{"id":610273,"date":"2023-11-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/?post_type=weekend&p=610273"},"modified":"2025-12-17T02:03:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T02:03:59","slug":"winter-wellness","status":"publish","type":"weekend","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/weekend\/winter-wellness\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter wellness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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#1- Israel raids Al Shifa Hospital and leaves empty-handed. <\/strong>The IDF withdrew from<\/a>Gaza\u2019s main hospital following a 24-hour<\/a> raid after failing to find substantial evidence proving Hamas\u2019 command center was located in the facility. <\/p>\n

Hundreds of patients and thousands of refugees and medical workers were trapped <\/strong>inside<\/strong>for almost a week<\/strong> without food and basic supplies, according to healthcare officials from inside the hospital. The destruction continued as bulldozers demolished part of the hospital\u2019s entrance. <\/p>\n

The Al Shifa raid came after s<\/strong>everal <\/strong>major hospitals sheltering thousands of refugees came under heavy fire by<\/strong> Israeli forces over the weekend.<\/strong> The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli snipers and artillery were targeting the Al Quds Hospital, which is housing 14k people. Al Shifa ran out of fuel on Saturday evening, causing the death of two premature babies and endangering a further 37 -40 babies relying on incubators.<\/p>\n

All hospitals in northern Gaza ultimately went out of service, <\/strong>including Gaza City\u2019s two largest hospitals, Al Shifa and Al Quds, as well as Kamal Adwan Hospital. <\/p>\n

The Gaza Health Ministry has been unable to update its death toll due to the assault: <\/strong>The ministry\u2019s death toll hasn\u2019t been updated since last Friday as medical workers were unable to reach areas hit by Israeli airstrikes and due to a communications blackout.<\/p>\n

#2- <\/strong>UN<\/strong> calls for humanitarian pause: <\/strong>AMalta-proposed resolution calling for \u201chumanitarian<\/a>pauses and the release of hostages\u201d<\/a> was passed by the UN Security Council with 12 of the 15 member countries voting in favor. The US, the UK, and Russia abstained. The US had vetoed two previous resolutions advocating for a ceasefire, opting instead for a humanitarian pause.<\/p>\n

No ceasefire in sight: <\/strong>Operations will continue until Hamas is eradicated, Israel\u2019s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdansaid. He called the resolution \u201cdisconnected from reality and meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n

#3- The resolution followed calls for an immediate ceasefire from Arab and Muslim nations<\/strong>, although leaders failed to agree on concrete measures against Israel at an emergency summit in Riyadh. In a joint statement, the 57 nations reiterated their condemnations of Israel\u2019s ruthless military campaign in Gaza but could not agree on more punitive measures like severing diplomatic ties and an oil embargo. <\/p>\n

#4- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi reportedly rejected a proposal from CIA<\/strong> director William Burns<\/strong> that would see Egypt manage security in Gaza until the Palestinian Authority takes control. <\/p>\n

#5- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his previous statements <\/strong>about Gaza\u2019s post-war governance<\/strong> saying that Israel will assume security control of the territory in a televised address.<\/p>\n

#<\/strong>6- Meanwhile, Israeli officials again called for support of its drive to dispossess<\/strong> hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their land in Gaza: <\/strong>They\u2019re imploring Western governments to take in Palestinians \u201cwho have expressed a desire to relocate,\u201d for so-called \u201chumanitarian\u201d reasons.<\/p>\n

#7- Hamas offered to release 70 women and children in return for a five-day truce<\/strong> to allow in aid. An Israeli official said separately that the two sides could reach an agreement to release all women and children in return for a temporary ceasefire.<\/p>\n

At least 11,240 Gazans including 4,630 children have been killed since 7 October<\/strong>, according to BBC<\/a> and Reuters<\/a> figures. 102 UN staff members have lost their lives. Telecommunications services in Gaza officially started going offline as service providers run out of fuel, Palestinian telco Paltel said yesterday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

ON <\/strong>A RELATED NOTE- We <\/strong>might be getting<\/a><\/strong> some financial support from the EU, in part <\/strong>to help stem migration across the Mediterranean in the wake of the Gaza siege.<\/strong> Brussels is reportedly putting together a EUR 9 bn investment package in sectors including digital, energy, agriculture and transport, and hold an investment conference in spring 2024, along with introducing measures to strengthen the country\u2019s border security and crack down on smuggling as part of plans for a wider strategic partnership with Egypt. <\/p>\n

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Cairo tomorrow<\/strong> for talks with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. <\/p>\n

MEANWHILE ON THE ECONOMY FRONT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- Egypt\u2019s unemployment rose t<\/strong>o 7.1% in 3Q 2023, <\/strong>a 0.1<\/a>percentage point<\/a>increase<\/a> from last quarter. Despite the inch upwards, unemployment rates are down 0.3% y-o-y. <\/p>\n

#2- Annual urban inflation in October eased for the first time in six months<\/strong>to <\/strong>35.8%<\/a><\/strong>y-o-y<\/a><\/strong><\/a><\/strong>from 38.0% in September due to slowing food and beverage price inflation. October marked the first time inflation figures have cooled since April. Core inflation also eased in October for the fourth consecutive month to 38.1%<\/a>y-o-y<\/a> from 39.7% in September.<\/p>\n

#3- Kuwait <\/strong>renewed a USD 4 bn deposit<\/a><\/strong> with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). <\/strong>The deposit includes two USD 2 bn tranches that will now mature in April and September of next year. <\/p>\n

A FEW PRIVATIZATION UPDATES TO KEEP US GOING-<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- CBE to sell nearly half of its stake in AAIB: <\/strong>The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) agreed on a divestment plan<\/a> that will see each of them offloading a 20% stake in AAIB. The sale, which is expected to wrap up in 2024, will be carried out via a private placement to a strategic investor and a stake sale on the EGX. AAIB is on the government\u2019s list of 35 state-owned companies earmarked for privatization. <\/p>\n

Who owns what? <\/strong>The CBE and the KIA each own a 49.37%-stake in AAIB, with the remaining 1.26% is owned by undisclosed persons or entities. <\/p>\n

#2- <\/strong>ACUD<\/strong> received offers from financial advisors for its 2024 IPO:<\/strong> The Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company (ACUD) received offers from several firms to act as financial advisor<\/a> ahead of an initial public offering on the EGX. The new capital developer said in September that it would offer 10-15% of its shares to investors.<\/p>\n

AND AN M&A FINDS CLOSURE- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Dice founders buy back another third of their firm: <\/strong>Localclothing company Dice Sports and Casual Wear\u2019s latest acquisition will see 545 mn shares<\/a> returned to the founders. The shares were sold at EGP 0.80 per share through a mandatory tender offer. The founding family\u2019s Toma Company for Commercial and Industrial Investments raised their stake in the company by 30.5% for EGP 436 mn. <\/p>\n

OVER IN BANKING-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fitch Ratings downgraded the credit ratings of four major Egyptian banks<\/strong> a week after it cut the country\u2019s sovereign credit rating deeper into junk territory. The agency cut the ratings<\/a> of the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, CIB, and Banque du Caire to B- from B. <\/p>\n

AND ON THE ENERGY FRONT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re getting more gas from Israel:<\/strong> Israeli natural gas exports to Egypt have reportedly risen<\/a>by 60%<\/a> to 350-400 mn cubic feet a day, up from 250 mn earlier this month. This comes as Chevron announced it had resumed production from the Tamar gas field, which was shut last month due to safety concerns stemming from the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

THE PUSH TO LOCALIZE OUR AUTO INDUSTRY SAW SOME ACTION-<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- Elsewedy Capital and Ezz El Arab automotive JV in the works:<\/strong> Elsewedy Capital and automotive group Ezz El Arab launched a joint venture<\/a> that will assemble combustion engine and electric vehicles with some USD 15 mn in investment earmarked.<\/p>\n

#2- GP Corp\u2019s two subsidiaries signed framework agreements with the Madbouly government to boost assembling vehicles locally.<\/strong> GB Corp, is currently building an EGP 2 bn auto factory<\/a> in Sadat City and is expected to reach an annual capacity of 50k cars.<\/p>\n

#3- German carmaker Volkswagen is conducting <\/strong>feasibility studies<\/a><\/strong>for the establishment of the planned East Port Said Automotive Zone (EPAZ) under an agreement inked this week.<\/p>\n

#4- Global Auto Group \u2013 the agent and importer for BMW in Egypt \u2013 has signed an agreement <\/strong>to begin assembling vehicles locally, according to a cabinet statement<\/a> yesterday. The agreement was signed with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) and the Finance\u2019s Ministry\u2019s Environmentally Friendly Automobile Industry Fund (EFAIF).<\/p>\n

AND THERE WAS SOME DEBT-<\/strong><\/p>\n

#1- The Central Bank of Egypt raised <\/strong>USD 1.61 bn<\/a><\/strong> in a t-bill auction to refinance existing <\/strong>debt.<\/strong> The bills were sold at an interest rate of 5.149%, 550 bps higher than the maturing bills sold in November 2022.<\/p>\n

#2- The Finance Ministry secured a USD 500 mn syndicated loan from Deutsche Bank <\/strong>and Bahrain\u2019s Arab Banking Corporation (Bank ABC) <\/strong>to support education and healthcare spending<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#3- The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) agreed to extend <\/strong>USD 3 bn of credit<\/a><\/strong>facilities<\/a><\/strong> to Egyptian companies<\/strong> to help support infrastructure projects across Africa. Among the funding agreements:<\/p>\n