Hope is a powerful concept. The expectation of better times ahead, even in the most challenging circumstances, can energise people to endure difficulties and achieve great things.
In the Middle East, home to a large and youthful population, the idea that people can improve their lives is vital for the region’s future. This point arose this week during a World Economic Forum convening in Dubai where UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Mohammed Al Gergawi, said a lack of hope among the region's young at a time of economic crisis and conflict was a major challenge.
“Technology is important. Economy is important, but building society is very important – creating hope is very important,” Mr Al Gergawi told WEF founder Klaus Schwab as the two-day Global Future Councils meeting began. It is perhaps fitting that Dubai was the scene for this observation – the UAE has worked hard over the years to instil and foster a sense of optimism among its young people. From building a first-class education system, supporting entrepreneurship and helping young families, the Emirates has provided its young people with the tools for a successful and fulfilling life.
The results of this investment are clear to people across the Middle East. Last year’s annual Arab Youth Survey – an important barometer of regional opinion – named the UAE as the most desirable country to live in for a 12th consecutive year. Among the reasons respondents gave were a growing economy (28 per cent) and the ease of starting a business (20 per cent). These two factors are vital to any discussion of building hope among the Middle East’s young people.
They also go together with other important survey findings: for the first time in five years, more young people wanted to work in the private sector than for the government. More than 40 per cent – and more than a third of North Africans and young people from the Levant – wanted to start their own business. Based on this, it is fair to say that young people have hope. What they need now are the opportunities to make their dreams a reality.
This can be done by more countries developing a policy toolkit that starts with providing basic stability but also encourages a strong private sector rooted in a robust legal and governance system that promotes, not stifles, entrepreneurship. As the chief executive of the Dubai Future Foundation said in yesterday’s closing session “agility is the secret sauce... to create a system to be closest to the most recent innovation”.
The WEF event in Dubai this week is just one example of the kind of brainstorming that is needed to come up with better answers
With the right structures in place, a large youth population is an asset, not a problem to be managed.
Providing hope to young people that they can receive a good education, land a rewarding job or start their own company is a challenge the world over. The annual WEF event in Dubai is just one example of the kind of brainstorming that is needed to come up with better answers. Next week will see the International Monetary Fund and World Bank hold their annual meetings in Washington; during the same week finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 group of nations will also meet in the US capital, and the Brics countries will be meeting in the Russian city of Kazan.
Gatherings such as these are not just an opportunity to discuss macroeconomics and technocratic solutions – they can make decisions that tell the next generation that things will indeed be better. In this context, hope is more than a buzzword – it is the foundation of building more stable, successful and prosperous societies.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
