Amid the age-worn buildings of Old Cairo, home to some of the world's most prominent Islamic relics, craftsmen in their workshops tinker away with a variety of materials to make traditional Ramadan lanterns that many now struggle to sell.
Veterans of this small industry that was once booming, driven by tourists visiting the Egyptian capital's historic quarter and leaving with armfuls of souvenirs, suggest that it is now facing its potential end.
Some say they will not be passing it on to their children.
“This craft dates back centuries — mine is the fourth generation to do it,” says Ahmed Mattar, 65, a copper artisan. “But the way things are going, I don’t think I will be passing on this trade to anyone.”
Mr Mattar’s great-grandfather designed and crafted the copper light fixtures that hung down from the ceiling of Cairo’s famous Al Azhar Mosque in the late 19th century. His father and uncles made an entire network of copper fixtures surrounding Al Hussein Mosque, another landmark in the area also know as Islamic Cairo.
He says it is nothing short of heartbreaking to think that his family’s craft enjoyed such prominence when today, his shop barely breaks even every month.
“The largest obstacle I face in my line of work is the price of raw copper, which has multiplied by over 10 times in the last 10 years,” he says. “It has severely limited my operational capacity.”
In 2012, Mr Mattar bought a kilogram of raw copper for 28 Egyptian pounds; today, it costs him around 320 pounds ($17.50).
He says he can only afford to make a few lanterns at a time before he runs out of copper and has to buy more, by which time his funds are depleted from paying his three assistants their wages.
The big problem, says Mr Mattar, is that Egypt has to import most of its copper.
“Throughout my career, I have bought raw copper that was imported from Hungary, Bulgaria, Russia and Spain,” he says. “There was, at times, copper that was produced in Egypt, at a factory in Alexandria, and it was actually good to work with, but the production was never consistent and it’s now over.”
Egypt’s total imports in 2020 were double the value of its exports, and comprised mainly wheat, petroleum and cars.
“In a country like Egypt, where there are so many poor people, the government has to think about its priorities when it comes to imports,” explains Mr Mattar. “Copper is simply not an essential good when you have to import so much wheat to be able to feed over 100 million people. It is a luxury in the end, so the government is not taking steps to mitigate its price.”
Mr Mattar says his business is also affected by changing tastes in lantern designs.
His copper lanterns, which are made in the old-fashioned Fatimid style with stained-glass inlays, are more expensive than the mass-manufactured models that have entered the market over the past couple of decades. His lanterns cost about 400 pounds, compared to about 10 pounds plastic lanterns.
These newer models, mostly imported from China for Ramadan each year, are fitted with twinkling lights and small speakers that play traditional Ramadan songs.
These additions make them very popular with children, who do not value the subtle and precise craftsmanship that goes into the likes of Mr Mattar’s lanterns.
While many of his fellow artisans have made the switch to using sheet iron, which is much cheaper than copper, Mr Mattar refuses to follow suit. He says purists like himself would never compromise their traditional craftsmanship by using a sub-par metal.
“Copper is eternal. You can leave it for years and it will always have this classiness to it. I would sooner close down my shop than use sheet iron to make these lanterns,” he says.
However, many of Islamic Cairo’s other lantern artisans have changed their process to cut costs and adapt to younger tastes, says lantern seller Sanaa Mohamed, 57.
“Times are always changing, and people have to change with them,” she says.
“I have the utmost respect for experienced old-timers who hold on to their ancestral traditions and I always make sure I stock a couple of the expensive models they make in my store. But the harsh truth is that people like that always get left behind. There are a lot of artisans around here who have ventured into making plastic lanterns with pictures of celebrities on them and sheet-iron lanterns inlaid with electric lights. And those are always the ones that sell best in my store. People always want the new thing and a successful businessman has to adapt to that.”
She says that after a state ban on Chinese lantern imports in 2015, Egyptian artisans started to get creative with their models, which greatly invigorated the artistic element of the industry.
However, importers in Egypt continue to bring in Chinese models into the market through various channels, says Ms Mohamed.
“Just head down to the Alley of the Jews and you’ll find heaps of Chinese lanterns that sellers like me buy wholesale,” she says, referring to a neighbourhood in Cairo that was once a centre of the Jewish community.
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
