{"id":570622,"date":"2020-04-08T04:44:56","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T04:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/04\/08\/what-were-tracking-on-8-april-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-04-08T04:44:56","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T04:44:56","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-8-april-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/04\/08\/what-were-tracking-on-8-april-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 8 April 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 7pm-6am curfew to slow the spread of covid-19 technically expires today. <\/strong>We say \u201ctechnically\u201d because it was imposed on 25 March for a two-week period. We expect an announcement later today that it is being extended, but have no inkling of how long it will remain in place or whether conditions will be tightened.<\/p>\n

And to keep us all on the same page: <\/strong>We\u2019re still a week or more away from decisions on extensions of school closures (expires 13 April) or of the ban on flights (15 April) or the closure of restaurants, gyms and museums (also 15 April).<\/p>\n

Two pieces of good news to get us underway this morning:<\/p>\n

We never thought we\u2019d say this, but Egyptian internet service providers are making us <\/strong>smile. <\/strong>Head down and read today\u2019s Hardhat for more on why we think ISPs \u2014 not a category of businesses that engender warm feelings, not here and not anywhere in the world \u2014 are the unsung heroes of covid-19 in Egypt. Amid all the WFH \/ e-learning \/ Netflix and YouTube binges, the nation\u2019s internet has been pleasantly solid (by Egyptian standards). We dive deeper in this morning\u2019s Hardhat.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know what\u2019s also making us smile this morning? The prospect of <\/strong>Tim Hortons<\/a><\/strong> coming to <\/strong>town. <\/strong>We risk the umbrage of other folks with ties to Canada when we say we\u2019d prefer Shake Shack<\/a>, to be honest. But Timmy\u2019s? We\u2019ll take it. The non-covid good news comes from the good people at Reuters<\/a>, who note that UAE private equity firm Gateway Partners bought a 40% stake in the Gulf franchise of the company for USD 50 mn. The wire service confirmed the news with Nilesh Ved, the chairman of the franchise\u2019s owner, who announced plans to enter the Egyptian and Indian markets. Tim\u2019s currently has 141 stores across the Gulf region. We\u2019ve moved beyond double-doubles, but those Boston creams\u2026<\/p>\n

(Yes, you will need cranes to remove us from the sides of our flats when this very long period of WFH is finally ended.)<\/p>\n

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The EGX30 surged 4.2% yesterday, <\/strong>dragged upward by index heavyweight CIB, which rose 5.2%. The bourse saw heavy trading yesterday with shares worth EGP 1.2 bn changing hands, about 96% above the trailing 90-day average. The EGX30 is now down 29.5% since the start of the year<\/p>\n

The Dow and S&P lost steam yesterday, with each closing lower <\/strong>after posting stong gains earlier in the day coming off Monday\u2019s surge. The WSJ\u2019s best guess on why?<\/a> Investors are slowly getting their heads around the fact that the recovery from covid will not exactly be short.<\/p>\n

The markets today: <\/strong>Asian shares are mixed, with the Nikkei weakly up and shares in China, Hong Kong and Korea down less than 1% as we headed toward deadline. Futures point to a mixed open in the United States and for European equities. Brent crude is up 2.4% this morning <\/strong>ahead of tomorrow\u2019s pivotal Opec+ meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"enterprise\"<\/p>\n

COVID-19 IN EGYPT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Egypt now has 1,450 confirmed cases of covid-19<\/strong> after the Health Ministry reported<\/a> 128 new infections yesterday. The ministry also said nine more people had died from the virus, bringing the death toll to 94. We now have a total of 427 cases that have tested negative for the virus after being hospitalized or isolated, of whom 276 have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

Mild cases to be quarantined in dorms to relieve pressure on hospitals: <\/strong>Health Minister Hala Zayed said that confirmed cases<\/a> with mild clinical symptoms who are under the age of 50 will be quarantined in university dorms under the supervision of the ministry and after spending five days at hospitals.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> El Sisi is against a full lockdown, calls on private sector to not cut jobs<\/strong>: <\/strong>Egypt is faring well in its battle against covid-19, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said yesterday in televised remarks (watch, runtime: 50:05<\/a>), describing the situation as \u201creassuring and under control\u201d and saying he is not in favor of \u201csuspending work,\u201d <\/strong>alluding the fears of some in the business community that a full lockdown could be economically ruinous.<\/p>\n

Highlights of the speech: <\/strong><\/p>\n