A quick glance at the map tells you the importance for the economies of the region of the proposed bridge between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. A connection of the African and Eurasian continents, in conjunction with the current rapid development of the Suez Canal zone, could position Egypt as one of the main crossroads of the world for both cargo and passengers.
Once upon a time, one could hop aboard a train in downtown Cairo and within hours be in Jaffa, Beirut or even Damascus. Journeys by car or lorry were similarly commonplace. Unfortunately, normal land travel between the African and Asian land masses was all but put to a halt by the creation in 1948 of Israel, which stretches from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea.
This blocked Egyptian industry off from cheap cargo routes to crucial regional markets, including those of the wealthy Arabian Gulf. Egyptian products from then on had to be expensively unloaded from cars and lorries at port and placed on ships.
Details of the new bridge to Saudi Arabia have yet to be released, but earlier plans included a railway line as well as lanes for cars and lorries.
Let us assume for the sake of an economic argument that politicians can resolve the politically-charged issue of sovereignty over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir without ruffling too many feathers. On Saturday, the Egyptian cabinet agreed to a new maritime border with Saudi Arabia that would cede control of Tiran and Sanafir, the former of which is to be part of the bridge.
Even before Israel’s creation, Egypt never properly exploited its position as a land bridge between Asia and Africa. In the past few years, however, it and other countries in the region have been rapidly expanding their transport networks.
Egypt has completed a coastal road linking Port Said with Alexandria and the Libyan border, and has constructed a desert motorway from Cairo to Aswan.
Three new tarmacked roads, one along the Red Sea coast and others on either side of the Nile, for the first time link Egypt with its southern neighbour Sudan, the Sudanese transport minister Makawi Mohamed Awad told me last week in an interview in Nyala, in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Sudan is also planning to upgrade its railways to enable it to carry Egyptian trains. When Lord Kitchener built a railway in Sudan ahead of his 1898 conquest of Khartoum, he chose a 1,067-millimetre wide track instead of the normal gauge 1,435-millimetre track used in Egypt, perhaps to save time and money.
Sudan is now preparing to widen and rehabilitate the line from Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border to Khartoum by replacing the sleepers and adding a third rail, which will mean that trains of both gauges will be able to make the 800-kilometres journey. Replacing the entire line with wide gauge would have cost about $1 billion, but now with the new plan will only cost $500 million, Mr Awad says. Sudan hopes for finance from the Islamic Development Bank.
That would extend the railway as far south as Waw in South Sudan, although Sudan would need to reach agreement with its southern neighbour to resume service. After that, only a few remaining gaps would need to be plugged to complete the famed Cairo to Cape Town Railway, in the planning since the late 19th century.
Other lines shooting off east to Port Sudan on the Red Sea and west to Nyala in Darfur are being rehabilitated. Much further in the future, a line from Djibouti to Senegal that would pass through Sudan is on the drawing board. When a final stretch of highway is completed in northern Kenya in the coming months, it should be possible to drive a lorry all the way to South Africa.
The other big development has been the creation of an economic zone along Egypt’s Suez Canal last year. Until recently, Egypt has all but ignored the huge commercial potential of the land around the canal, through which about 8 per cent of all global seaborne shipping passes.
At the northern end of the canal zone is a 35 square km port named East Port Said, which was designed partly as a transit hub for containers to be unloaded from giant cargo ships passing through the canal for distribution on smaller ships around the Mediterranean.
Another port, Sokhna at the canal’s southern end, has become the main cargo port of Cairo, which lies 120km away via a purpose-built motorway. A 12 sq km industrial zone where factories already operate, including ammonia and fertilizer plants, lies nearby. The government says it may spend up to $15bn on infrastructure.
The new bridge would put the canal’s southern outlet a mere 300km away from the border of Saudi Arabia, one of the region’s biggest markets and also a major source of industrial inputs.
Patrick Werr has worked as a financial writer in Egypt for 25 years
business@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Black Panther
Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
Five stars
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
SERIES INFO
Schedule:
All matches at the Harare Sports Club
1st ODI, Wed Apr 10
2nd ODI, Fri Apr 12
3rd ODI, Sun Apr 14
4th ODI, Sun Apr 16
UAE squad
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Zimbabwe squad
Peter Moor (captain), Solomon Mire, Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Timycen Maruma, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brandon Mavuta, Ainsley Ndlovu, Tony Munyonga, Elton Chigumbura
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Name: Mariam Ketait
Emirate: Dubai
Hobbies: I enjoy travelling, experiencing new things, painting, reading, flying, and the French language
Favourite quote: "Be the change you wish to see" - unknown
Favourite activity: Connecting with different cultures