Nineteen foreign tourists from Britain, France, Japan, Hong-Kong, China and Hungary were killed in a hot air balloon crash that occurred Tuesday near the Egyptian city of Luxor The balloon was at 1,000ft (300 m) when it caught fire and plunged into fields west of the ancient city. This tragedy, the world’s worst ballooning accident, […]
Tag: Egypt
Egypt: urging foreign investors public-private partnerships
After opening its doors to Arab tourists, Egypt has now turned onto the Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). It is inviting all foreign investors to increase their involvement in such partnerships especially those from Britain. The finance minister, Al-Morsi Hegazy, said it will help the investors “profit from promising opportunities.” The minister made these remarks shortly after […]
Arab tourists can enter Egypt without Visas
In a bid to boost its tourism industry, Egypt has come up with the plan of exempting neighboring countries in the North African region from visa procedures when they are entering the country as tourists. It is being reported that only Libya, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are part of the exempted countries that will no […]
Egypt: reserve recession rate could decline soon
Governor Hisham Ramez of the central bank has said that the foreign cash reserve recession rate may decline by next month. The central earlier on this month announced that the reserves had reached US$13.6 billion, which would amount to a 16-year low, compared to $36 billion on the eve of the 2011 uprising that ousted […]
Egypt: one more cultural heritage of Ramses era discovered
Archaeologists in Egypt have made a great discovery. They have discovered the pyramid of one of the most influential person during the era of the pharaohs. According to the minister for antiquities, Mohammed Ibrahim, a pyramid dating back to more than 3,000 years which was built for an advisor to King Ramses II has been […]
Egypt’s paintings provide new technology clues
Scientists are turning back towards Egypt’s ancient paintings to develop new technologies and enhance better medical devices. A pigment know as the Egyptian blue has been considered by the Journal of the American Chemical Society as having clues which can be used by modern scientists towards the development of new nanomaterials with potential uses in […]
Egypt: IMF loan not the answer
According to the analyses of the president of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), David Malone, the 4.8 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan is insufficient to end to end Egypt’s economic woes. President Malone is in Cairo when he said that what Egypt needed is not a “western tailored” development model. Malone, a renowned […]
Doing Business in the MENA Region: Going the SMART Way?
Doing business in North Africa seems to be very challenging and still largely for the intrepid. The World Bank’s annual survey ‘Doing Business’ provides data on the relative easiness (or difficulty) of running a business around the world. A high ranking on the ease of doing business index means the regulatory environment is more conducive […]
Who are the “Islamists” in the Arab Spring?
In the context of the Arab Spring, the use of the term “Islamism” is very common. The new political elites throughout the North Africa, commonly referred to as the “Islamists”, often talk of replacing the old and more or less authoritarian secular regimes in the Middle East. Journalists also use the term quite excessively and […]
Egypt: OCI’s Amsterdam relocation gets green light
Egypt’s Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) said shareholders had approved its offer to acquire its ordinary shares listed in Cairo in exchange for cash or OCI shares listed in Amsterdam. Shortly after the report, the company’s shares rose 1.7% to 267.86 Egyptian pounds at the close in the capital, the strongest since January 22nd. The stock […]









