31 Articles
Iris Boutros is an economist and strategist. She focuses on growth, impact investment, and decision-making. Follow her on Twitter @irisboutros
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 “novel” suggestion— not the good kind of novel. At the time, Egypt’s 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 …
“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” or “let them eat cake,” 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 …
“To better serve farmers.” The goals are a more productive agricultural sector and improved food security for Egypt’s 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 world’s economic powerhouses. Growth of its real gross domestic product (GDP or the most common although imperfect measure of a country’s 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 McDonald’s 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, Egypt’s 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 …
It’s that time of year. Black skies over Cairo and all over Egypt’s 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 we’re all struggling a little bit harder …
“[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, …
Last week I was in paradise, a total state of calm and peace unknown to me since the dispersal of the sit-ins on 14 August. Rather than focus on conflict, clashes and blood, I was in awe of yet another one of Egypt’s many treasures: the beauty of the South Sinai and the Red Sea. …
“If it bleeds, it leads.” That news industry fundamental is Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou’s 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 …
“I am a farmer. My father was a farmer. My grandfather was a farmer. But I only now learned how to farm.” 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 …
There have been mixed reactions to this week’s announcement of a new public sector minimum total income of EGP1,200 per month to come into effect in January of 2014. Many are unsatisfied – unsatisfied with the EGP1,200 figure, the target of total income and not wage, or the meeting of the social justice objective. Some …
“Zahma moot, (it is very crowded) and it’s not yet 9 AM.” The taxi driver is complaining. Traffic is already gridlocked early in the morning (yes, Egyptians consider 9 AM early). And then he asks, “how bad is it going to be when schools open?” It got me thinking; maybe schools should be cancelled all …
The gas bill collector cried at my door. He is not a young man but an Egyptian man in his mid-forties, who is a husband and a father. Culturally, men are not supposed to cry, but nevertheless, he did. He fought the tears in his eyes and the lump in his throat and lost. He …
The ‘Egypt Support’ Fund, the 306306 account, has exceeded EGP 700m according to Ashraf El-Araby, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, in the less than two months since its creation. Two other similar funds had been established since the start of the January 25th Revolution in Egypt with comparatively little success in fund raising. I …
A recent poll suggests that 67% of Egyptians are “satisfied with the manner” in which security forces dispersed the sit-ins at Rabaa Al-Adaweya and Nahda Square. Meanwhile a different poll suggests that 79% of Egyptians believe the “massacres” on 14 August were “crimes against humanity”. These two polls seem to be presenting contradictory facts about …
Egypt needs fewer rumours and more facts, writes Iris Boutros
What do Egyptians mean when they say they want their rights, Iris Boutros asks?
Egypt’s new Minister of Finance, Ahmed Galal, has chosen. He prefers a strategy of stimulating the economy over a focus on austerity. This is bold. It may not seem like it, especially in the midst of the manly, grand ultimatums we have seen in the last month, but in economic terms, it is. Pushing for …
Interim president Adly Mansour gave an excellent interview on state TV Saturday. He was very frank and clear about major challenges Egypt faces. A high priority for him is the implementation of the law on minimum and maximum wages. Setting a minimum wage is the government trying to guarantee “bread”. This is the minimum level …
Economies, like relationships, require a good feeling. The best relationships draw you in, and you really enjoy the happiness and value you get from them. Less good ones can drive you away, and while you get something out of them, you are not very drawn into them. Economies are kind of like that. Some pull …
How democratic last week’s events in Egypt were will continue to be debated. Democratic or not, this is an excellent opportunity to set the economy in a better direction. Information will be critical for improving the economy. It will also give credibility to these events as being part of a democratic process. Democracy is not …
People are angry and protesting in Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, South Africa, Greece, Spain, and many other places. But it was the protests in Berlin, Germany a short time back that caught my attention. It was not the issues people were protesting about, but the police uniforms that were striking. It was a simple but brilliant …