Good morning, lovely people. We have some major updates from across the region on everything from railways to maritime shipping and investment for you this morning. But first, we have some news of our own…

We’re only one week away from meeting with some of you at the Enterprise Exports and FDI Forum, taking place at the Four Seasons at the Nile Plaza on Monday, 15 May.

We’re proud to announce that our friend Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker Egypt is joining us for the forum. Are you? Khaled Morsy is going to be speaking on his experience in bringing together multinationals and local suppliers. He will be joined on stage by Tarek Kamel, CEO of Nestle Egypt and Omar Elsahy, CEO of Amazon Egypt who will explain what multinationals look for in local providers and what it takes to become part of their supply chains.

They’re not the only ones: Among the CEOs, top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are: Mark Wylie, CEO of Beyti; Shady William, managing director of IDG; Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete; Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman, Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; Abdallah Sallam, CEO of Madinet Masr; Kareem Abou Ghaly, chairman and CEO of Pasta Regina; Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe; Helmi Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; Nadia El-Tawil, investment officer at AfricInvest; Mostafa Bedeir, CEO, Giza Seeds and Herbs; Nada El Ahwal, CSO, Transmar; Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Hossam Abou Moussa, partner at APIS; Yassir Zouaoui, partner at McKinsey; and Mohamed El Gebely, Team Leader at USAID Trade.

Topics and live interviews will include:

  • Why exports and FDI are the way forward and what lessons have worked from around the world;
  • How to attract foreign partners and figure out what they are looking for;
  • What lessons can we draw from white goods, fertilizers, and garments exporters who have increased our exports;
  • What are the fundamentals to creating an export and / or FDI strategy;
  • How industrial clusters could expedite exports and FDI and is a possibly avenue for SME development;
  • What are the industries of tomorrow around which we can export and bring in FDI.


For the full agenda please click here.

** Have you confirmed your attendance? Invitations have been sent out over the past few weeks. If you have yet to confirm your attendance and would still like to join us, please reply to the invitation with an RSVP.

WANT TO BECOME A COMMERCIAL PARTNER? Ping a note to Moustafa, our head of commercial, here.

THE BIG LOGISTICS STORY- The US, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and India are reportedly in talks over a major infrastructure project that would see Arab countries linked by rail and the region connected to India via ports. Officials from the four countries were reportedly set to meet yesterday to discuss plans for the project.

HAPPENING TODAY-

PSA- Motorists on the King Fahd Causeway linking Bahrain and KSA can now pay for their transit electronically via new “Jisr” app: The King Fahd Causeway Authority’s (KFCA) new app means that travelers will no longer need to stop to settle their bill and can instead settle electronically, according to a KFCA tweet.

Egypt hikes diesel prices by 14%: The Egyptian government has raised the price of diesel — the main fuel used by vehicles that transport goods across the country — by EGP 1.00 to EGP 8.25 per liter as of Thursday night, the country’s Oil Ministry said on Wednesday. The price of diesel has now risen 22% since last July, when the government increased the price for the first time in years following the commodities shock triggered by the war in Ukraine.

Egypt generated a current account surplus for the first time since 2014 in 2Q FY 2022-2023 due primarily to falling imports, according to Enterprise calculations based on central bank figures (pdf) released Wednesday. The current account turned to a USD 1.41 bn surplus during the October-December period, compared to deficits of USD 3.8 bn in the same period a year earlier and USD 3.19 bn the previous quarter.

Key drivers for the improvement were a 20% decline in imports, which fell to USD 17.99 bn from USD 22.48 bn a year earlier, primarily due to the import restrictions imposed last year in response to the FX shortage. Meanwhile, the country exported USD 11.54 bn worth of goods during the quarter, down 3% y-o-y but up from almost USD 10 bn in the previous quarter. Suez Canal receipts also rose 17% to USD 1.97 bn, up from USD USD 1.7 bn a year earlier. Revenues were down slightly from USD 2 bn from 1Q.

AP MollerMaersk top + bottom line fall in 1Q 2023: AP Moller Maersk reported USD 2.3 bn in consolidated net income in 1Q 2023, falling 66% y-o-y, while revenues fell 26% y-o-y to USD 14.2 bn, according to the company’s earnings release. The company attributed the decline in its bottom line to the normalization of supply and demand in global trade during the last two quarters, especially affecting their Ocean division, which witnessed lower freight rates and volumes. Although revenues in their logistics division fared well, its bottom line was impacted by cost increases. Despite the falling top and bottom lines, the company paid out USD 10.9 bn in dividends to its shareholders.

2023 outlook: The company expects volume declines to stabilize by the end of 2023, though it noted that it expects 1Q to be the best quarter of the financial year.

AfCFTA could boost African trade by more than 50%, IMF says: The implementation of the African Continental FreeTrade Agreement (AfCFTA), along with some comprehensive trade reforms, including tariff reductions, could boost the flow of goods between African countries by 53%, according to a recent IMF report (pdf). Trade between the continent and other regions could also rise 15%, while Africa’s median GDP could rise by 1.25%, the report added. The reforms that could help unlock AfCTFTA’s full potential once it comes into effect at the end of the decade include a unification of Africa’s trade policy, the development of regional value chains and a diversified trading portfolio.

DATA POINT- Global food prices rose 0.6% m-o-m to 127.2 points in April, while falling 19.7% y-o-y as prices continue to fall from last year’s record highs, according to the UN food price index. The slight upward trend in April was due to increases in the prices of sugar and meat. However, cereals, dairy, and vegetable oil prices dropped, continuing a downward trend.

WATCH THIS SPACE #1- GCC plans to introduce Schengen-style visa: GCC member countries are discussing the possibility of introducing a tourist visa emulating the Schengen to attract tourists from the US, Europe, and Asia and to have them stay for longer periods, the Khaleej Times reports. Discussions about a unified visa have been taking place at the ministerial level, Bahrain’s Tourism Minister Fatima Al Saraifi reportedly said at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai last week, according to the news outlet.

WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Iraq and Turkey could resume oil exports in two weeks: An agreement for the resumption of crude oil exports from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region to Turkey’s Port of Ceyhan is expected to be reached within two weeks, following an arbitration case that halted the delivery of some 450k barrels per day (bbl / d), Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani reportedly said at a conference on Wednesday, according to Reuters. The Iraqi government has yet to reach an agreement with the Kurdish side over the logistics of the bank account where the oil revenues are to be deposited, Abdel Ghani reportedly said, though another source told Reuters that the delay in the progress of resuming exports is political, not technical.

The delays are not just on the Iraqi side, however, as Turkish officials must check a pipeline that was damaged by the recent earthquakes, Abdel Ghani said, according to Bloomberg.

DMCC holds roadshow in UK:Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), the UAE’s largest freetrade zone, hosted its Made For Trade Live global roadshow in London to boost bilateral trade between the UAE and the UK, Zawya reports. The event highlighted the perks of Dubai’s business environment for companies seeking to expand. DMCC executives briefed 150 business leaders from several industries on the ease of conducting business in Dubai, highlighting its “resilience to global economic headwinds, its low inflationary environment and business-friendly policies, which have cemented its reputation as an international business and trade hub.”

QFZ discusses investment with US firms: CEO of Qatar Free Zones Authority Sheikh Mohammed Al-Thanidiscussed policy and trade, as well as potential investments available to US companies in Qatar’s freezones during a roundtable organized by the US Chamber of Commerce on the sidelines of the SelectUSA Investment Forum, according to a statement.

MARKET WATCH- The Baltic Dry Index, the Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index, fell to a three-week low last week, despite inching up on Friday on stronger demand in the capesize segment, Reuters reports. The overall index — which takes into account the rates for capesize, panamax, and supramax shipping vessels — was down 1.1% last week. The capesize index rose 3.6% during the week, its third consecutive weekly rise, while the supramax index fell nine points as well. Baltic Dry tracks rates for ships carrying dry bulk goods.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Airport Show is taking place between 9-11 May at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event will see hundreds of experts in the aviation industry gather to discuss topics crucial to the sector.

The Jordanian-Iraqi Business and Finance Forum kicks off in Amman, Jordan on 20 June, Jordanian news agency Petra reports. The event aims to promote bilateral trade and investments and will see participation from Jordanian and Iraqi investors, businesses and government officials, in addition to international participants. The IT, tech, real estate, contracting, construction, industrial, energy, and mining sectors will be the focus of the forum.

The Leaders in Logistics KSA Summit will be held in Riyadh on 5 September. The summit will dive into the kingdom’s logistics-focused national initiatives, as well as how the supply chain and logistics industries can help the kingdom achieve its sustainability targets. Head of Commercial and Growth at AHOYAdel Mazi and Aramex Regional Director Ibrahim Ezmigna, are among those scheduled to speak at the summit.

Check out our full calendar at the bottom of this email for a comprehensive listing of upcoming events and news triggers.

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