed Gabrial. The China-Egypt industrial zone reached over 10 sq km following a July 2025 expansion agreement that added 2.86 sq km to its previous 7.34 sq km footprint, and around 200 industrial and service companies are now operating inside.

The pipeline is moving up the value chain: TEDA is targeting higher-value manufacturing in renewables, solar components, green hydrogen-linked industries, advanced engineering, auto components, and electrical appliances, Gabrial said.

Why it matters: TEDA’s land allocation request signals that Egypt’s China-led manufacturing pipeline is turning into a denser industrial cluster, not just a series of standalone factory announcements. Several Chinese manufacturing projects came online in Sokhna earlier this year, including Elite Solar's solar cells, panels, and components factories, Xinjin's textile complex, Vanward's water-heater and components facility, and CEC's ball bearings plant. Additional TEDA land would give that pipeline a larger industrial base to scale from.

One step closer to RIZ

Russia has notified Egypt of its selection of an industrial developer for the long-delayed Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) inside the SCZone, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. A named developer moves the RIZ closer to execution after years in the planning phase. The government approved decades-long tax and customs incentives for companies operating in the zone under the Egypt-Russia intergovernmental agreement. The RIZ has been pitched as a manufacturing base for Russian companies targeting Egypt, Africa, and the wider region, with prior public reporting citing investment potential in the multi-bn-USD range.

More energy savings for ceramics

Ceramics and sanitaryware factories have agreed to cut natural gas use by up to 25% and electricity use by up to 15%, working with kiln and production-line manufacturers and energy-efficiency firms on action plans, according to a cabinet statement. The agreement came out of a ministry workshop for 25 sector companies on its Shams Al Sinaa (Industry's Sun) solar initiative, which targets 1 GW of rooftop solar on factories nationwide in its first phase. Financing is expected to draw on FEI's environmental compliance office alongside a Unido-GEF industrial energy-efficiency program that has worked with Egyptian banks and covered the ceramics sector since 2013.

Morpho and Mobica’s next moves

Morpho Investments is studying four investment prospects worth a combined USD 36 mn across industry, food, and agriculture, one of the fund’s shareholders Mobica CEO Mohamed Farouk told Al Arabiya. The fund launched in 2025 and has raised USD 65 mn to date, on track to hit its USD 100 mn target within 12 months. Agri-tech and related industrial plays as its core focus alongside other sectors. Separately, Farouk said Mobica’s own auto-parts expansion is moving forward: the group plans to bring a dedicated factory for car carpets and vehicle roof liners online before year-end, backed by roughly USD 10 mn in investment, with additional projects targeted for 2027 and 2028 in Egypt and abroad.

More rooms with views

Another hotel with a GEM view: Banque Misr’s real estate arm Misr Abu Dhabi for Real Estate Investments (MAD) is in talks with three investors, including two private-sector companies, to develop a 200-room hotel on a 7.5k sqm plot opposite the Grand Egyptian Museum, CEO Maged Salah El Din tells Al Borsa. The company is weighing the offers as part of a push to monetize its real estate portfolio.

Why it matters: The GEM-adjacent hospitality corridor is still pulling in capital ahead of the museum’s full opening. IFC recently moved close to a USD 100 mn loan for AlDau Hospitality’s flagship hotel overlooking the museum, and we’ve previously flagged the wider West Cairo real estate build-out around tourism demand, hotel apartments, and serviced housing near the GEM.

Orascom Development secures fresh financing

Orascom Development secured EGP 18 bn from a banking syndicate — the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, and CIB — to expand its West Cairo O West residential project, accelerate construction, and complete development phases, according to Reuters. The project is currently 25% complete, with the remaining portion under development, Chairman Eskandar Tooma told the newswire.

Already?

The biggest IPO ever just went underwater: SpaceX shares broke below their USD 135 IPO price for the first time yesterday, falling as much as 2.9% to USD 132.15, a month after the rocket, satellite, and AI company raised a record USD 86 bn in its June debut, Bloomberg reports. The stock is now down some 40% from its 16 June peak of USD 225.64, after surging nearly 50% in its first three days of trading and then shedding a quarter of its value over the next three sessions.

Some of the early froth was mechanical, not fundamental: A Nasdaq rule change let SpaceX join the Nasdaq-100 just 15 trading days after listing, pulling in an estimated USD 5.4 bn of forced index-fund buying, per Bloomberg Intelligence. Strip that out, and what remains is a market growing wary of a SpaceX focused on its xAI ambitions, with returns “too far removed from immediate cashflow,” as SLC Management's Dec Mullarkey put it.

The knock-on for the AI listings queue: OpenAI and Anthropic have both confidentially filed, CNBC reported. The three listings were estimated back in June at a whopping USD 3.6 tn to US exchanges. A listing this size trading below issue complicates pricing for everyone behind it, though it could equally push capital-hungry AI labs to sprint for the window before it narrows, Reuters noted.

The sell side is still bullish: More than 80% of analysts rate the stock a buy, with an average target near USD 238, roughly 78% above current levels. Much of that coverage landed only after the quiet period ended for banks that worked on the IPO.

Why this matters for us

Gulf sovereign capital was all over this book. The Public Investment Fund and the Kuwait Investment Authority each reportedly placed orders of USD 1-5 bn, with the Qatar Investment Authority also in for a sizable allocation. All in all, the book ran roughly 4x oversubscribed at some USD 250 bn in orders.

The Gulf’s pre-IPO exposure runs deeper still: PIF-backed Humain put USD 3 bn into xAI’s Series E in February, a stake that converted into SpaceX shares after the merger. Kingdom Holding’s rolled-over X position became SpaceX stock the same way, while Abu Dhabi’s MGX, Alpha Dhabi, IHC, and the Oman Investment Authority all hold direct or indirect positions.

Starship Flight 13 launches today, and a successful flight could be a catalyst, UBS said, holding a USD 210 target for SpaceX. The bigger date is SpaceX’s first earnings report in the coming weeks, which triggers the first lockup expiries. That’s when the Gulf’s pre-IPO holders — Humain, Kingdom Holding, and the rest — face their first real decision: hold, or take what’s left of the gain.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian stock markets opened lower as renewed regional hostilities and a selloff in semiconductor shares pushed equities lower. South Korea’s Kospi is down over 6.5%, and Japan’s Nikkei is trailing behind (-3.1%). Investor sentiment could shift after South Korea’s central bank raised rates for the first time in over three years this morning in an effort to fight inflationary pressures — we’ll be closely watching to see how regional markets react to the news.

EGX30	52,558	+0.5% (YTD: +25.7%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 50.51	Sell 50.65
USD (CIB)	Buy 50.50	Sell 50.60
Interest rates (CBE)	19.00% deposit	20.00% lending
Tadawul	10,705	-0.1% (YTD: +2.0%)
ADX	9,831	-0.2% (YTD: -1.6%)
DFM	5,911	+0.4% (YTD: -2.2%)
S&P 500	7,572	+0.4% (YTD: +10.6%)
FTSE 100	10,516	-0.1% (YTD: +5.9%)
Euro Stoxx 50	6,266	-0.2% (YTD: +8.1%)
Brent crude	USD 84.95	+0.3%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 2.92	-0.2%
Gold	USD 4,067	+0.4%
BTC	USD 64,816	-0.1% (YTD: -26.0%)
S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index	1,080	0.0% (YTD: +8.7%)
S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk	151.53	+0.1% (YTD: -0.2%)
VIX (Volatility Index)	15.67	-5.0% (YTD: +4.8%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.5% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 11.8 bn (33.3% above the 90-day average). Local investors were the sole net buyers. The index is up 25.7% YTD.

In the green: Heliopolis Housing (+5.3%), GB Corp (+4.3%), and Palm Hills Developments (+3.4%).

In the red: Kima (-2.1%), AMOC (-2.0%), and Raya Holding (-2.0%).

My Morning Routine: Tarek Kamel, chairman and managing director of Nestlé Egypt and Sudan

Tarek Kamel, chairman and managing director of Nestlé Egypt and Sudan. 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 Tarek Kamel (LinkedIn), chairman and managing director of Nestlé Egypt and Sudan.

Edited excerpts from our conversation:

My name is Tarek Kamel, and I’m the chairman and managing director of Nestlé Egypt and Sudan. My career started in banking, but I always wanted a role where marketing actually drove the business, and that’s what led me to Nestlé in 2002. After 17 years, I moved to Orascom Development, first as executive director of El Gouna, then to Orascom Development Egypt. In 2023, I returned to Nestlé, but this time as chairman and managing director.

My core job is putting the right people in the right places and allowing them to grow through motivation and guidance. From there, I oversee every part of the business, from procurement, production, and supply security to sales, distribution, and marketing. I’m always balancing daily tactical follow-up with strategic oversight: where we’ll invest, where we’ll expand, and how we’ll actually get there on the ground.

Nestlé meets one of the most basic human needs: food and drink. I take real pride in the history behind that. Our roots in Egypt date back to May 1900, and now I lead one of the oldest multinational companies in the country — one that’s part of nearly every Egyptian home, from water and baby food to Nescafé and KitKat. What excites me the most right now is how fast consumer tastes are shifting. For instance, coffee in Egypt was always consumed hot in the past, but with the rise of specialty cafes, I’ve watched a huge trend emerge among Gen Z toward cold and iced coffee. I pushed to get us moving fast on that shift before we lost ground.

I wake up early, usually before my 7am alarm. The moment I’m up, I jump straight out of bed. I’m not a fan of the snooze button — hitting it is a bad way to start the day. I immediately open the curtains to let the sunlight in, then sit quietly with my small bottle of water for a while. It’s important that I start the day with a simple sense of accomplishment, like reorganizing the fridge. This 20-minute mental exercise each day sets the tone for my day. Breakfast is essential too, even if it’s light: cornflakes or a small cheese sandwich. Part of the early morning routine is the half-hour social media browsing to catch up on the world around me.

I read EnterpriseAM and EnterprisePM daily. Twice a day, I scan the headlines to get the gist. If a story catches my attention, I click through for the details. It gives me exactly the amount of information I need and keeps me connected to events without wasting time.

I get to the office between 9 and 9:30am. My day is a steady string of meetings, whether with internal teams, government officials, or other outside stakeholders. Since I also oversee sales across 18 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, that circle of meetings often stretches into different time zones. Still, I try to leave the office between 6 and 7pm.

Coffee is my one daily constant. I drink it in all its forms — Nespresso, Nescafé, Turkish coffee — three or four times a day. The reasons vary: sometimes I need to focus, sometimes I just need to wake up, and sometimes I simply enjoy it.

My routine for staying focused and organized actually starts the night before. I write a to-do list before bed so I know what’s ahead of me the next day. My relationship with my calendar is a close one; I stay on top of my schedule and commitments for the next six to eight weeks.

I’m a fate-driven person, both personally and professionally. I don’t spend much time thinking about my next career move. Instead, I put all my energy into my current job and leave the rest to God, because success comes to those who master their work. Closer to home, I hope God blesses my son Yehia with a sibling soon. I also hope Al Ahly secures the league title again next season — I’m one of the club’s loyal fans.

Work-life balance is relative — it differs from person to person, and from time to time. My own balance might not suit someone else. I can’t fully disconnect from work, even during long vacations I set aside an early hour each morning before the family wakes up to go through emails — it gives me peace of mind and keeps me energized for the day.

I disconnect from work only to spend time with my family. I also listen to podcasts on topics completely outside my field. As a football fanatic, I’ll watch a match no matter what, even if it's a second-division game in Venezuela.

Reading has always won over TV for me. I gave up on watching TV series years ago — like a lot of people, I just don’t have the patience for long seasons and dramas. Instead, I’m an avid reader of Arabic literature and history. I highly recommend revisiting the novels of Naguib Mahfouz, Ihsan Abdel Quddous, and Taha Hussein. Mahfouz, in particular, had a genius for description — reading him feels like watching a film take shape in your imagination. I’m also drawn to Mohamed Hassanein Heikal’s books, where history unfolds in rich, eloquent Arabic prose.

I’ve held onto two pieces of career advice over the years. The first: think of something you’d love to do, then figure out how to make money from it. Passion is what lets you work without limits, and it multiplies both your output and your success. The second: your career is a jog, not a sprint. The road is long and requires staying power — you shouldn’t rush to have it all at once.

CALENDAR

JULY

23 July (Thursday): Revolution Day.

AUGUST

19 August (Wednesday): Connected Banking Summit, Fairmont Nile City Hotel.

20 August (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s fifth meeting of 2026.

26 August (Wednesday): Prophet Muhammad’s birthday.

SEPTEMBER

8-10 September (Tuesday-Thursday) El Alamein International Airshow, El Alamein International Airport.

10-12 September (Thursday-Saturday): Egyptian Entrepreneurship Sector Diagnostics Report Summit, El Gouna.

15 September (Tuesday): IMF to hold its eighth review of Egypt’s USD 8 bn EFF arrangement.

24 September (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s sixth meeting of 2026.

27-29 September (Sunday-Tuesday): Global Conference on Population, Health, and Human Development.

OCTOBER

6 October (Tuesday): Armed Forces Day.

10-11 October (Saturday-Sunday): Egypt Women’s Health Summit (EWHS), Cairo Marriott Hotel.

26-28 October (Monday-Wednesday): IEX Egypt, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

29 October (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s seventh meeting of 2026.

NOVEMBER

6-8 November (Friday-Sunday) : Global Entrepreneurship Festival, JW Marriott Hotel, New Cairo

DECEMBER

7-10 December (Monday-Thursday): Food Africa, Egypt International Exhibition Center, Cairo.

17 December (Thursday): Monetary Policy Committee’s eighth meeting of 2026.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

July 2026: British Prime Minister set to visit Egypt.

2H 2026: Operations at Deli Glass Co’s new USD 70 mn glassware factory kick off.

2026: The Egyptian-American Economic Forum.

4Q 2026: Banque du Caire IPO.

2027

16-18 January (Saturday-Monday): Agri Expo, Cairo International Convention Center.

20 January-7 February: Egypt to host the African Games.

April 2027: Tenth of Ramadan dry port and logistics hub to begin operations.

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2027: Egypt to host EBRD’s annual meetings.

2027: Egypt-EU Summit 2027.

End of 2027: Trial operations at the Dabaa nuclear power plant expected to take place.

September 2028: First unit of the Dabaa nuclear power plant begins operations.

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IMF to make a decision on seventh review by mid-August

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