Good morning, dear readers. Here we are at the conclusion of another working week, with only a few hours left until the start of the weekend.
The most prominent local news came today in connection with the most prominent news globally, as Egypt joined 140 countries in voting, during an emergency session of the United Nations General Assembly, to demand Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine and withdraw its forces. 5 countries opposed the resolution, while 35 other countries abstained, while Egypt and the Gulf states stood with the broad majority of the international community in condemning Moscow despite our traditional strong relations with Russia.
Beyond politics, there were two important news stories this morning: the first was that the UAE company Gulf Capital is planning more investments in Egypt and opening an office in Cairo, which will serve as a hub for it to explore investment opportunities in Africa. This comes at a time when the number of countries is increasing, aiming to make Egypt a regional hub, thanks to the low cost compared to the Gulf markets, in addition to the availability of skills and the improvement of infrastructure in various fields in the country.
The second news is that furniture and home goods platform Homesmart has acquired Berlin-based technology startup Mockup Studio, in a deal that aims to add more features to its platform.
More on these three topics in our post below.
The weather forecast indicates a decrease in temperatures, with a maximum temperature of 19 degrees Celsius today and 20 degrees tomorrow.
Happening today - PMI: This morning the February PMI numbers for Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar will be released. Non-oil private sector activity in Egypt contracted for the 14th consecutive month in January on the back of weak demand and inflationary pressures, hitting its lowest reading since April 2021 and falling below the series average.
This week, the Ministry of Interior launched mobile traffic units to renew and issue car licenses and conduct technical inspections in five governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Aswan and Matrouh (watch, runtime: 4:57). Call 15558 for more information, or to book an appointment to receive "Under the House" for 400 EGP. (Note: We haven't tried the service ourselves yet).
The Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and the Software Engineering Assessment and Accreditation Center are hosting a webinar on Intellectual Property Management for Entrepreneurs at 11 am today. The seminar discusses the importance of patenting for startups, and the attendees talk about how to register patents. You can register to attend here.
'Historic' plastic pollution treaty gets UN endorsement: Nearly 200 international leaders have approved a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution, in a UN resolution adopted yesterday, according to Reuters. Details are scarce about the framework, which is due to be completed by 2024, but which is set to constrain global plastic production.
New low-cost iPhone launched next week: Apple announced a new product launch event on March 8 without details, but it is expected to announce a number of new products including the new low-cost iPhone SE, the mid-range iPad Air, and possibly Macs New.
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US markets rebound after "cautious hike" comments: Wall Street stocks rose on Wednesday, after US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicated he was not in favor of a half-percentage point rate hike when the central bank meets later this month. Powell said a "chain" was likely to make quarter-point or 25 basis-point increases at a time in order to control prices, which have hit four-decade highs, the Financial Times reported. "The bottom line is that we're going to move forward, but we're going to proceed with caution as we watch the economic fallout from the Ukraine war," Powell told Congress. US markets rose, supported by Powell's comments, according to Bloomberg Agency.
On the European front - Eurozone inflation hit a record high in February, rising to 5.8% y/y, up from 5.1% in January and 0.4 percentage point higher than analysts had expected, according to the European Central Bank. Expectations are raising fears that the war in Ukraine will pressure prices in Europe, and may also deepen the divide between hawkish and pessimistic European Central Bank members over the best way forward, the Financial Times reports. Some members are demanding the Bank stick to its plans and start tightening policy this year to cut inflation, while others want to wait and see how bad the war will affect growth before taking a step that could cause unintended damage.
OPEC Plus is trying to ignore the current developments at a time when the intensity of the war started by one of its largest member states is raging, according to Bloomberg Agency. Officials from the oil-producing countries agreed yesterday to maintain their plans for a modest increase in production by 400,000 barrels per day during the month of April, ignoring the Ukrainian crisis and concluding their meeting after only 13 minutes. Another thing that the meeting did not touch on was the sharp rise in oil prices, which jumped to their highest levels since 2014 this week to break the $100 per barrel barrier due to the impact of Russian oil sales by the invasion of Ukraine.
in notepad -
The most prominent economic indicators that we can expect in March:
Darb 1718 Contemporary Art and Culture Center is hosting the 3031 Art Festival from March 4-12 at its Fustat premises. The center will showcase a unique collection of various arts, along with live music, dance, theater performances and interactive workshops. Speakers from Adsum Art Consultancy will discuss investing in art. You can spend a full day of activities on weekends from 1 pm to 9 pm, while events are held from 4 pm to 10 pm on weekdays.
Diyarna Handicrafts and Heritage Exhibition kicked off last Thursday, and will continue until March 7, at Cairo Festival City from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.
You can view the full diary on our website, in which you will find a comprehensive list of upcoming news events, national holidays, conferences, and everything of interest to the business and financial community.
