{"id":647536,"date":"2017-05-14T04:01:27","date_gmt":"2017-05-14T04:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2017\/05\/14\/egypt-in-the-news-on-14-may-2017\/"},"modified":"2017-05-14T04:01:27","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T04:01:27","slug":"egypt-in-the-news-on-14-may-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2017\/05\/14\/egypt-in-the-news-on-14-may-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt in the news on 14 May 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a mixed bag of coverage for Egypt in the international press this morning<\/strong>, with coverage being led by the discovery of a cache of 17 mummies<\/a> and, separately, of the 3,700 year-old tomb of a pharaoh\u2019s daughter<\/a>. Reuters reports<\/a> that the finds are the latest in a string of discoveries that represent \u201ca helping hand from the crypt for [our] struggling tourism sector.\u201d Elsewhere, an Associated Press piece on the \u201cballet bubble\u201d in Cairo<\/a> is also getting increasingly wide pickup.<\/p>\n

Archaeology and ballet are drowning out pickup of stories from Reuters<\/a> and Bloomberg<\/a> on Egypt reaching a staff-level agreement with the IMF<\/strong> to disburse the next tranche of the USD 12 bn extended fund facility. Also flying below the radar: AP\u2019s story<\/a> noting that President Abdelfattah El Sisi is \u201ccalling on the international community to lift an arms embargo on Libya<\/strong> so that weapons can be delivered legally to a powerful general he backs in the fractured country's east.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Economist takes positive note of the passing of the new investment act<\/strong>, correctly adding that the devil is in the details<\/a> of its implementation at the sub-ministerial level. The story also mixes in the moribund one-stop shop and the industrial permits act for good measure \u2014 and springboards off our \u201cdismal\u201d 122nd-place ranking on the World Bank\u2019s ease-of-doing-business index. H\/t Youssef B.<\/p>\n

The World Bank and World Economic Forum also spring-boarded off the Ease of Doing Business index in partnership with the African Development Bank for the 2017 edition of the Africa Competitiveness Index (pdf)<\/strong><\/a>, wherein the disaster zone that is Algeria (for anyone who has ever tried to be a non-oil foreign investor there) is said to be among the 10 most competitive African economies. The five most competitive African economies, per the report, are Mauritius, South Africa, Rwanda, Botswana and Morocco. Check out the table below, which accompanies this story on the WEF blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Egypt section (pp. 106-107) notes \u201cEgypt remains stable at 115th position this year. To create growth and employment, Egypt could build on its large market size (25th); its business sector, which by some accounts appears more sophisticated than those of neighboring countries (85th); and its geographical proximity to the large European market.\u201d We get particularly low marks for \u201cgovernment instability \/ coups<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cforeign currency regulations<\/strong>,\u201d which makes us wonder when the bloody thing was written. H\/t Haitham A.<\/p>\n

From there, hop over to the Wall Street Journal (paywall), where Maria Abi-Habib has a long take this morning headlined \u201cChristians, in an Epochal Shift, Are Leaving the Middle East<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d Sadly, Egypt features heavily in the story, which notes that, \u201cBy 2025, Christians are expected to represent just over 3% of the Mideast\u2019s population, down from 4.2% in 2010, according to Todd Johnson, director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Hamilton, Mass. A century before, in 1910, the figure was 13.6%.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Hassan Khan, the Cairo-born artist, has won the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale <\/strong>as \u201cthe most promising young artist in the central exhibition,\u201d<\/strong> the New York Times<\/a> notes in passing. More on Khan here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other coverage worth a skim:<\/p>\n