Good morning, wonderful people, and happy THURSDAY-equivalent. Your week is coming to a close just as quickly as it began, and the news cycle has already begun to ease up a little as we slide into the long public holiday.

We’re all taking some time off: The EGX has confirmed that it will be off from tomorrow, 27 June through Monday, 3 July to mark Eid El Adha and the 30 June revolution, following the lead of the public sector and banks. Meanwhile, the Labor Ministry has declared a slightly shorter six-day holiday for the private sector, running from 27 June through to Sunday, 2 July.

That means EnterpriseAM, too: We’ll be back in your inboxes bright and early next Tuesday. Before then, you still have EnterprisePM to look forward to this afternoon.

We’ll be firing on all cylinders next week: Expect to come back to plenty of news as we kick off a new month and a new fiscal year after the holiday. At the top of the agenda post-Eid: The government has hinted at some big news on the privatization front, with Planning Minister Hala El Said earlier this week saying transactions have already been finalized and will be announced after the break. But first…

THE BIG STORY here at home: M&A leads the day as Orascom Construction reportedly offloads a second materials subsidiary in as many months. Elsewhere, Contact Financial has made another big securitization issuance; a Japanese-Egyptian consortium is eyeing investment in our medical manufacturing sector; and several household names in our venture capital scene are joining forces with a Saudi outfit to help local startups expand into the KSA. All that and more in the newswell, below.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Could our renewables targets get more ambitious? The National Council for Climate Change’s Supreme Committee has been looking at proposals to update the percentage of renewable energy that the country is targeting in its energy mix under our internationally binding Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), according to a cabinet statement. The Electricity Ministry is currently aiming for renewables capacity to cover 60% of the country’s electricity needs by 2040. Our NDCs are less ambitious, targeting that proportion to hit 40% of our energy mix by 2030 and 42% by 2035.

#2- Pan-African payments on the way: The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has begun talks with the Central Bank of Egypt and commercial Egyptian lenders to add them to its Pan-African Payment and Settlement System(PAPSS) in 2H 2023, Al Borsa quotes Afreximbank International Cooperation Officer Christiane Abou Lahaf as saying. PAPSS aims in part to cut African nation’s reliance on the greenback over time in regional trade and so far nine central banks have joined the platform since its launch last year. Egypt is one of the 15-20 nations that Afreximbank expects to sign up by the end of the year, a central bank source told Enterprise last week.

#3- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is guaranteeing more than USD 200 mn worth of our upcoming green panda bond issuance, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait is quoted as telling Al Borsa. AIIB President and Chairman Jin Liqun told Bloomberg a few days ago that the lender could guarantee an Egyptian green bond issuance, without disclosing any information about the size, timeline, or currency denomination of the bond sale or what portion would potentially be guaranteed by AIIB.

REMEMBER- We already have one guarantor confirmed for the green panda bonds: The African Development Bank agreed last month to provide ins. coverage for USD 345 mn of the maiden CNY-denominated bond issuance, which had previously been estimated at USD 500 mn. The green panda bonds, which will be used for sustainable development projects, could go to market early next fiscal year, a Finance Ministry official previously said.

FROM THE RUMOR MILL-

Has MTS joined the SFE’s pre-IPO fund? The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFR) has added Misr Technology Services (MTS) to its pre-IPO fund, Al Borsa reports, citing sources it says are in the know. The SFE plans to sell a stake in the company to strategic investors prior to its public offering in 2024, the news outlet reports. MTS was the sole tech firm named on the government’s list of 32 state-owned companies set to be sold in the rebooted privatization program, in February.

THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

All quiet in Moscow 24 hours after the Wagner Group’s short-lived revolution: The foreign press is still running wall-to-wall coverage of the Wagner Group’s failed coup on Moscow, as many outlets question the implications of the paramilitary group’s abandoned insurrection on the future of President Vladimir Putin’s regime. Putin has not been seen in public since Saturday, when he condemned the rebellion on television – nor has there been sight or sound from Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who halted the advance of his troops after signing an agreement that offered him a pardon and safe residence in Belarus. (Bloomberg | NYT | Wall Street Journal | Washington Post | AP | Reuters | Financial Times)

FROM THE REGION-

Greek voters have spoken: Greece’s center-right New Democracy party claimed a resounding victory in Sunday’s general election, taking 158 seats in the country’s 300-seat parliament and handing its leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis another four years as prime minister. The parliamentary majority means Mitsotakis will now be able to form a single-party government after a first vote held in May failed to deliver a conclusive result. (Bloomberg | Reuters | AP)

Missed this week’s Inside Industry? In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we looked at what’s holding the country’s date production industry back from being globally competitive.

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.

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 Eid holiday.

Do you want to become a commercial partner? Please click here.

STAY TUNED for more detail about our location, exciting agenda and speakers in the weeks to come.

MISSED THE ENTERPRISE EXPORTS AND FDI FORUM? Tune in to the Enterprise Podcast to hear what went down: The Enterprise Podcast is back, and with it comes our new Forum series, where we bring you audio recordings of what was said on stage at our events.

We’re kickstarting the series with the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum, which took place last May at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, and where we explored how we can make Egypt an export powerhouse that is a magnet for FDI.

IN THIS WEEK’S EPISODE-We looked at the immediate need for businesses, and the country as a whole, to develop workable strategies on bolstering exports and FDI by looking at examples from around the world that have worked. We were joined on that panel by Yasmine Khamis, chair of the Orientals Group, and Yassir Zouaoui, partner at McKinsey, who flew in from the UAE to attend. The panel was co-moderated by our friend Helmy Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt.

Expect us to drop an episode every Sunday morning. You can listen to the Enterprise Podcast where ever you get your podcasts including: Apple Podcast | Spotify | Google Podcast | Anghami.

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.

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

*** It’s Blackboard day: We have our weekly look at the business of education in Egypt, from pre-K through the highest reaches of higher ed.

In today’s issue: We delve into the role of e-learning in our education sector.