{"id":619979,"date":"2024-05-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/05\/14\/the-sovereign-fund-of-egypt-is-heading-to-the-gulf\/"},"modified":"2024-05-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T00:00:00","slug":"the-sovereign-fund-of-egypt-is-heading-to-the-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2024\/05\/14\/the-sovereign-fund-of-egypt-is-heading-to-the-gulf\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is heading to the Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, friends. <\/strong>It\u2019s another quiet morning with the news lull extending into the middle of the week. <\/p>\n

WATCH THIS SPACE-<\/p>\n

<\/a> #1- The Sovereign Fund of Egypt heads to the Gulf: <\/strong>The Sovereign Fund of Egypt will be touring the Gulf next month to drum up investment, Fund chair and Planning Minister Hala El Said told Asharq Business<\/a>. The fund will meet with investors, financial institutions, and other sovereign funds to discuss potential investments on offer.<\/p>\n

An industry sub-fund from the SFE? <\/strong>The Planning Ministry is looking into launching an industry-focused sub-fund under the SFE, El<\/a>Said<\/a>said<\/a>. The ministry is working with the private sector to identify a number of potential industries for the fund, she said, highlighting the industrial sector\u2019s importance for job creation and exports.<\/p>\n

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#2- Issuance of <\/strong>the one-year <\/strong>27% yield CDs could be stopped soon: <\/strong>Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) are considering stopping the issuance of one-year high-yield certificates of deposit (CDs) that were issued at the start of the year and replacing them with CDs with a lower return, Banque Misr President Mohamed El Etreby and an unnamed source from the NBE told Al Arabiya Business<\/a>. Enterprise verified the news with El Etreby. <\/p>\n

Remember:<\/strong> Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt introduced one-year CDs with yields up to 27% back in January<\/a>. <\/p>\n

<\/a> Speaking of CDs:<\/strong> Banque Du Caire yesterday rolled out a new high yield three-year CD that pays a monthly variable return of 27%, the lender said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ATTENTION, EGYPT INVESTORS-<\/p>\n

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

Foreign investors are falling in love with Egypt again\u2026<\/strong> Foreign investors we speak with (debt, equity, and strategic alike) have a growing appetite for Egypt. They\u2019re buying into local debt, eyeing promising shares, and committing bns of USD to both new ventures here and the growth of their existing businesses. They like the Egypt story that\u2019s taking shape after the float of the EGP, and its competitive advantages are clear to many of them: It\u2019s a massive consumer opportunity and a regional export hub of tomorrow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Enterprise Optimism Forum 2024 will do exactly what it says on the tin: <\/strong>Spark conversations about a future that we think is much brighter than so many in our community feel right now. Think of it as much-needed shock therapy combined with an early, actionable roadmap for those of us who are \u201clong Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be talking with you about the agenda over the coming couple of weeks. <\/strong>It features speakers from Egypt and abroad who are future-proofing their businesses and angling to capture tomorrow\u2019s opportunities \u2014 and who aren\u2019t afraid to answer some tough questions. <\/p>\n

*** Interested in attending? <\/strong>Tap or click here<\/a><\/strong> to let us know.<\/strong> Seating is limited.<\/p>\n

PSA-<\/p>\n

WEATHER- It\u2019s another spring day in Cairo<\/strong>, with a high of 29\u00b0C and a low of 18\u00b0C, according to our favorite weather app.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s slightly cooler in Alexandria<\/strong>, with a high of 25\u00b0C and a low of 16\u00b0C.<\/p>\n

** DID YOU KNOW that we now cover <\/strong>Saudi Arabia<\/a><\/strong> and the <\/strong>UAE<\/a><\/strong>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

** Want to subscribe? <\/strong>Tap or click here<\/a> to get your own copy delivered every weekday before 7am Cairo time \u2014 without charge.<\/p>\n

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HAPPENING TODAY-<\/p>\n

<\/a>#1- Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is in Bahrain<\/strong> for the Arab League ministerial meetings ahead of the 33rd Arab Summit \u2014 which will be held on<\/a>Thursday<\/a> \u2014 according to a ministry statement<\/a>. The meeting will focus on draft resolutions to be submitted during the summit and several key issues, including developments in Gaza, Libya, and a number of other Arab countries. <\/p>\n

<\/a> #2- Get ready for the Green Growth Summit:<\/strong> Private sector players, financial institutions, investors, donors, and policymakers will gather today for the Green Growth Summit<\/a> hosted by global development organization Hivos<\/a> at Cairo\u2019s Conrad Hotel. The summit will focus on green exports, de-risking green investments, green jobs, green ambassadors, and green impact investing. Registration for the event has already closed.<\/p>\n

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR- <\/p>\n

Egypt will host the<\/strong> joint annual meetings of Arab financial authorities<\/strong> for the first time on <\/strong>Wednesday, 22 May. <\/strong>The gathering will see finance ministers, central bank heads, and officials from regional and international bodies meet up in the new capital to discuss financial, economic, and development issues, according to a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out our full calendar on the web<\/a><\/strong> for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events, national holidays and news triggers.<\/p>\n

INFLATION WATCH-<\/p>\n

<\/a>Goldman Sachs adjusts inflation forecast: <\/strong>Goldman Sachs now sees inflation falling to 22% by the end of the year \u2014 up from its previous forecast of 20% \u2014 Arab World Press<\/a> reports, citing a note from the bank. The lender pointed to the unexpected spike<\/a> in the rate of inflation in February as the reason behind the upward revision. <\/p>\n

DATA POINT-<\/p>\n

The UAE has investments totalling USD 65 bn in Egypt<\/strong>, UAE International Investors Council secretary general Jamal Aljarwan told Asharq Business<\/a>. Egypt is the UAE\u2019s second-largest investment market after the US, Aljarwan added. <\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s a really, really tech-heavy morning in the business press: <\/strong>Reviews are out for the iPad Air and iPad Pro<\/strong> models that Apple announced last week, ChatGPT<\/strong> maker OpenAI released a voice-assistant-like product that will chat with you in the (unauthorized, dystopian) voice of Scarlett Johansson in Her<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Up first: the <\/strong>Google I\/O<\/a><\/strong> developer conference starts this morning.<\/strong> The Mountain View company is expected to announce (you guessed it) a new AI-powered voice assistant and a bunch of other Android goodies. <\/p>\n

Consider it the prelude to a few very tech-heavy weeks: <\/strong>Microsoft\u2019s Build conference<\/a> runs next week (21-23 May) and could see Redmond announce an AI-powered search app based on ChatGPT, and then all eyes turn to Cupertino for Apple\u2019s WWDC<\/a>, at which the tech giant will unveil new versions of its various operating systems with plenty of AI baked in. Pundits will be watching to see how much of the AI goop Apple layers onto its OSes is homegrown and how much is licensed from ChatGPT or Google \u2014 it\u2019s in talks with both. <\/p>\n

Meet Her: <\/strong>OpenAI is actually calling it Chat-GPT4o (the letter \u2018o\u2019 at the end, not a zero) and it lit our X and Threads on fire for sounding exactly like Scarlett Johansson in Her, a movie in which a character falls in love with an AI voice assistant. You chat with GPT4o using your voice \u2014 and it can turn on your device\u2019s camera to have a look around if it\u2019s relevant to your \u2018conversation.\u2019 And unlike the current incarnation of Siri, it appears pretty seamless. <\/p>\n

You can try it now for yourself: <\/strong>Head here to learn more or listen to a demo<\/a>. If you already have a subscription to ChatGPT and have it running in a browser, do a hard refresh and then hit the dropdown menu on the top left to choose ChatGPT-4o.<\/p>\n

The story is everywhere: <\/strong>The Verge<\/a> | Financial Times<\/a> | Wall Street Journal<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | CNBC<\/a> <\/p>\n

You can already feel the ennui <\/strong>in this CNBC headline: AI may not replace you, but someone who uses it can \u2014 here\u2019s the No. 1 skill you need to stay relevant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ALSO IN AI- A UAE research institute has rolled out a new, open-source GenAI model named Falcon 2<\/strong>, it said in a statement<\/a> yesterday. The institute says the model outperforms both Llama 3 from Meta as well as Google\u2019s Gemma, which underpins the Gemini products. \u201cWe were able to achieve way higher performance than a lot of the bigger guys, and at a fraction of their compute and a fraction of their team size,\u201d a top UAE tech official told Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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REVIEWS- So, should you buy a new iPad? <\/strong>Will the device be transformed in a few weeks\u2019 time by the unveiling of a new iPadOS that makes it as Mac-like as the new keyboard case now on sale for the Pro model? In search of answers, we bring you:<\/p>\n