Good morning, wonderful people. Before we get underway this morning, please take a moment to mark your calendars because:

There are just 63 days left until our next Enterprise Finance Forum, which will take place on Tuesday, 24 September at the St Regis Hotel on the bank of the Nile here in Cairo.

The nation’s finance industry is at a turning point. Less than six months after the float of the EGP, we are on the right side of a protracted FX crunch that had the business community and Planet Finance alike in a chokehold.

We’re also in the early days of a generational realignment of power not just in our region, but in the global finance industry: The UAE has for more than a decade been the unquestioned epicenter of finance in the Mideast. Saudi Arabia is jockeying for a position, offering a fat fee wallet as it invests bns in gigaprojects — but institutions that don’t declare it their regional headquarters could be left on the outside looking in.

Enter Egypt, where we need to ask tough questions about our role in this finance ecosystem — and about the role the industry can play in building a real, export-led economy that will be far more resilient to shocks going forward.

On the agenda in September:

• We’ll ask a senior government official to tell us why it’s different this time around;
• Top CEOs answer the most difficult questions in Welcome to the Hot Seat;
• What does the New Middle East Economy look like, and what’s our finance community’s role in it?
• How is Planet Finance preparing for the largest inter-generational transfer of wealth the world has ever seen?
• Who are the next generation of giants who will be staples of your fee wallets and your NIMs in the future?

PLUS: The outlook for dealflow, opportunities in consumer finance, how we should be thinking about energy, why customer experience is key online and off, and what’s driving the next generation of Egyptian giants.

The 2024 Enterprise Finance Forum is our flagship forum and part of 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.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND? Everyone who plays a role in our industry, from commercial and investment bankers to asset managers, fintech founders, NBFS leaders, and professional services providers of all stripes. Attendees at our events are C-suite officers, business owners, and their direct reports; we also make an allocation for folks we think could be tomorrow’s founders and C-suite executives.

Want to request an invitation? Tap or click here Space is strictly limited. Formal invitations will start going out next month, and the only way to receive one is to let us know you’re interested.

EGX WATCH-

From NileX to the EGX: Lotus for Agricultural Investments and Development has moved from the EGX’s small and medium enterprises market to the main market after spending a little over a year trading on the NileX.

A capital increase ahead: The company has plans to increase its capital over the coming period as part of its expansion plan, Managing Director Ayman Al Abd said, without disclosing any further details.

More companies to leave the NileX for the EGX: Another company or two will be moving from the SMEs market to the main market “over the coming few months,” bourse head Ahmed El Sheikh told CNBC Arabia (watch, runtime: 4:10). The SMEs market serves as a “business incubator” where companies can list for 3 to 5 years as they work to raise capital and implement expansion plans that ultimately propel them to the main market, he previously said.

And more listings all around: The bourse is currently studying the prospect of listing 11 new companies — eight on the EGX and three on the NileX, he added.

HAPPENING TODAY-

The final chance to subscribe to the Act Financial IPO. Retail investors — who are being offered 60 mn shares — can subscribe to a minimum of 1k shares and a maximum of 1.75 mn shares until later today. The subscription period for institutional investors wrapped up last Thursday.

High demand from retail investors: The retail investors’ offering was 34x oversubscribed by the end of trading yesterday, Al Mal reported citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. The institutional investors’ offering was 20.2x oversubscribed.

DATA POINT-

#1- Peak energy consumption: Energy consumption reached its highest level ever on Sunday at around 165 mn cubic meters of fuel equivalent, the Oil Ministry said in a statement. The announcement adds color to statements from the Electricity Ministry spokesperson as to why power cuts continued throughout Sunday, despite promises that the government will be halting them until mid-September.

#2- Egypt’s wheat imports jumped 34% y-o-y in the first six and half months of 2024, rising to 7.5 mn tons, with private sector imports leading the increase, Al Arabiya reports citing official data.

ICYMI: Last week, state grain buyer GASC bought 770k tons of wheat from Russia and Bulgaria in its largest single purchase since June 2022 — part of a bid to bring strategic wheat reserves up from six month’s supply to nine.

PSA-

WEATHER- It’s another hot one in Cairo, with a high of 38°C and a low of 27°C, according to our favorite weather app.

It’s a little cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 34°C and a low of 25°C.

** DID YOU KNOW that we now cover Saudi Arabia and the UAE?

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

No surprises here — Kamala Harris is leading front pages everywhere after suddenly becoming the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Also getting attention: Israel is evacuating Khan Younis; ether ETFs are coming; and Google is keeping advertiser cookies.

Harris addressed her campaign staff yesterday as her candidacy earned the backing of key party officials, with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi the latest to give Harris her stamp of approval. Hollywood celebrities are also rallying around Harris and donating to the campaign — and Charli XCX seemingly triggered a viral meme campaign after tweeting that Harris “IS brat.” The campaign is leaning into it in a bid to attract Gen Z votes.

The sitting vice president aims to lock-in the delegates she needs to secure her nomination by tomorrow evening, Reuters reports. The Democratic National Committee has agreed to hold a virtual roll call to choose their nominee by Wednesday, 7 August. The formal convention will start on Monday, 19 August.

The key question on everyone’s minds now: Who will Harris pick as her running mate? Bloomberg, the New York Times and Politico each have a list of folks they think are likely candidates.

MEANWHILE- The US Secret Service admitted its “failure” in protecting Trump during his assassination attempt, and Biden said dropping out of the race was “the right thing to do.”

OVER IN GAZA- While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads to Washington to address congress tomorrow, Israel has ordered civilians to evacuate Khan Younis as it relaunches attacks against Hamas, sending hundreds of thousands to the humanitarian area in Al Mawasi by the coast and killing 70 Palestinians in the meantime. (Bloomberg | Reuters)

IN BUSINESS NEWS- Several stories are making the rounds:

#1- The ripple effects of the global tech outage on Friday could last weeks, experts say, as flights continue to face delays across the world and healthcare services face ongoing snarls.

#2- The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the launch of ether ETFs six months after the successful launch of BTC ETFs, with trading expecting to kick off today, CNBC reports. The ETFs could attract some USD 15 bn to market in its first year and a half, analysts expect.

#3- Google is scrapping long-standing plans to replace third-party cookies — long used by advertisers — after receiving feedback that the transition would be disruptive and would impact all online publishers. Read Google’s full blog post about the decision here.

*** It’s Going Green day — your weekly briefing of all things green in Egypt: Enterprise’s green economy vertical focuses each Tuesday on the business of renewable energy and sustainable practices in Egypt, everything from solar and wind energy through to water, waste management, sustainable building practices and how you can make your business greener, whatever the sector.

In today’s issue: We break down a new report from the European Court of Auditors that calls into question whether the EU’s green hydrogen strategy is sufficient to reach Europe’s 2030 goals.