{"id":577560,"date":"2022-11-28T03:41:25","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T03:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/28\/this-morning-more-of-us-are-banked-than-ever-before\/"},"modified":"2022-11-28T03:41:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T03:41:25","slug":"this-morning-more-of-us-are-banked-than-ever-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/28\/this-morning-more-of-us-are-banked-than-ever-before\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: More of us are banked than ever before"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people, and welcome to one of those good-news, bad-news <\/strong>kind of mornings:<\/strong><\/p>\n

FROM THE DEPT. OF GOOD NEWS: <\/strong>New figures from the CBE suggest that more than 60% of Egyptian adults are now participating in the formal financial system \u2014 more than double where we stood just a few short years ago.<\/p>\n

FROM THE DEPT. OF NOT GOOD NEWS: Importers are reportedly saying they still can\u2019t <\/strong>get goods out of port<\/strong> as the shortage of hard currency lingers even as the central bank moves to lift import restrictions.<\/p>\n

There are some near-term catalysts that offer hope the shortage may start to ease in the <\/strong>new year<\/strong>, including the expected approval in December of our IMF facility, continued investment from GCC countries, and the long-awaited opening of the stunning Grand Egyptian Museum, which pundits expect to draw more (bigger-spending) tourists.<\/p>\n

(As of this morning, the IMF executive board has released its meeting schedule through 7 December, and we\u2019re not on the list.)<\/p>\n

BUT BIG-NAME CEOs AGREE- We need a long-term solution. <\/strong>As we all look ahead to 2023, we\u2019re more convinced than ever that foreign direct investment and exports need to be at the heart of our nation\u2019s economic growth strategy. That\u2019s why we published a five-step recipe<\/a> that has the power to transform Egypt into a major global export hub and turn us into a magnet for FDI \u2014 and then talked it over with 20 top CEOs at an invite-only breakfast. In our CEO poll on FDI and exports that will run through December, we asked each leader two simple questions: If you could pick just one champion industry, what would it be? And why do you think FDI and exports are the way forward?<\/p>\n

SPEAKING TODAY: McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Jalil Bensouda<\/strong>, at the head of our news well, below.<\/p>\n

Did you miss yesterday\u2019s installment? <\/strong>We spoke with Mohamed El Dababy, general manager of GSK in Egypt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a> We\u2019re happy to see frank discussion of how to boost FDI in the Senate: <\/strong>The Senate\u2019s financial and economic affairs committee yesterday discussed a report by the pro-government Mostaqbal Watan party that aims to overhaul how we approach FDI.<\/p>\n

The 190-page study cites ten obstacles to growing FDI to Egypt<\/strong>, including red-tape, a lack of incentives, gaps in digital government services, and a lack of transparency and accountability. It also highlights the country\u2019s investment advantages, including the availability of affordable, skilled labor, and robust infrastructure and transport links. There\u2019s also a chapter on how to take the example set on FDI by neighbors including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey. Plenty of that meshes with our five-step recipe<\/a> to boost FDI and exports.<\/p>\n

DATA POINT: <\/strong>Our external debt to GDP ratio remains within a \u201csafe range\u201d at 34.6%, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said at an Egyptian-Chinese investment forum yesterday, according to Hapi Journal<\/a>. Our high debt levels have been flagged as a risk in parts of the international business press<\/a>, as the country\u2019s external position is pressured by surging commodity prices, rising interest rates, a hot greenback, and turmoil in the financial markets.<\/p>\n

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

<\/a> Some of the biggest names in Egypt\u2019s climate industry are appearing at our <\/strong>inaugural <\/strong>Enterprise Climate X Forum<\/a><\/strong>, which takes place on Tuesday, 6 December at the Grand Egyptian Museum. Are you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hydrogen: What is it, what does a \u201chydrogen economy\u201d look like and how will we know it\u2019s becoming real? Jorgo Chatzimarkakis<\/strong>, CEO of industry association Hydrogen Europe, is flying in to help us unpack it.<\/p>\n

Three industry leaders will talk about climate as the biggest (and most important) business opportunity of our generation: Mohamed Mansour<\/strong> is co-founder and CEO of Infinity. Amr Allam<\/strong> is co-CEO of Hassan Allam Holding. Jointly and separately, they\u2019re building and operating GW worth of renewable energy projects, charging stations, desalination, wastewater, and more. They\u2019ll be joined on stage by Sherif El Kholy<\/strong>, partner and head of MENA at private equity giant Actis, who has a passion for investing in green businesses \u2014 and for helping conventional businesses put ESG at the core of what they do.<\/p>\n

How are we going to pay for it all? <\/strong>Todd Wilcox<\/strong>, CEO and deputy chairman of HSBC Egypt; Tarek El Nahas<\/strong>, group head of international banking at Mashreq; Khaled Hamza<\/strong>, director and head of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); and Nader Abushadi<\/strong>, group treasurer at Dar Group, will help us get our heads around topics including green, sustainability-linked, blended, and concessional finance, as well as how much you need to know about your supply chain.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll also be meeting Shift EV\u2019s Aly El Tayeb<\/strong> and Algebra\u2019s Karim Hussein<\/strong>, the guys who want to be Egypt\u2019s first climate bn\u2019aires. They\u2019ll be talking with USAID Egypt Mission Director Leslie Reed <\/strong>as well as EFG Hermes Head of Strategy Simon Kitchen<\/strong>, who\u2019s flying in from London to talk with us about how business leaders across frontier and emerging markets are getting their heads around climate.<\/p>\n

** Have you confirmed your attendance? <\/strong>We\u2019ll be sending you on Sunday, 4 December the QR code you\u2019ll need to gain admission to the Grand Egyptian Museum, along with a Google Maps link and some other pointers.<\/p>\n

Tap or click here for the full agenda<\/a><\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n

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

<\/a> In the House today: <\/strong>The House of Representatives\u2019 manpower committee will hold hearings on the new draft Labor Act today and tomorrow. Representatives from the Egyptian Trade Union Federation and the Federation of Egyptian Industries are expected to attend. The 245-article bill, which was approved by the Senate in February<\/a>, extends both maternity leave and notice periods, caps working hours, and changes minimum raise increments, among other things. If the House passes the Act, it would replace the current Labor Act of 2003. We have more on the bill\u2019s finer points here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Senate to pass wildcat building bill today<\/strong>: The Senate is today expected to pass legislation<\/a> aimed at making it easier for owners of illegal buildings to go legit. Senate Speaker Abdel Wahab Abdel Razek postponed yesterday\u2019s vote by a day to give more members a chance to speak on the bill.<\/p>\n

MORNING MUST READ- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Missed this week\u2019s Inside Industry? <\/strong>In our weekly vertical exploring all things industry and manufacturing, we looked at Green Star<\/a>, the recently announced government program laying out guidelines for companies that will favor low-carbon products for government purchases. The program will be offering a number of incentives to businesses compliant with the new environmental standards.<\/p>\n

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD<\/strong>-<\/p>\n

Protests are spreading from Shanghai to other Chinese cities <\/strong>as citizens take to the streets to voice frustration over years of strict covid restrictions including ongoing lockdowns. Demonstrations spread to the capital Beijing and dozens of university campuses across the country, in a show of civil disobedience the likes of which hasn\u2019t been seen in mainland China in decades. China\u2019s Hang Seng stock index dropped some 3.7% on this morning\u2019s open. Reuters<\/a>, AP<\/a>, Bloomberg<\/a>, and the FT<\/a> have more.<\/p>\n

Goodbye, ordinary Twitter. Hello, \u201cThe Everything App\u201d:<\/strong> New Twitter boss Elon Musk plans to transform the social media platform into \u201cThe Everything App,\u201d with features like longfrom tweets, encrypted direct messages, and payments, as part of his plan for \u201cTwitter 2.0,\u201d according to slides from an internal presentation he shared in a tweet<\/a>. The slideshow also claimed new user signups are at an \u201call-time high\u201d<\/a> since Musk took over the platform late last month, recording 2 mn new users a day last week, up 66% y-o-y.<\/p>\n

WORLD CUP UPDATE\u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s day nine of the World Cup:<\/strong> Teams in Group G and H face off today (all times CLT):<\/p>\n