{"id":563367,"date":"2021-06-29T04:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T04:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/06\/29\/this-morning-tenth-of-ramadan-dry-port-tender-launches-today-facebook-defeats-antitrust-lawsuits-ethiopia-announces-tigray-ceasefire\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T04:00:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T04:00:13","slug":"this-morning-tenth-of-ramadan-dry-port-tender-launches-today-facebook-defeats-antitrust-lawsuits-ethiopia-announces-tigray-ceasefire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2021\/06\/29\/this-morning-tenth-of-ramadan-dry-port-tender-launches-today-facebook-defeats-antitrust-lawsuits-ethiopia-announces-tigray-ceasefire\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: Tenth of Ramadan dry port tender launches today; Facebook defeats antitrust lawsuits; Ethiopia announces Tigray ceasefire."},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the next-to-last workday of the week. <\/strong>We hope you\u2019re looking forward to the long weekend as much as we are.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not typically fans of things that increase costs for businesses. <\/strong>Just about the only thing we dislike more is needless regulatory complexity.<\/p>\n

And yet we\u2019re cheering the Madbouly government\u2019s imposition yesterday of a <\/strong>private-sector <\/strong>minimum wage. <\/strong>We\u2019ve long maintained that businesses need to pay a liveable minimum wage, and EGP 2,400 is a step in the right direction. Planning Minister Hala El Said deserves a tip of the hat from all of us this morning<\/strong> for having kept the idea on the agenda and seen it through.<\/p>\n

Forget about economic arguments in favour of the minimum wage <\/strong>\u2014 a business that cannot pay an adult a wage sufficient to ensure they can eat, find a place to live and clothe themselves is not a business that deserves to be. (With apologies to Norm Ornstein. Elements of his 2013 argument in the Atlantic<\/a> really stand out in our mind this morning.)<\/p>\n

The NCW is allowing businesses to file for exemptions. It should grant them very, very <\/strong>sparingly.<\/strong> Small businesses that have gone legit (who are filing taxes, paying social insurance and wage taxes for their employees, etc) deserve more flexibility than medium and large enterprises, regardless of industry. And any exemptions granted should have a sunset clause beyond which it should be very onerous indeed for a business to ask for an extension \u2014 particularly for businesses with larger labor forces.<\/p>\n

But please don\u2019t get us started on this \u201cmandatory bonus\u201d thing. <\/strong>Bonuses should be earned for outstanding performance \u2014 full stop \u2014 not because you have a pulse and happen to be sitting in a seat on a specific calendar date. Using them as a back door to force the private sector to pay more to workers outside the minimum wage (or to substitute for benefits the state is unable or unwilling to provide) is simply a perversion of why bonuses exist. They are by definition a form of variable compensation that reward outstanding performance<\/strong>, not entitlements that should be booked as fixed costs.<\/p>\n

We have a rundown in this morning\u2019s Speed Round on how the minimum wage will work <\/strong>and expect to have more news and analysis in the days to come.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S HAPPENING TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> A tender will be launched today for the establishment of the Tenth of Ramadan <\/strong>City dry port and logistics hub <\/strong>under a public-private partnership model, the Finance Ministry said in a statement<\/a>. Cabinet had given preliminary approval<\/a> to the 250-feddan dry dock and logistics hub in early June, shortly before greenlighting to move forward with a tender<\/a> to establish the project. Five consortia<\/a> are reportedly interested in the tender, including one led by Elsewedy Electric and DB Schenker, one led by Dubai\u2019s DP World, and another by China International Marine Containers Group.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the final day of the<\/strong><\/a><\/strong>Big 5 Construct Egypt<\/a><\/strong> at the Cairo International Convention Center.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY IN THE REGION- The Ethiopian government has announced an <\/strong>immediate, <\/strong>unilateral ceasefire in the conflict in the restive Tigray region<\/strong>, which almost eight months ago saw conflict erupt between the government and separatist forces. Government troops have left the regional capital after Tigrayan rebels reportedly ejected the interim administration. The story is front news everywhere from Reuters<\/a> and the AP<\/a> to the BBC<\/a> and the FT<\/a>.<\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY INTERNATIONALLY- Facebook 1. Antitrust 0.<\/strong> Efforts to curb the market power of US tech giants suffered a blow yesterday after a federal judge tossed out two antitrust lawsuits seeking to break up Facebook. The Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of 46 states filed the cases claiming that the social media giant was using its market power to \u201csystematically\u201d eliminate its competitors and were seeking the forced divestiture of Instagram and WhatsApp. However, the judge ruled that the lawsuits were \u201clegally insufficient\u201d and were not able to prove that Facebook wields monopoly power. The FTC is able to appeal and refile its case in the next 30 days.<\/p>\n

Facebook\u2019s shares surged 4.2% on the news<\/strong>, pushing its market cap above USD 1 tn for the first time.<\/p>\n

The news is everywhere in the global business press:<\/strong> Bloomberg<\/a> and the FT<\/a>, NYT<\/a> and the WSJ<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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