{"id":630333,"date":"2018-04-18T04:14:41","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T04:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/04\/18\/what-were-tracking-on-18-april-2018\/"},"modified":"2018-04-18T04:14:41","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T04:14:41","slug":"what-were-tracking-on-18-april-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2018\/04\/18\/what-were-tracking-on-18-april-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"What we\u2019re tracking on 18 April 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Look for plenty of talk today on the state of the global economy<\/strong> as the IMF and World Bank spring meetings continue in Washington, DC. Egypt\u2019s delegation to the semi-annual festival of hand-wringing includes Finance Minister Amr El Garhy, Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer and Investment Minister Sahar Nasr. Today\u2019s schedule includes everything from the release of the Global Financial Stability Report to a talk on big data and machine learning in economic forecasting. IMF boss Christine Lagarde will hold a press conference tomorrow (Thursday), as will World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. You can check out the schedule for the gathering here<\/a>on the event website.<\/p>\n

Uber, Careem appeal hearing scheduled on 15 May:<\/strong> The Administrative Court will hold its first hearing in Uber and Careem\u2019s appeal against the court\u2019s previous ruling<\/a> to revoke the companies\u2019 licenses on 15 May, said Mahmoud Abdel Hamid, the head of the white taxis association that launched the suit in the first place, according to Al Mal<\/a>. The court\u2019s initial ruling was suspended last week<\/a> by the Court of Urgent Matters, giving both companies legal breathing room to operate until the Higher Administrative Court reaches a final ruling on the matter. Meanwhile, the Ismail government is trying to rush the Ride-Hailing Apps Act<\/a> through the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Abraaj could resign as manager of its USD 1 bn healthcare fund.<\/strong> The Dubai-based emerging markets private equity giant is reportedly developing a plan that \u201cseeks to swap \u2026 Abraaj with an interim manager and then a permanent replacement \u2026 Other options include turning the fund into a company or a self-governing fund,\u201d the Financial Times reports<\/a>. The news comes after the healthcare fund\u2019s annual meeting with LPs in London \u201cwent badly \u2026there was shouting,\u201d<\/strong> according to an attendee. The healthcare fund has hobbled the until-recently high-flying firm after four of its LPs, including the International Finance Corporation, raised questions about funds that had been drawn down, but not deployed. The firm has reportedly since \u201cadmitted to drawing on investors\u2019 funds for \u2018general corporate purposes\u2019, albeit within the terms of the fund agreement, people close to the company say,\u201d according to the salmon-colored paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rise of Saudi Arabia and Egypt as the top Middle East choices for equity investors is taking a toll on Dubai,\u201d<\/strong> writes Filipe Pacheco for Bloomberg<\/a>. Trade volumes on the Dubai Financial Market fell 57% below its 15-day average to USD 24 mn on Monday, the lowest since September 2015. The DFM General Index dropped about 7% in 2018. In contrast, the EGX 30 has gained more than 18% \u201cas investors applaud economic reforms and government plans to offer stakes in public-owned companies.\u201d Saudi stocks have climbed more than 12% this year with foreign investors as net buyers for 15 straight weeks on the back of an expected EM classification by MSCI among other reasons. The two \u201care very interesting markets to look at now\u201d compared with the United Arab Emirates, said Issam Kassabieh, senior financial analyst at Mena Corp. Financial Services in Dubai.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s wrong with Dubai?<\/strong> The bottom line is that it\u2019s a bit bland and thin, with the consensus on the buy side being that \u201cthe banking and real estate companies that dominate Dubai\u2019s bourse offer little in the way of triggers to trade their stock, with a few exceptions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the gang at Ashmore has \u201clured the strongest inflows since 2013\u201d on emerging markets demand<\/strong>, the Financial Times<\/a> says, with appetite strong for both equities and fixed income offerings. The same piece, a brief entry in FastFT, also notes that Goldman Sachs is similarly upbeat about EM these days.<\/p>\n

<\/a> Fintech people, read this: <\/strong>For folks in banking and finance who keep a close eye on the startup world, the must-read this morning is How JPMorgan's CIO decides which startups to partner with, which to invest in, and which to outright buy<\/strong><\/a>, courtesy Business Insider.<\/p>\n

Also on fintech this morning: Egypt\u2019s banking sector could be Ground Zero for a fintech revolution, <\/strong>writes Damian Radcliffe for Dubai-based Heat Sink<\/a>. With a population of around 100 mn, the country has only 14 mn bank accounts and a similar number of postal service savings accounts, says AUC School Business\u2019 Ayman Ismail, and the banking industry\u2019s innate conservatism has a lot to do with the under-penetration of financial services. But the central bank\u2019s financial inclusion initiative and drives into fintech by top lenders such as CIB is setting the groundwork for change.<\/p>\n

Are you investing or working in tech? Or just find the \u201cecosystem\u201d (God help us, but we hate that word) fascinating? <\/strong>Go read the Financial Times\u2019 Big Read Start-up republic: Can Iran\u2019s booming tech sector thrive?<\/strong><\/a> It\u2019s a fascinating look at a country about which we all know too little.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere this morning:<\/p>\n