Sherif Kamel

The world will remember 2020 as the year that witnessed an unprecedented acceleration in digital transformation instigated by the disruption of COVID-19. The pandemic affected millions of lives and livelihoods in the developed world and emerging economies, including the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. However, it also presented ample opportunities for economies to reimagine how the future will look while adapting to emerging innovative technologies and their economic implications.

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA), for a variety of reasons, are unrivaled in their need for bold, creative thinking about their future. But that is precisely why creative thinking about the future of the region — why strategic foresight — is essential. Produced in conjunction with MEI’s Strategic Foresight Initiative, Thinking MENA Futures aims to map out some of the possible futures for the region, as envisioned by thoughtful innovators working today to realize them.

Egypt is not alone in having been knocked into a pit by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it will have to dig itself out on its own. However, if Egypt is going to do so, it needs to rethink its approach to development, starting with looking for the silver lining to the pandemic. Is it possible to address existing issues that have been brought home by the exceptional circumstances? In this report, contributors dissect the weaknesses that make Egypt particularly vulnerable to external threats and examine ways in which to address these vulnerabilities and shore up the economy and the business and developmental environment.