Madbouly government sees economy growing at 4.0% clip in FY 2024-25

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What We're Tracking Today

Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros Holding mulls integrated tourism project in Ras Gamila

Good morning, everyone. It’s been a busy week for growth forecasts with the IMF, World Bank, and now the government offering up their predictions for the current fiscal year and the next. While the government is more optimistic about the current fiscal year, it’s the Fund and World Bank who are more optimistic about the coming fiscal year — so let’s hope they’re both half right.

In today’s issue, we’ve also got news of Palm Hills Developments partnering up with Cleopatra Group for a project on the North Coast, GB Auto’s new venture in Jordan, and much, much more for you this morning.

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

PSA-

#1- We have another short work week ahead: The public and private sectors will beoff on Thursday, 25 April in observance of Sinai Liberation Day, according to a cabinet statement.

#2- EgyptAir has temporarily suspended flights between Cairo and Dubai after Tuesday’s bout of torrential rain in the UAE flooded Dubai International Airport, the company said yesterday. Flights will resume when “weather conditions in Dubai improve and aircraft are allowed to land and take off again,” the national flag carrier said.

WEATHER- It’s slightly cooler in Cairo today, with a high of 30°C and a low of 18°C, according to our favorite weather app.

And it’s a whole lot cooler in Alexandria, with a high of 24°C and a low of 16°C. It’s also pretty sandy in Alex and along the North Coast westwards, so be careful on the roads with limited visibility.

And the sun will continue over the weekend, with highs of around 30°C in the capital and the cooler weather continuing for our friends on the Mediterranean with temperatures reaching the mid 20s.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Is Ajlan & Bros Holding eyeing up Ras Gamila? Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Bros Holding has indicated its interest in developing an integrated tourism project in Ras Gamila in a letter to the government, reported Cairo 24, citing unnamed sources it says are in the know.

Remember: Rumors that Egyptian and Saudi authorities were in talks over the development rights of Ras Gamila circulated last month around the same time that the USD 35 bn Ras El Hekma agreement was unveiled. Talks are “still at early stages and could fall through,” sources told Bloomberg.

#2- Debt pressures continue to weigh on Egypt despite recent bailouts: Egyptian authorities are in talks with the central bank, pension funds, and the main state health insurer in order to delay repayments of some of its domestic debt owed to those entities, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said in an interview according to Bloomberg. The aim is to extend the average debt maturity to 4.5-5 years by June 2028, compared to 3.3 years at the end of this fiscal year, said Maait. The Finance Minister didn’t specify how much of the debt would be restructured.

What gives? The aim is to improve Egypt's financial stability and flexibility by managing its debt more effectively, because — despite securing at least USD 57 bn of finance in the less than two months from the IMF, EU, World Bank, and Ras El Hekma agreement this year — Egypt faces a heavy debt burden, with half of state revenues going into interest payments alone.

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HAPPENING TODAY-

It’s day four of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings and a number of our ministers are in Washington to take part in the meetings and make the rounds. Check out the full schedule for the gathering — which kicked off in Washington on Monday and runs through 20 April — here.

On the agenda today: CBE Deputy Governor Rami Aboul Naga and International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat are booked in for separate conversations with the Atlantic Council.

WORTH NOTING FROM DAY THREE OF THE IMF AND WORLD BANK’S SPRING MEETUP-

#1- Maait talks health, private sector development: Finance Minister Mohamed Maait discussed declining public health indicators as a result of international tensions, falling funding, and food scarcity during a round table with his African counterparts on the sidelines of the event. Maait also urged for more coordination across the continent to develop African economies, make most effective use of local resources, and help build resilience against external shocks. Egypt’s private sector is “active,” he said, and it intends to invest more into African countries and forge stronger intra-continental ties.

#2- Al Mashat + G24: International Cooperation Minister Al Mashat called for the international community to support debt swaps and other alternative financing methods to support the green transition in developing countries. The minister also argued that funding climate efforts should not come at the expense of a focus on tackling poverty and promoting “shared prosperity.” She also addressed the massive financing gap in global infrastructure and outlined Egypt’s efforts to attract private sector investments into infrastructure projects via its NWFE program, during a separate event hosted by the Global Infrastructure Facility.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

#1-Attention, cybersecurity geeks: The people behind the FDC Summit and the Egypt Cybersecurity & Defense Intelligence Systems (CDIS) expo are launching a new joint cybersecurity and digital transformation event from 19-21 May, at Egypt International Exhibitions Centre, according to a press release (pdf). Titled Egypt International Summit for Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity, the three-day event will focus on integrating efforts and raise awareness on the importance of cybersecurity and digital transformation.

#2- Prepare to turn your clocks an hour forward: Daylight saving time starts on Friday, 26 April. You’ll be losing an hour’s sleep as clocks jump forward one hour until the final Thursday of October.

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

DATA POINT-

Investors have pledged some USD 894 mn in investments into the Suez Canal Economic Zone — 40% of which came from China — during 1Q 2024, according to a SCZone statement.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD: WAR?

To use the language of the weather forecasters: It’s a mixed day for news around the world, with no single story holding sway and little but clouds in the sky.

#1- Mattering most to our corner of the world: Israel’s allies are increasingly convinced that it will respond militarily — in one form or another — to Iran’s Sunday missile and drone attack.

“It is clear that the Israelis are making a decision to act. We hope that they do so in a way that does as little to escalate this as possible,” British Foreign Minister David Cameron said yesterday as he headed into a meeting with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, who yesterday warned Cameron and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (also in Tel Aviv for a visit) that “we will make our own decisions.” G7 nations have still not announced the sanctions on Iran that they hope might convince Netanyahu to sit tight.

MEANWHILE- Iran is readying its air force and said its navy will start escorting Iranian commercial ships in the Red Sea as it prepares for an Israeli attack on its territory or allies.

ANDِ- Some oil traders are wagering that crude will be trading at USD 250 a barrel by June, as risks of a wider regional war continue to grow, Bloomberg reports. Despite the hype in some trading circles, Brent was trading ending the day 3.0% lower at USD 87.29 a barrel when markets closed yesterday.

#2- Ceasefire talks on Gaza seem as stalled as ever (Egypt and Qatar are mediating the negotiations) and Iran-backed Hezbollah wounded 14 Israeli soldiers in a drone and missile attack yesterday in retaliation for Israeli attacks that killed Hezbollah troops.

WHILE ON THE DIPLOMATIC HOMEFRONT- Israel’s “outrageous use of military force” on Gaza represents a “watershed moment” in the region’s history, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said during a joint press conference in Cairo with Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa.

Looking ahead: The UN General Security Council will vote tomorrow on a Palestinian request for full membership in the world body. A “yes” vote would be tantamount to international recognition of Palestinian statehood, so expect a US veto. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reportedly snubbed a request from the Biden administration to delay the request.

IN THE BUSINESS PAGES-

#3- Wall Street is tempering its expectations of a Fed rate cut this year, with most interpreting Jay Powell’s remarks earlier this week as meaning the first change in rates won’t come until September at the earliest. Bank of America economists, meanwhile, say there’s a “real risk” the central bank won’t cut rates until March 2025 “at the earliest.” CNBC has a solid roundup of sentiment.

That comes as IMF boss Kristalina Giorgieva warned overnight that “central banks should resist the temptation to lower their key interest rates too early and risk a resurgence of inflation and a fresh bout of policy tightening.”

MEANWHILE- US equities have now posted their longest losing streak so far this yea rafter the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell for a fourth day in a row.

Egypt’s Finance Ministry unveils preliminary budget report for FY 2024-25

More on next fiscal year’s budget: The Finance Ministry yesterday released its preliminary budget report (pdf) for fiscal year 2024-2025, giving us a peek into government’s growth, inflation, deficit, and primary surplus targets for the year to come.

TL;DR: Growth projection slashed again to 4.0% | Inflation targets revised upwards to an average of 18.1% | Budget deficit to widen slightly by 0.1 percentage point to 7.3%.

GROWTH-

Growth forecast for the next fiscal year down: The Madbouly government now sees the economy growing at a 4.0%clip in the coming fiscal year, down from the 4.1% penciled in for the current fiscal year and from the 4.2% projection the government made in March.

This is less optimistic than the IMF and World Bank’s latest predictions this week, even after the IMF dampened its expectations of growth for FY 2024-25 to 4.4% in its updated World Economic Outlook, down by 0.3 percentage points from its last projection in January. The World Bank also has a more optimistic outlook in its forecasts this week and expects the country’s economic growth to pick up to 4.2% in the next fiscal year.

INFLATION-

Less ambitious inflation targets: The government now sees annual headline inflation ending FY 2024-25 at an average of 18.1%. The government blamed “increasing prices of food, fuel, and intermediate goods, and supply chain disruptions.”

But the new targets are still more ambitious than the IMF’s forecast, which penciled in inflation reaching an average of 25.7% during the same period.

THE DEFICIT-

Budget deficit to widen next year, but less than originally thought: The government now sees the budget deficit finishing the next fiscal year at 7.3% from 7.0% this year and 6.0% the year before. The government’s January forecast had initially penciled in a more optimistic 7.2% for the next fiscal year and a more pessimistic 7.5% for the current fiscal year.

The primary surplus is expected to jump 1.0 percentage point next year to 3.5%, up from the2.5% that was estimated in January. The government’s forecast of 2.5% for the current fiscal year remains unchanged.

MONEY IN, MONEY OUT-

Another good year for the taxman ahead: Revenues are expected to rise by 22.6% to some EGP 2.6 tn in the upcoming fiscal year, up from a projected EGP 2.1 tn this year. Tax revenues will make up 77.0% of that sum, coming in at EGP 2.02 tn — up 32.2% y-o-y. Non-tax revenues are expected to inch down 1.5% to some EGP 604 bn.

Spending inches closer to EGP 4 tn mark: Spending for the upcoming fiscal year is projected to increase by 29.4% to EGP 3.9 tn, with most of the spending allocations will go towards interest payments, social support, and investments.

Also worth noting:

Yields to rise: The average yield offered on government bills and bonds is expected to jump to 25.0% in the next fiscal year, up from an estimated 18.5% this year, which the report attributed to central banks across the globe tightening their monetary policy.

The government sees Brent crude prices averaging USD 82 per barrel from July 2024 through to June 2025. This is up from USD 80 per barrel this fiscal year.
Wheat prices are expected to ease, with US wheat averaging USD 280 per ton over the12-month period. This is down from USD 340 a ton this fiscal year and USD 424 a ton in FY 2022-2023, which saw global prices surge on the back of the disruption caused by the war in Ukraine.

Where does the budget currently stand? Finance Minister Mohamed Maait and Planning Minister Hala El Said will discuss the draft state budget and socioeconomic development plan for FY 2024-25 in the House next Sunday. The state budget and development plan will be voted on before the start of the next fiscal year on 1 July.

Palm Hills partners with Cleopatra Group to develop North Coast project

PHD has another North Coast project brewing: Real estate developer Palm Hills Development (PHD) is teaming up with Cleopatra Group to develop a project in North Coast’s Sidi Heneish, Asharq Business reports, citing sources it says have knowledge of the matter. The project is expected to generate over EGP 100 bn in revenues within seven years, the sources said.

Who does what? PHD will undertake the development of the project in return for a 67% cut of the revenues, while Cleopatra Group will provide the land for the rest of the revenues.

Part of a larger investment strategy: PHD wants to invest up to EGP 9.5 bn in its projects over 2024, a 50% y-o-y increase.

It’s not even summer and the North Coast is hot (with investment): In February, the Madbouly government inked a USD 35 bn agreement with ADQ, giving the Abu Dhabi wealth fund and longtime investor in Egypt the development rights to Ras El Hekma on the North Coast. Emirati businessman and CEO of Al Habtoor Group Khalaf Al Habtoor told Ala Mas’ouleety that he is looking to invest in the North Coast and voiced his admiration for the region, while real estate developer Redcon Properties has said it is looking into setting up sustainable residential complexes in the coastal area. Egyptian real estate developer Al Ahly Sabbour has also expressed its interest with plans to purchase 1k feddans in the Ras El Hekma project for an urban and tourism project, chairman Ahmed Sabbour told Al Arabiya Business.

Beltone’s VC arm partners with CI VC to manage a USD 30 mn startup fund

Beltone’s VC arm to manage Citadel Holding’s startup fund: Beltone Venture Capital— Beltone Financial Holding’s venture capital arm — has partnered with the UAE’s Citadel International Holdings’ CI Venture Capital to manage a USD 30 mn fund that will back fast-growing startups in the MENA region, Beltone said in a press release (pdf ).

The fund has invested in a number of familiar names: The fund has already deployed funds in a number of startups across the region, including local courier startup Bosta, trucking startup Trella, homeware brand Ariika, and UAE-headquartered fintech Qlub.

It will target early-stage startups: The fund will mostly invest in pre-seed and seed funding rounds, and will then support the “best-performing portfolio companies in follow-up rounds,” Beltone Venture Capital CEO Ali Mokhtar said. It will also take part in “attractive” investments at different funding stages, he added.

What they said: “The fund is a continuation of the same strategy Beltone Venture Capital hasbeen executing since its inception in 2023. This is aligned with our fundamental principle of acting as founders’ partners and value investors, supporting startups' scale-up and reaching their full potential,” Mokhtar said.

B Investments to become Orascom Financial Holding’s majority owner after shareholders respond to offer

B Investments is one step closer to snapping up a majority stake in OFH: Orascom Financial Holding (OFH) shareholders have responded to private equity firm B Investments’ MTO for a majority stake in the company. Owners of some 3.3 bn shares — a 69% stake in the company — have responded to the offer, according to two EGX bulletins (here and here).

The stake is in the mid-range of what B Investments was shooting for: B Investments wanted to acquire up to 90% of OFH and no less than 51% of the company — since the stake on offer is greater than the acceptance threshold, the acquisition process will go through.

Background: The EGX last week extended the MTO for OFH because of the Eid Al Fitr break and shareholders had until the end of yesterday’s trading session to respond to the offer. The Financial Regulatory Authority last month pushed the deadline to 15 April.

What’s next? B Investments will now need to complete the share swap — its board had agreed in December to a share swap ratio of one B Investments share to 56.76 OFH shares.

It’s been a long time coming: B Investments had approved a plan to submit the MTO back in June, but requested a deadline extension in September.

GB Auto steps into Jordanian market with MG distribution JV

GB Auto to distribute MG cars in Jordan: GB Corp’s automotive arm GB Auto and MG Motor Jordan — the former distributor of the Chinese-owned automotive brand in Jordan — have launched a JV to take over the management of the MG Motor dealership in the country, according to a statement (pdf) from GB Corp. The move is part of GB Corp’s efforts to expand across the region.

The details: The JV — dubbed GKS — will be the exclusive distributor of MG passenger cars in Jordan. “The new JV will have all the needed resources to quickly grow the MG Motor brand in Jordan, focusing on both, an elevated brand experience and market share, through the sales and aftersales superior offerings and competitiveness,” the statement said.

Not the company’s first MG gig in the region: GB Auto has been distributing MG vehicles in Iraq after entering a partnership with China’s state-owned SAIC Motor — the parent company of MG Motor — in 2020.

What they said: “GB Auto remains committed to its strategic vision, maintaining market leadership and fostering long-term growth through prudent regional activities. The integration of the MG brand in Jordan into our portfolio marks a significant milestone, reaffirming our position as a pivotal player in the automotive sector,” GB Corp’s IR head Marina Kamal told Enterprise.

Egypt’s Potcast Productions Company secures financing round

The Potcast Productions concludes early financing round: Local podcast production startup The Potcast Productions Company (TPP) has concluded an early financing round that will enable its regional expansion, beginning with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the company said in a press release (pdf).

TPP secured the funding through Shark Tank Egypt’s second season, where the company’s founders pitched their startup and Dina Ghabbour (bio) — one of the investors on the show — offered them EGP 6 mn in funding in return for a 20% stake in the company (watch, runtime: 29:05). The statement didn’t disclose the final details of the agreement, the value and stake sold and company representatives refused to share the details when Enterprise reached out yesterday.

What TPP does: The company has so far created 15 different podcast programs that span across a number of genres including comedy, crime, mental health, and news. It also offers marketing services for content creators to help them generate higher earnings.

What they said: “The podcast industry is experiencing significant growth as a versatile platform for education and entertainment, attracting a global audience with its content — thanks to its rapid expansion on both a global and regional scale,” CEO Islam Adel said.

The strengthening of the greenback against the EGP caught the attention of the nation’s talking heads

It was all about the green for some of the nation’s talking heads, with the weakening of the EGP to 48.55 against the greenback in the banks as of yesterday being a hot topic of conversation on the airwaves last night.

Why the USD has gotten pricier recently: “Deferred demand for hard currency” after the Eid Al Fitr holiday has contributed to a rise in the price of the USD over the past three days, economist Mostafa Badra phoned in to tell Sherif Amer on Yahduth Fi Masr (watch, runtime: 3:49 and 3:23). “The longer the vacation period, the greater the demand for USD,” Badra added. Escalating tensions between Iran and Israel also contributed to the change, Badra said, noting the “exit of some foreign investments from the market" as a result of the conflict.

What this spells for consumer prices: “Merchants will not reduce the prices of goods due to the rise in the USD exchange rate," Badra explained.

Elsewhere, the focus was on the price of non-subsidized bread: The bakeries division of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce has submitted a proposal to Supply Minister Ali El Moselhy to cut prices of non-subsidized bread on the back of a decline by up to 35% in local flour prices, Iman El Hosary said on Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 4:38).

What’s next? El Moselhy and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly will hold a meeting with the chairman of the Chamber of Cereals Industry and the head of the bakeries division to discuss the prices of non-subsidized bread today to iron out details of the new pricing system, “which will be binding on bakeries across the country,” Supply Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Kamal told El Hosary. A newly formed committee will meet on a monthly basis to follow up on prices and the cost of production, he added. The Supply Ministry will share the new prices and weights of unsubsidized bread next week in response to local flour prices falling up to 35% on the back of fresh FX inflows, according to a ministry statement.

Egypt’s Olympic dreams under the spotlight

The BBC explores Egypt’s 2036 Olympics bid: “Egypt is ready now,” the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Secretary General Sharif El Erian told the BBC. A successful bid would make Egypt the first country in Africa to host the games, yet the “sheer scale and cost” of hosting the games and convincing the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) board presents a challenge to bidding nations, writes the beeb.

This isn’t Egypt’s first rodeo: Following three failed Olympic bids, Egypt has spent the past seven or eight years developing the main support infrastructure to make it better qualified to host the games, which includes the new capital’s 92-acre Olympic City, El Erian said.

We’re some of the most qualified in the continent: “If you want me to pick three countries who are the best when it comes to facilities in Africa, I can pick easily: Egypt, South Africa and Morocco. The rest have no chance,” El Erian told the BBC.

** Dive deeper: We took a look at how the Madbouly government is looking to the private sector to develop our sports infrastructure ahead of our planned Olympics bid in a Hardhat last year.

Post for Investment sees revenue and income jump over 30% y-o-y in 2023

EARNINGS WATCH-

Post for Investment sees top and bottom line grow over 30% y-o-y in 2023: Post for Investment saw its net income climb 32.4% y-o-y to EGP 664 mn in 2023, while its topline climbed by 30.7% y-o-y to EGP 1.1 bn during the same period thanks to strong performance of its portfolio companies, according to its latest earnings release (pdf).

CAPITAL MARKETS-

Another gold investment fund is on the way: A subsidiary of the National Bank of Egypt is applying to set up a gold investment fund in Egypt, according to the FRA Chairman Mohamed Faird in a cabinet statement yesterday. This would make for the third gold investment fund in the country, after Beltone Securities Holding and Evolve Holding launched Beltone Evolve Gold in January and Azimut and Evolve Holding launched the country’s first ever gold fund in May last year under the name AZ Gold. Around 103k individuals have so far invested in the two existing funds, he added.

SPEAKING OF GOLD- Egypt will host the first World Gold Council conference: Evolve Holding will host the first edition of the World Gold Council under the title Gold As An Asset Class and Financial Instrument in Egypt next Monday at the Marriott in Zamalek, it said in a statement (pdf).

Deficits in the US, China will hurt global economy

Careful now, big spenders: The US and China need to implement policies to address the imbalance between spending and revenues, which is adding to inflationary pressures and posing significant risks to the global economy, the IMF has warned in its latest Fiscal Monitor (pdf) out yesterday. Rampant spending from the world’s two largest economies could “have profound effects for the global economy and pose significant risks for baseline fiscal projections in other economies,” the Fund said.

How bad is it? The US will record a fiscal deficit of 7.1% in 2025, over three times the 2% average clocked in by other advanced economies, while China will record a deficit over twice the average of other EMs with 7.6%, the IMF said. The shortfall comes as both countries look set to face challenges ahead, with China dealing with weak domestic demand and a real estate crisis and the US entering a key year for fiscal policy in an election year that will see candidates pledging further tax cuts and increased state spending.

When the US spends, EMs pay: “Large and sudden increases” in US borrowing costs will likely send global government bond yields soaring and exchange rates into murky waters in emerging markets and developing economies, the IMF said. “A 1 percentage point spike in US rates results in a 90 basis point rise in other advanced economies and an increase in EMs of 1 percentage point,” according to the Financial Times.

THE MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asian markets are little changed in early trading this morning after Wall Street posted on Wednesday its first four-day string of losing days since the start of the year. The Kospi is the sole standout, up a bit more than 1.4% at dispatch time this morning. European and US equities futures were mostly unchanged overnight.

EGX30	29,668	+0.9% (YTD: +19.2%)
USD (CBE)	Buy 48.44	Sell 48.58
USD (CIB)	Buy 48.45	Sell 48.55
Interest rates CBE	27.25% deposit	28.25% lending
Tadawul	12,466	-0.3% (YTD: +4.2%)
ADX	9,165	-0.3% (YTD: -4.3%)
DFM	4,173	-0.3% (YTD: +2.8%)
S&P 500	5,022	-0.6% (YTD: +5.3%)
FTSE 100	7,848	+0.4% (YTD: +1.5%)
Euro Stoxx 50	4,914	-0.1% (YTD: +8.7%)
Brent crude	USD 87.29	-3.0%
Natural gas (Nymex)	USD 1.72	+0.3%
Gold	USD 2,380.80	-0.3%
BTC	USD 61,260.80	-4.3% (YTD: +44.9%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 rose 0.9% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 4.8 bn (4.2% below the 90-day average). Foreign investors were net sellers. The index is up 19.2% YTD.

In the green: Orascom Development Egypt (+5.7%), Palm Hills Developments (+5.2%) and Elsewedy Electric (+3.6%).

In the red: Abu Qir Fertilizers (-1.8%), Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (-1.7%) and Edita (-0.9%).

My Morning Routine: Ankush Arora, CEO of Al Mansour Automotive

Ankush Arora, CEO of Al Mansour Automotive: 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 Ankush Arora (LinkedIn), CEO of Al Mansour Automotive.

My name is Ankush Arora and I’m the CEO of Al Mansour Automotive. I’ve been in the automotive industry for over 32 years and my work has taken me to many different countries around the world. I hail from India and I've been living in Egypt for ten years, so I’m kind of a global citizen. I’d say I’m a pretty down to earth guy who loves life and family, and always likes to build new relationships.

Al Mansour Automotive has a longstanding history and a very strong foundation in Egypt— we're nearing our 50th anniversary. We’re the leading automotive distribution company in the country and arguably in the MENA region.

My current role as CEO boils down to two things. The first is to look at how we can grow and expand the business and think outside of the box. The second is to manage people and bring the best out of the team.

I'm a morning person. My day starts at 4 am every day. I'm usually up and ready by 4:30 am, and I'm on calls with China and Japan where it's late morning for them. Then, I’ll focus on any of my strategic initiatives or things that need my complete attention until around 5:30 am because I believe that this is when your mind is at its best. I get down to the golf course for a 30 minute walk and a nine hole game, either by myself or with a friend. I'm done by 7:15 am, I’ll head back home for a quick shower and breakfast — the most important meal of the day, for me — and then I’m off to work at 8 am.

My working day is pretty organized and I have a set schedule, but I like to have free slots of time during the day. I have an open door policy at work, so if I don't have a scheduled meeting, my doors are open for the team to walk in, talk, share problems, or I call people in to have a chat.

The industry is changing: These changes are taking place because of big leaps in renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and telecoms. When you combine these three elements and put them in the context of the automotive industry, the disruption takes the form of electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles. The big challenge — and at the same time, the biggest potential — for us is to really get ourselves ready for the next 50 years.

Today, vehicles are more like software on wheels than engines on wheels. The whole paradigm of how vehicles were manufactured before and how they're manufactured today is a completely different ball game. So, while before the ecosystem was typically made up of manufacturers, product developers, sellers or distributors, and of course consumers, you now have component developers, platform developers, battery developers, and that’s a phenomenal change.

Consumers and their behavior and expectations are also changing. If you take Gen Z as an example, they want to be mobile. They’re not bothered about owning a car or having a set of wheels under them. Their first priority is: how can I be mobile and how can I get from point A to point B in the fastest way? They don't want the headaches of parking, of maintaining a car, of renewing their license every year. So the whole paradigm of owning an automobile is changing and that's where the disruption is taking place.

How can we respond to this disruption? We are rejuvenating ourselves from a traditional automotive distributor to be a mobility solutions company, and there’s a multi-pronged strategy that comes with that. One of the important elements is how to ensure that we offer all kinds of mobility solutions to our consumers, depending on their needs and desires. Whether customers want to follow a subscription model, or a leasing model, or own-to-lease, or share the lease with somebody… All those elements are now being put into play so that we are ready for the future.

I would say that my work-life balance on a scale of one to ten is probably a nine. My wife might not agree with that. But I do believe it's nine out of ten. If you asked me, say, ten years ago, I would say it was probably two out of ten. There was no work-life balance. As you progress in your professional life and with age, and you become a little more sensible, you find that sweet spot of having a work-life balance. In my downtime, I’ll either watch a good movie or play some golf.

I don’t disturb any of my team members after 7 pm. I would not call anybody on the weekend unless there really is a fire that we need to put out, so to speak, because I believe everybody needs their time and space with family or themselves. I encourage a work-life balance because I've gone through that mill of a rigorous corporate life, where you're traveling six days a week and on calls 16 hours a day.

I love real stories and good autobiographies of business leaders. Good to Great by Jim Collins is a great read. The autobiography of Ford’s Lee Iacocca is inspirational. Disney CEO Bob Iger’s The Ride of a Lifetime is another great one, and other than that I really like Jack AND Suzy Welch’s The Real Life MBA.

The best pieces of advice that have been given to me were from my dad. He taught me that there are no shortcuts to achieve success, that integrity is non-negotiable, that respect is the most important virtue in life — be it of people, values, custom, or religion — and that you cannot achieve success on the shoulders of someone else.

CALENDAR

2024

APRIL

15-21 April (Monday-Sunday): The IMF / World Bank Spring Meetings.

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

26 April (Friday): Clocks move forward one hour at midnight as daylight saving time starts.

28 April (Sunday): Grace period to ins. brokerage firms to comply with Law 215 for 2023 expires.

28-29 April (Sunday-Monday): Saudi Arabia hosts a World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting on ‘global collaboration, growth, and energy.’

29 April (Monday): The government’s car export scheme expires.

MAY

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

2-5 May (Thursday-Sunday): Townhall Expo in Riyadh.

5 May (Sunday): Coptic Easter.

6 May (Monday): Sham El Nessim (national holiday).

19-21 May (Sunday-Tuesday): Egypt International Summit for Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity.

20 May (Monday): Malaysian Palm Oil Forum in Cairo, with attendance from Malaysian Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani.

23 May (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

29 May (Wednesday): Virtual launch of Chicago Booth Executive Program.

JUNE

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

29-30 June (Saturday-Sunday): EU-Egypt Investment Conference.

30 June (Sunday): June 30 Revolution Day (national holiday).

JULY

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

18 July (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

23 July (Tuesday): Revolution Day (national holiday).

SEPTEMBER

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

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

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

25-26 September (Wednesday - Thursday): The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) 2024 annual meeting, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

OCTOBER

6 October (Sunday): Armed Forces Day.

17 October (Thursday): Central Bank of Egypt’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

21-27 October (Monday-Sunday): The World Bank and IMF annual meetings.

NOVEMBER

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

DECEMBER

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

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

April 2024: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will visit Turkey.

1Q 2024: Egyptian-Qatari Joint Supreme Committee.

1Q 2024: Opening of the newly developed Pyramids Plateau in Giza.

1Q 2024: The government is set to finalize the sale of the Gabal El Zeit wind farm.

February-May: The Grand Egyptian Museum could officially open to visitors.

March 2024: The USD 2.7 bn MIDOR Refinery is set to begin full operations.

May 2024: Egypt to receive USD 20 bn of Ras El Hekma funds.

May 2024: Arab Finance Ministers’ meeting at Egypt’s administrative capital.

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.

November 2024: Egypt to host the World Urban Forum (WUF12).

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

2025

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

2Q 2025: Safaga Terminal 2 to start operations.

2027

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

EVENTS WITH NO SET DATE

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

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