February 14, 2012

Business Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs in the Middle East Mobile Market

By: Hina Naz, Technology Blogger
Source: Originally posted on Naz Hina Blogspot , “In the Lineage of TechInfo”, which focuses on technology: “The ideas behind “In the Lineage of TechInfo” is to present contemporary information about Communication and Technology at single platform. Our objective is to deliver quality knowledge and to ensure Authentic, Reliable and Timely information with an intention to extend knowledge networks.”

Business opportunities are coming up for women entrepreneurs in Middle east and African mobile market to ensure new synergies.

According to the recent report of Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, regional carrier STC and market research firm TNS, the role of women in Middle east and African mobile market is increasing which demonstrate the sign of bringing more jobs especially in retail chains which accumulates higher revenue potential through improved sales, stronger brand imaging and access to untapped markets. The report based on telecom participation of 11 countries ( Bahrain, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Qatar, South Africa, Tanzania, Philippines and Uganda) which comprise on multiple mobile network operators, vendors, distributors, subcontractors and other stakeholders. the report urges mobile network operators and distributors to build a business case by collecting data on the performance of their retail agents from a gender perspective. Governments and NGOs are encouraged to work together to create targeted initiatives to drive female participation in the mobile value chain.

The report findings reveals that the mobile retail sales presenting a flexible and easy going opportunities for women entrepreneurs. According to statistics, In India, Indonesia and the Middle East, it was unfold that the majority of individual’s in the mobile value chain were male, while in Africa and the Philippines most mobile vendors were found to be women, although the majority of people are working at small scale. Mr. Cherie Blair, commenting on the findings of the study and said, “Women entrepreneurs stand to gain a great deal from selling mobile products. Setting up a mobile sales business is relatively easy and has a flexibility that suits the way many women live their lives. But there is also a real business case for mobile operators to include women in mobile value chains, as they offer significant advantages such as better branding and access to new markets.”

In this regard, the researchers cite Vodafone Qatar’s ‘Al-Johara’ scheme is an example of the benefits of such collaboration. In the context of Qatar, where cultural considerations may limit the participatory options of women in the nation’s mobile value chain, ‘Al-Johara’ provides women with training, leading to increased skills for the women and increased sales for Vodafone Qatar.

On the basis of this report, the scope of women within Middle eastern and African territories is penetrating to ensure new targets and market synergies also endorsing the capabilities of women entrepreneurs in business environment.


Note: Hina Naz is a respected Technology/Telecom consultant, Communication specialist,Technical writer and Information trainer having diverse experience with telecom vendor and education. By qualification, completed her Masters in Computer systems and extremely focused to ensure results according to timelines and persuaded to strategically and cost effectively utilize technology in alignment with corporate goals. Her proven areas are technology strategic planning, integration and deployment, technical communication, program/Project management, implementing best practice methodologies and continuous improvement programs. Follow her on Twitter @NazHina or Email Hina at: hina-naz@lycos.com

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February 12, 2012

Middle East & How Syria’s Civil War Differs by Majid Rafizadeh

Poll of the Week

Middle East and How Syria’s Civil War Differs
By: Majid Rafizadeh
Source: Harvard International Review, originally posted on February 9th, 2012

Although Iran, Iraq and Lebanon have taken almost the same position in warning about possibility of civil war in case of ouster of Assad, they have different concerns and objectives in regard with this issue. Being bordered with Syria, and having lived through civil wars, Iraq and Lebanon are understandably worried about the spill-over of the instability and Syria’s civil war to their country. However, for the Islamic Republic of Iran, the civil war in Syria would mean that the Islamic Republic of Iran would lose a centralized government and strategically important country in the region. Therefore, it would have a considerable effect on the balance of power between Iran and the rest of Arab countries, particularly with Saudi Arabia.

The Iraqi officials’ concerns are resonated in Iraqi prime minister’s remarks. According to al-Maliki when he told The Associated Press during an interview “The situation in Syria is dangerous.” He added that “Things should be dealt with appropriately so that the spring in Syria does not turn into a winter.” Additionally, he pointed out that he would avoid for calling for Assad’s removal: “The killing or removal of President Bashar in any way will explode into an internal struggle between two groups and this will have an impact on the region.” Lebanon also abstained from suspending Syria’s membership from the Arab League.

The number of Syrian soldiers being defected from the army is growing to a point that it has reached around 25000 soldiers. These defected soldiers are mainly from the low rank Sunni officials who defy the order of the high Alawite officials. Their leader is reported to be Riad al-As’ad, a former Syrian colonel; and they have called so far for no-fly zone.

Additionally UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay pointed out at a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that “The Syrian authorities’ continual ruthless oppression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war.” The United Nations Human Rights council have also passed a resolution that “strongly condemns the continued widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the killing and persecution of protesters, human rights defenders and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, including against children”.

More than 5500 people have been killed that among them are hundreds of children, according to Navi Pillay. Moreover, according to Sergio Paulho Pinheiro, chairman of the independent international commission of inquiry, November was the deadliest month for children, where 56 children were killed.

Many analysts have resembled the possible civil war in Syria to the one in Iraq, but it is crucial to know that full-fledged civil war in Syria would have a different character than the one in Iraq and it would be more destructive in terms of human lives’ losses and regional instability. Because of the complexity of social, religious and ethnic fabric of the Syrian society, the civil war would not take only one dimention. For example, it would not be only a civil war between different religious sects as we saw in Iraq- Sunni opposed to Shia- or in case of Syria Alawite opposed to Sunni. The civil war will take both ethnic and religious dimensions. The religious sects are not only Alawite and the Sunni- there are Christan, Druze and Shia. Tensions between different ethnicities Arab and Non-Arab (Kurds and Druze) would add fuel to the battle. For instance, In Syria, there are Kurds who are Sunni but also there are Kurds who are Alawites. In this scenarios, any ethnic groups or religious groups who don’t participate in the war and don’t take side would be consider traitors and would not be left alone secure. This would have tremendous disastrous impacts on the life of hundreds of thousands of Syrian children, women and innocent young men.

Note: Majid Rafizadeh is an expert on both Syria and Iran and serves as the ambassador for the National American-Iranian Council. As a human rights activist and columnist for Harvard International Review, he frequently writes for the Huffington Post.

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February 8, 2012

February 11, 2011: Ding Dong the Pharoah’s Gone.

Every Wednesday in February will review a political economy issue regarding a Maghreb country. Last week Sarah Hassaine reflected on Algeria. This week will focus on Egypt because on February 11th, 2011, Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power after 30 years of authoritarian rule. Some argue that stepping down is a euphemism for a coup d’tat orchestrated by the military as they saw the inevitable end of a regime. Others argue that the revolution by the people for the people peacefully sent the message to Mubarak. Either way, PITAPOLICY is commemorating the historic precedent Egypt inspired, shortly after Tunisia, by including the media comparisons. This week’s posting includes the 2011 speech Mehrunisa Qayyum presented at the International Monetary Fund Toastmasters International competition, which earned first place before moving on to represent at the District level. *Names have been changed to protect identities. As always, PITAPOLICY looks forward to receiving pieces on Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Sudan for the remainder of February. Please submit to pitapolicy@gmail.com

Sing: Ding Dong the Pharoah is gone!
Which Pharoah? The Fat Pharoah! Use your phone.
Stand up, the Pharoah’s gone. He’s fled his home and is all alone.
Ding Dong, yallah, let’s go sing it loud, sing it proud.
The Fat Pharoah is gone.
Tell everyone you know!

This is an adaptation from the classic American tale “The Wizard Oz”. However, rather than singing about the demise of the Wicked Witch, I coined these lyrics for the Last Pharoah of Egypt—Hosni Mubarak.

On February 11th, at around 11am EST, I was humming this tune because the last pharaoh of Egypt finally heard the 80 some million Egyptians reverberating across the Atlantic Ocean. I excitedly posted my limmerick to my friends’ Facebook pages. The American characters of my story boil down to 3—Jenan, the activist/organizer; Sossan, the photographer; and Alex, the tech Geek—I can call Alex tech Geek because he’s my fellow Georgetown alum and interns in a news bureaus’ info tech office. (He also has these special winter gloves that lets him type without the clumsy fumbles of fabric since there are leather finger tips.)

10 days later, my generous friend Jenan hosted a koshari party to celebrate the peaceful revolution. She asked each of us to reflect as Al Jazeera footage of the protests played in the background. Meanwhile, we’re filling our stomachs with Trader Joe’s grape leaves and overpriced pomegranate juice. As I’m eating koshari, a traditional Egyptian dish of rice and lentils, I started to flash back to when I decided to switch my computer screen from CNN to Facebook and Al-Jazeera—or as my friend Alex put it: glued to the screen until falling asleep in front of it before work early next morning.

II. Raise, Raise, Raise Your Voice; Its Your Freedom, It’s Your Choice
We chanted this as Egyptians, Arabs, non-Arab Americans—including other Middle Easterner, Anglo, Black, and Latin. The Pro-Democracy supporters included Muslims, Coptics/Christians, and Jews—or anyone concerned about social justice and human rights. Mubarak had kept Egypt in the State of Emergency as if it was at war since he assumed power in 1981. Therefore, Arabic slogans like “Ooskut, Ooskut Hosni Mubarak”, echoed in Cairo, Alexandria, Mansura, London, Washington, DC, Chicago, Los Angeles —meaning Down, Down with Hosni Mubarak. So, Jenan organized, Alex tweeted, Sossan uploaded pictures and I reposted updates on Facebook. Later, Sossan, Jenan, Alex, and myself marched to the White House and joined the 400 people showing solidarity with the Pro-Democracy protestors.

Our American protest crowd was like a microcosm of the groups in Egypt because we had our university professors, church and mosque leaders, social justice peace activists who were demonstrating their pride on respecting human rights. Later that night, a couple hundred people slept outside of the White House and held a vigil just like the thousands sleeping over in Tahrir Square and honoring its namesake by demonstrating for “Liberation”. This is the meaning of Tahrir. Also, it was a sharp contrast to the days I would dodge traffic to get to class at the American University of Cairo on the other side. Jenan, Sossan, Alex, myself and many other of our friends, remember exactly where we were every Saturday since the Tahrir Square protests initiated on January 25th.

Beginning with Day 1 of the protests, Mind you, I’m not referring to the spotlight on Egypt the way CNN and Fox News did. Instead, many news organizations approached these events with more pessimism by labeling as the “Egyptian Crisis” in the bottom lefthand corner. Perhaps they labeled it “crisis” for the following 3 reasons:
-Mubarak held an estimated 30,000 political prisoners in Egypt’s jails, according to Washington Report on Middle East Affairs;
-Regarding corruption, Transparency International ranked Egypt 98 out of 178 countries; and
-Mubarak holds over $15 billion in assets just for himself—the leader of a developing nation that is the second largest recipient of US aid.

However, many reporters focused on the Muslim Brotherhood and unemployment statistics rather than the ones I’ve just shared.

III. Speak to Tweet Campaign By Google For Protesters to Voice

Even though we shouted until we went hoarse, we nor the Egyptians lost our virtual voice. By the end of the first week, the Last Pharoah became angry and clamped down on the people by cutting off electricity and internet across Egypt. However, the Last Pharaoh failed to realize that he could not hit the delete button to eliminate communication permanently. Thankfully, Google clicked the “Refresh” button and launched the “Speak to Tweet” campaign where pro-Democracy protestors and observers could call a number on their mobile devices and speak rather than type. Rami shared new tweets and new slogans from Egyptian protestors. He, like others, shared Pro-Democracy tweets with us so we could echo their voices here during our DC and Chicago demonstrations. The 140 character status updates assured neighboring protestors that the military continued to maintain neutrality. The Pro-Democracy participants had NOT opened fire in the crowded masses. In the same vein, news sources gained access to information when they lost contact with reporters like Aymen Moyheldine from the DC bureau of AJE or Anderson Cooper from CNN.

On a sidenote, but an equally important point: Grass roots organizers used social media to organize. In particular, Facebook accounts communicated when and where demonstrations would occur and how to participate. Therefore, it was no surprise that the Mubarak’s regime temporarily interrupted these organizers by hacking into their Facebook accounts.

Furthermore, the Last Pharoah allowed his Ministry of Interior to cut internet communication which disrupted organizers because they couldn’t tweet the ground reality. For example, one of the on the ground tweeters/grass roots organizers, was Wael Ghonim. Wael is 30 yrs old and serves as Google’s Head of Marketing in MENA. He epitomizes what some political economists refer to as part of the “demographic gift” –the large number of people between 15-30 year olds living in many countries in the Middle East North Africa region. Others refer to this demographic as the “demographic bulge”. Whichever spin you give to this demographic, it makes up about 30% of MENA’s population. As a result, 1000s followed Ghonim’s tweets.

Back to my friends’ story: their efforts to tweet back the minute by minute occurrences presented real time coverage when CNN and BBC switched over to other stories.

IV. “Speed It UP So I Can Go Home & Study”
This sounds like a cheeky remark from noted comedian pundit Stephen Colbert. However, by Day 12 of the protests, Sossan a Masters student, shouted this outside the Egyptian embassy in Washington, DC as 500 of us repeated slogans during our demonstrations. Sossan kept up our spirits by grabbing the wittiest and funniest slogans from Egypt. For example, the picture she shared with me included students holding up a sign in Arabic saying,
“You’re Gonna Go; Speed It Up, So I Can Go Home… and Take a Shower!”

Through Facebook, Sossanposted her pictures and her friend’s pictures from Egypt. Sossan would “tag” a dozen FB friends, who would “tag” another dozen, and so on and so forth. As a result, 1,500 of our American and Canadian friends that even in challenging situations, Egyptians will remain resilient but witty in their efforts to remove the last pharaoh.

My favorite moment was seeing young kids—or as I call munchkins—raised on their fathers’ shoulders mouthing the slogans and wearing the Egyptian flags as caped superheroes shouting at the unfair pharoah. This scene was universal in both the US and Egypt.

V. “Journalism Is the First Rough Draft of History…”
…stated Philip Graham at Johns Hopkin SAIS. Although the Pro-Democracy protestors demonstrated peacefully, by February 3rd, the Last Pharoah’s response was not peaceful. Hordes of his thugs descended upon civilians, injuring thousands. Youtube footage captured this and was later uploaded to formal television news networks. (Show picture)

Thankfully, Al Jazeera English provided special coverage by canvassing experts from government, nonprofits and academia from all over the world. I was ecstatic seeing my former Georgetown professors, like Samer Shehata, appear on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer report, Al Jazeera, and surprisingly, The Colbert Report. I was proud to see that my Politics and Media professor clarified myths regarding Egyptians—even when faced with the Stephen Colbert’s antics —relating how Egypt’s civil society is capable of determining its own democratic destiny.

Even though I told Dr. Shehata I enjoyed all his interviews, I couldn’t help but feel that he produced the most impact by appearing on the political news satire because of its popular following outside of the US. Also, the my professor’s Colbert interview was probably retweeted more than his other interviews because the Colbert Show has won the award for most influential based on the number of Colbert’s retweets.

VI. Reflecting: Not surprised that social networks played a crucial role:

As we celebrate the Egyptian revolution, and decide how the world will recast these events in textbooks, I am not surprised that social networks played a crucial role for 2 reasons:
1) In 2008, Social networks, or “Generation Facebook” partly attributed to Obama’s campaign win; As Newsweek and Time highlighted right after Obama’s election.
2) Why not replay out in another country, like Egypt, with a large demographic under the age of 35.

If journalism is the first rough draft of history, then the analysis and commentary of the events must be the revised drafts. I think that’s why Alex’s boss has asked him to write a piece analyzing the impact of Twitter on Egypt’s revolution. I think that’s why Sossan and I were interviewed by NPR. Sossan is also entering her photos in an international photo contest. Meanwhile other friends are taking the lessons learned and now reporting on Libya’s revolution. If we review the many drafts of Egypt’s historical events, then I believe that the story of the Last Pharaoh must include the tweets, blogs, Youtube footage, and other social network applications. These tools combined provide the proofreading tools that allowed Yasmin, Heidi, Rami, and me to check our facts and hear the virtual voices when the Last Pharoah detained journalists or allowed thugs to beat up camermen. Therefore, I will end my story of the Last Pharoah since Egypt will write its own story. When Sossan and I will repeat this story to our future munchkins about the Last Pharaoh, I know that I will call the last chapter by my happy tweet: “Ding Dong the Pharoah’s Gone”~

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February 7, 2012

Syria Assessment: Defections & Reflections

PITAPOLICY Consulting has been tracking Syria’s developments since March 15th. A policy brief on civil society was published by the Middle East Institute.

“The signs of blood on the walls, on the ground. On every street there are signs of blood that show there have been a lot of people killed and wounded. The humanitarian situation is totally disastrous – no electricity, no water, no food, no medicine.”~Malek Anwar, Former League of Arab States Observer

The Syrian death toll mounts to nearly 7,000 as the defections among upper level military officials are still rare.  According to the Guardian, the highest profile defector, Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush, was shot by a firing squad after disappearing from a refugee camp in Turkey.  However, a high-profile military defector recently challenged the common belief that the Syrian military forces are resolute in their support of the Assad regime. Moreover, the resignations of Arab League observers on the Syria mission may imply a variety of foreign intervening measures that push for a “Right to Protect” clause.

Syrian General’s Defection Provided Detailed Military Assessment & Points to “Nuclear” Implosion of Military
General Mustafa al-Sheikh, who has worked on Syria’s intelligence, has taken refuge in Turkey. According to his first full length interview with the UK Telegraph, General al Sheikh reported that only a third of the army was at combat readiness due to defections or absenteeism, while remaining troops were demoralized. Moreover, most of its Sunni officers had fled, been arrested, or sidelined, and its equipment was degraded. “The army will collapse during February,” he said in an interview with the UK Telegraph.
“The reasons are the shortage of Syrian army personnel, which even before March 15 last year did not exceed 65 per cent. The proportion of equipment that was combat ready did not exceed that, due to a shortage of spare parts.
“The Syrian army combat readiness I would put at 40 per cent for hardware and 32 per cent for personnel.
“(Syrian regime)They are sending in elements from the Shabiha (militia) and the Alawite sect to compensate, but this army is unable to continue more than a month. Some elements of the army are reaching out to the FSA to help them to defect.”
“The situation is now very dangerous and threatens to explode across the whole region, like a nuclear reaction,” he said. (His complete interview may be found here.) More details.

Former League Observer of Syria Reflects Malek Anwar spoke to NPR’s, Robert Segal, through a translator. The entire interview may be heard here: 
Original story from Jan. 12th.

Human Rights Watch sent a letter to League Secretary General, Nabil El-Araby, to publicly release the report coordinated by General Mustafa al-Dabi. 
 

No US Policy On Syria
Emil Hokayem lectured at IISS (International Institute for Strategic Studies), I have Hokayem’s comments from his Tuesday, Jan. 24th lecture.  He argues that there is no US policy on Syria; rather it is ad hoc.  He stated that the Syrian National Council is not as powerful as an opposition group.  His entire statement may be viewed here. Essentially, since he represents a security institute based in London, he focuses on 3 themes:
a) The Gulf Cooperation Council countries influence and relatively easier ability to disengage from Syria;
Increasing propaganda from the gulf, with Qatar feeling betrayed by Assad.
Qatar has the ear of Nabil El-Araby of the Arab League, but is experiencing declining power among GCC nations & Saudi’s rise.  (Qatar will lose the presidency to Iraq)
b) Gulf states don’t know the Syrian Opposition, but have different entry points into Syria; and
Gulf states are in a position to offer incentives, e.g. a safe haven for Assad and other potential Syrian government exiles. Gulf states can try to speak with China and Russia.  However, it’s a difficult avenue to pursue because a) energy issues–apart from Syria–cause friction; and b) Russians mistrust Gulf countries over the post-Libya transition, in particular between Qatar and Russia.  
Gulf countries need to reach out Security Council members: Pakistan, Morocco, South Africa, Brazil, and India.  
Support the armed opposition in Syria.  
Qatar has a good relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood
c) The Sunni-Shi’ite division influencing Lebanon’s border interests.
sectarian killings occurring in Homs. Sunni businessmen are still worried about joining opposition.  
Questions from the audience hyper focused on the potential emergence of a Salafi movement.
 
Meanwhile, the phrase “Libya is not Syria, Syria is not Libya” continues to reverberate among think tanks and diplomats regarding Right to Protect and its related implementation.  Brookings forum on Wednesday maintained that Right to Protect does not maintain a precedent just because it was enacted in Libya–especially since human rights abuses amounted to War Crimes as well as Crimes Against Humanity.  There is a “catch-22” since these legal determinations may warrant “R2P”, but the human rights observers by the League and other groups have not come out unanimously in this regard, so R2P continues to pose a semantic debate among activists who would like specific criteria of how to determine that the regime has not only failed to protect its people, but has instigated harm among civilians, which moves beyond Clause #1 & 2.  The caveat is that R2P will invite foreign military intervention.

Power Plays: Opposition Rejects Talks Organized by Russia; Iran Wants More Time for Reforms
In a power play, Russia offered to hold talks between the Syrian government and rebel forces in Moscow.  However, the offer was rejected by rebels while Iran stated that Assad needs more times to implement reforms.  

According to Business week, Russia continues to deny that it is supplying weapons to Syria’s government forces.  However, Russia has maintained a strong rejection at the UN Security Council to interject and intervene with a UN monitoring force.

Fighting Carries Into Damascus Suburbs
The death toll reached 6,000 after the third day of guerrilla style fighting emerged in the northern Damascus suburbs.  Syrian government forces have increased their offensive in Homs and Daraa since the the League withdrew their mission on Saturday.   The BBC reports that 2,000 Syrian troops and 50 tanks are posted in the northern suburbs.  The Syrian government newspaper, SANA, reports that “armed-terrorist” groups have blown up pipelines, which necessitates Syrian armed forces to restore order.

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February 5, 2012

Startup Boom in the Middle East



The correct answer is Sabq.org as reported by the Effectiveness Measure, which has a MENA office in Dubia. The GCC region (Gulf Cooperation Council) represents 46 million of the 91 million unique web browsers established in the MENA region, according to the Effectiveness Measure report.

This week PITAPOLICY welcomes returning contributor, Ramy Ghaly, to comment on the technology ecosystem. His previous post may be found here: Technology Series Part 1 & Part 2.

Arab Startup Boom Awakens
By: Ramy Ghaly

The Arab world’s political scene shifted along with its young-tech-entrepreneur’s scene. Some optimists describe it with the combined effects as the revolution of social media networks of Facebook and Twitter. However, Businessweek and others argue that this is an oversimplification. Activists diverge on this opinion as well. Either way: social media networks have impacted the Arab youth; estimated 60 percent of the Middle East and North Africa region are under 30 years old. The Arab youth in MENA region (has 60 percent of the world’s oil reserve) are also fed up with the privileged few who have monopolized job opportunities, which have triggered another kind of a revolution; a technological commerce trend. Technological commerce includes the boom of startups and entrepreneurship in the Arab region.

With an estimated forecast of 150 million internet users in 2015, a new generation of entrepreneurs started emerging. A generation that is hungry for knowledge, similar to the renaissance era after the dark ages in Europe; and, a passion for technology that is driving growth to leave their mark in this new industry in the Middle East and North Africa region. Although 70 million Arabs currently use the internet, the content available for them in Arabic is still minuscule compared to the other languages; estimated at 1% of the global internet content. However, Arabic accounts for the 7th largest language spoken in the world which triggered an investment opportunity to develop applications and content in Arabic for a market that is proving to be profitable with sustainable growth going forward.

The investment climate in startups looks promising in the Arab world. There was an estimated $30 million over the period of two years (2010-2011). However, more than 70% of venture capital investments have been executed in 2011 (mainly in the technology sector); therefore, will lead to more investment growth in the next 5 years.

Here are some highlights of the investment environment in technology and internet startups in the Middle East and North Africa region:

(Note: These facts were extracted and aggregated using ctrl, a semantic search engine that does semantic analysis on news like text documents. A product made possible by the Research and Development Team of Pragmatech. For more information, please visit the website at – http://www.pragma-tech.com
65 investments have been carried out in internet and technology startups by 22 companies specialized in financing and funding startups in different phases.)

The total value of investment pumped into these companies is estimated at 30 million dollars.
Jordan attracted the largest number of investments with 30 startups followed by UAE with 11 startups and then Egypt with 9 startups.

UAE startups have attracted the largest amount of investments with an overall estimate of 11 million dollars which accounted for 47 percent of the total investment flow. It was followed by Jordanian startups at 9 million dollars Saudi Arabia startups have attracted only 583,000 dollars.

The number of jobs created by these investments is estimated at 450 jobs. This number is likely to increase if these companies continue to grow and attract further investments.

Oasis 500 was ranked first in terms of the number of companies it invested in during the study with 20 companies, followed by Plug & Play Egypt with 6 companies. This clearly shows the importance of incubators in building the eco-system of the industry

Intel Capital pumped the biggest amount of investment with an estimate of 3,250,000 dollars, followed by Twofour 54 of Abu Dhabi with an estimate of 2,210,000 dollars investment

One of the most prominent events that occurred during the first half of this year was the entry of two world companies to invest in two companies from United Arab Emirates. The American based group buying website ‘Livingsocial’ acquired ‘GoNabit’. Also the classified website ‘Dubizzle’ got an investment from a South African company called ‘Naspers’ through its investment arm MIH. These two investments can be considered as an encouraging initiative to draw the attention of foreign companies to invest in the internet industry in the Arab world.

Group buying websites got the highest level of interest from investors, as nearly 10 Million Dollars were pumped in the sector out of 30 million dollars, the total investment amount.

With such enthusiasm in the Arab Technology Industry, one can say to the world that the Arabs made their mark in 2011; year of the protester according to Time Magazine. A year of uprising surprised the whole world where no global figure has anticipated being that profound of historical change. One can ask, what is next? According to Muhammad M. Mansour , Sr. Marketing Manager at N2V, claims in a notable post stating that 2011 was the year of entrepreneurship in MENA. This statement makes the MENA region ahead of other economies where they have started to see the impact of entrepreneurship influencing to name 2012 the year of the entrepreneur. Having said that, 2012 was kicked off with entrepreneurial fun event in Beirut sponsored by SUMU – startup meet-up in Arabia where entrepreneurs meet, connect, and share their experience while having fun doing it. Mansour ended by saying: “the impact of investing is still in its infancy, but growing, and that the long-term potential of this new asset class is encouraging. It’s clear that the Arab Spring has ignited new starts for 2012. And, I believe, the more benchmarking we can do for the ecosystem in MENA, the more developed it’s going to become”.

Ramy Ghaly is a Marketing Strategist with more than ten years in international markets experience. He held professional and managerial positions in various global markets in industries ranging from retail, wholesale, consumer goods, and technology. He is interested in social media developments, next generation search technologies, semantic search engines, and text analytics. Needless to say, strategies in geopolitics, Middle Eastern Studies, and environmental factors that affect global business growth are general interests to always monitor and encourage writing about. He can be reached at ramy.ghaly@pragma-tech.com. Follow Ramy on Twitter: @ConsultRamy.

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February 1, 2012

Less is Better in Translation of #SOTU #mena #Arab

Less is Better in Translation of #SOTU

By Mehrunisa Qayyum, Founder of PITAPOLICY @Pitapolicy

In DC, watching the State of the Union at a Happy Hour or viewing party is an event–especially when we note who the cameraman focuses on while the president assesses the state of our nation.

Twitter is an addiction. I have started to think about talking points with hashtags placed before them. Merge this addiction with some great guacamole and chips with a cold Coca-Cola, and I will happily not keep my opinions to myself.

Yet, I have no catchphrases from the State of the Union regarding the Middle East & North Africa region after an uneventful viewing at the Arab American Institute. Counting the number of times certain phrases or words the President uses triggers more than just cute drinking games. President Obama did not expound upon Iran’s decision to continue to enrich uranium. This is a sharp contrast from the number of times “nuclear” popped up during President Bush’s State of the Union address days. Instead, triggers that usually regain my attention, were barely uttered once: Osama, Taliban, Iraq, Afghanistan x 4, #iran, Al Qaeda, Middle East, #Cairo, Sanaa, Tripoli, Gaddafi, North Africa, and Assad. These are key words that influence my daily occupation and crop up in my twitter factoids. Specifically, President Obama acknowledged the Arab Awakening and recognized those countries in a positive light (Yemen, Egypt, and Tunisia).

Obama’s SOTU was simple. However, noting what was not said, presents a theme. I was prepared to hear at least 10 minutes of consecutive commentary on the Arab Awakening or the Iranian threat to block oil. I can take the good with the bad. I was even prepared to hear a long tribute on the Iranian threat to block oil.

The good news: no such commentary emerged. No longer can certain fears preoccupy American hearts and minds. Perhaps Americans of Middle Eastern, Muslim, or South Asian descent are comforted by that. However, the central theme of the economy and how to rebuild before another election divides us, might just as easily dissipate this relief. Despite the more domestic focus, the @AAIUSA account received many replies and retweets. But I should not be surprised since AAIUSA advocates for domestic interests. Continued on Arab American Institute USA.

Note: The Arab American Institute is based in Washington, DC and founded by Dr. James Zogby. His latest book is called “Arab Voices”

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February 1, 2012

Algeria & the Arab Spring: Why it is not next?

By: Sarah Hassaine Tweet her @SHassaine

Note: PITAPOLICY is proud to kick-off February with a post on Algeria, which has not been covered in the media regarding the Arab Awakening. In fact, every Wednesday in February, PITAPOLICY will focus on stories covering the Magreb region. As usual, if other “pita-consumers” would like to contribute thoughts on Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, and yes, Egypt too, please send to pitapolicy@gmail.com! Part of breaking bread, is accepting rebuttals. This is the PITAPOLICY mission, so we welcome alternative viewpoints.

“You are next you know,” he says with a grin of satisfaction.

“Hmmm, no we are not,” I retort a matter-of-factly, in which turns the person off complete and they turn away from me as if I have no idea what I am talking about.

We tend to do that. Treat one another like we represent our “home country’s” politics. Ever since the unexpected, yet welcomed, Arab Spring started a little over a year ago in Tunisia, friends (non-Algerian of course), look at me with excitement and almost a hint of admiration in their eyes and say “You are next!” in a rushed voice.

The irony is that before January 2011, people forgot that Algeria even existed. A former colleague of mine asked me once, “Oh yes, it is by Thailand right?” No…far from. Algeria is located in North Africa, nestled between Morocco nd Tunisia. It borders the Mediterranean and faces Spain and France. It is the largest country in all of Africa after Sudan’s split with a population of 35 million and it is very different than other MENA countries due to its history and mixed culture that is influenced by Berbers, Spaniards, Turks, Arabs and the French.

I tip my hat to all those throughout the world at large who have protested and continue to stand up to their regimes demanding democracy, transparency and justice. However, Algeria is not next in line for the Arab Spring extravaganza.

Algeria’s unfortunate history, which is unlike any other Arab country, was colonized by the French for 132 years. Algerians in 1954 started a revolution to fight against their colonialists and after 8 years of fighting, achieved its independence on July 5, 1962.

Thirty years later, the country rich in natural gas and resources slipped into a ten year civil war after national elections yielded results that were not favored by certain parties, notably, the army. Sadly, deathly mediums and innocent lives were used to achieve victory. Algeria saw over ten years of bloodshed: people slaughtered to pieces, villages massacred, midnight raids on families, bombs, disappearances and more – costing over 200,000 lives. After all the revolutionary fighting united against France, the threads of unity unraveled and destroyed their own love and trust for one another.

In 2004, President Bouteflika called for a National Reconciliation referendum and the people responded in a hungry fervor: YES. The people wanted to move on and to develop with the times. They wanted to turn away from war and catch up to the rest of the world and lead “normal” lives in the 21st century. The people wanted to just come home and be concerned with bringing home the daily bread so to speak.

Which is exactly why I tell you Algeria will doubtfully join the Arab Spring bandwagon. Every Algerian family retains painful memories of the revolutionary war and the civil unrest that erupted between the regime and its Islamist militant opponents in the late 1980s. The Algerians do not want to fight again and cause more blood to be spilled and potentially more human rights abuses. Algerians are fighters after all – they are the one nation that fought to the bone and won, but they also know how to pick their battles.

I was just in Algeria this past December 2011. As a child, I was fortunate and I used to go every one to two years, spending long summers with my family. One of the many benefits of going so much as a child was that I watched the country truly develop. This past visit, we went out to eat in nice restaurants, walked along the water, enjoyed driving at night blasting techno music on the wide 5 lane highways and indulged in street and mall shopping. Nowhere was there a sign of protestation or frustration from the people. Interesting to note as well, you do not find President Bouteflika’s face on every building, corner and store like you would in Syria and Egypt with Assad and Mubarak.

In the 80s/90s, an eerie stillness hit every city in the country as no one was outside their home once the sun set, no car was on the road. Stores were stocked with the minimum and only basic foods were available, mainly national. There were no restaurants and places for families or women to go to. Now it can honestly be said that Algerians have access to more opportunities. On average, every family has a car, more and more youth, adults and seniors have cell phones, it is easier for Algerians now to travel and take vacations, many are educated and work, there is a wide international selection in all stores, and there is a healthy family life of restaurants and ice cream parlors that are open until late at night. Nevertheless, Algeria does not equal Lebanon or Egypt’s fun late night life. Yet, what they have today is better than what it has seen in a very long time. While the average person still complains that Algerian society is depressing and everyone judges everyone and “you cannot just be yourself,” it is still better than what it was before, and in fact, no different than any other Arab country. In fact, such characteristics do not just plague Algeria but color many developing nations.

The government does a good job at maintaining a middle class existence, especially since the Arab spring the government has made it a priority to restore the middle class that had been absent in the late 1980s. There is no huge disparity now, like one would find in Egypt or Jordan.

I talked at great length with uncles, cousins, and family friends about how Algeria perceived the events in neighboring countries and whether they anticipated Algeria would follow suit. The answers were always the same unbelievably: Algerians were happy where they are. They did not want more bloodshed or more daily angst; they just want stability and do not want to face a military crackdown again.

Now it is true that Algeria experienced protests last year, around the time Ben Ali fled Tunisia. Algerians hit the streets in smaller numbers than neighboring Egypt and Tunisia peacefully to protest their socio-economic reality of rising prices and low wages. But the protests disappeared faster than they materialized because Algerian security forces were ruthless and turned to brutal means and attacked some protestors – making examples of them. Once the people saw this, the effort halted. In return, the government responded immediately and appeased any signs of mounting anger by using the country’s plentiful energy revenues to give pay raises for public employees and raised subsidies on basic foods. The most poignant however was that the 19-year-old state of emergency from the days of the civil unrest was lifted, and the President publically promised to give the opposition a voice in state media and set up a commission to recommend political reforms. One reform was to include term limits for future Algerian presidents, not for Bouteflika himself. The protests stopped. Algeria’s armed forces and security services – the actual institutions that wield hard power behind the presidency – have not yet succumbed to pressure from the international community. They are the second reason that Algeria is “not next.” Algeria’s armed forces are not afraid to exercise power if need be to keep things under control. And Algerians are not tempted to test their resolve to keep the status quo.

The regime did quiet a movement but failed to address the crux of the problem: the lack of democracy. But even when I mention democracy to the people they look at me as if I am crazy and “know nothing.” Algeria was never democratic and the people in charge will remain in charge until they pass on the baton to their offspring that are groomed to govern the exact same way. The government claims they are voted in through free and fair elections while the general public feels that the government does not truly represent them and have lost interest in voting all together. These are issues seen everywhere, even here in the United States. Throughout my stay and in every conversation, I sensed negativity regarding the future ever improving and adopting actual democratic ways of governing.

“Maybe in more than a 100 years, but I doubt it. Their kids will come in and then their kids, it won’t end” is what one man quoted to me easily. A resignation to this political reality came easily for him and for many just like him – accepting a repression by state security services.

I find it understandable that after more than a decade of civil war and eight years before that of nonstop fighting for independence, that Algerians are wary of the Arab Spring and its potential unseen and unknown consequences of more blood and suffering. Algerians may not be in love with their regime but they know all too well from their own history how it is to live in fear and instability. Right now, they are focusing on building more infrastructure, creating jobs and celebrating life’s precious moments of marriage and a birth of a child. Algerians do not think they “are next,” so why should the rest of the world?

Sarah Hassaine is a Freelance Writer, who frequently covers and travels to the Middle East & North Africa region. Sarah has a Masters in Public Policy from George Washington University. Follow Sarah on Twitter @Shassaine!

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January 29, 2012

An Eyewitness Account By a Syrian-American

Note: On January 20th, President Obama’s administration announced that the US would consider closing its embassy in Damascus, Syria due to a series of car bombings and other lax security measures, which the Syrian government has failed to implement. On January 25th, an international organization representative from the Red Crescent was shot dead by “terrorists”, according to the Syrian news agency. Later, Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf Cooperation Council nations recalled its observers from the League of Arab States mission to Syria.

Regional Analyst, Younes Abouyoub, Comments on Economic Implications of Sanctions
Today’s piece includes an Al Jazeera English interview by an earlier PITAPOLICY contributor, Dr. Younes Ayoub. Dr. Ayoub, who is at Columbia University’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies, focuses on the free trade agreement that was canceled by Syria with Turkey. He also comments on Iran’s role as the sanctions against Syria increases.

Finally, below includes an eyewitness account by a Syrian-American shared with PITAPOLICY a series of observations in the last five months.

PITAPOLICY Interview with Syrian American Observer

When was the last time you visited Syria before the March 15th uprising?
– First of all I haven’t been to Syria for 5 years. I was expecting to see changes on the infrastructure, building, bridges,…etc. I didn’t see much of a change, almost everything is still the same except maybe for couple of tunnels inside the city.

Describe your first impression after returning to Syria after five years.
– It is the first time in my life I see militants in the street of Damascus. For the past 30 years we were living in harmony and we never felt afraid of anything. I used to hang out until 3-4 in the morning and never felt not safe. Inside Damascus there is not much trouble and violence, but once you see the militant in the streets you feel like you’re in a war zone. People in Damascus during the day are doing their life basics such as go to work, grocery, cook meals at home,.. but only the basic life stuff. I never saw restaurants in Damascus empty like this. After 10 PM the streets are empty comparing to the old days and most people like to stay at home. After midnight almost everybody at home.

How was the situation outside of Damascus?
– I went back and forth to Lattikia, I was driving most of the times but for the last two times I was scared to hell. The very last time I traveled was on 12/10 and for 160 miles between Damascus and Tartous, I was the only non-commercial vehicle on the road… I didn’t see anything on that trip but I was too scared since I heard a lot of stories regarding people kidnapping cars and people in the streets. My neighbor told me that his cousin had a BMW he was traveling to Lattikia from Damascus and armed people stopped him in the road. they checked his ID and new he was sunni so they let him go but took his car. when he tried to complain they told him that they’ll kill him if he say a word! The only accident happened with me on the road is one time I was coming back from Lattikia to Damascus (around 12/03/2011) and around 20 miles before Homs I heard shooting and bullets crossing the highway. some cars stopped and I was going to but realized that I’m gonna be an easy target so I drove faster. I’ve seen videos where massacres happened on the highway and it was done by the protesters not by the regime.

How is the day to day interaction with civil servants in Syria?
– The regime mentality is still the same in my opinion, I went to the Ministry of Health to get a paper for my cousin who’s registered there. It took me 5 hours of work and a wait of 10 days and the paper had to go to the minister himself. All I needed is a confirmation of a certain thing he has and I stamped the paper from at least 7 offices! Another similar thing happened to me when I was getting a paper from the civil court. I also had to stamp it over 8 times! Most of the employees stamped the paper without even looking at it and no one reviewed any document to certify that what he/she is stamping are legitimate or valid.

One time I was at the university of Teshreen in Lattikia. I was in the hallway of one of the schools there. I spotted where I was standing over 10 pictures of the president and his quotes. It wasn’t like this on my days 10 years ago. I took a picture of the scene and after 5 minutes a university employee came to me and took me to the dean office. The dean asked me why I’m taking the picture and what I need to do with it. I told them I needed a picture of the wall of fame which happen to be on that wall as well. He told me I’ll let you go because you don’t like “Mondas”, which is a term to describe Protesters and freedom fighters.

Homs is mentioned as a center of resistance. What is being reported in Syria about Homs?
– Homs now became the city of the Syrian civil war. According to immediate family lives there they can’t go out in the street after 11 AM. few of his neighbors were killed, some were kidnapped by people from the other sub-sec (Alwaite versus Sunnis). The Alwaits in the city believe that sunnis want to kill them because they inherited this old haterisam from their ancestors and the Sunnis believe that the regime is Alwaits so any Alwiats is security and they have the right to kidnap or kill him based on that. I heard stories like 40 people were killed and left in a truck just because they were Alwaits and the next day same thing happened to Sunnis. The important part is channel news like Aljazeera or Alarabiya has never come close to mentioning this on the news.

Please describe the media situation in Syria–in particular the SANA news agency, which is the official government controlled news source.
– People in Syria have no faith in media anymore. we see lies on the news all the time from all sides and parties. One time I was in AlSoliba which is a small neighborhood in Lattikia, while I was there in Aljazeera they were reporting protest on that street and to make it even worse they showed videos… I was shocked of how much lies they put in there! the official tv in Syria lies even more. Most of the people I’ve seen there don’t believe in any media anymore because everybody witnessed lies on his/her eyes. People usually see the channel they support based on what they believe in even down deep they know it holds so much lies.

How worried are you about a civil war?
– Family members now might fight and not talk to each other because of the side they pick in this situation. some of my family members don’t talk to each other because one allies with the system and the other with the protesters. when i look at this on a bigger scale I feel like the country is going to have a big civil war very similar to what we had in Iraq.

– With exception to bread, rice, sugar, and transportation, everything now is a lot more expensive. some dairy went up 80% like the baby diapers. people are so afraid that the economy is going down and there is no exit out of it. and families are storing food just preparing for the civil war and expecting to run out of food. On the other hand some friends of mine who want the system to go down are waiting for the moment when the economy gets down thinking that will bring the system down and trying to find ways to expedite the process such as stop paying bills…

– I haven’t witnessed myself or any of my family members security shooting on protesters but now it becomes like a fact for everybody after all videos people have seen. I personally believe that is what happened after all the videos I’ve seen. At the same time the revolution now is not peaceful as it started. At my brother’s office, two armed people from the neighbor hood went into his office and got his co-worker. when they tried to help him they threaten them. The two armed people took his coworker and the next day they found him dead in the street. when they were in the officer they called him “Awainee” which means a spy for the security. Another friend of my brother was stopped by armed people in Damascus suburbs and they took his car.

PITAPOLICY will continue to write about Syria as long as human rights abuses and economic sanctions challenge the people of Syria. Please send your eyewitness accounts to: pitapolicy@gmail.com so that other pita-consumers obtain more information in spite of Syria’s government controlled media conditions.

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January 25, 2012

UAE and Human Rights: A case of ‘treat them mean, keep them keen’?

By: Suzanne Noori

‘Look around you and be grateful’ is often heard in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in response to any hint of criticism amongst its locals, who have seen their country transform from endless desert dunes to one of today’s most fashionable destinations. If Rome wasn’t built in a day, then the UAE certainly was; like Rome, the UAE has multiple citizenships existing within its borders. The UAE represents an area that problematizes the concept of citizenship for the ruling family as well as their subjects.

Do Identity Politics Need to be Resolved Prior to a Revolt?
Although there is little sign of a revolt happening in this country, which is still taking down its decorations for its 40th year celebrations, the Arab Spring has brought to the forefront the issue of human rights, especially those pertaining to citizenship in the UAE.

As Egyptians celebrated their revolution, the UAE detained and later sentenced five local political activists between two to three years imprisonment on security related charges, which were later dropped after the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan pardoned the activists. Despite the pardoning, the men are still faced with a number of restrictions and have not been able to retain passports.

For those that thought the President’s pardoning was to be taken as a sign that the country was moving towards reform, the stripping of six locals following their calls for political reform of their citizenship and heightened restrictions on Non Government Organisations at the end of 2011, served as a reality check.

Locals joining the movement for better rights may be a new phenomenon in the UAE, but the authorities have long heard demands for better treatment made by the expatriate community which makes up almost 90 percent of its total population. This is the same population that the UAE, like others in the Gulf Cooperation Council, relies heavily upon for its financial wealth and economic stability in its retail, real estate and tourism sectors. Are we asserting that recognizing the human resource effects of the expatriate population produces an incentive to grant them some sort of increases status or citizenship? Yes i assert this below where i start with ‘there is little doubt’ or does that need to be made clearer here too?

A national majority who at best will never gain citizenship, buy property in their name (with Dubai as an exception) or be able to stay in the country without the sponsorship of a local or a work permit as well as constantly trying to avoid the possibility of deportation or imprisonment on ‘offense’ charges ranging from insulting religion, consuming alcohol or offending people by way of any public display of affection.

Whereas, at worst, a resident in the UAE will have their passports confiscated upon arrival, live in camps, work excessive hours under poor conditions for a miserable wage, if paid at all. This is the harsh realities of migrant workers, who make up 80 percent of the total UAE expatriate population. A recent study carried out by the UAE University found that it was common for workers to experience depression, and thoughts of self-harm. In the same year, the Jakarta Post reported that 204 migrant workers were sent home by the Malaysian Consulate General’s office after complaints from its citizens of sexual harassment and physical abuse at the hands of their keepers.

There is little doubt that the UAE heavily relies on the presence of expats and tourists for its economic stability and therefore needs to respond to calls for political reform and human rights with greater urgency. A view shared by the UAE’s Federal National Council in its report to the Government in early January of last year, which warned that ‘long-term expatriates would eventually demand ‘political rights’’.

If the UAE has any real chance of sustaining its economic growth and realising the Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s ambitions of attaining the rank of “number one” in growth, it must first ensure that the rights of both citizens and non citizens are upheld and treated as number one.

The Government and its supporters too must ‘look around and be grateful’ that the Arab spring has not touched them… yet.

Follow Suzanne Noori on Twitter as: @MsMiddleEast!

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January 22, 2012

Palestine-Israel: A Business Economy Perspective

Note: PITAPOLICY is excited to repost two pieces posted from Electronic Intifada, which reviews Palestine-Israel through a business & economy lens.

The first piece, posted on January 10th, 2012, was written by Josh Ruebner, National Advocacy Director of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a national coalition of more than 325 organizations and has written for the Huffington Post. Prior to that, Ruebner worked for the Congressional Research Service. Follow him on Twitter @JoshRuebner

The second piece, posted on January 16th, 2012, was written by Mohammed Omer. Mohammed Omer (1984)is a Palestinian journalist. reporting for several media outlets, including the Washington Report. Follow him on Twitter @Mogaza

The Phony War Over Which Party Loves Israel Most
“No Aid to Israel?” wonders a recent Facebook ad sponsored by US President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. “Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich say they would start foreign aid to Israel at zero. Reject their extreme plan now!” the ad implores, directing people to sign a petition to that effect on my.barackobama.com (“Stand against “zeroing out aid to Israel””).

After signing the petition, the caption underneath a beaming photo of the president declares that “Any plan to cut foreign aid to zero across the board is dangerous and ignorant. It’s up to us to get the word out about it. Donate now to help us spread the facts about the Romney-Perry-Gingrich plan to wipe out foreign aid to allies like Israel.” Click here to continue...

Blockade dictates types of flowers grown in Gaza
RAFAH, Gaza (IPS) – Ayman Siam, 41, is not growing carnations as usual this year. It’s limonium and statice flowers instead because they are hardier. Given the risks imposed by Israel’s blockade of Gaza, it’s a political decision.

Earlier this month Israel allowed four trucks of strawberries and flowers out of Gaza, in a slight easing of a stranglehold on exports. But as an exporter who has suffered heavy losses over the past five years through the Israeli blockade, Siam needs to cut his risks.

“The business loss I suffered from growing carnations comes close to a million dollars, including the cost of the plants and fertilizers,” Siam said. Service suppliers have taken legal action against him for an inability to settle payments due since 2006.

All this is besides the loss of income for his workers.

Siam, like others growing flowers in Palestinian areas, is hoping for better relations ahead with the government in the Netherlands and the European Flower Exchange Market there that he supplies to for further export into European countries. The Netherlands has begun to provide some financial support to Gaza’s farmers.

Siam produces far less than his capacity. “I had to reduce from eight dunams [a dunam is the equivalent of 1,000 square meters] of flowers, to only three dunams for the mid-November to mid-May 2012 season. The supply was good. The demand was good. But Israel’s blockade stood in between.” Click here to continue…

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