{"id":577969,"date":"2022-12-12T04:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T04:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/12\/12\/this-morning-el-sisi-in-washington-tomorrow-for-us-africa-summit-signs-of-a-diplomatic-breakthrough-in-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2022-12-12T04:00:42","modified_gmt":"2022-12-12T04:00:42","slug":"this-morning-el-sisi-in-washington-tomorrow-for-us-africa-summit-signs-of-a-diplomatic-breakthrough-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/12\/12\/this-morning-el-sisi-in-washington-tomorrow-for-us-africa-summit-signs-of-a-diplomatic-breakthrough-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: El Sisi in Washington tomorrow for US-Africa summit + Signs of a diplomatic breakthrough in Ukraine?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, dear readers:<\/strong> Ahead of the busy news flow heading towards us later this week, we have a short but sweet issue today, with news that that Gulf wealth funds are thinking of getting involved in Egypt\u2019s upcoming desalination tenders as well as the latest installment of our ongoing CEO poll, featuring Travco Holiday\u2019s Moataz Sedky.<\/p>\n

WHAT\u2019S HAPPENING TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Egyptian Private Equity Association is hosting a healthcare summit at the Semiramis <\/strong>Intercontinental Cairo.<\/strong> The event will be held under the auspices of the finance and planning ministries. You can check out the agenda here (pdf)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the final day of the <\/strong>Nebu Expo for Gold and Jewelry<\/a><\/strong> at the Egypt International <\/strong>Exhibition Center<\/strong>, which brings together 35 international exhibitors and more than 500 buyers from the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n

The transport ministers of Nile Basin countries will meet today <\/strong>to discuss preparing feasibility studies for the second phase of the Lake Victoria-Mediterranean river link<\/a>, the Transport Ministry said<\/a> yesterday. Representatives from the regional economic group Comesa and the African Union will also be in attendance.<\/p>\n

THIS WEEK-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> Will we finally close an IMF facility this week?<\/strong> The IMF\u2019s executive board will discuss Egypt\u2019s request for a new extended fund facility on Friday, 16 December. Egypt and the Fund reached a staff-level agreement<\/a> for a USD 3 bn, 46-month loan program at the end of October, but the arrangement needs the sign off from the board before the loan can start to be disbursed.<\/p>\n

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will join other African leaders in Washington for the <\/strong>three-day <\/strong>US-Africa Leaders Summit<\/a><\/strong> which starts tomorrow. The event will be the first meeting of African heads of state and a US president in Washington since 2014 and the biggest international gathering in the city since before the covid-19 pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

On the agenda:<\/strong> Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, climate change, trade and covid-19 among other things, according to the Associated Press<\/a>. President Joe Biden will address a US-Africa business meeting, hold meetings with individual African heads of state and host a dinner at the White House. It is unknown whether El Sisi will hold talks with the US president during his stay in the US capital.<\/p>\n

A play for Africa:<\/strong> As Russia and China strengthen their ties with the continent, the summit is part of the US\u2019 play to increase its influence among African leaders following four years of disengagement under Donald Trump. The administration will offer a sweetener and declare support for making the African Union a permanent member of the G20, a long-standing ambition of African nations that the Washington Post<\/a> suggests could help the US get them on side on issues such as the war in Ukraine and climate change.<\/p>\n

PSA- Companies have until Thursday to register with the Tax Authority\u2019s e-invoicing <\/strong>system<\/strong>. Only 150k companies had signed up to the new system ahead of the previous deadline of 15 December, according to the Tax Authority\u2019s most recent tally<\/a> at the end of November, which is well below a sought goal of 1 mn companies to register under the system.<\/p>\n

REMEMBER- This deadline no longer applies to the self-employed:<\/strong> The Finance Ministry pushed the deadline<\/a> for self-employed professionals \u2014 including doctors, pharmacists and lawyers \u2014 to 30 April 2023 after widespread opposition<\/a> to the system.<\/p>\n

IT\u2019S FED WEEK- The Federal Reserve will start its two-day policy meeting tomorrow:<\/strong> Following several months of positive inflation data, the Fed is expected to raise interest rates by a smaller 50 bps, ending a string of four consecutive 75-bps hikes. That said, a lot will depend on tomorrow\u2019s inflation release: analysts expect<\/a> consumer price growth to have further slowed in November to 7.3%, allowing the Fed to ease the pace of its rate hikes. But a hotter-than-expected print could see the central bank go ahead with yet another super-sized hike.<\/p>\n

Events in Washington could influence what happens in our neck of the woods next <\/strong>Thursday<\/strong> when the Central Bank of Egypt meets for its final policy meeting of 2022.<\/p>\n

WORLD CUP- The World Cup semi-finals take place tomorrow and Wednesday<\/strong> (all times CLT):<\/p>\n