There were no surprises in Egypt’s elections this week. Former general Abdel Fattah el-Sisi secured a sweeping victory after three days of lackluster turnout. His election was all but assured, given the lack of any real, credible opposition. But his real challenge lies ahead: fixing the decimated Egyptian economy.
Egypt’s recent arrest of four Al Jazeera journalists, right before the new year, forced me to admit something I had been reluctant to acknowledge: the Egyptian revolution has failed. As a Pakistani-American, I have seen the harshness of military dictators followed by the power vacuum and uncertainty that ensues when a autocrat is dethroned. I’ve also seen the chaos that surrounds fledgling attempts at democracy.
The FDA claims it halted the sale of 23andMe‘s flagship Personal Genome Service (PGS) kit due to concerns over its validity and the possibility that clients may suffer from mental anguish when faced with the possibility that their genetic code puts them at risk of serious diseases. In other words, the FDA is worried about patients flooding doctors’ offices holding their genetics reports demanding to be tested for various ailments.
Ala’ Alsallal wants his online book retailer, Jamalon, to be the “Amazon of the Arab world.” Of course, the real Amazon does, too.
Global markets are vying to get a piece of the action in Islamic finance. With an emphasis on ethical investing and prohibitions against interest and excess risk, the relatively nascent industry has struck a chord with investors burned by conventional finance in recent years. According to Ernst & Young’s World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013, Islamic banking assets held by commercial banks globally are expected to exceed $1.8 trillion this year, a 38% increase since 2011. The vast oil wealth present in the Middle East and an aggressive push by Malaysia to serve as an Islamic finance hub in Asia have helped drive the growth. But the industry is also getting a boost from markets outside the Muslim world. Here are four markets to watch:
Pakistan needs a superhero. Why not one that comes dressed in a burqa?
Al Jazeera’s recent fall from grace in Egypt can be seen as a case study in irony. The Qatari-owned television network was once considered a media darling as it played a cat-and-mouse game with Egypt’s military dictatorship. Subjected to arrests and government raids, Al Jazeera managed to dodge censors and satellite blockades put in place by the military regime of then-president Hosni Mubarak to broadcast the fervor of the revolutionaries. For this feat, the network was seen by many as an integral player in helping Egypt get on the road to democracy.
A recent labor strike against Arabtec, the Dubai-based construction firm responsible for building the United Arab Emirates’s version of the Louvre, highlights the latent stirrings of unrest in the country, which could prove to be a stumbling block toward stability going forward.
Thomas Herndon is on a tight schedule. The University of Massachusetts-Amherst doctoral student of economics has a steady stream of media interviews lined up with global VIPs to discuss the far-reaching impact of his paper refuting the work of renowned Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff. But his mind is already looking ahead to more pressing matters: his looming microeconomics final next week and the piles of homework waiting for when the media attention dies down.
For Egypt’s economy, the small Gulf kingdom of Qatar has proven to be quite the veritable fairy godmother. Qatar has already provided Cairo with a whopping $5 billion since June to support its struggling economy, and pledged an additional $3 billion in aid last week as a cushion until the country is able to reach a loan deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In Qatar, where expats outnumber local Arabs nearly 8 to 1, there is a palpable concern among locals that the gas-rich nation has put its cultural identity on the selling block. With a steady influx of global businesses and Western law firms opening their doors in Doha, you’re more likely to hear the sounds of English banter on the Corniche than Arabic.
HSBC Middle East has new rules for clients of countries facing international sanctions: the bigger the bank account, the safer the client.
