Last week, AUC hosted Women as Engines of Economic Growth in collaboration with the Arab International Women’s Forum (AIWF). Bringing together key representatives from different sectors, the full-day conference paved the road for in-depth discussions on the glass ceilings facing women and delivered recommendations on how to break such ceilings, empower women and challenge the status quo.

“This conference comes at a pivotal time for women on leadership roles and in public offices," said Haifa Fahoum Al Kaylani, AIWF founder and chair, in her keynote address. "women are increasingly taking on high-level leadership positions in business, public service, the judiciary and the legislature, advancing rapidly in professions previously dominated by men."

Throughout the day, four panels were held to examine critical development challenges and opportunities for Egyptian and Arab female leaders in business, entrepreneurship, academia and public service in Egypt and the broader Middle East and Africa region toward the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda on women and youth and their social and economic prosperity. Specifically, the conference ultimately conveyed actionable noteworthy recommendations for empowering women as engines of economic growth.

“To some degree or other, women everywhere face barriers to achieve their potential," asserted Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform Hala Elsaid. "Gender gaps and labor force participation range everywhere around the world. Striving for gender equality is a worthy cause in itself, but it is also the most sensible economic policy of the time."

 

The panel discussions drew key representatives from the Arab public and private sectors, international organizations and institutes, academia, civil society, women and young leaders together for timely discussions drawing on the panelists’ varied experiences and backgrounds. Themes covered included gender diversity on corporate boards and in family businesses, women in public office, women in academia, the role and contributions of women in the rural and informal sectors — concluding with reflections on the future of work for women and youth in the MENA region.

In addition, attendees felt the relevance of the topics wholeheartedly. "Women as engines of economic growth is really a powerful theme," said Mohamed Shelbaya '90, CEO of PepsiCo Egypt. "If some of you would notice, this is actually personal for me more than business-driven. My sister and I were raised by a single mother after my father passed away. She had to change and find a way to raise her children. She never let circumstances stop her. As far as I know, she challenged the status quo [and] was the first women to graduate from mechanical engineering in Cairo and get her master's and PhD from the United Kingdom. She broke the stigma about this male-dominant sector."

"In most Arab countries, women are also successfully assuming positions of leadership in public service and international relations, and are increasingly being elected and appointed to political, diplomatic and development roles, giving women a greater voice in legislative reform throughout the region," said Al Kaylani.

“It’s really inspiring when you come to attend such events,” expressed Sarah Raouf, senior legal manager of PepsiCo Egypt. “I’m a working mother, and seeing such female leaders makes me feel that it’s worth what I’m doing and worth the stress. It’s all very inspiring and heartfelt.”

By the same token, Wafa Abed, head of group internal audit, Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries, reflected: “The event is extremely timely as far as the subjects examined; they are the topics of the hour. The panels addressed new issues, and this is very important on the ground because it’s not only about the [number] of women; it’s about their impact and what the general public enables them to do.”

"A lot of time we don’t evaluate men in our mindset, we evaluate women in leadership positions. Men and women have different values and they should be evaluated differently. They should be equally respected for their choices," affirmed Maya Morsy, president of the National Council for Women. "If family comes first, that does not by any means mean that work comes second, they come together. Mothers should be respected, so we want the private sector not to ask women whether they are engaged or single."

Dean of AUC's School of Business Sherif Kamel remarked: “If you want to focus on men, you’re only going to develop half of the society. You have to develop both men and women. I still think there’s more to be done in terms of wellness and in terms of opportunities.”

Al Kaylani concluded the conference by expressing her gratitude for AIWF's partnership with AUC: "We are delighted to be in Cairo, Egypt at one of the region’s best universities, The American University in Cairo ... celebrating a century of AUC’s leadership as Egypt’s global University and ... partnering with AUC on this important initiative."

Thirteen of AUC’s master’s programs have topped the 2019 Eduniversal Rankings, with six being ranked the first in Africa and all among the top 200 worldwide.

No. 1 in Africa

• Executive Master of Business Administration
• Master of Arts in Economics
• Master of Business Administration (Operations Management)
• Master of Global Affairs
• Master of Science in Finance
• Master of Science in Sustainable Development (Green Technologies)

No. 2  in Africa

• Master of Business Administration
• Master of Public Administration
• Master of Laws (LLM) in International and Comparative Law 
• Master of Science in Computer Science
• Master of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering 

No. 3 in Africa 

• Master of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication 
• Master of Engineering in Electronics and Communications Engineering (Management of Technology) 

Each year, Eduniversal helps more than 4.2 million students all over the world in their search for the right graduate program.

Founded in 1994, Eduniversal uses three main criteria in its master’s rankings methodology: reputation of the program, salary of first employment post-graduation and a student satisfaction survey. Read here a full list and description of AUC's master's programs in the 2019 Eduniversal rankings. 

“I am very excited about this year’s results of rankings for a number of graduate programs at AUC, particularly about the number of AUC graduate programs ranked among the top three in Africa — increasing to 13 programs from 10 programs in the 2018 ranking. ,” said Adham Ramadan, dean of graduate studies at AUC. "These rankings reflect the quality of graduate studies at AUC and the success of our graduate programs in maintaining quality." #MakingAUCProud

AUC students Nour El Tahawy, Nour Beshir, Yousef Nassar, Mai El-Ghamry and Nadine Riad won the Omnicom Group MENA Inter-University Challenge with a $10,000 prize, competing with students from other international universities to solve a real data analytics science problem. They were the only team made up completely of undergraduates.

The contest was hosted by Omnicom Media Group, the media services division of Omnicom Group Inc., a global advertising and marketing communications company.

"They learned everything very fast, worked really hard and produced great results in very little time,' said Nouri Sakr, student adviser and assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. "I am one extremely proud mentor and wish them all the best in their future endeavors as they continue to represent AUC with such high proficiency and intellect."

The challenge involved students solving a real data science problem statement and building a model using sample datasets provided. During the first phase of the competition, teams from each university competed against each other, and in the second phase, the winning team from each university competed against each other in Dubai.

What the Students Have to Say

"When they announced that we were first-place winners, the happiness I felt was indescribable. It was truly the perfect ending to a story of hard work, dedication and perseverance."

— Nadine Riad, business administration 

"Winning this competition made me feel that this hard work for two months finally paid off, especially after realizing that we were competing with graduate students."

— Nour El Tahawy, actuarial science 

“It felt great to win the first prize; our hard work paid off. Yet, the greatest reward was what I became to be. The journey, indeed, developed my skills and personality."

— Mai El-Ghamry, actuarial science 

"Getting the chance to challenge myself and represent AUC in an international data science competition has been a pleasure and an honor on its own. Topping that with actually winning the competition against graduate students from other top universities is one of the main highlights of my undergraduate journey here at AUC, which I will forever cherish and remember."

— Nour Beshir, business administration and economics

Sherif Kamel '88, '90, '13, founding dean of AUC School of Business won by acclamation the position of President of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt) for the 2019-2021 term, starting June first.  

Kamel will succeed Tarek Tawfik, whose term expires at the end of May. Kamel has been an AmCham member for many years and has previously served as executive vice president, board member and chaired several of the Chamber’s core committees including ICT, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Education. 

Kamel started his career working for the government before moving to academia. Over the last 30-plus years, he has contributed to several government and private sector projects and initiatives addressing issues such as organizational transformation and restructuring, human capital, information technology, entrepreneurship, and change management.  

Kamel serves as a non-executive board member of a number of local and international organizations including the Egypt-US Business Council and has served on the board of the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund.  

Kamel holds a PhD in information systems from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in Islamic art and architecture from AUC.

Earlier this month, 15 AUC theatre students traveled to Berlin to participate in the 19th Festival International New Drama (FIND) at the Schaubühne Theatre. Other participating universities included New York University, The New School and the Paris Conservatory, as well as universities in Germany and Belgium. 

During the trip, students got the opportunity to work with internationally renowned theatre-makers from Brussels, Beijing, Santiago, New York, London and Montreal and saw the world-premiere of theatre productions from around the world, including the Wooster Group's new production, Town Hall Affair, directed by Elizabeth LeCompte.

The festival seeks to create a global dialogue about the art form with the leading theatre-makers of tomorrow. The AUC Theatre program received a special invitation to this festival and was offered grants to cover most of the costs. 

Before the Trip

The students were excited about the opportunity to meet and work with other students and theatre majors from around the world. "We're collaborating with other students from different universities, so we'll get to see people from different backgrounds and different cultures, but at the same time we have an interest in the same thing," explained Reem Amer, theatre major. 

"Its a very interesting concept and a very exciting opportunity!" expressed Laila Ghoneim, a double major in theatre and English and comparative literature major. "We'll have the opportunity to work with people from other universities."

"It's really good for AUC students to get exposed to this and to try different methods of acting," said Hisham AbdelRazek, mechanical engineering major and theater minor. "Just to be around so many different cultures and people interested in the same thing — it's brilliant!"

A Holistic Experience

During the 10-day festival, AUC students took part in guided workshops on performance, cultivating their acting skills during the trip. The workshops included contemporary dance, the Meisner technique and the Grotowski technique.

"The whole thing was a learning experience, from the workshops to the plays," said Yasmine Hagagg, political science and history major, and theatre minor. "But my favorite part was getting to watch productions every night because it really showed me what contemporary and experimental drama is starting to develop into. Also, I got to meet Elizabeth LeCompte, which was pretty cool!"

Every day, students got the opportunity to see a play in a different language."The plays touched on a lot of controversial topics, and it was very interesting to see and to watch," expressed AbdelRazek. "We'd have a discussion afterward because there would be a talk after each play."

The students also got the opportunity to meet and hang out with their theatre peers from around the world. "We would always eat lunch together — us and the other schools," explained Amer. "And at night, we got the opportunity to watch plays and hang out with other people there at the theatre."

Overall, the students were grateful for the experience. "I think the festival was incredible and I think everyone who went grew," reflected AbdelRazek. "It's really inspiring for us that we're not alone, that there is more of us here. It makes you feel comfortable as a person that you're on the right track with what you've studied."

Check out these pictures of their adventures abroad.

An AUC team made up of four students from the School of Business and the School of Sciences and Engineering won first place in the Engineering and Commerce Case Competition (EngComm) in Montreal, Canada.

"EngComm provided me with the greatest opportunity to network with leaders from various industries such as General Electric, Bombardier, and Revision Military. Presenting in front of members from these great firms was truly an opportunity of a lifetime," said Noor Sorour, a business and finance major.

Neveen Ahmed, assistant professor of finance, has been the faculty coach for the EngComm competition for the last four years. The team won first place for displaying the highest standard in all matters of business and engineering, the Dr. Thomas McLaughlin Award for the Best International Team, Best Business Solution and Best Team Spirit. 

"Spending twelve hours straight in a closed room to come up with a winning multidisciplinary solution was definitely a one of a kind test," said Ayah Hani, a mechanical engineering major. "One that makes your proud of your teammates as much as your self. All in all, it was definitely an eye-opener and a life-changing experience."  

The competition was held in Montreal from February 19 to 23, 2019 and was comprised of teams from 16 internationally recognized academic institutions, consisting of engineering and commerce students. Since 2013, EngComm has been championing a worldwide effort to foster interdisciplinary communication and collaboration before students start their professional careers. The competition focuses on combining the technical field of engineering with the interactive field of commerce. 

"Our reaction towards getting the first place was priceless, feeling like each and every minute of effort we put as a team paid off," said Walid Abou El Nour, a business and finance major.

"By the end of EngComm we had grown so much both individually and as a collective; we have seen each other under a lot of different conditions, and in new situations," said Zeina Hesham Abdeldayem, an architectural engineering major. "I can confidentially say that the EngComm experience is irreplaceable and that everyone who participated in it is a winner." 

While Egypt’s entrepreneurship ecosystem still ranks low compared to global averages, there is a positive improvement trend, albeit slow. This was clear in the sixth country Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) National report for 2017 and 2018 produced by the AUC’s School of Business for the third year.

The report presents a detailed analysis of the behaviors, motivations and attitudes towards entrepreneurship in Egypt as well as different aspects of the entrepreneurship ecosystem, making it a valuable resource for informing policies and programs. Most measures have shown noticeable improvements between 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Egypt participated in GEM cycles along with many other countries to monitor its entrepreneurial performance. This year’s report marks the sixth country report for Egypt and it was developed by AUC team, led by Ayman Ismail, Abdul Latif Jameel endowed chair of entrepreneurship and assistant professor; Ahmed Tolba, associate provost for strategic enrollment management; Shima Barakat, entrepreneurship education advisor, University of Cambridge; Hakim Meshreki, visiting associate professor of marketing and Seham Ghalwash, researcher, GEM Egypt. 

Overall, the report affirms a positive trend for entrepreneurship in Egypt that started off in 2016, where early-stage entrepreneurship remains high; entrepreneurial intentions are also high; and overall societal perceptions of entrepreneurship continues to be highly favorable.

“We need to expand entrepreneurial education among youth and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem through programs and policies, in order to position Egypt as a regional hub for entrepreneurship and innovation,” said Ismail.

Societal perceptions of entrepreneurship showed that 75.9 percent of Egyptians perceive entrepreneurship as a good career choice, ranking seventh among GEM countries. Opportunity-recognition is at the heart of the entrepreneurial process; playing an important role in shaping individuals’ decisions to start new businesses. The report also found that 43.5 percent of the non-entrepreneurs perceived an opportunity to start a new venture, ranking twenty-ninth. Entrepreneurial intention remains high, with 55.5 percent of Egyptian non-entrepreneurs surveyed indicating interest or intentions to start a business within the next three years.

“Over the past 3 years, we were able to track the key entrepreneurship trends in Egypt, benchmark our results against other countries,” said Tolba. “A key observation is that entrepreneurial activity has significantly increased since 2016.”

Total early-stage entrepreneurial activity (TEA) is the primary metric used by GEM to measure and compare entrepreneurial activities among countries, indicating the percentage of the 18 to 64-year-old population that is involved in starting a business. In 2017, the TEA rate in Egypt was 13.3 percent, ranking nineteenth, slightly higher than the global average of 12.3 percent. However, the rate of business discontinuation in Egypt has alarmingly increased over the past years, from 2.7 percent in 2010 to 10.2 percent in 2017, ranking first.

 “While the entrepreneurial ecosystem has improved in supporting start-ups; yet the business environment, particularly entrepreneurial education, is still behind most countries,” added Tolba. “I am hopeful that tracking GEM data and sharing the findings with relevant stakeholders will have a significant impact on growing entrepreneurial activity and optimizing the impact of the ecosystem."

For the full list of Egypt GEM reports, follow the link:  

https://www.gemconsortium.org/country-profile/58

The AUC Venture Lab at the School of Business celebrated the graduation of the 11th cycle of the Startup Acceleration Program and the fifth cycle of the FinTech Acceleration Program.

"This Demo Day, we graduate a new cycle of innovative and impactful startups that contribute to different industries in our ecosystem, including energy, education, e-commerce, health care and fintech," said Ayman Ismail, Abdul Latif Jameel Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and AUC Venture Lab director. "As AUC V-Lab moves past its five-year marker, we continue to celebrate dedicated work and creative business ideas to support the growing impact of entrepreneurial mindsets.”

As Egypt’s first University-based accelerator, AUC Venture Lab provides acceleration services to startups, leveraging AUC’s intellectual capital, world-class facilities and research capacities. It connects entrepreneurs with a wide network of alumni, faculty, mentors and investors. Over five years, AUC V-Lab has graduated more than 120 startups.

Through its Startup Accelerator, AUC V-Lab offers a 16-week program providing business support for innovative startups to grow their business and boost the Egyptian economy.

AUC V-Lab also houses the FinTech Accelerator, which offers a 16-week customized program for FinTech startups providing entrepreneurs with specialized business finance and technology support, where startups gain valuable insights from some of the smartest minds in the startup and fintech worlds.

Startup Acceleration Program

Health Care

The Startup Accelerator cycle incubated startups across a myriad of sectors. Focusing on health care, CDOC is a medical consultation app for patients to connect, chat and consult with physicians. The service is provided by specialized doctors who are legally registered at the Egyptian Medical Syndicate in different specialties.

There is also MoDo, a local healthcare directory with more than 44,000 service providers, which enables users to locate the best nearest service provider. It gives them the option to filter providers using insurance network, as well as rate the service and share their experiences in just a few clicks.

Also incubated in this cycle is Instadiet, a web and mobile app that connects users with certified dietitians to address diet challenges. It allows dietitians to maximize their patient capacity while offering patients a hassle-free journey as they can select their dietician, receive tailored meal plans and track their progress, all online. 

“AUC V-Lab added value to my startup in two key areas," said Ahmed Tawfik, founder of Instadiet. "First, they introduced me to their network of partners and mentors who helped me close B2B deals that I hadn’t considered before. Second, they introduced me to a network of high-caliber fellow founders with a complementary set of skills that helped push my startup even further."

Sustainability 

The cycle also hosts Bio Life, provider of an affordable alternative source of energy for sustainable rural development, as it offers a biogas digester that is easily installed at homes and is both cost- and energy-efficient.

Fintech Acceleration Program

Facilitating Procedures

As for the FinTech Acceleration Program, it incubated Gigaaa, an intelligent personal assistant platform that provides users access to all range of products and services through voice command and automatically processes user payments through the Gigaaa wallet while continuously gathering data through machine learning for a more personalized experience.

To ease the routine and red tape, Egr2atk offers a platform to connect individuals with licensed offices to issue governmental documents, to minimize time and effort for users while increasing the capacity of licensed governmental offices. “Being part of the AUC Venture Lab for such a small time helped me build a stronger network as well as discover new opportunities I did not know were available," said Ayman Mostafa, founder of Egr2atk. "Also, I am now equipped with strong tools that will enable me to move forward with my business."

Other startups are FINSOFT SWITCH, a middleware between banks' host and offline delivery channels (POS, E-Commerce and MPOS) supporting banks' payment gateway system and XPay, a digital platform facilitating cashless payments within communities. Through its secure portal and app, XPay works to swiftly manage payments and financial transactions ruling out weak financial controls and time consuming cash-based operations.

Mohamed Abdelmottaleb, co-founder of X Pay, said: “One clear value we gained from the Venture Lab is that we’ve learnt how to challenge our business model and our impact model. We have also been introduced to a good selection of mentors.” 

“To quote Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet,’ I shall not look upon his like again,” said Soreya Altorki, professor of anthropology, in the Department of Sociology, Egyptology and Anthropology at the memorial service for Professor Emeritus Galal Amin.

The memorial service for the visionary educator was a chance for those who knew him to reflect on his life and accomplishments, and to share some words about his impact on their lives.

Nabil Elaraby, chairman of the Board of Trustees for Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and former secretary-general of the League of Arab States, talked about how Amin went above and beyond as a teacher and as an economist. “Galal was a visionary professor of economics,” Elaraby said. “My three children were at one point his students, and they benefited greatly -- not only from his teaching, but from the way he looked at life.”

Besides teaching in AUC’s Department of Economics for 44 years, Amin was also an award-winning economist, prominent writer and commentator, and AUC Press author. However, to those who got the opportunity to meet him, he was more than just a distinguished academic and encyclopedic thinker. He was a mentor, an advocate for Egypt and, most importantly, an inspiration. The speakers painted a picture of a rare type of man –– someone who could captivate a room simply with his words and laughter.

“He could make even perennially dry subjects like microeconomics exciting,” laughed Mona Said ’89, ’91, associate professor and chair of AUC’s Department of Economics.

“He gave sufficient weight to qualitative areas, including the impact of economics on ordinary people, the impact of economics on quality of life and the impact of economics on communities at large,” said Walid Abdelnasser, director of the Regional Bureau for Arab countries, World Intellectual Property Organization, describing how Amin stood out within his field.

And just about everyone talked about how funny he was. Sherif Kamel ’88, ’90, ’13, dean of AUC’s School of Business, recounted how Amin –– author of Whatever Happened to the Egyptians –– once joked about writing a book titled, What More Can Happen to the Egyptians? 

During the ceremony, speakers shared their cherished memories with the professor -- attending one of his lectures, reading one of his books or simply sitting down with him for a talk and some Turkish coffee. All speakers emphasized how lucky they were to know Amin and how universally beloved he was. 

Amin was well known at the University for being incredibly popular with students and offering a unique class experience. “There was no PowerPoint, no screen and no computer. It was just Dr. Galal, a board, a marker and us,” described Yasmine Kamar '11, business director at KAPO Group and one of Amin’s former students. She related her decision to register for his 8 am microeconomics class. Despite the early hour, her mother, also an AUC alumna, encouraged Kamar to sign up for a class with Amin, and she was not disappointed by her decision. “I’m very blessed to have gotten to take part in that class. I was encouraged to minor in economics, and I took three or four classes of the whole minor with him.”

Kamar was not the only student whose major and future trajectory was strongly influenced by Amin. Both Kamel and Said also affirmed that their interactions with Amin changed their career paths. “It was microeconomics and the stylized way he portrayed it that ultimately convinced me to change to economics,” noted Said.

Kamal recounted how he went to Amin as a senior, unsure of whether he wanted to continue as an economics major. He confessed to Amin that he wanted to switch his major to business. “He said go to business, and we’ll see what happens,” Kamal remembered. “And I think that five minutes in his office actually changed my career.”

According to Danya Amin, Galal Amin’s daughter, this sort of support and encouragement was nothing out of the ordinary. “He never made me feel bad about myself,” said reflected. “He never told me what to do, and he never said I told you so.”

Indeed, one of the topics the speakers touched on most was how Amin was a source of kindness and support. Kamar described how when she asked him to write her a recommendation letter, that he took the time to write it by hand and in pencil. “And that’s just professor Amin,” she smiled. “It’s something no one else would do, to be honest. I kept that letter, and it’s something I want to hang in my house one day.”

Like Kamar, other speakers emphasized Amin’s dedication and generosity. “He was a gentleman and a brilliant scholar, but in addition he was generous, kind and devoted to freedom of thought,” related Altorki.

At times heartwarming, at times heartbreaking, the memorial service was a testament to how Amin was an inspiration to his students, friends and Egypt at large. “Some people count themselves lucky or honored to have been in one of his classes or to have been one of his colleagues. How honored am I to have had him by my side for half a century?” said Danya Amin tearfully.

As dedicated as he was to AUC, Said believes that Amin embodied the vision of AUC’s Department of Economics –– to be a hub of inspirational teaching and creative research with regional expertise and global impact. “Given who he was and what he meant to all of us, we could have simply stated that our vision was carried on by the legacy of Galal Amin,” shared Said.

Egypt has moved from being in a “crisis zone” only two years ago to an “investor haven” now, according to Bloomberg.

Tarek Selim ’92, ’95, economics professor and most recently a research fellow in emerging markets at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explains why the Egyptian economy is on the rise and what it can do to continue to improve.

What exactly does “floatation” mean?

In economic terms, the recent floatation of the Egyptian pound is called a "shock," which implies the economy takes several years to absorb it. Historically in similar countries, it takes up to five to seven years to fully absorb such a shock. The first three years after the shock are the most critical, and the next few years tend to be minor. Egypt’s economy has almost passed three of the critical years with inflationary pressures on the quality of life.

The floatation of the pound has been costly to the average citizen in terms of inflation. The wage rate did not increase in proportion to the increase in prices. This caused a decline in the quality of life and the people’s purchasing power of goods and services, which is a critical challenge moving forward.

Why did the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) choose to float the Egyptian pound?

The floatation policy basically creates an incentive to export because the currency becomes cheaper relative to other currencies abroad. For example, suppose Egypt is producing a product costing EGP 100. If the exchange rate is $1 to EGP 1 and Egypt exports the product, then it will cost $100 to the receiver abroad. However, when the exchange rate changes dramatically to EGP 10 per dollar, the value of the same EGP 100 decreases to $10, so it should be cheaper to export. One of the major benefits after the flotation of the pound is export potential, and this is not yet realized. But I am optimistic. However, the potential to increase exports for Egypt has many constraints, including scale, infrastructure, and bureaucracy.

What if the CBE had not decided to float the Egyptian pound?

The country’s reserves would have been depleted fast, rather than increasing the way they are right now. Egypt doesn't have the resources to sustain such a depletion, so I think the “shock” was needed. However, complementary policies should have been put into place to make sure that quality of life was not affected in a very drastic way. This includes wage adjustments, anti-monopoly policies, scale incentives, and less bureaucracy. Right now, this should be one of the government’s priorities.

Can you explain why the floatation of the Egyptian pound put Egypt in a “crisis zone?”

The Egyptian economy has gone through a lot in the past couple of years. Especially after the revolution — all the turbulence, all the uncertainty. Uncertainty is a risk factor, especially for international investors who are looking for emerging markets. Countries are competing in the world market, quite similar to companies in domestic markets, hence a competitive advantage for Egypt must be strategized. The local market is the global market now.

Why do you think Egypt is becoming an “investor haven?”

The term “investor haven” might be an over-statement. If I'm an investor and I consider my options, the first thing I look for is the rate of return — which is the yield. Egypt has one of the highest yields on consumption-driven investments due to its market size. Also, Egypt’s yield on certificates on investment, which are considered a safe investment, is around 18 percent. The second thing is the risk factor. Egypt’s risk ratings have been improving, and the currency risk factor has been stable. The exchange rate has been stabilized over the past year, contrary to expectations. In the past one or two years, a lot of people expected the currency to devalue and continue to devalue. I think now it has stabilized, but there is a risk of such stabilization not to be maintained. Although there has been a stable political environment, yet an improvement in the economic returns of critical sectors, such as tourism and the Suez canal, in addition to a needed surge in manufacturing scale exports, are of high importance. Natural gas is helping the economy move forward, which is very good but not sufficient in the long run.

What can Egypt do to keep improving investor confidence?

Egypt has a lot of natural resources in addition to energy, like cement, marble, granite, aluminum and fertilizers. There are a lot of industries that could actually flourish and expand into the international market, and I think this should be our next step economically. It's not really the number or amount of investments alone; it’s the quality of investments that we should focus on. Egypt is in need of labor-intensive investments –– investments that absorb a lot of labor. When investments absorb more labor, this solves the unemployment problem. Also, local innovation is needed, such as in digital manufacturing. In the latest World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index, Egypt has jumped 15 ranks upwards, yet its level is still low at 100th place out of around 140 countries. Egypt can do better. There is huge, yet unrealized, potential. Quality of the labor force, government bureaucracy, education-work matching, and huge public debt are major challenges to improve the country’s competitiveness.

Are there any additional factors that make Egypt an investor haven?

Egypt is a consumption-driven economy, and local investors tend to be family businesses. That's why the sectors that are low-risk and high-return tend to be food, clothing and real estate. In Egypt, 90 percent of our income is spent, when the world average is around 77 percent. This, by itself, is an indicator to attract investments in certain sectors. Social economic behavior has consumption ripple effects. Once you start investments in Egypt, the supply in your investments will be enough to attract as much demand as possible. What is needed is local innovation, better governance, scale enhancement for export-led investments, and successful Egyptian brand penetration into the world market.

Is it likely that Egypt will stay an investor haven?  

Egypt has huge but unrealized potential, and we need to plan for realizing such potential. Having investments is important, but not sufficient. We need to complement it with other things — labor-intensiveness, local innovation, human capital mapping, technology transfers, competitiveness and bold strategies to enhance the overall efficiency for each of the different sectors. Policies play an important role. In the past, the priority was more on the infrastructure, physical capital and mega projects. Now, the focus should be on human capital and quality and scale of investments, which I think is the right shift of policy that will result in long-term economic success.