2023 has been another dismal year for IPOs globally, but the Middle East has shined. This is expected to extend into 2024, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. Over the past two years, the energy-rich Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) has emerged as a crowded market for initial public offerings (IPOs). Governments determined to move their economies away from o...
New Zealand PM bows out
Here's an article from The Economist which, while talking about John Key's resignation, states that NZ is "one of the most successful countries in the world. While this is debatable, there is no doubt that Key has had successes- namely international recognition- along with failures, housing, immigration and the environment. We have yet to see whether the new Prime Minister, John English, will have the same success.
There are expectations that the Egyptian pound will be devalued by 30 per cent amid speculation that the IMF will increase its financing during the first quarter of 2024, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) could reduce the value of the Egyptian pound by about 30 per cent against the US dollar, according to a recent report by...
The Egyptian Prime Minister reviewed a report outlining some of the benefits of Egypt's first gold fund, explains Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. Egyptian Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, reviewed a report prepared by the General Authority for Financial Supervision (GAFS) on the launch of the first gold investment fund. Its establishment coincides with the in...
The Middle East is facing a food security crisis. (Photo by Adobe) The World Bank (WB) stresses the need to invest and increase growth rates in "green " jobs, writes Ahmad Abdel-Rahman. A recent report revealed that the unprecedented shocks to the global food system in the past few years have severely affected the Middle East and North Africa (MENA...
It is difficult to estimate the losses for the Middle East as a result of the war between Israel and Hamas. There are indications that the war has cost Israel and other countries in the Middle East billions of dollars so far. On top of this there is the loss of human lives. Ahmad Abdel Rahman explains what could happen in the region. The pric...
Media censorship in South Sudan is pushing journalists to leave the country. Ahmad Abdel-Rahman investigates. Since 1992, at least 10 South Sudanese journalists have been killed while they have been reporting. Murder is the most common cause of death, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ ) report . Speaking at the Media Developmen...
The unemployment rate has jumped to 7.2 per cent, and the Egyptian pound has fallen against the US dollar. What is happening to inflation? Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Recent official data showed that the unemployment rate in Egypt increased during the second quarter of 2022 by 1.7 per cent on an annual basis, or 7.2 percent of the total labour for...
Since September 11, 2001, and perhaps since the end of the Cold War in 1990, successive US administrations have dramatically changed their attitudes toward their Middle East partners . Ahmad Abdel-Rahman explains. Countries of the Middle East and the Arab world, historically allied with the US, have to adapt to volatile American policies towards th...
Egypt's New Republic means major economic and social transformation in the country, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. The New Republic is a term that has been repeated a great deal recently. It is a slogan used by Egypt as evidence of the transformation that its peoples are witnessing in all aspects of life. In 2015, Egypt began to develop a sustainable d...
Is a two-state solution possible? Or will it have to be a one-state solution? Tel Aviv's policies stood stand in the way of achieving Arab-Israeli peace, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman from Egypt. The Palestinians and Israelis agree on the impossibility of reaching the so-called two-state solution in the short term. That solution provides the Palestini...
The Muslim Brotherhood and Hezbollah, both from Kuwait, seek to isolate the country and antagonise the Gulf States and its Western allies, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. On the eve of US President Joe Biden's recent visit to the Middle East, a statement was issued in Kuwait condemning it and rejecting peace talks with Israel. It also declined joining w...
The nuclear agreement reflects the battle of political wills between the US and Iran, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. The talks held between Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi and French President Emmanuel Macron about two months ago focused on the negative effects of the European Troika draft resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (I...
On their international day, most unemployed in the Middle East are Arab youth. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman sheds light on recent figures from the ILO. Climate change, armed conflict and displacement are factors that clearly affect the economic performance of the economies in the Middle East. But so too does unemployment among Arab youth. On Augu...
Have negotiations with the IMF toppled the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt? Ahmed Abdul-Rahman explains. The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), Tarek Amer, left his post after President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi accepted his resignation. He has now assumed the role of advisor to the president on Wednesday, August 17, according to an offi...
The World Tourism Organization shows that international tourism to the region increased by 157 per cent in the first five months of 2022. Ahmad Abdul-Rahman explains. The flow of tourism to the Middle East may recover 70 per cent of its pre-Covid pandemic levels by the end of this year, if new global economic and geopolitical crises do n...
The ghost of the past still haunts the writer who refuses to label himself a "geopolitical entity" writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. Salman Rushdie is a multi-talented writer, novelist, speaker and performer. He is mobile of heart, as he has been married four times and has two sons. But what he is most known for dates back to 1989, five months after the p...
The World Tourism Organization, shows that the flow of international tourism to the region increased by 157 per cent in the first five months of 2022. Amad Abdul-Rahman writes. The flow of tourism to the Middle East may recover 70 percent of its pre-Corona levels by the end of this year, if global economic and geopolitical crises enter do not enter...
Ahmad Abdul-Rahman writes about the importance of foreign remittances to Egypt and explains the figures. Egypt is reliant on remittances for foreign exchange and remittances from Egyptians working abroad continue to be one of the most important sources of foreign exchange resources for Egypt. These have witnessed steady growth in recent years,...
Egypt plans to increase its exports to Africa and targets USD10 billion by 2025, writes Ahmad Abdul-Rahman. Egypt plans to to enhance trade with Africa, especially the countries of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The plan, which will be implemented by Egypt's Ministry of Industry and Trade, in cooperation with all minist...
Who was Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the Egyptian eye surgeon and the leader of Al-Qaeda, who wanted to rule the world ? Ahmad Abdul-Rahman explains. The killing of Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of the terrorist al-Qaeda organisation in Afghanistan, in an operation carried out by the US in Afghanistan, marked the end of a stage in the history of this organis...