Monetary Policy Committee leaves key policy rates unchanged

☀️ Good morning, friends, and happy weekend.

The Spend this month goes behind the scenes of Egypt’s hospitality industry:

Elsewhere in today’s issue:

With less than 60 days to GTA VI

Without further ado, let’s dive right in…

🗞️ LAST WEEK IN 3 MINS

For the fifth consecutive time this year, the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) Monetary Policy Committee left interest rates unchanged at its meeting yesterday a CBE statement analyst expectations

This comes after August urban inflation unexpectedly slowed to 14.5%

Another 6.5% of Gourmet changed hands just seven months after its blockbuster IPO

ALSO- Local steelmaker Metad Helwan for Metal Rolling is eyeing an EGP 1 bn IPO on the EGX in 2H 2027

The ​​African Export-Import Bank is planning to connect its Pan-African Payment and Settlement System to Egypt’s InstaPay app here.

Alam Al Roum is moving toward investment-zone status after the Madbouly cabinet approved a draft prime minister’s decree last week to designate the 4.9k-feddan Qatari Diar development as an investment zone.

EgyptAir was named the World’s Most Improved Airline at the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards

Nawy Shares and CI Capital Asset Management (Ciam) signed an agreement to set up and manage real estate investment funds.

AND- Talaat Moustafa Group’s (TMG) Saudi arm inked a preliminary agreement with Roshn Group

Cairo-born fintech Paymob landed a USD 35 mn pre-Series C round

E-finance received shareholders’ approval to buy 99.32% of MSME lender Tamweely Financial Services

Inside the NBFI firestorm with Hazem Moussa:

On this episode of Making It, Hazem Moussa, co-founder Contact Financial Holding

Listen to the episode on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Anghami YouTube

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🌍 AROUND THE WORLD IN SEVEN DAYS

This week’s headlines were dominated by a German governing party’s historic collapse and Trump’s escalating war with the press

The UN General Assembly delivered the week’s most significant diplomatic development: three-hour meeting between US and Iranian envoys reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days shut down worldwide

IN POLITICS- failed to clear the 5% threshold

AND- sanction the International Criminal Court

IN WASHINGTON- AI Force

Speaking of AI, an OpenAI agent breached an Australian government health portal in June

IN THE BUSINESS PRESS- settled their Greenland standoff

We’re honored to have Ahmed Ali Abdelrahman join us as a guest speaker at the 2026 Egypt Forum — the AI edition.

Ahmed Ali Abdelrahman is a private equity and investment banking executive with over 30 years of experience across Egypt and the GCC, with a track record spanning deal origination, IPO and M&A execution, and building direct-investment platforms from the ground up. He currently serves as Managing Director and CEO of Post For Investment (PFI), where he oversees a c. EGP 17 bn (USD 340 mn) direct-investment portfolio and structured the firm’s first landmark exit in 2024. Previously, as Group Deputy CEO and CIO of Beltone Financial, he launched three new lending verticals, building an aggregate portfolio of EGP 2 bn within three years.

Join us on 5 October in Cairo. Attendance is by invitation only, and we're close to full capacity.

Request your invitation here.

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☀️ THE WEATHER THIS WEEKEND

We’re in for even cooler weather this weekend

🎤 HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

Care for a magical musical evening? evening website

Ever wondered what happens to a donated piece of clothing that’s deemed unsuitable for reuse? exhibition

The event also features curated art installations here

Lebanese comedy sensation John Achkar is landing in Egypt tomorrow as part of his ongoing global tour: Feena Nehke? here here

Diwan is celebrating the Palestinian literary icon Mahmoud Darwish tomorrow discussion

🎤 HAPPENING NEXT WEEKEND

Please, sir, we want some more. evening TicketsMarché