Good morning, wonderful people, and happy almost-THURSDAY. The news cycle is once again being slightly gentler to us this morning as we progress through the week.

THE BIG STORY here at home this morning: We’ve got a bit of an unintentional banking theme going, as Reuters reports that the Madbouly government is hiring advisors for a sale of its 20% stake in Alexbank, and lawmakers vote through changes to some outdated banking legislation.

On the global front, it’s a pivotal day for the US central bank: The US Fed could press ‘pause’ on its monetary tightening for the first time in over a year. We have all the details below. But first:

The Enterprise Finance Forum is our flagship gathering — the one so many of you have been waiting for. The two-day event takes place this September and will be the latest in our must-attend series of invitation-only, C-suite-level gatherings. Stay tuned for more information on the location.

TAP OR CLICK HERE if you want to express interest in attending. We’ll be sending out the first batch of invitations just after the 30 June holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Email mtaalab@enterpriseadvisory.com.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our exciting agenda in the weeks to come.

PRIVATIZATION WATCH-

Business leaders call on gov’t to make privatization plans a reality: Business leaders participating in the National Dialogue urged the government to speed up the implementation of the state ownership policy during a dialogue session on the topic yesterday. The government’s delay in exiting its stakes in state-owned companies has led to the IMF to delay its review of our USD 3 bn loan and pushed Moody’s to downgrade Egypt’s credit rating, former industry and trade Minister Mounir Abdel Nour said — “two moves which could negatively impact Egypt's FX liquidity.” Senator Ahmed Sabbour said bureaucratic obstacles and FX rate instability appeared to be slowing progress on state asset sales. “We should have a timeframe for the privatization process because without this investors will lose confidence and patience,” said Samir Sabry, rapporteur for the dialogue's private investment committee.

More critique to come? Ahmed Galal, head of the dialogue's economic committee and a former cabinet minister, called for a separate session to discuss the “many problems facing the implementation of the state ownership policy document.”

REMEMBER- The government has sold some USD 153 mn worth of assets so far in the program, less than 8% of the USD 2 bn it planned to raise by the end of this month.

HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s decision day at the Fed: The US Federal Reserve will announce its decision on interest rates this evening following its two-day policy meeting. The central bank is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at 5.0-5.25% to assess the impact of the combined 500-bps in hikes over the past year. This would be the first pause since it began aggressively tightening policy in March last year.

Making a pause more likely: Cooler US inflation data out yesterday. Inflation fell to 4.0% y-o-y in May — its lowest level in 27 months and down from 4.9% the month prior, Bloomberg reports. Core inflation came in at 5.3% y-o-y — marking its smallest rise since November 2021, while still hot.

This could be the wrong move, says El Erian: Keeping interest rates unchanged and signaling further hikes to come could be the “worst of three imperfect policy options” open to a central bank that has faced a “significant erosion” of its policy credibility, Mohamed El Erian writes for the Financial Times. Not only is a one-time pause unlikely to give the Fed a deeper understanding of how policy is impacting the economy, recent economic data has pointed to the need for an additional hike, making a pause a strange decision for a central bank that insists it is data-dependent, he says.

The lesser of three evils:Inflation may have weakened in May but it remains high historically, meaning a pause could “end up as the muddled middle option, rendering future decisions even more challenging,” El Erian writes. Instead, raising rates by 25 bps and remaining open to additional hikes is a preferable route if the Fed is truly data dependent, while another option would be to press pause this month and leave the door open for a cut later, the choice least damaging to the economy, he says.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Trump’s Miami court appearance is leading every front page: The former president pleaded not guilty to 37 federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept and shared classified documents after leaving the White House and misled officials who sought to retrieve them. Trump has maintained that the indictment is a politically motivated effort to undermine him and his 2024 presidential bid. (Associated Press| Wall Street Journal | Washington Post | New York Times | Reuters)

SIGNS OF THE TIMES-

You know the AI boom is in full swing when:

#1- A four-week-old company bags Europe’s biggest ever seed round. Parisian startup Mistral AI so far has no developed products — but it has raised EUR 105 mn (USD 113.3 mn) in a record European seed round, reports the Financial Times. The startup, formed by a trio of former Meta and Google AI researchers, will launch a new “large language model” early next year that is similar to the generative AI system behind ChatGPT app. The round values the month-old company at EUR 240 mn (USD 259 mn).

#2- Oracle Corp founder Larry Ellison passes Bill Gates to become the world’s fourth-richest person —with a net worth of USD 129.8 bn — thanks to a 42% rise in the company’s stock so far this year, Bloomberg reports.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

African heads of state will arrive “imminently” in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin aimed at bringing the war in Ukraine to an end, reports Bloomberg. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is reportedly joining the peace initiative in Moscow, as are the presidents of South Africa, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and the Republic of Congo. Putin told military reporters on Tuesday that he has “agreed to discuss current issues.” Details of the group’s peace proposals have not been made public, with much of the trip under wraps amid security concerns. The countries attending the meeting have all been severely affected by the conflict, which has driven a surge in global commodity prices and disrupted the trade in grain and fertilizer.

CORRECTION-In a story in Monday’s edition of EnterpriseAM, we incorrectly reported that Enmaa Finance closed a USD 759 mn securitized bond issuance. The company actually sold EGP 759 mn worth of bonds. The story has since been updated on our website.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Japanese business leaders are coming to Egypt to discuss renewables, green hydrogen:A Japanese trade delegation will visit Egypt in September, Al Mal reported yesterday. The visit, organized by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), will see representatives of 30 companies meet local business leaders and officials to discuss potential investment in Egypt’s renewable energy and green hydrogen industries.

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

ENTERPRISE IS LOOKING FOR SMART, TALENTED PEOPLE of all backgrounds to help us build some very cool new things. Enterprise — the essential morning read on all the important news shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region — is looking for writers, reporters and editors to help us build out new publications. Today, we run four daily Egypt and MENA-focused publications, five weekly industry verticals, and a weekend lifestyle edition designed to make our readers feel just a bit smarter.

We have tons more in the pipeline — come help us build new publications. We offer the chance to work in a fast-paced newsroom on a broad range of topics and in a variety of formats. Our goal is simple: To create value for our growing community of >250k daily readers by telling stories that matter.

Journalists looking to explore business, finance and economic stories are welcome. So are recent journalism school graduates.

That said, we're looking for gifted story-tellers from all walks of life and across all professions, as long as they show a keen interest in learning to write about the stories, topics, businesses, and figures moving markets. Egyptian and foreign nationals alike are welcome to apply. So are job-switchers: If you’re an equities analyst tired of the rat race, we’re a great place to come work.

NEVER WORKED IN A NEWSROOM BEFORE? We have the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program. Whether you are a recent graduate, an industry vet, or looking to switch careers, the Enterprise Business Writing Development Program will give you the tools you need to tell the most important stories to our audience of C-suite officials, government ministers, diplomats, financiers, investors and entrepreneurs.

During the program you will learn:

• The key news stories and trends shaping business and the economy in Egypt and the region, across various sectors;
• Business and finance for non-finance people: Whether it's industry jargon or key concepts or simply how to read a balance sheet;
• How to construct an Enterprise story: From idea formulation down to the structure, style and tone of writing;
• How to develop sources that will give you the key insights needed to tell a complete story;
• How to communicate these stories with the confidence and language of an insider.

Not an internship program — a career: The three-month program will see full-time, paid participants take part in workshops and lectures from veteran business journalists, while also working on and filing stories that will run on any of our publications. Those who have successfully completed the program, will then be given long-term job offers.

Apply directly to jobs@enterprisemea.com and mention “writing development program” in your subject line.

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

In today’s issue: We take a look at the investment pouring into our port infrastructure as the country positions itself to become a global logistical transit hub.