As one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Giza Pyramids have fascinated visitors for millennia. But as the coronavirus pandemic laid waste to Egypt’s tourism industry and millions of people’s livelihoods, the monuments and surrounding area resembled a ghost town. This year was supposed to be a blockbuster for tourism. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) was to open after nearly two decades in the making. With the introduction of e-visas, the opening of a new airport in Giza and new domestic flights between Sharm El Sheikh and Luxor, it’s easier than ever to get around the country.…
Author: Ola Noureldin
Bothaina Adham, 28, normally spends early September buying notebooks and take-home folders to plan English lessons for her 100-plus high school students at an international school in eastern Cairo. This year, Adham neither stocked up on supplies nor had time to prepare lesson plans. Instead, she spent her time becoming more tech-savvy to adapt to a new virtual teaching environment. Education Minister Tarek Shawki released guidelines for reopening public and national private schools on October 17, leaving it to school administrators to decide what the hybrid academic year would look like. International schools were allowed to start earlier if they…
While the human cost and economic disruptions of the COVID-19 have created shock waves around the world, pharma industry executives have focused on maintaining a steady supply of vital medicines and innovation. Other sectors have been more threatened financially, but the business challenges facing pharma are urgent, such as ensuring that supply chains function so patients can get prescriptions filled and remain on critical therapies. As the coronavirus accelerates worldwide, passing 21 million infections on August 17, several countries started to reimpose lockdown measures over concerns about the second wave of infections. Egyptians are no less worried. Figures from August…
The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE) is in talks with unidentified investors from Senegal and Uganda with an appetite for fintech services, fund CEO Ayman Soliman said at a June 8 virtual press conference. The fund is finding renewed interest in sectors that would enhance financial inclusion in Egypt. “Investments in financial technology (fintech) are no longer a luxury,” said Soliman, adding the fund has adjusted its investment priorities to include food, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and financial inclusion services. Healthcare, in particular, will require “significant investment” going forward, he said. The SFE, established in 2018, will create four subfunds covering the…
Ahmed Yassin, 31, had a surprise find when he stepped onto the beach on Alexandria’s Corniche in Bahari. There — amid the discarded plastic water bottles, ice cream boxes, and fishing nets — was a new type of garbage washing ashore. Dozens and dozens of the disposable face masks. On that overcast morning early June, days after Egypt reported 30,000 cases of COVID-19, the environmental activist collected more than 100 kilograms of plastic from a 60-meter long beach. Nearly 5 percent of the waste was surgical masks. The pandemic has brought a dramatic increase in the proliferation of single-use plastic,…
Additional reporting by Adam Skaria The brainchild of Mostafa el Nabi — a 29-year-old South Valley University graduate in his native Qena — Baramoda is a unique local startup that converts agricultural waste from sugarcane and other produce into eco-friendly biofertilizers. It claims to be the first agri-tech startup that develops tailored fertilizers in the MENA region. Nabi’s desire to contribute to waste management and agricultural sustainability was born of his belief in technology and innovation as a way to tackle environmental and industrial issues, including reducing the often-prohibitive costs of farming, enhancing farmer expertise, and reducing the impact of…
Companies around the globe have rolled out mandatory remote work. Whether you’re a work-from-home newbie or a veteran, an employee or a manager, here’s what you need to do to stay productive. The coronavirus pandemic is expected to fundamentally alter the way organizations operate for the foreseeable future. As governments and businesses around the world ask those with symptoms, and many who are not, to self-quarantine and everyone else to practice social distancing, it’s realistic to assume remote work will become a new norm for many. Some employees are working from home for the first time, which means figuring out…
With physical events set to remain on hold for some time, more businesses are using video tools for meetups and meetings and finding new ways to connect without summits and conferences. The question is whether people will return to face-to-face events even when it’s safe to do so? The Events Industry Council values the global MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) sector at more than $1 trillion and estimates that, due to the pandemic, about 23 percent of the market has disappeared. Since the onset of the pandemic, hundreds of events have been canceled worldwide. Microsoft has suspended all live events…
Optimism might be in short supply as the coronavirus pandemic grows deadlier by the day, taking thousands of lives around the world and upending daily life. But one bright spot is the speed with which the business community has begun tackling the problem. As the Egyptian government tries to contain the spread of COVID-19 at every turn, the public and private sectors rolled out promising initiatives and adopted new technologies that could help mitigate the pandemic — and save lives. The statistics are grim. In less than three months, the virus has surged from Wuhan, China, to infect more than…
With public safety the priority in these trying times, commerce has taken a back seat as companies grapple with myriad issues, from work-at-home policies and layoffs to suspension of operations and outright shuttering. A key concern for businesses is how to respond to a new reality that threatens to change the face of customer relations long after the pandemic dissipates with the prospect of people spending more time at home. Such a shift in behavior is expected to be a major determinant of how companies might conduct business. As a result, digital marketing has emerged as potentially one of the…