{"id":576165,"date":"2020-11-12T03:58:28","date_gmt":"2020-11-12T03:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/11\/12\/what-were-tracking-on-12-november-2020\/"},"modified":"2020-11-12T03:58:28","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T03:58:28","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-12-november-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2020\/11\/12\/what-were-tracking-on-12-november-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 12 November 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a> The big news of the morning:<\/strong> Pfizer\u2019s breakthrough on Monday seems to have escalated the superpower competition for a covid-19 vaccine, with both the Russians and Chinese yesterday coming out to tout their recent successes with their respective vaccines.<\/p>\n

First up: Russia\u2019s Sputnik V.<\/strong> Russia said yesterday<\/a> that phase 3 clinical trials had shown the Sputnik V vaccine to be 92% effective at preventing people from contracting the virus. The trials have so far seen 16k participants injected with the first and second doses of the vaccine and another 20k have only received the first dose. A total of 20 participants who developed covid-19 were analyzed, far lower than the 94 infections in the Pfizer trial, which was earlier this week<\/a> announced to be 90% effective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Whether Sputnik V really is the front-running candidate<\/strong> \u2014 or whether a Kremlin apparatchik added a couple of percentage points just to stick it to Pfizer \u2014 remains to be seen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But one area where Sputnik definitely has a leg up on Pfizer:<\/strong> we wouldn\u2019t need to set up <\/strong>a global super-cold distribution chain just to get people the shots.<\/strong> To trigger an immune response, the Pfizer vaccine uses messenger RNA technology which has to be stored at -70C\u00b0 and used within five days of thawing (ProPublica<\/a> has more on this). Setting up these distribution networks is going to be an uphill battle even for the richest countries, leading Bloomberg<\/a> to describe it as \u201cone for the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Russia\u2019s vaccine, which triggers an immune response via a different method, faces none <\/strong>of these hurdles<\/strong>, and seems far more likely to be adopted in the developing world. Indeed, some 50 countries have already requested more than 1.2 bn doses of the vaccine, including Egypt, which has an agreement to distribute the vaccine<\/a>, and has eyes on manufacturing it too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Next up is China\u2019s Sinopharm<\/strong>, which yesterday said<\/a> that the clinical trials for its vaccine delivered \u201cbetter than expected\u201d results. What \u201cbetter than expected\u201d means exactly remains unclear as the company didn\u2019t release any figures or data.<\/p>\n

Egypt is getting ready to start manufacturing the vaccine at state-affiliated vaccine <\/strong>manufacturer Vacsera<\/strong>, following the conclusion of local phase 3 trials of the two vaccines, Health Minister Hala Zayed said at yesterday\u2019s weekly cabinet meeting<\/a>. Egypt has been one of three countries in the region to work with the company in trialling the vaccine, which is already being administered<\/a> to frontline health workers in the Gulf and in China.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve lined up 50% of our covid-19 vaccine needs from Pfizer and AstraZeneca<\/strong>, with the Health Ministry so far securing enough doses of Pfizer\u2019s vaccine to cover some 20% of the population, in addition to vials of AstraZeneca\u2019s Oxford University-developed vaccine that would account for another 30% of the population, Minister Hala Zayed said, according to Youm7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s interest rate day:<\/strong> The Central Bank of Egypt\u2019s Monetary Policy Committee will meet today to review interest rates. The consensus among analysts we polled earlier this week<\/a> is that rates will remain unchanged with an eye on the second wave of covid-19 infections and an uncertain global political climate.<\/p>\n

A World Bank delegation continues its 10-day visit to Cairo today.<\/strong> The delegation is in town for talks with the government, the International Cooperation Ministry said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Renaissance Capital\u2019s virtual conference on the 2021 outlook for emerging and frontier <\/strong>markets wraps tomorrow.<\/strong> The conference includes macro updates on key countries and regions, as well as panel discussions on sectors in specific countries. Look today for a panel discussion on Egypt\u2019s fintech space with Fawry CEO Ashraf Sabry, Ebtikar CEO Ayman El Dessouky, Actis Partner Hossam Abou Moussa, and e-Finance subsidiary Khales CEO Moataz El Sayed. Tap \/ click<\/a> here to stream the public sessions.<\/p>\n

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PSA: The Spanish <\/strong>Institute for Stock Exchange Studies<\/a><\/strong>\u2019 (EIB) masters degree in <\/strong>financial markets will be made available to Egyptian students<\/strong> after it signed an agreement with the Financial Regulatory Authority\u2019s education arm to bring the program to Egypt, according to Mubasher<\/a>. The course will specialize in financial derivatives and will be taught at the Financial Services Institute\u2019s facility at the Smart Village. Students will travel to Spain for two weeks as part of the program.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not entirely clear on when this thing will get off the ground<\/strong>, but IEB director-general Alvaro Martinez intimated that things could begin to move forward by next March, while Egypt\u2019s ambassador to Spain Omar Selim said that the first batch of students could travel to Madrid in 2022.<\/p>\n

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The Health Ministry <\/strong>reported<\/a><\/strong> 227 new covid-19 infections yesterday<\/strong>, down from 232 the day before. Egypt has now disclosed a total of 109,881 confirmed cases of covid-19. The ministry also reported 11 new deaths, bringing the country\u2019s total death toll to 6,405. We now have a total of 100,662 confirmed cases that have fully recovered.<\/p>\n

EgyptAir has slashed prices on flights between Cairo, London and New York.<\/strong> Passengers travelling direct to London between now and the end of May can get a 40% discount on flights until 30 November, while those heading to New York between 26 November and 28 February will see their fares cut by 20%, Al Mal<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

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

China is reining in its tech giants and share prices are plunging.<\/strong> New antitrust rules designed to curb the market power of Chinese Big Tech have caused tech stocks to shed over USD 250 bn in market value, a week after regulators halted Ant Group\u2019s USD 37 bn IPO<\/a>. In the latest sign the CCP is trying to rein in the country\u2019s powerful fintech monopolies, a regulator promised to step up scrutiny of their activities, sending the share prices of Tencent, Xiaomi, Meituan and others plunging. The Financial Times<\/a> and CNBC<\/a> have the story.<\/p>\n

EU banks are bracing for a slew of non-performing loans early next year <\/strong>after warnings from the Single Resolution Board, the EU agency responsible for overseeing lenders in crisis, to prepare balance sheets for covid-19 driven defaults, the FT<\/a> reports. European Commission vice president Valdis Dombrovski has warned that there could be a likely rise in bad loans during the first quarter of 2021 while the European Central Bank\u2019s top bank supervisor has called a scenario where NPLs outpace levels seen during the 2008 financial crisis \u201csevere but plausible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bahraini Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa<\/strong>, who served as Bahrain's premier since the country\u2019s founding<\/a>, passed away yesterday at age 84.<\/strong> Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly expressed his condolences in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A bomb attack rocked a Remembrance Day ceremony in Saudi Arabia\u2019s Jeddah <\/strong>attended by foreign diplomats yesterday. A Greek and Saudi official were wounded, but there were no fatalities, the BBC<\/a>reports. The French, Greek, Italian, British and American embassies in the Kingdom issued a joint statement<\/a> condemning the \u201ccowardly attack\u201d while Egypt\u2019s Foreign Ministry also issued a condemnation<\/a> and wished the \u201cspeedy recovery of the injured.\u201d The perpetrators were not immediately identified.<\/p>\n

Libya\u2019s warring sides have agreed to hold national elections by mid 2022 in an effort to<\/strong> maintain <\/strong>the ceasefire agreement announced last month.<\/strong> UN acting envoy to Libya Stephanie Williams mediated the pact on the third day of talks between the internationally recognized government in Tripoli and the eastern-based Libyan National Army, Bloomberg<\/a> reports.<\/p>\n

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Are you a finance novice?<\/strong> Catch up with our series of explainers:<\/p>\n