{"id":568010,"date":"2020-12-15T04:09:29","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T04:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/12\/15\/what-were-tracking-on-15-december-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-12-15T04:09:29","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T04:09:29","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-15-december-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/12\/15\/what-were-tracking-on-15-december-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 15 December 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people. <\/strong>It\u2019s midweek and mid-December, and our long-awaited end-of-year news slowdown is still MIA. There\u2019s very interesting news this morning out of the Sovereign Fund of Egypt on the prospect of more military-owned companies opening to private investment \u2014 and the not-unexpected development that entrenched professions are going to resist being \u201cdisrupted\u201d by tech, especially when that tech is owned by a key player in their supply chain.<\/p>\n

We have the full rundown on this and more in the news well this morning.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s (almost) official: Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States <\/strong>after the electoral college voted yesterday. We love CNN\u2019s take<\/a>: \u201cIt's a constitutionally mandated ritual that's typically no more than a curious afterthought following a presidential election, but the ceremonial vote took on newfound significance this year as President Donald Trump and his GOP allies made unprecedented efforts to subvert the popular will of the voters and overturn Biden's November victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile: Spooks and <\/strong>corporations<\/a><\/strong> around the world are scrambling to quantify the <\/strong>damage after a months-long hack<\/strong> in which an arm of Russia\u2019s foreign intelligence service appears to have penetrated a network monitoring product from SolarWinds to gain access to everything from corporate secrets to covid research \u2014 as well as data at the US treasury and commerce departments. Tens of thousands of companies and government agencies worldwide are believed to be affected. The story all over the English-speaking world\u2019s front pages, and if you\u2019re new to cyber warfare, we suggest you start with the Financial Times\u2019 What do we know about the SolarWinds hack?<\/a> See also coverage from the Wall Street Journal<\/a>, USA Today<\/a>, the Guardian and make sure to read the Washington Post\u2019s original story<\/a>, which broke the news.<\/p>\n

<\/a> CLOSER TO HOME- The pandemic e-commerce boom may be tapering off for Egypt\u2019s SMEs<\/strong>, as 61% of those with a Facebook presence reported a y-o-y drop in sales in October<\/strong>, while 45% of businesses had to reduce their staff, according to the findings of a survey<\/a> by Facebook, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The silver lining: 15% of businesses reported more online sales now than before the pandemic, while 56% said they were optimistic about the future of their business.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile<\/strong>, Uber Egypt is back to 80% of its pre-covid run rate and expects a full recovery in 2021, General Manager Ahmed Khalil said at the virtual RiseUp Summit, reports Wamda<\/a>. The company closed down UberEats<\/a> in Egypt and other countries at the start of the pandemic which Khalil explained was \u201cpart of a global push to focus our resources in our top markets\u201d to weather the storm. Khalil did not mention whether UberEats would make its way back to Egypt post-covid.<\/p>\n

PSA- Look for <\/strong>more sand and blowing dust today<\/a><\/strong> and a high today of about 20\u00b0C<\/strong>, giving way to a bit of drizzle overnight. There\u2019s a good chance of light showers tomorrow morning, our favorite weather app warns us.<\/p>\n

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

The House is reconvening today as its five-year term starts to draw to a close. <\/strong>The current class of MPs is due to end their term on 9 January 2021, according to a five-year-old presidential decree<\/a>. Newly elected representatives will then officially take office the following day, and convene for their first session as soon as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi makes the call. The current House returned in October for a final, abridged<\/a> fall legislative cycle.<\/p>\n

On today's agenda:<\/strong><\/p>\n