{"id":574904,"date":"2020-09-27T04:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-09-27T04:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/27\/what-were-tracking-on-27-september-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-09-27T04:00:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-27T04:00:20","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-27-september-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/09\/27\/what-were-tracking-on-27-september-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 27 September 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends, and welcome to the final week of the third quarter. <\/strong>As much as we\u2019re looking forward to the end of 2020, we\u2019re also cognizant that we\u2019re probably looking at the better part of a year before things start resembling February 2020 more than they do the status quo. It\u2019s US-centric, but Politico\u2019s Here\u2019s how the pandemic finally ends<\/a><\/strong> likely holds true (in the main) here in Omm El Donia, too. Consider it your morning must-read.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Egypt made a surprise (if modest) rate cut on Thursday<\/strong>, confounding pundits who expected it to leave interest rates on hold. We have chapter and verse in this morning\u2019s Speed Round, below.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll hear later today who\u2019s throwing their hat in the ring for House elections<\/strong>, Youm7<\/a> reports. Voters go to the polls in phases starting late this month.<\/p>\n

EFG Hermes\u2019 virtual investor conference enters its second week today<\/strong> and is set to wrap this Thursday, 1 October. The conference brings together more than 650 institutional investors with aggregate AUM north of USD 17 tn with top listed companies to chew over the prospects for frontier and emerging markets. You can visit the conference website here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE- The government will shop seven \u201cindustrial complexes\u201d to <\/strong>potential investors starting next month<\/strong>, Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea said<\/a> during a virtual meeting of the Egyptian-Lebanese Businessmen\u2019s Association on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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

The CIB PSA World Tour Finals kick off tomorrow at Marakez\u2019s flagship Mall of <\/strong>Arabia, which is hosting the event for the second consecutive year<\/strong>, according to a press release (pdf)<\/a>. The squash championship, which is sponsored by our friends at CIB, runs through Saturday and will see 16 men and women competing for a combined USD 370k prize. Egyptian world no.1 Nouran Gohar and compatriot Nour El Sherbini will go head-to-head<\/a> in Women\u2019s Group A, while world no.1 Ali Farag and defending champion Karim Abdel Gawad will be representing Egypt in Men\u2019s Group A. The championship will be held outdoors at Mall of Arabia\u2019s the Park, which has been set up to hold 1k spectators. You can get tickets for the event here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

October wll also be big month for squash fans: <\/strong>The CIB Egyptian Squash Open runs 10-17 October, overlooking the Giza Pyramids for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

And in other racket-sport news: Mayar Sherif <\/strong>has become<\/a><\/strong> the first Egyptian woman to make <\/strong>it to the main draw of the French Open at Roland Garros<\/strong> after defeating Italian Giulia Gatto-Monticone on Friday.<\/p>\n

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SIGN OF THE TIMES- Uber subsidiary Careem is moving to a permanent WFH <\/strong>schedule<\/strong>, the company announced<\/a> in a Linkedin Live session Thursday. The move affects employees at 36 offices worldwide, with the company saying it has seen an uptick in productivity in the past few months. Careem\u2019s current offices will be redesigned as \u201ccollaboration hubs\u201d for employees wishing to meet in person. Want to know how other employers in Egypt are adjusting their remote working policies? Check out our WFH survey<\/a> published last week.<\/p>\n

MARKET WATCH- US stocks inched up on Friday but the brief rally wasn\u2019t enough <\/strong>to offset the fourth consecutive weekly decline.<\/strong> Buoyed by a rally in tech stocks, the Nasdaq closed up 2.3% on Friday, while the S&P was up 1.6% by closing bell, and the Dow Jones finished 1.3% in the green.<\/p>\n

The FAANG gang looks to be on track for a particularly ugly month:<\/strong> Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google have lost a collective USD 817 bn of their market value so far in September, putting the group of big tech stocks on track for their sharpest ever monthly decline, says MarketWatch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Expect more volatility this week<\/strong> with a US jobs report out on Friday, hopes for progress in stimulus talks in Washington, and Tuesday night\u2019s presidential debate<\/strong> meaning that stocks will likely continue to be whipsawed over the coming week, analysts tell CNBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry <\/strong>reported<\/a><\/strong> 111<\/strong> new covid-19 infections yesterday<\/strong>, down from 112 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 102,736 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 16 new deaths, bringing the country\u2019s total death toll to 5,869. We now have a total of 94,374 confirmed cases that have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

Umrah pilgrimages from Egypt to Mecca will likely not resume before January, <\/strong>when a covid-19 vaccine is expected to be made available, Chamber of Tourism Companies member Ashraf Shiha told El Hekaya\u2019s Amr Adib last night (watch, runtime: 7:44<\/a>). Umrah will resume on Sunday, 4 October, with 6k people being allowed to perform the ritual daily. Pilgrims must be Saudis or current residents of the kingdom and will be allowed three hours to perform the ritual in groups of just 1k<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The covid-19 pandemic could claim 2 mn lives by the middle of next year even as <\/strong>vaccines are rolled out worldwide<\/strong>, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO\u2019s health emergencies program, said during a presser on Friday, CNBC<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

The world has seen more than 32 mn cases, and more than 990k deaths from the disease <\/strong>thus far<\/strong>, according to Johns Hopkins University<\/a>\u2019s tally.<\/p>\n

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Remember SPACs? Along with scarce private funding, they\u2019re helping to fuel a US<\/strong> IPO boom:<\/strong> US healthcare and technology companies are in an IPO bonanza that has raised more funding YTD than any year since 2000, except for 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. Special-purpose acquisition companies<\/a> (SPACs) \u2014 a kind of shell company used to acquire businesses and take them public after securing \u2018blank check\u2019 investment \u2014 are an increasingly popular alternative to conventional IPOs and are responsible for 40% of new listings in 2020, which has so far seen US companies raise USD 95 bn. Some 235 companies have gone public so far this year, putting 2020 on course to surpass the year 2000 when 439 companies listed during the height of the tech boom. Read: IPO market parties like it\u2019s 1999.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

One recent example:<\/strong> A blank check company formed by Vector Capital to target the tech industry, Vector Acquisition, last week raised USD 300 mn by offering 30 mn shares at USD 10, Renaissance Capital<\/a> says.<\/p>\n

US hedgies and activists shareholders could stay in \u201cstealth mode\u201d longer <\/strong>thanks to proposed regulatory changes across the pond that would require only funds with assets of more than USD 3.5 bn to submit quarterly 13F filings, which disclose their public equity holdings, according to the Financial Times<\/a>. Listed companies are concerned the proposed changes would make activist investors \u2014 or investors who purchase a large number of shares with a view to winning a board seat and making changes \u2014 a significant threat to smaller companies.<\/p>\n

In tech news worth knowing this morning:<\/p>\n