Affordable Electric Mini-Cars in Egypt

Mini Electric Cars will be produced in coordination with Egyptian IMUT company.

On October 29^th, 2019, Mohamed Al-Assar of Egypt’s Minister of Military Production said that Egypt’s ministry would be producing a line of electric mini-cars in association with IMUT company. The first line of these new cars will be affordable, but only allowed to be driven in “resorts and compounds”. Eventually, the ministry plans to release a version of the mini-car that could be driven anywhere on the streets.

These new mini-cars are said to be comparable to that of the “Tuk-Tuk” which are currently widely popular on Egypt’s streets. It is said that Egypt imports these Tuk-Tuks from China, costing upwards of $290 million a year.

This move goes in accordance with Egypt’s plans to eventually give up all fuel sourced transportations and replace them with electric options. The ministry has also made plans and signed an agreement in April to manufacture 2,000 electric buses in the next four years. The move towards more electric sources of energy is one that is more sustainable and environmentally friendly in the long run.

Bibliography:

“Egypt to Produce Affordable Electric Mini-Cars: Ministry.” Egypt Today, 30 Oct. 2019, https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/76349/Egypt-to-produce-affordable-electric-mini-cars-ministry.

Two Egyptians Among World's 100 Most Inspiring Women

Left to Right: Rana al-Kaliouby and Farida Osman

BBC has selected 100 different women from various cultures and backgrounds. Their search focused on finding “amazing women who recently made international headlines, inspiring the world through their groundbreaking successes”. Two Egyptian women were named!

Farida Osman is nicknamed “The Golden Fish”, she was the very first Egyptian woman to win bronze in the 50m butterfly at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in 2017. She also made headlines as the first Egyptian to swim the 100m freestyle and butterfly. She states that her goal is to represent Egypt well internationally and hopes to win a medal in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Rana al-Kaliouby is recognized by BBC as a “pioneer of artificial emotional intelligence, [she] has developed a unique software through her startup “Affectiva” that is capable of understanding human emotions through facial expressions caught on camera”. As she puts it, her lifes work is to humanize technology. She sees AI as holding great potential for our future. Her technology is currently being used to recognize when vehicle drivers are falling asleep, and her startup has attracted millions in angel investors and venture capitalists.

I am glad these amazing Egyptian women were given some much earned recognition for their great accomplishments, and for their advances for the empowerment of women in modern society.  

Bibliography:

Maged, Mira. “BBC Names Two Egyptians among World’s 100 Most Inspiring Women.” Egyptindependent.com, 21 Oct. 2019, https://egyptindependent.com/bbc-names-two-egyptians-among-worlds-100-most-inspiring-women/.

Egypt: Home to Squash Champions!

In the 1920’s, the sport we know as “Squash” was introduced to Egypt by the British. Today, Egyptians dominate the global squash stage and no other sport has seen more success than squash in Egypt. Currently, “seven of the top-ten ranked players are Egyptian, including the world number one”.

Egyptian player Raneem El Weleily is known as one of the world's best squash players in the current competitive scene.

Squash is a sport played with a racket and ball by two to four players. Many professional squash players in Egypt are nurtured from a young age when their squash potential is displayed. In Egypt, there are “international competitions for squash players as young as age nine”. Retired professional players will also turn to mentorship and coaching gigs for some of their younger peers. There is abundant potential for a squash player in Egypt to reach great success and financial security.

Recently, high salaries aboard, such as in the United States, as well as a lack of funding at home, have “lured some of their best coaching talent away” and thus may prove a threat to Egypt’s global dominance. But over the last two decades, eight Egyptians have made it to top world squash rankings. It is likely that Egypt will continue its leading role in providing the most competitive and skilled squash players for the next coming generations.

Bibliography:

Al Jazeera. “Egypt's Squash Champions.” Egypt | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 29 Oct. 2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2019/10/egypt-squash-champions-191029142502807.html.

The Dam Dispute

The construction of the GERD, or Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, has been the subject of dozens of disputes between major African countries. Construction began in 2011 on the Blue Nile tributary of northern Ethiopia. But the mega dam has caused a lot of tension between Egypt and Ethopia, with Sudan caught in the middle.

It seems the main fears the Egypt has with GERD is a worry that the project will allow Ethiopia to completely control the flow of Africa’s longest river, the Nile. Egypt has always very much relied on the Nile, it provides them 85% of all their water. Their stress can partly be attributed to the timing of Ethiopia’s project, and based in the time needed to fill the reservoir: “the speed with which Ethiopia fills up the dam’s reservoir will affect the flow downstream”. Speed matters, because the longer it takes to fill the reservoir, the less impact there will be on the level of the river. Ethiopia’s plan was to accomplish this daunting feat in only six years- but Egypt wants them to slow down, and thus proposed a 10-year period. A longer time period helps lessen the impact on the level of the river during the filling of the reservoir.

Ethiopia projects construction will be completed by 2020.

We hope negotiations between the countries go well, as the dam is foreseen to provide all neighboring countries not just inclusive of Ethiopia huge benefits due to the power it is capable of generating. 

Bibliography: 

Mutahi, Basillioh. “Egypt-Ethiopia Row over River Nile Dam.” BBC News, BBC, 7 Nov. 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50328647.

Amazing Finds in Egypt

Tourists view the newly discovered coffins at Hatshepsut Temple.

Egypt has just discovered 30 ancient wooden coffins in the Egyptian city of Luxor, some of which include mummies. Secretary general Mostafa Waziri of the Supreme Council of Antiquities reports that the discovery was Egypt’s “largest and most important” in more than a century. The coffins were found at the Theban necropolis of Asasif, on the River Nile’s west bank. These tombs of Asasif date back to the Late Period (664-332BC) of ancient Egypt.

The remains were described as “exceptionally well-preserved and well-colored”, and included were the mummified remains of men, women, and two children, believed to be “from the middle class”. Interestingly enough, one can identify the gender of a mummy as it can be determined from the shape of the hands on the coffin. Open hands mean the mummy is female, while hands balled up into fists held male mummies. Coffins containing the mummified remains of children is something that is uniquely rare, so this recent find has sparked global interest. Hopefully, the discovery of these ancient fossils will help enrich our knowledge of the past and the lives once lived by these prosperous people. 

Bibliography:

Elassar, Alaa. “Egypt Unveils Discovery of 30 Ancient Coffins with Mummies Inside.” CNN, Cable News Network, 21 Oct. 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/19/middleeast/egypt-discovers-coffins-mummies-trnd/index.html.

Egypt's Ongoing Protests: How One Man Helped Sparked a Revolution

Mohamed Ali, a 45-year-old businessman currently taking up residence in Spain, originally began posting videos online in early September. In these videos, he frequently accuses current President of Egypt Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and top military officials of corruption. He has since even made claims of having access to "insider information about the Egyptian military's mishandling of state funds". Mr. Ali's popularity seemed to have skyrocketed during the month of September, have prompted growing anger "among Egyptians, culminating in the protests" over the late September weekend. Many Egyptians regard Ali to the likeness of a whistleblower, as his claims would seem credible due to his past "familiarity with the armed forces' building projects through his work with them".

Mr. Ali has made accusations directly towards President Sisi, exposing that the President has been "squandering state funds to build presidential palaces and villas...the projects being undertaken as favors to generals in his close circle". Mr. Sisi himself has made a statement against these allegations, calling them slanderous lies.

Egypt as of late has been subjected to various economic pressures. Official state figures from July of this year showed that about 32.5% of Egyptians were living in poverty. Mr. Ali's videos have only added fuel to the growing fire in the hearts of many Egyptians, and thus many "small-scale protests [have] broke out in and around Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square and other cities, breaking a barrier of fear that was built during Mr. Sisi's years in power". Consequently, hundreds of arrests were made after protesters took the streets. The people will not take corruption sitting down, and this demonstration showed protesters were willing to take their anger to the streets to have their voice be heard.

Hundreds of protesters filled Tahrir Square on Friday

Bibliography: 

Saba, Joana. “Mohamed Ali: The Self-Exiled Egyptian Sparking Protests at Home.” BBC News, BBC, 24 Sept. 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49800212.