For years, there has been debate over whether the dollar should remain the primary currency used in international commerce. In 1960, economist Robert Triffin wrote that America would only have current account deficits if other countries relied on the dollar, which would offset the benefits of zero exchange rate risks and heightened political clout. During the 2008 financial crisis, China said the dollar couldn’t continue as the global reserve currency because America’s lending and financial practices nearly caused a worldwide economic meltdown. When Donald Trump took office in 2017 with his “America First” agenda and ensuing trade wars (See story…
Author: Tamer Hafez
When the Egyptian government ended the lockdown on July 1, albeit with minor ongoing restrictions, companies were in no hurry to bring all their employees back to the office. An Enterprise website survey of 16 listed businesses found 11 “still relying almost entirely on remote work for anyone whose job could possibly be done from home.” Companies surveyed ranged from large manufacturers, such as Nestlé and Procter & Gamble, to the U.N. Development Programme and Arqam, a think tank, and other service providers. Having at least some employees work from home is a rising trend. Dell Computers said it would…
For months, the World Health Organization, World Economic Forum, International Monetary Fund, think-tanks, and talking heads have agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic is unlike any crisis that has gone before it. From an economic perspective, it has caused a supply and demand crisis that spawned a global recession. New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman stressed that most analysts look at the COVID-19 crisis in the wrong way. “The biggest challenge [for] analysts [thinking of] the COVID-19 challenge is to look at it through the lens of the ‘natural world,’” he said during a July AmCham webinar. “That is a lens…
Like many countries globally, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak in Egypt, some factories closed for weeks after employees tested positive for the virus. The list included local and multinational companies working in food and beverage, electronics, and auto assembly While all have reopened, their experience indicates the need to increase operational resiliency even though the worst of the outbreak in Egypt may be over. “Emerging trends to look for in a post-COVID world include more reliable and resilient [operations], not just more cost-effective ones,” said Romil Bahl, president and CEO of KORE Wireless, an automation firm, to IIoT…
As COVID-19 lockdowns ease, banks in Africa may suffer a liquidity crunch just as domestic companies look to them to finance their recoveries. “Africa needs its banks more than ever. Already they have been the primary conduit of aid during the crisis and will play a central role in the recovery,” wrote Francois Jurd de Girancourt, McKinsey & Company head of banking and insurance for Africa, in June. The main reason for that credit crunch is an unprecedented recession throughout the continent. “The pandemic is already radically worsening the economic outlook for Africa, with growth expected to collapse to a…
Driving home on a rainy night after a long day at work, you may decide to nap as your car navigates the traffic and treacherous conditions. Just before reaching home, the vehicle opens your garage door and turns on the lights. Meanwhile, your fridge notifies your smartphone it has ordered and paid for supermarket supplies that are running low. That could very well be a daily routine within 15 years. The key to realizing it is the deployment of the fifth generation of wireless communication (5G) networks. A more basic benefit of 5G is it would ensure enough capacity to…
Since 2008, Egypt’s GDP has grown despite a global financial crisis, two revolutions, and a structural reform program that caused the pound to lose more than half its value. Now, as COVID-19 recoveries outnumber new infections, the government expects the economy to grow 3.1 percent in fiscal year 2020/2021. That compares with a forecast of 3.5 percent before the pandemic, as reported by Reuters in July. However, long-term problems lurk. “We have enjoyed several years of growth, but on volatile pillars,” said Tarek Tawfik, vice chairman at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, during an AmCham webinar in July. “Building [the…
Adapting to changing consumer sentiments has always been critical for the success of any company. Nokia and Kodak, once pioneers in mobile phones and photography, failed to change with the times. Nokia is now a minor player in the digital communications industry, while Kodak filed for bankruptcy in January 2012. The COVID-19 outbreak has put many industries in a similar position to that of Nokia and Kodak when sentiment started shifting away from tried-and-true products. Yet few businesses are anticipating and acting on how consumer mindsets will change after the pandemic. “We’re going to have talks with psychologists and anthropologists…
Joseph Kamau in Kenya, Set Sar in Rhode Island in the United States and Adi Nagara from Jakarta, Indonesia, are workers with low- to mid-level skills who are capitalizing on the digitization of the global economy. Their employers are thousands of kilometers away, and communication and payments are made online. Kamau gets as many as 10 part-time jobs a week entering data for clients around the world, he told The Economist in January. Sar, who spoke to the World Economic Forum (WEF), gets paid to allow an artificial intelligence program to track his eye movements via his computer’s webcam. Meanwhile,…
As plans to coexist with COVID-19 set in, the “new normal” will bring many changes. One is that people may continue to use digital payment methods such as paying online, payment cards, and smartphones as they are convenient and limit close contact with others. Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, a consultancy, sees COVID-19 as a “once-in-a-generation boost” to digital payments. “Without question, this is a major turning point,” he told Raconteur, a special-interest publication. The shift away from face-to-face payments may require a new currency. Currently, when using a payment card between 1 percent and 5 percent of…