Egypt is famous for its history, but it could also be famous for its future. The world we live in today is a product of the choices we made yesterday. And the world that will come to pass tomorrow will reflect the preferences and priorities we choose today. That has lessons for the nations of the Middle East—including Egypt. Fortunately, the Arab world’s largest country has built a strong foundation for success.
What it requires now is a private sector unleashed, ready to seize the moment.
Despite how often we are tempted to believe people around the world are radically different, and deeply culturally incompatible, we are more alike than we think. Indeed, we are becoming even more alike every day: As similar technologies, tools, and ideas spread around the world, common themes and patterns become ever more common.
That’s even more the case for a burgeoning country like Egypt, with a huge and overwhelmingly young population.
On Arab News’ Frankly Speaking, the CEO of Majid al Futtaim diversified conglomerate, Alain Bejjani, noted that the future belongs to what’s called “the phygital,” the intersection of the physical and the digital, where virtual life intersects with material existence. It’s not so different from what some call “augmented reality.”
Whatever it’s named, though, doesn’t matter as much as this: it’s the stuff the future is made of.
More and more people around the world, and especially young people, live in a reality where the digital and the physical overlap; unlike previous generations, Generation Z experiences no boundary between “in-person and online experiences.” Since these are the consumers, producers, and investors of the future, it’s time to pivot decisively to their preferences.
Already, Egypt is making positive moves; as Bejjani notes on Frankly Speaking, consumption in the country is showing strength despite a trying global environment. Likewise, the New York Times reports on the tremendous progress Egypt has made, even in the face of a worldwide pandemic, in building itself anew. One aspect of this progress is tourism.
Famous for its ancient and extensive heritage, Egypt has long attracted tourists from all over the world. But is Egypt doing what’s necessary to make sure those tourist numbers continue to grow? Dramatic improvements to touristic infrastructure around the pyramids are a great example of what Egypt is already doing right. But much more can be done.
Some of the world’s most famed historic sites are now experienced “phygitally”— there’s no reason the private sector can’t push Egypt’s monuments further in this direction. But as important as it is to make sure Egypt’s heritage receives the facelift it deserves, Egypt as a whole—and Egypt’s economy, too—would benefit from big investments.
That doesn’t just include factoring in climate change, or maximizing efficiency, or pursuing sustainability, in everything Egypt builds. It means designing a physical landscape that also reflects the ways people will increasingly live in the future–phygitally. This will change not just how the wider world sees Egypt, but how Egypt sees the wider world.
Done right, Egypt and the wider world will see ever more of each other’s culture, heritage, ideas, art, and economic opportunities, finding seamless and immediate ways to connect, collaborate, and cooperate. That is undoubtedly a good thing: The more interaction there is, the more opportunity there is for exchange, enterprise, and mutual upliftment.
A rising tide, as they might say, lifts all boats.
Saqib Qureshi: Visiting fellow at London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of Amazon Number One Bestseller “The Broken Contract”
