Two years on from the start of the Arab Spring, livelihoods for many people in countries in transition are little brighter than at the start of the unrest.
Joblessness has risen and, for some workers, wages have fallen since the first waves of protests erupted.
Deteriorating fiscal positions in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Jordan have also limited the ability of governments to meet public demand for better living standards.
In Syria, civil war has killed about 40,000 people. The conflict and sanctions against the president Bashar Al Assad have shaken the lives of millions more.
"In the short term, things may get worse for people before they get better," said Marios Maratheftis, the global head of macro research at Standard Chartered. "Many of the economic and financial problems in these countries are structural so will take time to be addressed."
It was frustration at overbearing government rules that triggered Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, to set himself on fire on December 17, 2010. His actions helped to set off a wave of unrest across the region as people took to the streets calling for greater freedom but also in protest of poor job prospects, rising living costs and government corruption.
Since then unpopular rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen have been overthrown and replaced with interim governments. Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have all taken steps to move towards democracy, a move that many people hope will improve their lives in the long-term.
In Syria, the outlook is still bleak. The economy is expected to shrink by a fifth this year, while inflation has surged to 40 per cent, the Institute for International Finance warned.Across the region, some of the root causes of the discontent remain as pressing as ever.
Joblessness has worsened.Unemployment among young people in North Africa jumped five percentage points last year to 27.9 per cent from the year earlier, a report released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in March showed. In the Middle East, youth unemploymentrose to 26.5 per cent.
A similar trend was expected this year."We were planning an employment fair this month for companies to advertise jobs but have decided to postpone it until February as nobody is looking to hire," said Khaled Sewelam, the director of research and publications at the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.
"A lot of factories are closing and a lot of businesses are worried about labour strikes and the inability of police to protect them."
Since the uprisings, strikes have become a feature of life in Egypt and Tunisia as workers rally for better pay and working conditions.
Uncertainty about the outcome of the vote on Egypt's new constitution was another factor holding back hiring, said Mr Sewelam.
But the still-sickly state of the transitional economies is mainly to blame for the lack of job creation. Egypt's economy is tipped to grow 2 per cent this year, with Tunisia's GDP expansion little better at 2.7 per cent, according to the IMF. Such levels are rosier than last year's performance but still insufficient to encourage businesses to hire.
"We are still at numbers well below population growth and certainly well below what is needed to address unemployment," said Masood Ahmed, the IMF regional director for the Middle East and Central Asia.
The situation is exacerbated by the growing number of young people hitting the labour market. More than 50 million jobs are needed across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) over the next decade to ensure social and economic stability, according to the World Bank.
Governments have so far not taken steps to direct colleges and universities towards preparing people for careers in private industry, rather than the public sector.
World Banksurveys have consistently shown that about 40 per cent of firms in the Menaregion identify an inadequately educated workforce as a major constraint, the highest rate in the world.
In another challenge to the labour market, wages in the Middle East have dropped by 1.4 per cent in the two years since the start of the Arab Spring, an ILO report released last week estimated.
The outlook for living costs remains mixed too. While global food prices have fallen from a year ago, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan are among governments under pressure to ease subsidies on basic goods as they seek to rein in hefty budget deficits.
The need to control spending and widening deficits has emerged as an immediate priority for most governments since last year, taking their focus from broader steps to improve the lives of citizens.
In the short-term, the outlook is most pressing in Egypt. The finance minister Mumtaz Al Said last week announced a month postponement in plans to take a US$4.8 billion (Dh17.63bn) loan deal with the IMF, needed to help replenish foreign reserves and entice international investment.
"We are coming to the end of the road," said Liz Martins, senior Mena economist at HSBC. "There is $15bn in reserves left, a big fiscal deficit and a weak growth outlook."
tarnold@thenational.ae
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff
Harvard University Press
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Belong%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Michael%20Askew%20and%20Matthew%20Gaziano%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETotal%20funding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243.5%20million%20from%20crowd%20funding%20and%20angel%20investors%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
