Remote work policies take hold

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WFH policies are taking hold across the region, albeit for different reasons in each case. Yesterday was the first day of Egypt’s new policy requiring employees in the public and private sectors — excluding factories, public services, water stations, gas stations, water treatment stations, hospitals, schools, and universities — to work from home in a bid to conserve energy. Egypt is the first country in the region to enforce mandatory WFH time, but the policy is gaining traction among Asian countries.

In Saudi, the impetus for WFH is security: Building managers at The King Abdullah Financial District, Business Gate, and Al Faisaliah Tower directed tenants to work from home through today. Al Faisaliah houses Apple and JPMorgan Chase’s offices in Saudi, while Business Gate is home to Microsoft and Dell, all on Tehran’s list of retaliation against US tech corporations.

Turkey and Egypt hiked electricity rates over the weekend, as both net energy importers roll out a spate of different policies in a bid to contain the fiscal and monetary fallout of the war-induced global energy crisis.

Egypt to focus on commercial and household bills: Commercial energy consumers will see rates for the first 100 kWh used rise 91%, while consumption above this will also see further increases at smaller incremental increases per bracket. Energy used for irrigation will increase 32.5%, and households in the high-consumption bracket will face a 16% hike, according to a government document seen by EnterpriseAM.

Turkey chose a holistic approach, raising the rates for households (25%), industries (6-19%), the services sector (18%), and irrigation consumers (25%).

Sign of the times

Business conditions across the region’s non-oil private sectors took a hit in March, as escalating geopolitical tensions and softer demand began to weigh more visibly on activity. Saudi Arabia’s non-oil private sector contracted for the first time in over five years, with the headline PMI falling to 48.8 from 56.1 in February — the survey's second-steepest drop on record. Meanwhile, Egypt’s non-oil sector continued to stagnate, with the PMI hitting 48.0 — its weakest since April 2024 — amid falling output and orders.

No surprise here: The contractions come on the heels of unprecedented supply chains and energy crises driven by the shutdown of the Hormuz Strait. Non-oil private sectors all over the world — from Australia and the European Union to our neighbor Turkey — took a hit as a result.