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GM suspends Egypt operations due to currency crisis: company source

9 February 2016 Comments (0) Business, Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East

CAIRO (Reuters) – General Motors has temporarily suspended its operations in Egypt due a currency crisis, a company source told Reuters on Monday.

Import-dependent Egypt has been in economic crisis since a 2011 uprising and susequent political turmoil drove foreign investors and tourists away. Dollar reserves have more than halved to $16.4 billion since then.

“The entire sector has a currency crisis we can’t make a car without some of the parts. We stopped production temporarily as of yesterday until we can clear the imports held up in customs,” the source said.

“There is still some leeway with the government and the banks to solve the issue.”

General Motors’s Egypt operation includes assembling trucks and cars. It makes 25 percent of Egypt’s vehicles.

Egypt’s central bank has been rationing dollars and keeping the pound artificially strong at 7.7301 per dollar through weekly dollar auctions.

 

(Reporting Ehab Farouk; Writing by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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John Lewis to open in Dubai as retail surges in the UAE

6 February 2016 Comments (0) Business, Featured, Middle East

john lewis

UK-based department store John Lewis is set to launch in Dubai as the UAE becomes a top global market for retailers

Taking the middle class favorite across the globe, UK-based department store John Lewis has announced plans to open shop in the Middle East with the launch of a home department in Dubai. Scheduled to open in spring 2017, the shop-in-shop will take prime position in the new flagship Robinsons Department Store in the Dubai Festival City Mall, both owned by UAE-based conglomerate the Al-Futtaim Group. The 15,000 square feet shop will be John Lewis’s largest outlet oversees, and will stock a range of own-brand furniture, cookware, textiles, glassware, and bedroom, bathroom, living, and gifting assortments.

The agreement extends the current partnership between the Al-Futtaim Group’s Robinsons Department Store and John Lewis in Singapore. As part of the announcement, the duo also confirmed the opening of a 630 square feet John Lewis shop-in-shop in the Kuala Lumpur Robinsons store in Malaysia. Both new outlets will be designed by John Lewis’s in-house team.

Andy Street, John Lewis’s managing director, comments: “We’re delighted to be working with Robinsons again on two new ventures. The success of our existing international shop-in-shops has given us the confidence to open in the Middle East and increase both the scale of the space and product assortment. This is an exciting time for Al Futtaim’s Dubai Festival City Mall and we’re pleased that John Lewis will be a part of the next phase of its redevelopment.”

Building a stable home market

The announcement follows a failed Middle Eastern expansion attempt by John Lewis in 2011. Again working with the Al-Futtaim Group, plans had been drawn up to open several stores across the region, including in Dubai and Egypt. But at the time, much of the British high street was struggling, and so John Lewis pulled out, commenting that a focus on the home market was the first priority.

Now the employee-owned John Lewis operates 46 shops across the UK, of which 32 are department stores. And it is performing well relative to the market, posting particularly strong results for the important Black Friday, Christmas, and post-Christmas trading period with total sales of $1.38 billion (£951 million). Its viral “Man on the Moon” ad also triggered a 5.1% jump in online sales year-on-year. Although the company has warned that 2015 profits will be down, it has blamed this on higher pension charges, and on the whole, John Lewis is in good health.

John Lewis has also been busy building a portfolio of overseas stores, including 14 shop-in-shops across Singapore and the Philippines, seven in South Korea, and a further seven shop-in-shops set to launch in De Bijenkorf department stores across the Netherlands.

Booming retail market in the Middle East

But emerging markets are playing an increasingly important role. Reportedly about 70% of the world’s growth is likely to come from emerging markets in the coming years. With a rising population, a growing middle class, and rapid urbanization, the Middle East is a particularly attractive and largely untapped burgeoning market.

According to an Arcadis index ranking of 50 international markets, the UAE is the eighth most attractive market globally for retailers, with the UAE ranked first in the region thanks to strong infrastructure and ease of operation. Dubai is at the center of that market, with the second largest number of global brands after London, rising local purchasing power, a wealthy expatriate community, and a thriving tourism sector with plenty of foreign luxury consumers. Currently Dubai alone commands around 30% of the Middle East luxury market.

Modern retail concepts, including the Dubai Mall which claims around 50% of Dubai’s luxury purchases and hosted a record 54 million visitors during the annual Dubai Shopping Festival, also provide ideal conditions for growth. Developments capitalizing on the successful Expo 2020 bid and new mall openings are also expected to reinforce Dubai’s position at the center of a Middle Eastern retail in the coming years.

But with religion tied so closely to both society and business, the Middle Eastern market does also come with risks. Dano-Swedish brand Arla Foods (owner of Lurpak, Puck, and Arla) is a good example. In the early 2000s it was a major player in the Arab world, dominating the Middle Eastern markets for butter, cheese, and cream. But in 2005, and again in 2008, the publication of cartoons unflatteringly depicting Islam’s prophet in Danish newspapers led to boycotts of Danish goods, and sales plummeted. Arla Foods has never quite recovered.

Good chances of success

This partnership between John Lewis and Al Futtaim has a good chance of success. John Lewis has a strong reputation, voted the retailer with the best reputation in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in a survey by the Reputation Institute (2013 and 2014). This will make it attractive to the Middle Eastern market. And Al Futtaim has the expertise and knowledge of the local culture. As Paul Delaoutre, President of Al Futtaim Retail, comments: “Al Futtaim’s solid regional retail infrastructure, know-how and reputation seamlessly blend with John Lewis’s global appeal as a renowned retailer in a long-awaited exclusive partnership designed to offer discerning UAE consumers even more choice and options.”

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A commuter rail network for Jeddah

5 February 2016 Comments (1) Business, Featured, Middle East

jeddah metro

Saudi officials hope the network, to begin operation in 2020, will ease congestion in the nation’s second largest city.

An extensive rail network, a critical piece of a plan to reduce severe traffic congestion in Saudi Arabia’s commercial capital, is expected to begin operation in 2020.

The $12 billion Jeddah network will have four lines – a Blue Line with 19 stations, including the airport, a Green Line with 12 stations, a Red Line with 24 stations, and an Orange Line with 30 stations.

In all, the network will comprise about 150 kilometers of track and will include construction of a road-rail suspension bridge over Obhur Creek. The network will connect to the Haramain high-speed rail station for travel outside the city.

Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea, is Saudi Arabia’s second largest city after the capital, Riyadh. Jeddah also is a gateway to the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

Traffic congestion plagues city

The train network is the central element of a larger plan by Saudi officials to ease major automobile traffic congestion in the city of 3.4 million people by 2030.

Traffic in the city has been described as “nightmarish,” and commuters are plagued with poor road design, lack of traffic officers, and drivers who do not follow traffic rules.

One goal for the Jeddah transportation plan is to increase from 12 percent to 50 percent the city population living within a 10-minute walk of public transportation.

Osama Abdouh, executive director of the government-backed Jeddah Metro Company, which is managing the project, said the project will “provide the best and most suitable types and choices for public transportation” for Jeddah residents and visitors.

At the same time, it will reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the city, Abdouh said.

Traffic in Jeddah

Traffic in Jeddah

Bus network, tram and ferries also planned

The Jeddah Public Transit Program also envisions a bus network, cycle networks and marine ferries along with a tramway on the Corniche coastal resort area.

The Saudi Council of Ministers approved the $12 billion transportation plan for Jeddah in 2013. Abdouh said the exact cost is to be determined as plans firm up.

Several contractors are already at work developing plans and designs.

The British architecture firm Foster + Partners was awarded a contract to develop the architecture for the master plan. Aeocom Tecnology Corp., based in the United States, is providing support for the planning and design phase, while a French company, Systra, is providing the engineering designs.

Bids to be sought

Later this year, the Jeddah Metro Company will seek bids a variety of contractors to supply trains and equipment, communications, passenger information, fare collection and train control systems, automatic train supervision, an operations center and depot buildings as well as mechanical, electrical, ventilation, cooling and plumbing systems.

Abdouh said the project expects to ask for bids for many aspects of the project in the second quarter of 2016, once the designs are completed.

The project is also in the process of acquiring approximately 150 pieces of property needed to develop the network in Jeddah.

The Saudi capital, Riyadh, is also getting a rail system. A six-line network with 178 kilometers of track and 85 stations is expected to be completed in 2018.

The projects are going ahead despite economic struggles in Saudi Arabia. Tumbling global oil prices have forced the Saudi government to dip into reserves.

The 2016 budget cuts government spending by nearly 14 percent from 2015 levels, but the country is still expected to have a budget shortfall of 13 percent of gross domestic product this year.

Meanwhile, development of railways is surging in the Middle East and Northern Africa. One 2014 estimate said rail and metro that were under way or planned in the Middle East totaled more than $200 billion and would cover more than 36,000 kilometers.

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Egypt sees World Bank funds arriving soon, eyes more Saudi aid

4 February 2016 Comments (0) Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East, Politics

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt expects to receive a $1 billion World Bank loan approved in December once outstanding paperwork is finalised and is negotiating to secure more aid from Saudi Arabia, International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said on Thursday.

Egypt has been negotiating billions of dollars in aid from various lenders to help revive an economy battered by political upheaval since the 2011 revolt and ease a dollar shortage that has crippled import activity and hampered recovery.

The first $1 billion tranche of a three-year, $3 billion loan from the World Bank to support Egypt’s budget was approved by the lender in December and was expected to arrive soon after.

But Egyptian media has questioned whether the money would come as the programme is linked to the government’s economic reform programme, including plans for value-added tax (VAT).

Egypt’s new parliament, which held its first session last month, ratified the vast majority of economic laws passed by presidential decree during the three years in which Egypt did not have a legislative house. But it has yet to ratify the government’s economic plan or the World Bank loan itself.

“We are just working on submitting the required documentation. It is nothing. We are normal. There is nothing (to say) about it,” Nasr told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“We need all the documentation, any law, any decree that we put we have to submit in English … Decrees on subsidies, laws for the establishment of industrial zones, fiscal reforms … I thought I would wait for parliament to ratify everything meanwhile.”

The World Bank told Reuters in December that the first tranche was focused on “10 prior actions for policy and institutional reforms” already implemented. The second and third tranches are linked to additional reforms the government plans.

“The whole reform programme will need to be done and not just the VAT being out. We need to have executive regulation in place and be operational,” said Nasr, an ex-World Bank official.

Nasr said a $500 million loan for budget support from the African Development Bank, part of a $1.5 billion three-year programme also signed in December, had been transferred.

Since those loans were approved Egypt has secured multi-billion-dollar aid commitments both from China and Saudi Arabia and signed major investment deals with Russia.

 

MORE SAUDI AID?

Egypt was in talks with Saudi Arabia to secure more aid, Nasr said, declining to give details.

Egypt was also working to iron out the details of a Saudi pledge to invest $8 billion in Egypt but Nasr said she was taking time to approve projects that were ready to go.

Egypt has previously signed preliminary deals on big-ticket investments that were later downsized or delayed.

Nasr said the government was still negotiating the details of a Saudi pledge to provide Egypt with petroleum aid over five years. Egypt signed an initial three-month deal with Riyadh to meet immediate needs while talks were ongoing.

“I wanted to make sure the three months are covered and to give myself time to make an even better deal for a five-year plan,” she said.

Egypt spends roughly $700 million a month on petroleum product imports. While it has benefited from plummeting global oil prices, a forex shortage has made it harder for import-reliant Egypt to finance shipments.

Last month, a BP tanker carrying liquefied natural gas was diverted from Egypt in what traders said was a sign that the currency crisis was jeopardising energy supplies.

BP and the government denied any payment problems and said the shipment was delayed by mutual agreement.

Nasr said the shipment was delayed because Egypt had managed to secure its needs more cheaply elsewhere.

“If we get a better deal at a better rate for this month, we will take the better rate,” she said.

 

(By Lin Noueihed. Editing by Michael Georgy and Alison Williams)

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El Sewedy Electric unit in $484.5 mil Angola power stations deal

3 February 2016 Comments (0) Business, Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East

CAIRO (Reuters) – A subsidiary of El Sewedy Electric has signed a $484.5 million contract to build three power stations in Angola but the deal is “not yet in effect”, the Egyptian firm said in a bourse statement on Wednesday.

The contract between subsidiary El Sewedy Power and the Angolan government is subject to approval by Angola’s president and a specialised court, it said.

“The contract involves supplying, building, operating, financing and maintaining the stations. The project will be done during 2016 but the contract is not yet in effect and is suspended on certain conditions, including the president’s approval,” it said.

 

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; editing by Jason Neely)

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An Indian powerhouse in the Gulf

3 February 2016 Comments (0) Featured, Leaders, Middle East

Yusuf Ali

Billionaire M.A. Yusuff Ali has built the global retail empire Lulu Group from his base in Abu Dhabi.

M.A. Yusuff Ali, who has built a global empire of supermarkets, shopping malls and grocery stores, will be at the top of just about any list of the most powerful Indians doing business in the Gulf.

The managing director of the retail giant Lulu Group, based in Abu Dhabi, started in a small, isolated office in a barren desert 40 years ago and went on to build an international powerhouse that employs more than 35,000 people in 31 countries, most of them in the Middle East and Africa.

With a net worth of $3.1 billion, the Kerala-born businessman is number 24 on Forbes’ list of India’s 100 Richest People. He’s repeatedly been named the most powerful Indian in the Gulf by publications including Arabian Business and DNA India.

More retail outlets to open

Lulu Group now operates 121 retail outlets that cover a total of 22.5 million square feet. In January, it opened an outlet in Dammam, Lulu’s sixth in Saudi Arabia, and another in Juffair, a suburb of Manama, its fifth in Bahrain.

Yusuff Ali also has announced plans to open more hypermarkets and malls in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and Malaysia.

The company, with annual revenue of $5.5 billion, is also venturing into the hospitality business, notably with the development of a hotel at the former Scotland Yard in London.

Lulu opened its first hypermarket in Dubai in 2000. The stores cater to multi-ethnic shoppers in the region with an international mix of both products and staff.

In addition to its retail chain, Lulu Group engages in manufacturing, import-export, and business services.

Scotland Yard will become a hotel

Yusuff Ali has recently gone into the hospitality business, making headlines last summer with a $171 million deal to develop the former Scotland Yard headquarters in London. The new hospitality arm of Lulu, Twenty14 Holdings, will open the Great Scotland Yard Hotel early in 2017.

It was his second London investment. In 2014, he purchased for $85 million a 10 percent interest in East India Company, the historic trading company that led British colonization of India in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Yusuff Ali started small, moving from India to Abu Dhabi to join the family business in 1973 and finding challenging conditions there.

“It was a very hard time initially. Abu Dhabi was all of two roads; none of the glitz and glamour that you associate UAE with today. The entire country was just coming terms with the discovery of oil,’’ he said.

Company employs 35,000

In all, Lulu employs more than 35,000 people from 37 different countries.

It has operations in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Egypt, Kenya, Benin, Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Mozambique, Cameroon, Togo, and Gambia as well as India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

Yusuff Ali is also active in business and charitable affairs in the Gulf and in India.

He cites as a matter of great pride that he is the first expatriate to be elected to the board of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce & Industry. In 2014, he was re-elected to the board for a third term.

He also has received the Padma Sri and Pravasi Bharatiya Award, the Indian government’s highest honor for a non-resident Indian, as well as the Asian Business Award for Best Business Leader and Arabian Business Award.

He has donated to a variety of charitable causes in both India and the Gulf. He also helped organize relief from the Gulf for multiple natural disasters in India, including the Lathur and Gujara earthquakes.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping Tours Middle East

2 February 2016 Comments (1) Featured, Middle East, Politics

Xi Jinjpin Middle East

Chinese President Xi Jinping has completed a three-nation tour of the Middle East intended to strengthen political and economic ties with the region

Chinese President Xi Jinping has completed a three-nation tour of the Middle East, as the world’s second-largest economy seeks to strengthen economic and political ties with the region, and promote its status as a rising power to foreign and domestic audiences.

Energy deals in Saudi Arabia

President Xi’s first stop was Saudi Arabia, China’s biggest supplier of crude oil and its biggest trading partner in the MENA region. During the trip, Xi and King Salman bin Abdulaziz signed 14 agreements focused on energy, culture, and industrial cooperation, and pledged to build a comprehensive strategic partnership for better bilateral ties.

Xi also visited the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center, a non-profit institution focused on research in energy economics, policy, technology, and the environment. And he attended the opening ceremony of the Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (Yasref), a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and China Petrochemical Corp (SINOPEC). This venture is China’s largest investment in the region, and looks set to continue to be so, as the two companies signed a framework agreement for strategic cooperation estimated to be worth between $1 billion and $1.5 billion.

Stimulating Egypt’s economy

After energy deals in Saudi Arabia, Xi then travelled to Egypt to meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, where the pair signed a five-year outlining document to advance their relationship. The Chinese president also announced his country’s intent to participate in key Egyptian projects, including the development of the Suez Canal Corridor and the construction of a new administrative ­capital.

Xi also announced a $1 billion financing agreement for Egypt’s central bank and a $700 million loan to the state-owned National Bank of Egypt, as he looks to support Egypt’s path to economic prosperity. In total, officials from the two countries signed 21 deals spanning development, electricity, transportation, and infrastructure. In a joint statement, President Xi said: “The total investments in these projects would be $15 billion. These projects will offer a new impetus to the economic development of Egypt”.

Increasing trade in Iran

Xi Jinping with Iranian President Rouhani

Xi Jinping with Iranian President Rouhani

Finally, Xi visited Iran; a display of even-handedness in the light of tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. The visit also landed just days after sanctions against Iran were lifted, following the UN’s announcement that the country had scaled back its nuclear program. China had been one of the six nations involved in negotiations.

Over recent years, China has been the top buyer of Iranian crude oil and Iran’s biggest trade partner, counting for more than a third of its foreign trade. The lifting of the sanctions will secure the future of that business relationship. Iranian officials confirmed that the country was preparing to raise oil production by 500,000 barrels per day. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hopes to further boost this relationship, hailing a “new chapter” in relations with China and announcing that the two countries will be building stronger economic ties over the next decade. He comments: “We are happy that President Xi visited Iran after the lifting of sanctions. Iran and China have agreed to increase trade to $600 billion in the next 10 years,” he said. The two leaders also signed 17 agreements in areas including energy, trade, industry, environment, technology, politics, security, and cooperation on peaceful nuclear energy.

Showing China’s economic muscle

During his trip, Xi pledged $55 billion in loans and investments to the Middle East region as a whole, including $15 billion designated as special loans for industrial projects in the Middle East, $10 billion for commercial loans to boost cooperation in the energy sector, and another $10 billion as preferential loans. In this show of economic muscle, he also pledged $300 million to boost China-Arab law enforcement cooperation, and committed a final around $20 billion to setting up a common investment fund with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Xi also pledged HK$273.4 million in humanitarian aid for Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, and Yemen.

But while the tour undoubtedly had significant economic consequences, particularly at a time of economic difficulty and plummeting oil prices in the Middle East, it also seems to be part of a broader Chinese strategy intended to strengthen diplomatic ties with the region. During his trip to Egypt, President Xi delivered a speech outlining China’s new Middle East policy, which included making a commitment to building peace and development in the region, and supporting industrialization and stability. This speech followed the publication of China’s first Arab Policy Paper, a “blueprint for China-Arab mutually beneficial cooperation, [which] reiterates the political will of commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East, in order to promote China-Arab relations to a new and higher level.” It signifies that China will no longer be taking a back seat.

The trip is likely also linked to Xi’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, a rebuilding of the Silk Road trade routes of the Han dynasty. Xi intends to link China and Europe via Central Asia, West Asia, and the Middle East, with the help of Chinese-funded infrastructure.

And with that many interests to protect, it seems China has good reason to invest more time and money in its relations with the Middle East.

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Egypt’s NBE bank sold $2.5 bil in 3 months to cover imports

31 January 2016 Comments (0) Business, Latest Updates from Reuters, Middle East

SHARM AL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) – Egypt’s biggest lender, the state-owned National Bank of Egypt, provided more than $2.5 billion to cover import payments in the last three months as the country faces a currency crisis, Chairman Hisham Okasha told Reuters in an interview.

Egypt, which depends heavily on imports, has been suffering from a worsening dollar crunch since a 2011 uprising drove away foreign investors and tourists, both major sources of hard currency.

In its latest effort to curb dollar spending on imports, Egypt announced on Sunday it would raise tariff rates on a series of goods from Feb. 1.

“During November, December and January we opened letters of credit worth more than $2.5 billion to meet import payments,” Okasha told Reuters on the sidelines of a banking conference in Sharm al-Sheikh.

In December, the central bank said it sold $7.6 billion in previous weeks to help importers pay for goods. It was not clear whether NBE’s dollar injection was part of the central bank’s $7.6 billion.

No comparative figures for letters of credit opened were immediately available as banks are not required to disclose them.

The central bank has been keeping the pound artificially strong at 7.7301 pounds to the dollar, burning through its reserves which tumbled to around $16.4 billion in December from $36 billion in 2011.

In order to fight a black market the central bank imposed a cap of $50,000 a month on dollar deposits at banks, making it harder for importers to open letters of credit and clear cargoes.

It later raised the cap to $250,000 but only on specific imports of essential goods, capital machinery and manufacturing components and medicines.

Okasha also said his bank aims to increase its deposits and loans portfolio by around 15 percent by the end of 2015/16.

The bank’s loans portfolio was around 140 billion pounds in June 2015, while deposits were 447 billion pounds.

“Deposits reached more than 485 billion pounds by the end of December 2015 while loans reached around 178 billion pounds,” Okasha said.

 

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

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Kenzibox: Thinking Outside The Box

21 January 2016 Comments (0) Featured, Leaders, Middle East

KenziBox is a Dubai-based company that makes shoe-box sized treasure troves of children’s activities, delivered to parent’s doors to promote creative and constructive play. UAE-based co-founders Leyla Lahsini and Shirin Benamadi started the business after facing the problems parenthood poses in the digital age.

Both women have Masters Degrees in Business Administration and impressive careers in finance. Lahsini holds an MBA from London Business School as well as a Masters in Strategy and Marketing and has experience in hedge funds in London, while Benamadi holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and has worked in private wealth management at Morgan Stanley.

21st Century Parenting

In the digital age, pulling children away from televisions and iPads and towards activities that promote healthy brain development can be a challenge for parents- especially those who work full time.

For many, after school programs are expensive or unrealistic to take advantage of on a daily basis. “Kids finish school early and you feel this need to keep them busy in the afternoon,” said Lahsini. “We don’t want to put them in activity classes every single afternoon, but you want to keep them busy in a nice way in the house.”

Like many parents of the 21th Century, Lahsini turned to the internet for solutions, downloading craft projects from Pinterest to take up with her four-year-old son. But it was more difficult than it seemed- having to go to many stores to find the right materials, complicated instructions, and the chaos that young children inevitably introduce to situations that involve glitter glue and dexterous finesse.

Taking Play Seriously

Despite the frustrations, Lahsini was determined to continue because she saw the value of exposing her son to such products. Not only do they take up the afternoon in creative play, but craft projects have been shown to develop higher thinking skills, enhance multicultural understandings, build self-esteem as well as positive emotional responses to learning- all benefits every parent would want for their child.

Lashini turned to her friend, now-business partner Benamadi, who always seemed to make the arts and crafts projects look simple and easy. This simple request for help and the master’s degrees they both carried in business administration paved the way for KenziBox.

Kenzibox

When Moms have MBAs

“Can we bring that simplicity to everyone?” thought Lahsini. Together they researched themes and developed activities around those ideas. In November 2014, their first themed box, Circus in Town, was launched.

Little more than a year later and KenziBox stays true to their successful original fashion. Every month a new theme debuts in shoe-box form, where children can open the box and find everything they need, from materials to illustrated instructions, on how to craft everything from make-your-own clown outfits to volcanoes that actually erupt.

KenziBox: a Dubai’s Business (Role) Model

By creating a product that re-invents itself every week, KenziBox continuously provides opportunities for growth for both children and parents, with creative projects designed by early-age education professionals. Boasting stellar customer service for the busiest of parents, KenziBoxes are conveniently sold online, delivered to the door with all the necessary materials. The simplicity in meeting 21st century parenting problems makes KenziBox a role model in the UAE’s emerging e-commerce market, and is a learning lesson in itself for other businesses that aspire to create a positive impact in their client’s lives.

Their superb business model has won them several recognitions in their first year alone- Dubai Women’s Business Council awarded them First Place as well as the People’s Choice award, and KenziBox was a finalist for SME’s Start Up of the Year.

Emma Fisher, a Dubai-based schoolteacher who was one of KenziBox’s intial clients, can attest to the benefits the projects offer, both as a mother and an education professional.

One month of KenziBox starts at AED 185, with lower rates for long term subscriptions. The company also offers party favor sets and KenziBox travel bags.

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Magreb Bank launches to drive regional economic integration

19 January 2016 Comments (0) Featured, Middle East, Politics

Maghreb

The new Maghreb Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade is a significant step in efforts to create a regional economy.

The economic integration of five countries of the Maghreb region of Northern Africa took a step forward with the launch of the Maghreb Bank for Investment and Foreign Trade.

The bank will finance joint projects of the five member nations of the Arab Maghreb Union – Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. It launched with $150 million in capital contributed by the member countries.

The bank will invest in projects including infrastructure, transportation, telecommunications and electrical power. It will also work to strengthen intra-Maghreb trade.

The bank, based in Tunis, was launched December 21. Nouerddine Zekri, former Tunisian Secretary of State for Development and International Cooperation, was named Senior General Manager of the bank.

A step towards integrating regional economies

The launch marks a significant step in the long-delayed effort to boost trade within the region by integrating the economies of the five countries, which together represent a market of about 100 million consumers.

Despite decades of regional political tensions, the economic appeal of the integration effort has remained strong.

Exports from and to countries within the region are extremely low and the integration promises to increase those. At the same time, most of the countries are highly dependent on trade with the European Union and more intra-region trade will reduce that vulnerability.

Integration promises to grow GDP

Economic integration would increase growth in GDP by an estimated 2-3 percent and increase job creation, according to one study, which called it a potential “game changer’’ for a region that is the least integrated in the world. On average, trade between the five countries represents only three percent of their global trade.

“The benefits would be significant. It could increase intra-regional commerce by 5-12% and stimulate job growth and help anchor stability,” the report from the Tunis Conference on Regional Economic Integration said.

Nouerddine Zekri

Nouerddine Zekri, the first General Manager of the new Maghreb Bank

Boosting trade within the region

The report said trade within the region could grow by 5 to 12 percent with integration.

“This growth could in turn translate to significant job creation particularly if enhanced trade encompasses both goods and services,” the report said, noting that a consumer market of about 100 million would attract greater foreign and local investment and offer smaller businesses opportunities to expand.

National economies struggle

The growth would help economies that have struggled.

Since 2011, growth of GDP in the region has averaged only 2 percent, compared to 5 percent during the six years prior to the financial crisis of 2008. Economic growth has failed to keep pace with population growth. Unemployment is high, averaging 12 percent in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, according to the European Commission.

At the same time, the Maghreb countries are highly dependent on trade with the European Union, which proved to be vulnerability during the euro crisis.

Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia export as much as 70 percent of their products to the EU and those exports represent 20 to 30 percent of their GDP. Morocco and Tunisia also depend heavily on European tourists, which make up about 40 percent of their arrivals.

While one goal is to reduce dependence on exports to Europe, an integrated regional economy might create a more effective bargaining bloc to negotiate in with the European Union.

Political tensions, unrest stall progress

The five countries first signed the Treaty of Marrakesh agreeing to integrate in 1989. The framework for forming a bank was signed in 1991 but the actual bank was not approved until 2006.

Political tensions stalled the economic integration effort for more than two decades. Initially, disagreements between Morocco and Algeria over territory in the Western Sahara contributed to delays. More recently, political disruption and war created uncertainty about economic stability in the region.

The differing economic structures of the countries have also posed a challenge to integration. Morocco and Tunisia have relatively liberal market economies while Algeria and Libya economies were more tightly controlled. Mauritania’s economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture.

Among the five countries, Algeria and Morocco have the largest economies with $552 billion and $250 billion GDP respectively. The GDP of Mauritania, totals an estimated $8 billion.

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