{"id":567591,"date":"2020-12-01T03:59:35","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T03:59:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/12\/01\/what-were-tracking-on-1-december-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-12-01T03:59:35","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T03:59:35","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-1-december-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/12\/01\/what-were-tracking-on-1-december-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 1 December 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the month of December, friends. <\/strong>Longtime readers know we get maudlin as year-end approaches, and little makes us sappier than our gratitude to all of you for choosing to start your morning with Enterprise. Thank you<\/strong> for this \u2014 and to all of you who have taken the time to write in with nice comments about our new look.<\/p>\n

TODAY\u2019S BIG STORY is the rollout of covid vaccines here and around the world <\/strong>as we look across the chasm to a post-corona world.<\/p>\n

December is the big month in developed economies: <\/strong>The UK looks like it\u2019s rolling out a jab on 7 December, followed by the US on 10 December and Germany by mid-month, the Financial Times<\/a> writes. Canada, meanwhile, could start the process in January. The news comes as Moderna seeks approvals<\/a> in the US and European Union for its vaccine. But the New York Times warns: It is darkest before dawn.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a> Here at home, we can expect a vaccine to start rolling out in the first quarter of 2021<\/strong>, Hossam Hosni, head of the Health Ministry\u2019s covid-19 committee, told El Hekaya\u2019s Amr Adib last night. Hosni didn\u2019t specify which shot(s) would roll out first<\/strong>, but said Egypt wont buy anything that doesn\u2019t have a proven safety profile (watch, runtime: 3:46<\/a> | 0:58<\/a>). Finance Minister Mohamed Maait confirmed last night that the government has still not settled on which vaccine(s) it plans to purchase (watch, runtime: 8:42)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We expect officials to try a two-pronged approach:<\/strong> import a bolus of shots to get things started and to land the rights to manufacture at state-owned Vacsera, one of the continent\u2019s largest vaccine makers. At-risk people will have first dibs on the vaccine<\/strong>, Hosni said.<\/p>\n

Which shots are most effective? <\/strong>Pfizer \/ BioNTech lead the pack at 95%, followed by Moderna at 94%, Sputnik V (92%) and AstraZeneca (90%). China\u2019s entry seems to have fallen by the wayside after not reporting a success rate. These success rates are wildly above what scientists had hoped for <\/strong>in the early days of the pandemic, when they said a shot with that was 50% effective would be good enough.<\/p>\n

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YOUR MORNING DISTRACTION- <\/strong>We meant to flag this last week, but got distracted. Go read How venture capitalists are deforming capitalism<\/a><\/strong> in the New Yorker, which is driving US VCs bonkers. Reminder: <\/strong>As our friends Tarek Assaad and Karim Hussein at Algebra Ventures discussed with us on Making It<\/a>, venture capital in emerging markets is an entirely different (and much more constructive) game than it is in the west.<\/p>\n

Four-day workweeks are a thing again<\/strong>, this time as Unilever says it\u2019s piloting the idea in New<\/a>Zealand<\/a>. Perpetual Guardian in NZ has already gotten plenty of ink<\/a> for championing the idea, having found staff were \u201cmore stimulated, empowered and committed after switching \u2026 to a four-day, 30-hour work week.\u201d Stress went down, and sense of work-life balance went up.<\/p>\n

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HEADING INTO DECEMBER<\/strong>-<\/strong> Egypt could be receiving a bn USD Christmas gift courtesy of the IMF.<\/strong> That\u2019s according to Finance Minister Mohamed Maait, who said yesterday that the fund should disburse the second tranche of the USD 5.2 bn standby loan<\/a> worth USD 1.6 bn at the end of this month.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make his first official visit to Egypt in <\/strong>almost a decade<\/a><\/strong> in the coming weeks<\/strong> to discuss economic ties, reports the Jerusalem Post<\/a>. Netanyahu\u2019s Egypt visit comes as Israel thaws tensions with Arab countries through normalization agreements with UAE and Bahrain<\/a>, as well as the spectre of a similar agreement with Saudi Arabia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The domestic press expects another round of trade talks with<\/strong> the US of A<\/strong> and a meeting of the Egypt-Iraq higher committee as the two countries continue to draw closer. The CBE will next review interest rates<\/strong> on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n

Other key dates for your diary this month:<\/p>\n