{"id":545816,"date":"2022-04-13T04:04:33","date_gmt":"2022-04-13T04:04:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/04\/13\/this-morning-a-warm-welcome-to-the-uae-the-pharaohs-have-a-new-coach\/"},"modified":"2022-04-13T04:04:33","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T04:04:33","slug":"this-morning-a-warm-welcome-to-the-uae-the-pharaohs-have-a-new-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/04\/13\/this-morning-a-warm-welcome-to-the-uae-the-pharaohs-have-a-new-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: A warm welcome to the UAE + the Pharaohs have a new coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome, friends from Abu Dhabi. <\/strong><\/p>\n

IT\u2019S A BIG DAY FOR the private sector after Abu Dhabi wealth fund ADQ bought stakes <\/strong>yesterday in bold-name EGX-listed companies <\/strong>including CIB and fintech player Fawry in a series of block trades on the Egyptian Exchange. ADQ has previously invested<\/a> in our friends at SODIC (alongside Aldar) and other household names here. ADQ deployed some USD 1.8 bn here yesterday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ADQ\u2019s rapid scaling up of its investments in Egypt comes as part of a drive by our GCC <\/strong>allies <\/strong>to help us sort through the fallout from Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/strong>, which has sent commodity prices skyrocketing, nuked the high-volume Red Sea tourism market, and upended the global wheat market upon which we depend.<\/p>\n

We like Abu Dhabi\u2019s strategy: <\/strong>Separately, Emirati lender FAB is pursuing a majority stake in<\/a>our friends at EFG Hermes<\/a>, the premier financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets, and Alpha Dhabi<\/a> (which already has exposure to Egypt through its stake in Aldar) is looking at how to get more exposure to Egypt. And now there\u2019s chatter in the market that another arm of ADQ is looking to buy a stake in a brandname consumer foods company.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know ADQ (or FAB), but we know how they and other Emirati investors operate <\/strong>from talks over the years with our friends who do business with them: They\u2019re investors who put an emphasis on good governance, crisp management, aggressive growth targets, and no BS. More of this, please.<\/p>\n

We have more on ADQ\u2019s big day<\/strong> in the news well, below.<\/p>\n

\n

WATCH THIS SPACE- <\/strong>We\u2019re getting an economic recovery task force to steer us through the storm <\/strong>whipped up by war in Europe. <\/strong>Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly directed the ministerial economic committee (which includes cabinet ministers, CBE deputy governors, and the head of investment body GAFI) to form a task force to develop a strategy for the economic recovery from the repercussions of the ongoing war on Ukraine, according to a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MEANWHILE- EgyptAir will resume direct flights between Cairo and Moscow on Friday, 15 <\/strong>April, <\/strong>according to a statement from the national flag carrier<\/a>, which said it would run one flight per day between the two cities. MPs last week approved<\/a> a draft law allowing the Finance Ministry to ins. EgyptAir against potential losses on flights to and from Russia, which were suspended in March due to the war.<\/p>\n

Flights to Moscow are restarting a couple days later than planned:<\/strong> Online booking had previously<\/a> been available for flights starting yesterday. The airline is asking customers whose earlier bookings to Moscow were canceled to call its 1717 customer service line.<\/p>\n

DATA POINT- Investors have now poured some EGP 523 bn into 18% CDs at Banque Misr <\/strong>and the National Bank of Egypt.<\/strong> Nearly 70% went to the NBE, while the remainder went to Banque Misr, Hapi Journal reported here<\/a> and here<\/a>. The CDs launched<\/a> three weeks ago, following the central bank\u2019s 100-bps interest rate hike.<\/p>\n

AND- The Pharaohs have a new coach: <\/strong>Former football player Ehab Galal has been appointed the new coach of the men\u2019s national football team, succeeding Carlos Queiroz<\/a>, who stepped down from his position by mutual agreement earlier this week, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced<\/a> yesterday. Galal was in the running lead the team back in 2019 but the EFA went with Hossam El Badry instead. The EFA also dismissed its technical manager, Nelo Vingada.<\/p>\n

KUDOS (Pt II):<\/strong> We took note yesterday<\/a> of the CEOs of Egyptian companies that made Forbes Middle East Top 50 Healthcare Leaders<\/a> for 2022. Other Egyptian CEOs on the list heading companies domiciled outside Egypt included:<\/p>\n