{"id":574664,"date":"2020-09-17T04:13:25","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T04:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/17\/what-were-tracking-on-17-september-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-17T04:13:25","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T04:13:25","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-17-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/17\/what-were-tracking-on-17-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 17 September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s Thursday, friends, and while we\u2019re looking forward to the weekend<\/strong>, we\u2019re also a bit daunted by the mountain of work we need to finish before we slide into Friday. It\u2019s a special weekend for us: We celebrate six years of Enterprise next week and are busily banging away in the kitchen on \u201cwhat\u2019s next\u201d for your morning read. More on that front next week.<\/p>\n

Also next week: EFG Hermes is kicking off its second virtual investor conference on <\/strong>Monday, 21 <\/strong>September.<\/strong> The eight-day conference will wrap next Thursday, 1 October. You can visit the conference website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Our prayers for faster internet<\/strong> (and the ability to have a voice call without resorting to VoIP because the line keeps breaking up) may be answered today:<\/strong> The country\u2019s four mobile network operators (MNOs) will submit bids today for 60 MHz of new cellular frequency<\/a> being offered by the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Youm7<\/a> reports. Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat and We can bid for more than one allocation at once. The NTRA hasn\u2019t confirmed which frequencies will be up for auction or how much they will cost, but sources said earlier this week<\/a> that it will sell a 40-MHz package for USD 600 mn and two 20-MHz packages at a cost of USD 300 mn each. The hope: <\/strong>That more spectrum for the MNOs will allow them to deliver faster data speeds and better voice calls.<\/p>\n

You can update your iPhone and iPad to iOS \/ iPadOS 14 today. <\/strong>We\u2019ve been running iPadOS 14 betas for more than a month now and love it \u2014 and we\u2019re really looking forward to having new features on our phones including widgets and better app organization options. Check out Joanna Stern\u2019s Your iPhone will look completely different now, if you want<\/a> in the WSJ or head over to MacStories for a rundown<\/a> on what\u2019s new in the OSes powering your Apple phone, tablet, watch and TV. Missing: macOS Big Sur<\/strong>, which isn\u2019t out of beta yet.<\/p>\n

How do I get it? <\/strong>Go to the settings icon on your iPhone or iPad and then head to General > Software Update. Make sure your device is hooked up to wifi, then tap Download & Install.<\/p>\n

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR- <\/strong>If you, like the resident 13-year-old, are looking forward to the launch of Sony\u2019s PlayStation 5<\/strong>, you may want to set a reminder to check where in the world you can pick up a console on 12 November, when the device will be available from \u201cselect retailers.\u201d<\/a> Pre-orders have begun, and the process is apparently a bit messy<\/a>. The Verge has a rundown of the biggest announcements and trailers<\/a>from Sony\u2019s event yesterday.<\/p>\n

WEEKEND MUST READ- <\/strong>If you, like us, are in a pensive kind of fall mood, we recommend How to deal with longing for a distant home<\/a><\/strong> in the New York Times, which asks, \u201cWhere is home, really?\u201d Covid-19 has made family, friends and favourite activities seem an ocean away, even when they\u2019re just across town. So what is homesickness? Can you be homesick for your \u201cformer\u201d life? Is it friends (with whom you may never have been as close as you thought)? A place? A moment in time? We love the Welsh definition of \u201c\u2018hiraeth<\/a>\u2019\u2026 yearning, for a home that you cannot return to, no longer exists, or maybe never was.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MARKETS WATCH- <\/strong>Asian markets are down in early trading this morning and futures suggest at dispatch time that Wall Street and European markets will follow suit later today.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry <\/strong>reported<\/a><\/strong> 160 new covid-19 infections yesterday<\/strong>, down from 163 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 101,500 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 17 new deaths, bringing the country\u2019s total death toll to 5,696. We now have a total of 86,549 confirmed cases that have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

You can now enter Egypt with a PCR test taken 96 hours before arrival<\/strong> if you\u2019re arriving from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Thailand, North and South America as well as from London Heathrow, Paris, and Frankfurt airports, the Civil Aviation Ministry said yesterday<\/a>. The change from 72 hours came as many travelers complained that wait times for test results made it challenging \u2014 or even impossible \u2014 for them to board flights.<\/p>\n

International tourism dropped by around 65% y-o-y in 1H2020<\/strong>, according to figures from the UN\u2019s World Tourism Organization<\/a>. There were around 440 mn fewer international arrivals during the six-month period compared to last year, causing losses of USD 460 bn<\/strong>. Asia and the Pacific was the hardest hit with a 72% drop in tourism for the period, while Africa and the Middle East suffered a 57% decline<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A <\/strong>six-month export ban<\/a><\/strong> on medical supplies has <\/strong>ended<\/strong> and will not be extended past the mid-September cut-off now that there is a surplus in local production, according to a Trade & Industry Ministry statement<\/a>. The local market appears to be flooded with these supplies \u2014 masks in particular \u2014 as supply has outpaced demand, leading to a slump in utilization rates and production<\/a>. The ministry imposed the ban in March amid reported shortages in the local market.<\/p>\n

VACCINE WATCH- <\/strong>That illness that briefly derailed testing of AstraZeneca\u2019s covid vaccine? It may not have been due to the shot, Reuters reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Theranos<\/a><\/strong>-like questions are being asked of <\/strong>iAbra<\/a><\/strong>, a small UK-based company that <\/strong>claims to have developed a 20-second <\/strong>coronavirus test. <\/strong>The Financial Times<\/a> has an excellent dive into the test and TT Electronics<\/a>, which saw its share price soar 40% on the back of test announcements despite the device not having a virologist on board \u2014 or regulatory approval.<\/p>\n

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No Fed rate hikes for another three years:<\/strong> The Federal Reserve has indicated that interest rates will remain at zero until at least the end of 2023, suggesting that it would not look to tighten policy until inflation had remained above 2% \u201cfor some time,\u201d Chairman Jerome Powell announced following the two-day Fed meeting. The story is leading the business press this morning:<\/strong> FT<\/a> | Bloomberg<\/a> | WSJ<\/a> | AP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Snowflake sets record for largest-ever software IPO:<\/strong> Cloud data platform Snowflake<\/a>\u2019s shares rocketed more than 111% on its trading debut yesterday, setting a new record as the largest-ever software IPO, CNBC<\/a> reports. Having priced its shares at USD 120 ahead of trading, the company closed the session at USD 253.93, raising its valuation to USD 70.4 bn \u2014 more than 5x it\u2019s USD 12.4 bn valuation in February. Snowflake is just one of many<\/a> companies rushing to go public this year, looking to capitalize on the post-stimulus investor frenzy for tech stocks. Data software firm Sumo Logic \u2014 which yesterday priced at USD 22 \/ share<\/a> \u2014 will make its trading debut today, while video game software company Unity \u2014 which raised its price range yesterday to USD 44-48\/share<\/a> from USD 34-42 \u2014 goes public on Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

BY THE NUMBERS:<\/strong><\/p>\n