Egypt’s annual urban consumer price inflation increased for the second consecutive month in September, rising to 26.4% from 26.2% in August, driven by a significant surge in energy costs, according to official data released Wednesday. Egypt’s inflation rises The index rose by 2.1% month-on-month, matching the rate from August, and reversing a 0.4% decline in July, according to data from Egypt’s statistics agency, CAPMAS. Food and beverage prices, the largest component of the inflation basket, increased by 27.7% compared to the previous year. On a monthly basis, food prices rose by 2.6% in September, up from 1.8% in August. September’s…
Author: Rania Hassan
Throughout the pharaonic era, gold and other minerals were used in everything from utensils to crowns and even plating the Giza Pyramids, as evidenced by surviving artifacts. Research published in 2020 by Egypt Oil & Gas, a government-owned portal, said the nation’s oldest mining activities date to about 3,100 B.C. However, mining for precious metals and minerals faded over time as searching for oil and gas took over. In 2018, then Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla launched the country’s first national strategy to revive the mineral mining sector. In the Egypt Mining Forum (EMF) conference in…
Reusing discarded materials and products to make new ones or repurposing them is not new. In March 2023, The Financial Times published an article stating that recycling waste might date back to Plato in the 4th century BC. According to a 2006 book titled “Recycle: The Essential Guide,” recycling gained popularity “during periods when resources were scarce.” In 2024, trepidation continues about what will happen when resources are depleted, especially “rare earth materials” used in electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels, which experts say could eventually replace fossil fuel powered products. The problem with excessive consumption is humans cannot remake…
In the past, top executives had to worry about their product’s utility, value for the money, availability and exposure to their target markets. That is changing. “More than ever, today’s consumers are considering a company’s impact on the environment before buying,” said marketing agency Galactic Fed in July 2023. That shift started in 2016. In the following four years, “searches for sustainable goods increased globally by 71%,” The Economist Intelligence Unit reported. The COVID-19 pandemic only increased that awareness. In February 2022, an IBM Institute for Business Value survey found “93% of global respondents said the pandemic had influenced their…
This article first appeared in June’s print edition of Business Monthly. For Egypt, the IMF is more than a lender offering support after the exodus of foreign investors. “Staff-level agreements reached with the IMF are [like] an international certificate asserting the economy’s strength and resilience and the success of the government’s reform program,” Parliamentarian Ahmed Abaza said at a hearing in March. The latest agreement was in April, days after Egypt secured a commitment of $35 billion from the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Co. for the Ras El Hikma triangle. The staff-level agreement saw the IMF increase the $3 billion…
This article first appeared in June’s print edition of Business Monthly. Business leaders are quickly realizing artificial intelligence (AI) will be an indispensable tool to guarantee growth regardless of their sector. “We are on the brink of a technological revolution that could jumpstart productivity, boost global growth and raise incomes around the world,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a January blog post. The revolution is impacting global job markets. “Historically, automation and information technology have tended to affect routine tasks, but one of the things that sets AI apart is its ability to impact high-skilled jobs,” a January…
This Q&A first appeared in May’s print edition of Business Monthly. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is the development finance agency of the U.S. Government with a focus on supporting private sector projects in low- and middle-income nations. DFC is authorized under the Better Utilization of Investments Leading to Development (BUILD) Act passed in 2018 and began operations in January 2020. The BUILD Act consolidated, modernized and reformed the U.S. Government’s development finance capabilities – primarily the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Development Credit Authority (DCA) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – into…
This article first appeared in April’s print edition of Business Monthly. Geopolitical tensions in the region over the past couple of years have affected Egypt’s economy and supply chains, causing macroeconomic disruption and driving up the prices of imported commodities. That meant tighter monetary policies in Egypt and abroad, limiting fiscal policy’s ability to deliver on its objectives. Domestic economic policies have added to the pressure. To create jobs and attract investors, the government has been focusing on public investment in infrastructure, critical to solving many of the country’s incumbent problems, such as electricity, gas and roads. Most experts agreed…
This Q&A first appeared in March’s print edition of Business Monthly. Antony Cook, Microsoft Corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, discusses the future of AI in daily life. Replies were edited for length and clarity. What is the role of AI in emerging economies in the short, medium, and long terms? At Microsoft, we believe in the transformative power of AI to reshape personal and professional life, helping people advance critical thinking, stimulate creative expression, and be more productive. That is one reason we have partnered closely with OpenAI since 2019 to accelerate breakthroughs. That has included building an…
This article first appeared in February’s print edition of Business Monthly. The government is betting entrepreneurs and startups can lower youth unemployment, position Egypt as a regional business innovation hub and grow the country’s GDP. “Entrepreneurship can provide innovative and realistic solutions to economic challenges,” said Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Said during the One Million Entrepreneurs campaign launch in April 2021. That strategy” will stimulate the economy with new small projects for young people to become a productive social force that effectively contributes to efforts to achieve development.” The steps to transform ideas into a stable…