UAW launches strike against Big 3 automakers. A union representing nearly 150,000 autoworkers launched a strike early Friday morning against the Big 3 U.S. automakers—General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. (ABC News)

China's largest banks extend billions to Russia as Western lenders exit. China's largest banks are increasing their exposure to Russia's banking sector, with loans totaling nearly $10 billion, as Western lenders exit the country due to sanctions. (Mint)

US to redirect millions in military aid for Egypt to Taiwan. The Biden administration notified Congress this week of plans to deny Egypt $85 million in military aid and redirect much of it to Taiwan due to concerns about political prisoners and other human rights abuses in Cairo. (Axios)

China’s economic woes, explained. After forty years of extraordinary growth, China’s economy may be entering an era of stagnation. (GZERO)

Nigeria goes dark. A ten-hour nationwide blackout on Thursday has thrown a spotlight on the oil-rich African nation’s chronic energy crisis. (GZERO)

Partnerships key to US semiconductor chip industry development. Advancing to a futuristic world powered by advanced American semiconductors will require a slew of partnerships, alliances and investments—not just go-it-alone corporate endeavors. (Axios)

Generative AI could raise global GDP by 7%. As tools using advances in natural language processing work their way into businesses and society, they could drive a 7% (or almost $7 trillion) increase in global GDP and lift productivity growth by 1.5 percentage points over a 10-year period. (Goldman Sachs)

Powered by electric vehicle growth, China overtakes Japan as biggest auto exporter. In the first half of the year, China exported 2.34 million vehicles, according to customs data. The tally surpassed that of Japan, which finished H1 with 2.02 million cars exported. (Tech Crunch)

WTO sees signs of fragmented trade, but no de-globalization. Global tensions have started to fragment trade as rival trading relationships form, the World Trade Organization (WTO) said, but argued it is premature to declare that globalization has gone into reverse. (Reuters)

Flooding death toll soars to 11,300 in Libya’s coastal city of Derna. A further 10,100 people are reported missing in Libya’s Mediterranean city after a storm caused devastating flooding. (Al Jazeera)

Russia’s central bank raises key interest rate amid weaker rouble. The third rate hike in two months comes as Russia grapples with higher inflation and a weaker rouble. (Al Jazeera)

Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington as Congress is debating $24 billion in aid for Ukraine. Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Ukraine as the war is well into its second year. Biden has sought a package of $13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian support. (AP)

New Zealand economy to remain sluggish for 2 years, although doing better than feared, figures show. The nation’s Treasury released the projections ahead of an election next month. They showed a slight deterioration from earlier predictions, with tax takes lower than expected and high inflation causing ongoing headaches. (AP)

China’s exports and imports fall in August as weak global demand keeps its economy under pressure. Chinese leaders have in rolled out various policy measures to shore up the economy after the country’s rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic fizzled earlier than expected. (AP)

Customers in Egypt Are Paying 42 Days Beyond Terms Amid Economic Pain

Jamilex Gotay, editorial associate

Egypt’s economy is slowing as inflation reached an all-time high of 37.40% in August. Record inflation along with a protracted shortage of foreign currency and rising debt are leading factors in the slowdown. According to Reuters, Egypt has been grappling with a “protracted shortage of foreign currency, record inflation and a rising debt burden despite the economy maintaining relatively stable growth through shocks caused by COVID-19 and the Ukraine war.”

Over the last year, food and commodity prices have surged significantly. Producer prices in Egypt increased to 353.10 points in July from 347.30 points in June of 2023 and the cost of food in Egypt increased 68.40% in July of 2023 over the same month in the previous year, per Trading Economics. Disruption to the wheat markets due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has drastically impacted Egypt’s economy. Despite being the largest importers of wheat, Egypt deferred payments for its large wheat purchases, in some cases by months, as the country grapples with a shortage of hard currency in May, per Al Jazeera.

“Egypt's economic growth is expected to be slower than forecasted earlier, while inflation would stay higher and the Egyptian pound would weaken a little more than previous projections, a Reuters poll showed,” reads a Reuters article.

Customers in Egypt paid on average 42 days beyond terms in August, up from 7.5 days beyond terms in May, according to FCIB’s Credit and Collections Survey. Over half (60%) of credit professionals say payment delays are increasing, with inability to pay being the most common cause of payment delays. In May, the only cause for payment delays was central bank issues.

Other reasons for payment delays in August include:

• Unwilling to pay (46%)
• Cash flow issues (40%)
• Customer payment policy (40%)
• Central bank issues (40%)
• Regulatory issues (40%)

What FCIB Credit and Collections Survey respondents are saying:

• “Do your due diligence for all customers, especially for those small-to medium-sized privately held companies with no financials or credit reports. Review their profile and validate contact information such as business address, company domain, email address and start with small, reasonable credit line and reasonable payment terms.”
• “Enforce payment regulations for a smoother payment process and you must use a letter of credit to do business there.”
• “Use a secure payment method to ensure funds are ringfenced and make sure documents are accurate.”

 

Week in Review Editorial Team:

Annacaroline Caruso, editor in chief

Jamilex Gotay, editorial associate

Kendall Payton, editorial associate