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Most foreign residents who happen to live or work in the Arab region are accustomed to hear the majority of Arab nationals and expatriates complaining about the living conditions and socio-political situations of their native countries. Nowadays, Arabs tend to be freer to express their frustration and condemnation of the...
Findings from the latest survey covering Arab youth has revealed they are more confident about the future ahead and feel a greater sense of national identity following the Arab Spring. The results were part of the fifth annual Arab Youth Survey, conducted by local public relations firm Asda’s Burson-Marsteller. The...
When the Arab Spring happened across some of the MENA nations in 2011, all eyes were on Saudi Arabia. With unemployment & poverty on the rise and a visibly disgruntled public and living within the confines of restrictive Sharia laws, it was easy to see how some might have thought...
In a landmark decision, Kuwait’s parliament has approved a plan to buy citizens’ personal loans, write-off the interest and reschedule repayments. Reuters has quoted Kuwaiti Finance Minister Mustapha al-Shamali as saying that the government was expecting to spend an estimated USD 2.6 billion on the plan. The bill would cover...
The political implications of the Arab Spring of 2011 are well documented. The repercussions are still being felt with the prolonged effect of the Egyptian crisis on the markets. There has always been a certain amount of uncertainty in investing in the MENA region and even though the doors have...
The modern concept of civil society is centred on the idea of free joint action between individuals within private and official associations to achieve equitable societal settings and comfortable socioeconomic conditions. Typically, the causes and effects of social and civil movements are mainly of socioeconomic and socio-political nature. On the...
“Man is born free but is kept in chains everywhere. ” ~Jean Jacques Rosseau~ Rosseau’s statement is central to the idea that Man is born free and has the ability to prevent enchainment , only through institutions of righteousness, respect and compassion. In “The Social Contract”, Rousseau addresses the fundamental...
Mohammed Jaradat is an Amman-based Jordanian entrepreneur. Despite being a high school dropout, he went on to become a pioneer in video production, TV programming and compèring. After establishing his credentials in the entertainment industry, Mohammed Jaradat, also known as Neo, turned his attention to online video blogging and coined...
The International Monetary Fund issued a report on Sunday which said Arab Spring will have an impact on most Middle Eastern and North African economies which are currently grappling with high inflation and rising unemployment. The Paris-based global lender said in its twice-yearly outlook for the Middle East and North Africa...
Today’s top business and economy news from the Middle East and North Africa: Britain, UAE enter defence partnership, discuss other deals Britain and the United Arab Emirates announced on Tuesday they have agreed a defence deal which will see boosting of the British military presence in the Gulf state. The...
Today’s top business and economy news from the Middle East and North Africa: Guinea, UAE seal bauxite deal Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG) and Mubadala Development Company have signed a long-term supply agreement to supply bauxite, the main raw material in aluminium, the UAE’s state news agency reported on...
An unnamed Egyptian government official said Prime Minister Hisham Kandil will hold talks with Algerian government to seek aid worth $2 billion during a visit to Algeria, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday. Egypt is struggling for funds to bring down its budget deficit and avert a defaulting on its payments...
Egypt’s inbound tourism is coming back to normal despite the 5 August attack on Egypt’s border with the Gaza Strip and the recent clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. About one million tourists were reported to have visited Egypt in 2011. It is slightly less than the number visited during the...
UN-Habitat’s ‘Wheel of Prosperity’ has identified five dimensions which are equality and monority rights, environmental sustainability, quality of life, infrastructure, and productivity for a well-balanced development, in a report on Thursday. The centre of the ‘wheel’, identified as ‘hub’, is the local urban power functions and is represented by the human...
Today’s top business and economy news from the Middle East and North Africa: Abu Dhabi posts fastest economic growth in 2011 Data released by the Abu Dhabi government showed on Sunday the capital city’s economy grew 6.8% in inflation-adjusted terms last year, the fastest rate since 2004 and more than double...
At the onset of this millennium, the World Bank (WB) established a set of international development targets, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), to reduce poverty by half on 2015. On that point, during the annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) held in Dubai,...
Today’s top business and economy news from the Middle East and North Africa: Dubai Limitless agrees restructuring of $1.2 bln loan Limitless, the indebted property arm of Dubai World, has reached an agreement with creditors to restructure a $1.2 billion Islamic loan, the company said on Thursday. Limitless will also shortly commence a...
Egypt Local Development Minister Ahmed Zaki Abdeen announced on Thursday the government is planning to cut the fuel subsidy bill towards the end of this year. The government official said plans are in place to start printing the coupons for subsidised gas. Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi’s administration was eyeing mid-October for the...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Oman announces desalination plants worth $400m An Omani government official announced on Thursday there are plans in place to build three desalination plants at a cost of about $400 million to meet the soaring demand for water. An official...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Britain-Holland propose ‘full’ financial freeze, shipping ban on Iran Members of the European Union are discussing a sanctions proposal presented by Britain against Iran that calls for a ban on shipping and a “full” freeze on financial transactions with...
Big banking institutions like Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and Japan’s Nomura Holdings are cutting investment banking jobs in the Middle East as the promise of emerging markets is overshadowed by a need to slash costs and a dearth of deal activity, a Reuters report said Wednesday. While many financial institutions have...
A leading international humanitarian organisation has warned that women in Yemen are worse off than before the uprising that ousted long-time dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh as the country mires in deep crises. In its latest report, entitled “Still waiting for change,” Oxfam said “four out of five” Yemeni women report...
The Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the Central Bank of Tunisia on late Tuesday announced they have signed three loan agreements under which the Arab financial institution would grant Tunisia three loans to the tune of $180 million. The announcement came amid reports that former Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: UAE third most financially literate nation in Middle East – survey The latest Financial Literacy Index on Monday revealed consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have become more financially prudent over time, with their overall financial literacy ranking standing at third...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Qatar, Egypt to boost energy cooperation; sign refinery deal Qatar announced it will go ahead with its strategic investments in Egypt to help the country get past the economic turbulence it is going through since the 2011 fall of...
The relationship of a national authority to citizenry has been the subject of age-long arguments and indeterminate discourse. Most political theorists and analysts have unremittingly debated the way, whether by constraint or consent, social order should be maintained. And what is the best political formation and governance pattern in which...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: IMF says Saudi may post small budget deficit in 2016 amid global recession The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday it expects oil rich Saudi Arabia, which has been running big budget surpluses on the back of high oil...
Europe’s development bank announced on Wednesday it was preparing to invest up to €200m ($262m) by the end of the year in the Middle East and North Africa region especially in its first investments in Morocco, Jordan and Tunisia. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was set up in 1991...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Dubai 1000MW solar power park to be completed by 2030 Dubai’s electricity and water authority (DEWA) announced on Tuesday the emirate is working on the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park project which will generate 1,000MW electricity...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Dubai to refinance maturing debt by issuing bonds Dubai finance chief said on Monday plans are in place to issue a bond to refinance part of AED6.5 billion ($1.8 billion) of sovereign debt maturing in April 2013. Abdulrahman al-Saleh, Director...
In a world that has become increasingly intolerant, suspicious and viciously hateful of each other, the culmination of events at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and its aftermath is a painful reminder of the fact that mindless acts of violence are observed,so passionately, when borne out of religious conviction....
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Economy to grow faster than IMF forecast: UAE Central Bank The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates said the federation’s economy has shown “sustained resilience” and is likely to grow faster than the International Monetary Fund forecast for...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: UAE energy consumption 225% more than Europe Commercial and residential properties in the United Arab Emirates are using 225% more energy than their European counterparts, recently revealed figures suggested. “In fact, UAE’s per capita footprint of 9.5 hectares is...
Barakah One Company of the UAE has received authorisation from the US Export Import Bank for $2 billion in direct loan, to purchase US equipment and construction services, to build one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants in Abu Dhabi. The Export-Import bank stated that it has the backing...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: Dubai Airport July passenger traffic registers 6% increase Dubai International Airport’s passenger traffic increased 6% from a year earlier in July, with monthly traffic surpassing 5 million passengers for the first time, Dubai Airports said on Wednesday. The airport, one...
Qatar National Bank is taking advantage of European banks’ downsizing by extending its Middle East reach through acquisitions, a report said on Wednesday. According to a stock market filing on 30 August, the state-backed lender of Qatar, which is 50% owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, is in early talks to buy...
The planned building of the largest Catholic church in the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain – intended to be the main centre for Catholics in the region – is creating tensions between its Sunni and Shia Muslim communities. Reports coming from capital Manama say some hardline Sunni clerics have strongly opposed...
It is a customary practice to see Arab people browse for fresh news of the ongoing Arab revolts, called the Arab Spring. They find civil unrest in Tunisia, riots and regime destabilisation in Bahrain, tribal armed clashes in post-Gaddafi government in Libya, military conflicts with Islamic fundamentalists in Yemen, recurrent...
Today’s top business news from the Middle East and North Africa: GCC integration plan needs more discussion – statement A plan to integrate six Gulf countries as proposed by Saudi Arabia last year in response to Middle East turmoil needed more discussion, Gulf Arab foreign ministers said on late Sunday after...
Ageing population boosting demand for UAE Islamic savings products Sharia compliance is the key factor driving savings decisions by United Arab Emirates nationals, where an ageing population is expected to boost demand for Islamic savings products, a top Dubai-based National Bonds Corp executive said. “Sharia compliance has been the number...
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