Cairo on $2 a day

Shobra is a neighborhood of faded glory. Stately building facades, covered by centuries of Sahara sands, cast shadows on the crowded working class streets below. This is the neighborhood of taxi drivers, policemen and waiters.

Al Ahram, Egypt’s leading newspaper, estimates that 50 percent of Egyptians live on $2 a day or less. So when I decided to investigate what living on $2 daily entailed, it made sense to head to Shobra, the “shaabi” heart of Cairo.

I took all the money out of my wallet, save for 11 Egyptian pounds, which is equivalent to $2. I wanted to see if I could get by for a day spending no more than your average Egyptian. Read more

In Egypt, a village boasts the nation’s first female mayor

Her father’s chair sits beneath the window to catch the morning light, where he once held court with villagers who wanted him to discipline their sons, chase away thieves and settle land and dowry disputes on the lush fields between the Nile and the desert’s edge.She eases into the high-back chair with the worn wooden armrests. A single woman of 53 wearing faded bluejeans and a pink blouse, her dark hair uncovered, she has her late father’s spirit and wisdom Read more

Egypt: Land of Pyramids, the Sphinx…and Outsourcing?

India’s tech boom has inspired other developing nations to promote themselves as outsourcing destinations. The latest to try to cash in: Egypt.

Egypt seems like an unlikely place for Western companies to send tech work and open call centers, but Tarek El-Sadany, a government official in charge of helping to grow the country’s information-technology industry, says that the country is well positioned to do these tasks-literally. Read more

“Old Maids” protest on Facebook

Yomna Moktar could not take anymore of the stigmatisation and marginalisation from her fellow Egyptians towards single women. The young journalist’s decision to react led her to create a group on Facebook to openly tackle the issue of single women in the Egyptian society. Read more

New traffic laws & fines announced

These are the new traffic rules published by the traffic control department and dated May 08

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U.S. to require foreign travellers to register online

A new U.S. law will require travelers visiting the country without visas to register personal information online at least three days before they depart. Read more