45 Articles
Iris Boutros is an economist and strategist. She focuses on growth, impact investment, and decision-making. Follow her on Twitter @irisboutros
The economy credited with the Industrial Revolution â the beginning of modern economic growth â would decline and never again see its previous days of power and influence.
Governments and companies utilise the profound connections between womenâs rights and economic and political progress to their advantage. People would do well to understand this and to also see that itâs about money, not just the patriarchy.
When Prince Harry lost his loving mother in August of 1997, he was sent down a different path.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown. When that crownâs jewels are the spoils of war from so many of the worldâs countries, legions will not feel obliged to show respect for the dead
Recruitment preferences were estimated directly and indirectly to determine whether those asked directly were being truthful about discrimination based on gender and socioeconomic background.
Employee experiences in the workplace are driving millions of workers to quit. Toxic work culture has been shown to be 10 times more plausible than compensation at explaining why people are choosing to walk away from their jobs. New factors are emerging to substantially improve the understanding of employee-employer separation beyond traditional thinking.
Over the last ten years, Egypt has been on a long and increasingly productive path. The country has enormous growth potential that could continue to be more socially balanced than in the past.
The expansion of social protection creates an opportunity to assess and adapt programmes to further improve impact and cost-effectiveness while considering the already demonstrated impact, implementation, and management. Good evidence will better guide public resource mobilisation decisions in Egyptâs tight fiscal space.
Focusing on high import figures, however, can isolate Egyptâs wheat problem from its role in developing its agricultural sector, food security, and social protection. This complicated issue has important implications for the health and well-being of the countryâs population, economy, and its social contract.
A globally shared event, the COVID pandemic made illness, survival, and livelihoods a significant focus of attention. Disrupting global trade, its impact on households and businesses continues through higher prices and less product availability. It has left no one without some sort of worry.
Arab economies and societies need more women like Ons Jabeur and Bassant Hemida because they demonstrate what could be, instead of what most often is.
There are a great deal of things that can encourage or deter adequate individual performance. Plenty of factors can help in creating and sustaining an environment with more or less of the things that are now officially called unacceptable.
The opportunity for presidential hopefuls to announce their intentions is now. So far, two have made themselves known, former Minister of Defence Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Nasserist politician Hamdeen Sabahy. Perhaps others will announce their candidacy, but it is unlikely that any will greatly change the contest. Most expectations are that Al-Sisi will be elected …
The 28 year-old star has been a professional footballer since he was 16, and has since made over 500 Premier League appearances.
In May of 2012, a violent clash erupted between protesters and the opposition. Although this sounds like a fairly common news report from Egypt these days, the incident in fact took place in South Africa. The Democratic Alliance (DA), the main opposition to the ruling African National Congress (ANC), took to the streets to march …
When Gouda Abdel Khalek was Minister of Supply in March of 2012 he made a very ânovelâ suggestionâ not the good kind of novel. At the time, Egyptâs food subsidy programme supplies were woefully insufficient to feed the millions of Egyptians benefitting (in theory) from the assistance. With some governorates having no rice for distribution …
âQu’ils mangent de la brioche,” or âlet them eat cake,â as the traditional translation of this French phrase goes, is a timeless symbol of leaders that are out of touch with the realities and struggles that the poor in their societies face daily. Although likely untrue, this famous phrase is attributed to Queen Marie Antionette …
âTo better serve farmers.â The goals are a more productive agricultural sector and improved food security for Egyptâs population. Key is improving the services of the Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC), said Minister of Agriculture Ayman Abu Hadid, speaking on the sidelines of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of the International Centre for …
Reem is a cleaning lady and a mother of four. She has been married twice though neither ex-husband supports his children financially or otherwise. Reem is on her own raising her children. Reem is among the working poor. Although she works full time, she barely meets basic needs. All four of her children show signs …
South Korea has quickly become one of the worldâs economic powerhouses. Growth of its real gross domestic product (GDP or the most common although imperfect measure of a countryâs economic performance) was an average of 8% from 1962 to 1989. Interesting and quite relevant for Egypt today, the South Korean experience of rapid growth occurred …
Would you like this delivered? It was a normal question in Cairo. But in Brooklyn, New York, my friend was a little surprised. New York City residents do boast about being able to have anything delivered. But, if McDonaldâs doesn’t have 24-hour delivery, how much can they really boast? After a trip to the other place he calls home, an Egyptian-American friend was talking about the conveniences he enjoyed while being back in New York and how they compare to Cairo. …
Gedety was too good to be true. Yasser El Zahhar, its founder, had the idea to start a social business that would employ non-working Egyptian women to make products that working Egyptian women could use to make quick, but healthy meals for their families. All he would need to do is buy his agricultural …
Rise Up, Egyptâs first major entrepreneurial summit held in Cairo on November 24-25 was a resounding success. It brought together many different and important players from the entrepreneurial ecosystem: investors, accelerators, corporates, civil actors and entrepreneurs. Between the panels, talks, workshops, hackathons, makeathons, and ideathons, it was hard not to be inspired or to …
Itâs that time of year. Black skies over Cairo and all over Egyptâs Delta mean the rice farmers are burning their straw. They will be burning about four millions tonnes of rice straw these recent weeks so they can prepare their fields for the next planting season. While weâre all struggling a little bit harder …
â[A]pply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? …
Three social entrepreneurs will receive cash prizes from GE and Ashoka Changemakers in the Women Powering Work competition for innovations that will advance economic opportunities for women in the MENA region. Better integrating women in the labour market is good for all. When women have more cash, they better invest in nutrition, health and education. …
Recently, I was stunned. I had quite a surprising experience while interviewing a young, Egyptian woman for a basic entry-level analyst-type position. From my perspective, the interview was going well. The young woman was bright and seemed to have many of the qualities I was looking for in a candidate. As we were wrapping up, …
Social enterprises could be powerful implementers of Minister Iskandarâs longer-term environmental agenda, particularly for protected areas and ecotourism development.
âIf it bleeds, it leads.â That news industry fundamental is Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazouâs October 7 morning business challenge. The leading stories by news agencies all over the world about the clashes that erupted in Cairo and other parts of Egypt on 6 October, Armed Forces Day, make his job more difficult. The repeated …
âI am a farmer. My father was a farmer. My grandfather was a farmer. But I only now learned how to farm.â These are the proud words of an Egyptian small farmer whose tomato yields topped those of a typical Californian farmer. And proud he should be. He produced 82 tons of tomatoes per feddan …