Good morning, friends. The news cycle shows no signs of slowing down as we head into the weekend, and we have a packed issue for you with updates from around the region. But first…

We’re only five days 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 Mostafa Bedair, CEO of Giza Seeds and Herbs, is joining us for the forum. Are you? Mostafa Bedair is going to be speaking on how Egypt needs to get the fundamentals right to be able to adapt to emerging industry trends. He is joined on stage for that discussion by Nadia El-Tawil, the investment officer at AfricInvest, and Abdallah Sallam, CEO of Madinet Masr, who will speak on how Egypt can make its products more competitive and how industries need to be open to evolution.

They’re not the only ones: Among the top execs, bankers, and development finance folks speaking at the conference are (in no particular order): Yasmine Khamis, chair of the Orientals Group; Tarek Kamel, CEO of Nestle Egypt; Omar Elsahy, general manager of Amazon Egypt, Khaled Morsy, CEO of DB Schenker Egypt; Mark Wylie, CEO, Beyti; Shady William, managing director of IDG; Mohamed Talaat Khalifa, CEO of Concrete; Hossam Sallab, CEO and vice-chairman of Sallab Group and Royal Ceramica; Kareem Abou Ghaly, chairman and CEO of Pasta Regina; Tarek Hosny, head of investments and projects at Fertiglobe; Helmy Ghazi, deputy CEO of HSBC Egypt; Nada El Ahwal, CSO of Transmar; Hassan Massoud, associate director and head of private equity (Southern Mediterranean), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD); Cheick-Oumar Sylla, director for North Africa and the Horn of Africa at the IFC; 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;
• What it takes to secure a place in a multinational’s supply chain;
• How industrial clusters could expedite exports, FDI and possibly be an avenue for SME development.

Tap or click here to explore the full agenda.

** 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.

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THE BIG CLIMATE STORY- UAE-based VC outfit Mensha Ventures has signed a non-binding agreement with a group of Chinese strategic partners to jointly invest USD 1 bn in green energy infrastructure in the region and Egypt’s Bank of Alexandria inked a financing agreement with the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a USD 15 mn loan to finance green projects.

^^ We have the details on these stories and more in the news well, below.

HAPPENING TODAY- The UAE Climate Tech forum is kicking off today and concluding tomorrow in Abu Dhabi. The event will gather over 1k policymakers, CEOs, experts, and investors to discuss collaboration on innovative technologies and economic potential in advancing decarbonization across all sectors.

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THE BIG CLIMATE STORY OUTSIDE THE REGION- The Church of England will vote against Shell’s board next week over climate concerns: The Church of England’s (CoE) Pension Board said yesterday it will join fellow minority shareholders in a coordinated vote at next week’s annual general meeting (AGM). The vote is aimed at ousting Shell Chairman Andrew Mackenzie and the remainder of the oil giant’s board over “signals” it would backtrack on climate commitments. Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in March the company plans to pare back oil production by 1-2% by 2030 would be “reviewed” in a bid to prioritize the company’s performance and returns.

“Through our vote at Shell’s AGM we are sending a signal about the importance we assign to the low-carbon transition,” chief responsible investment officer at the CoE Pensions Board Adam Matthews wrote in an op-ed to The Telegraph. Shell’s board — which notes it has been working with the CoE on energy transition for almost a decade — says its carbon neutrality target for “2050 or before” remains unchanged.

CoE joins a list of shareholders looking to hold oil execs accountable for weak climate targets: UK pension funds Borders to Coast and Britain’s Universities Superannuation Scheme — two of Britain’s largest pension schemes, overseeing a combined c. GBP 130 bn of assets — will vote against the reappointment of several incumbent directors at energy giants Shell and BP at annual shareholder meetings unless they commit to stronger carbon reduction targets.

The story got coverage in the international press yesterday: Reuters | The Guardian | AFP | Bloomberg

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WATCH THIS SPACE #1- Bahrain is looking to double its renewable energy target to have renewables account for 20% of the country’s total energy mix by 2035, The National quotes Bahrain’s Electricity and Water Affairs Minister Yaser bin Ebrahim Humaidan as saying. “We are targeting net zero by 2060, 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035… doubling renewable energy targets to achieve 20% of the energy mix by 2035 and doubling the afforestation areas in Bahrain,” he said during the World Utility Congress in Abu Dhabi.

Emissions in the crosshairs: The minister said his country is making progress in several areas where it is targeting net zero emissions by 2060. “We have engaged with several of the large industrial emitters and we have implemented a system of continuous emissions monitoring where we can monitor their emissions remotely, continuously and in real-time,” he said, "and that also enables us to have the ability to immediately detect any violations and take corrective action.”

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WATCH THIS SPACE #2- Egypt plans to invest EGP 81.4 bn in the electricity and renewable energy sector in FY 2023-2024, Planning Minister Hala El Said told the country’s parliament yesterday, according to a statement. 85% of the investment — EGP 69.4 mn — will be allocated to general investments, with no more details disclosed. The country’s share of renewable energy production is expected to reach 11.8% of the total electricity generated in the next fiscal year, up from 8.8% in 2019.

WATCH THIS SPACE #3- EU countries lobby for fast-tracked hydrogen imports: Germany, Austria, and Italy are lobbying fellow EU member states to support a cluster of green hydrogen projects in North Africa in a bid to line up imports to the European market and wean the bloc off of Russian oil and gas, Reuters reports, citing a letter to the EU commission it has seen. The letter seeks to count Africa-based hydrogen projects toward the EU’s Project of Common Interest status in a bid to fast track permits for the projects and grant EU funding to several green fuel projects, the newswire notes. If approved, the proposed bill would establish infrastructure connecting EU-based hydrogen production plants to North African imports.

WATCH THIS SPACE #4- US Democrats push for greater scrutiny on LNG: 44 lawmakers from the US Democratic National Party (DNC) are lobbying the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to increase scrutiny on the country’s light natural gas (LNG) supply chain, Reuters reports, referencing an open letter from DNC members to CEQ chair Brenda Mallory. DNC lawmakers’ plea to revise the country’s LNG strategy comes as the Biden administration works to finalize guidance on greenhouse gas output under US environmental legislation.

REMEMBER- Biden administration has been making headlines for supporting LNG expansion: Back in March, the US Interior Department formally greenlit a USD 8 bn oil drilling venture in Northwestern Alaska despite a prolonged eleventh-hour campaign by climate activists to block the project. The massive Willow oil project has been moving through the administration’s approval process for months, sparking a wave of online activism and spurring activists to send in more than 1 mn letters to the White House in opposition of the project. The project would produce some 600 mn barrels of crude over its 30-year lifecycle and release some 9.2 mn tons of CO2 equivalent annually.

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THE DANGER ZONE- Iraq wants to talk water with Turkey and Iran: Iraq has agreed with downstream countries Turkey and Iran to hold a technical meeting soon to discuss outstanding issues to do with its water supply, the Iraqi News Agency reported. "We held constructive discussions with the Iranian delegation headed by the Energy Minister and the advanced staff in the ministry on the sidelines of the third Baghdad Water Conference, which dealt with all outstanding issues, and we felt an interaction with Iraq's demands,” said Iraqi Water Resources Ministry Undersecretary Raed Al Jashami. He added that his country briefed Tehran and Ankara on the necessity of permanent agreements and ending interim agreements from the past “because the water situation has changed.”

Context: Iran and Turkey have built dams in recent years that have affected water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq, according to The National. Iraq has been exerting efforts to prevent its Euphrates and Tigris rivers from shrinking due to climate change-driven conditions.

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CIRCLE YOUR CALENDAR-

Japan will host the G7 Hiroshima Summit from 19 May to 21 May in Hiroshima. One of the key topics addressed at the summit will be ensuring energy security with the goal of achieving net zero by 2050 based on the Paris Agreement.

The first MENA Solar Conference is accepting applications from published researchers specialized in PV technology until next Sunday, 30 April. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority will be hosting the conference from 15 to 18 November, in conjunction with the Water, Energy, Technology, and Environment Exhibition and the Dubai Solar Show 2023. Researchers can submit their papers here.

Check out our full calendar on the web for a comprehensive listing of upcoming news events and news triggers.