Good morning, wonderful people. We have a rather busy end to the week today, but before we just head-first into this morning’s top stories, we’re taking the lid off the agenda for this year’s EnterpriseAM Finance Forum happening in Egypt on Tuesday, 24 September.

Headlining the EnterpriseAM Finance Forum: We’ll be joined for the first time on stage by a senior government official, who’s joining us to outline a vision for where we’re going as a community and as an economy. The keynote interview will get underway at 9am sharp, and you won’t want to miss our exclusive networking breakfast from 8am.

Among the topics on the agenda:

  • Welcome to the hot seat — top industry CEOs set the tone by addressing the biggest (and toughest) questions of the day.
  • Looking from the outside in — what foreign investors and strategics think about Egypt right now.
  • The only asset class in town — It’s real estate or nothing. We’ll get into the ins and outs of the industry, how it’s financing itself, which areas (and price points) are next, and more.
  • Gazing into that crystal ball — The outlook for dealflow in 2025, from M&A and IPOs to securitization, FX and more.
  • A once in a generation opportunity? — A deep dive into the promise and pitfalls of the emerging energy economy.
  • Do we really love banking SMEs? — With NBFIs and fintech players staking their claims, banks are starting to take the SME market seriously.
  • The NBFI panel — The resilience of the Egyptian consumer is the business story of the decade. How are banks and NBFS players building sustainable businesses? What are the opportunities — and credit worries — in the B2B space?

Are you going to be in Egypt and haven’t requested an invitation yet? Do it today — space is limited. Tap or click here to let us know you’re interested.

** IMPORTANT NOTE — If you’ve already received your invitation on email, you *must* click through to confirm you’re attending.

HAPPENING TODAY-

EFG Hermes’ annual conference is on its final day today in London, giving investors “unique and unparalleled access to leading equities in MENA and key frontier emerging markets.”

MORNING MUST-READ- EnterpriseAM Saudi has exclusive coverage of Tuesday’s panel discussion at the EFG Hermes conference with Saudi Exchange CEO Mohammed Al Rumaih and Capital Market Authority Board Commissioner Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Bin Hassan. The two discussed the development of Saudi’s capital markets over the past several years and how their institutions are working to encourage further growth and place Saudi as one of the top capital markets globally. The discussion is in this morning’s Spotlight, below.

WEATHER- Expect partially cloudy days in Riyadh and Jeddah today, with a high of 43°C today and a low of 30°C in the capital. Meanwhile, Jeddah will see a high of 39°C, and a low of 32°C.

WATCH THIS SPACE-

#1- Israel wants to revive talks on normalizing diplomatic ties with the Kingdom, after they were derailed by last year’s October 7 attacks, Israel’s Economy Minister Nir Barkat told Bloomberg TV. The country reiterated its desire to expand the Abraham Accords with “moderate” Arab states.

What he said: “I see how the Saudis and other moderate Arab states, including potentially Indonesia and others, are waiting to have a window of opportunity to enter and expand the Abraham Accords — we bless it,” Barkat said.

REFRESHER- While the US had been brokering talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel earlier this year in a bid to counter Iranian influence before the conflict, those efforts are now in limbo. The Kingdom has been clear in its position that it will not normalize ties with Israel without a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a clear, credible path to Palestinian statehood.

#2- China wants to expedite freetrade talks: China’s Premier Li Qiang called for freetrade talks with the GCC, including Saudi, to be expedited during his visit to Riyadh, Reuters reports. Meeting with GCC Secretary General Jasem al-Budaiwi, Li emphasized the need to revive the long-stalled negotiations, which have been ongoing for nearly 20 years.

The caveat: The Kingdom expressed concerns over the potential influx of cheaper Chinese imports stifling domestic manufacturers.

ALSO- The Kingdom is anticipating more Chinese industrial investments, especially in electronics and AI, a Saudi-Chinese Business Council official told Aleqtisadiah on the sidelines of the China-GCC roundtable meetings. For his part, Li said that China is eyeing investments in the Kingdom’s energy sector, as well as infrastructure.

SPEAKING OF CHINA- Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with the Chinese prime minister to discuss investment, trade, and energy cooperation, state news agency SPA reports. The Chinese official landed in Riyadh on Tuesday to chair the Chinese-Saudi Joint Committee meeting and will visit the UAE too, according to the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry.

#3- Deutsche Bank plans to tap into private wealth management in Saudi Arabia across various pools, including family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, special vehicles, and wealth management funds, the lender’s CEO for the Middle East and Africa Jamal Al Kishi told Zawya. “The idea is to tap into … sources that have not been tapped up to this point, at least not effectively and not on a scale,” Al Kishi said.

DATA POINTS-

#1- Consumer spending in Saudi via point-of-sale (PoS) transactions dropped 4.9% w-o-w for the week ending 7 September at SAR 13.4 bn, according to Sama’s weekly PoS report (pdf). Meanwhile, the number of weekly transactions inched up 0.3% at 213.5 mn transactions.

The breakdown: Food and beverages saw the highest spending during the week at SAR 2.1 bn, followed by restaurants and cafes at SAR 1.9 bn. Meanwhile, Riyadh had the highest value of PoS transactions at SAR 4.6 bn, followed by Jeddah at SAR 1.8 bn.

#2- The Saudi box office sold 8.5 mn tickets in 1H 2024, generating some SAR 421.8 mn in sales, Culture Minister and Governor of the Royal Commission for AlUla Prince Badr bin Abdullah said in a post on X. Two of the box office’s top three films were Saudi productions. Last year, box office sales hit USD 919 mn, up 25% from 2022, with local hits like Mandoob and Sattar leading the charge.

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THE BIG STORY ABROAD-

Two days on and the US presidential debate is still dominating the digital front pages of the international press, with just a spattering of business and tech news trying to fight for ink with an avalanche post-debate analysis and thought pieces from the commentariat.

Now the dust has settled, pundits are trying to figure out who came on top, with the consensus in the international media being that while Kamala Harris had largely come out on top, the debate had not substantially moved the needle in a very close race between the two candidates. Trump campaign donors and Republican strategists are reportedly frustrated with the former president’s “uneven performance,” with one strategist calling the debate “a missed opportunity.” The former president’s claim that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating residents’ pets was one of a number of diversions that drew hand-wringing from some Republican strategists and donors, who lamented the former president’s failure to double down on issues like inflation or the state of the US economy under Joe Biden.

WHILE IN GLOBAL INTEREST RATE SPECULATION- US inflation cooled to 2.5% in August, inching toward the 2% inflation rate targeted by the US Federal Reserve. The release of the new inflation data has seen analysts consolidate behind expectations that the Fed will make only a 25-basis point cut at the central bank’s rate-setting meeting next week.

OVER IN TECH NEWS- OpenAI wants to nearly double its valuation to USD 150 bn in new financing round to raise USD 5 bn from investors in order to fund AI development that it hopes will give it an edge over competitors including Google and Meta.

AND IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS- The prime minister of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, has pledged to end the country’s central bank standoff that saw its oil output cut in half.

CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

The Egypt-UK investment conference is nearly upon us: Our friends at HSBC, together with UK Export Finance and Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce, are hosting the Egypt-UK Investment and Opportunities Forum in London on Monday, 16 September. The conference will showcase investment opportunities in Egypt across different sectors — including renewable energy, water, automotive, food processing, IT, and AI — to potential investors from the UK. It will also facilitate matchmaking between institutions of both countries, bringing together government representatives, business leaders, and senior executives.

SRMG Academy’s technology journalism course will kick off in Riyadh next Sunday, 15 September. The five-day, TikTok-backed program will run until 19 September.

Fenaa Alawwal cultural center will kick off the contemporary art forum Muntada FAA next Sunday, 15 September at the Diplomatic Quarters in Riyadh. The forum runs until Thursday, 19 September.

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