Since its commercialization in 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly important for helping companies stay ahead of the competition. “AI has taken the world by storm, promising data-driven insights and automated solutions to elevate marketing strategies and reach target audiences like never before,” the Ronin Marketing agency said in a July blog post. “From chatbots providing instant customer support to predictive analytics optimizing ad placements, AI is seamlessly integrated into many marketing activities.” For all those benefits, the Forbes Communications Council, a committee of marketing, PR, and communication experts, stressed, “Businesses must … consider…
Author: Tamer Hafez
Aged 14 and younger, Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha or Alphas) numbers “almost 2 billion people globally,” Lucy Maber, a senior strategy consultant at Brandpie, a consultancy, wrote in Fast Company, a publication. “This is the largest cohort in history.” In Egypt, Gen Alfa is a third of the population, according to data aggregator Statistica. By 2030, those youth will become employees who likely will upend the business landscape. “They’re set to disrupt culture, the economy and our workplaces,” said Maber. “As brands, educators and policymakers look forward, understanding [Gen Alpha’s] nuances [versus their predecessors] will be key to unlocking the…
Against expectations of a closely fought US presidential race, Republican President-elect Donald Trump has won the 2024 presidential election and will lead the executive branch of government for four more years. For the next two years, Republicans will have a clear majority in America’s legislative branch (Senate and House of Representatives), meaning almost all legislation Trump wants will likely pass. The election results raise concerns about the US economy. “We are in the soft landing [during the current administration],” Nobel Prize-winning economist and Columbia University professor Joseph Stiglitz said at Yahoo Finance’s annual November Invest conference. “That ends Jan. 20,”…
As millions of Egyptian youth graduate from schools and universities every year, a top priority for most is finding a fulfilling career. “When considering … your next job, it proves beneficial to inquire, ‘Which industries are experiencing the most rapid growth?’” said Fatima Gulzar, a data analyst and reporter for Yahoo Finance. A note from the US Chamber of Commerce (USCC) said, “In 2025 and beyond … consumer trends, technological innovations, and macro-level global events like climate change can all indicate the types of businesses that will be in demand.” In addition to offering fulfilling career options, “booming industries stimulate…
Since the current administration came to power nine years ago, its primary focus has been building more cities, led by the New Administrative Capital. The government’s plan is for those metropolises to be environmentally sustainable from day one. According to Egypt Vision 2030, half of buildings using renewable energy should be in new cities by 2025 and 75% by 2030. Those goals should attract significant foreign investment, as “real estate FDI needs a path to reduce their carbon footprints,” SODIC General Manager Ayman Amer told AmCham’s October Real Estate Conference attendees. However, real estate developers and buyers continue to struggle…
Egypt has long been a hotbed for consumer goods consumption. “Egypt [is] among the world’s biggest consumer markets, [with] an average household consumption-to-GDP ratio of 82% since 2015,” said research from AmCham Egypt. Data from the World Bank shows that ratio surpasses advanced economies like the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. It is also above emerging economies like Jordan, Kenya, Tunisia and Brazil. Statistics indicate residents are not spending beyond their means. The number of issued credit cards was about 5.6 million as of June, reported data aggregator Statistica. That is less than 9% of all issued payment…
Funding options for consumers and companies have increased significantly with the rise of innovative tools and new business models. Their common standout feature is that those next-generation lenders are unregulated by central banks, enabling them to finance a broader consumer base than traditional commercial banks. “The growth of the [non-bank financial institutions] sector accelerated after the global financial crisis, accounting now for nearly 50% of global financial assets,” the IMF said in April 2023. Those private credit providers have a noticeable impact on any economy. A paper from the European Central Bank (ECB) in 2021 noted, that while “bank loans…
As most would attest, Egypt is a prime destination for holiday tourism, with nearly 2,500 kilometers of shoreline on the Red and Mediterranean seas and more than 3,000 years of recorded history. According to WP Travel, a tour operator, Egypt ranked between 14th and 21st on the list of most visited nations between 2020 and 2023. The country’s diverse economy also makes it a destination for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) in the Middle East and Africa. Mahmoud Kaoud, associate director of hotels and tourism at Colliers International, an investment firm, told local media in August that MICE tourism…
For African nations, an important takeaway from the COVID-19 pandemic is the need to be self-sufficient in developing, producing, and distributing medicines and vaccines. “The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a regionally sourced, quality-assured supply of [medicines and vaccines] on the continent,” an October 2023 report from the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), a Swiss nonprofit, said. “Producing quality medicines close to patients who need them most will save lives and accelerate human and economic progress.” That target was envisioned in the Africa Agenda 2063 document. It is also a “main goal of the Africa Health Strategy 2016-2030 through…
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, the world went into shock at how fast it spread, how difficult it was to treat, how many died from it, and its long-term health effects (long COVID). UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it a “once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.” Since then, many governments have taken note of the deficiencies COVID-19 exposed and started fixing them. In May, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that while “there continues to be major progress in global health [since COVID], we must remember how fragile [that] progress can be.” On the other hand, “we’re…