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Submission Guidelines

The ADP Blog is an open platform for practitioners and researchers working on development issues in Arab countries. The ADP welcomes blogs in Arabic, English and French.

Interested contributors are encouraged to submit their blog entries (word format, up to 700 words) by e-mail ADPblogs@arabdevelopmentportal.com, mentioning/including the following:

1Title of the blog

2Name of the author

3Link to source, if previously published

4Photos (if any – up to 500KB)

5Translated version of your blog (if available)

Please note that we reserve the right to introduce minimal edits to the submitted article to enhance the clarity of the text. Major edits will be shared with the contributors ahead of publishing.

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Expanding Nonbanking Financial Intermediation in the Arab World
Wafik Grais, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
Nonbanking financial institutions (NBFIs) are a vital part of the financial landscape in developed economies. Institutions such as insurance companies, private pension funds, mutual funds, leasing institutions and factoring companies all play a role in availing financing to the real sector as they compete with and complement traditional banks. This competition increases bank efficiency and expands the range of financial services available notably to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and households. Currently, NBFIs are poorly developed in the Arab world. The...Read More
Convergence of Arab Countries and International Financial Regulatory Framework
Wafik Grais, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
With the growing integration of the international financial landscape and periodic occurrences of financial crises with international spillovers across borders, a global financial governance framework is gradually emerging. (IMF 2012b) The international framework’s principles are coordination, harmonization, peer review, and monitoring by global international agencies, most notably the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Bank for International Settlements, and the World Bank for issues of financial inclusion and development. Standards and codes have been developed reflecting...Read More
Entrepreneurship and Development in the Arab World: Challenges and Opportunities, Supporting and Strengthening Entrepreneurship – Part II
Julia Devlin, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
An Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship—Challenges and Opportunities The entrepreneurial ecosystem determines the conditions under which entrepreneurs can enter markets and thrive—including capital availability, property rights, and many other factors. A strong business and regulatory environment can encourage entrepreneurial activity, particularly with respect to levels of capture and monitoringcorruption. For entrepreneurs, the most critical elements are accessible markets, human capital and workforce, and funding. The Arab world's entrepreneurial ecosystem is...Read More
Entrepreneurship and Development in the Arab World: Entrepreneurial Activity – Part I
Julia Devlin, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
Innovation is an important driver at the heart of the development process. Innovation creates new products, new uses for existing products, and more efficient use of inputs. Entrepreneurs are catalysts for implementing new ideas. Entrepreneurship is increasingly prevalent on the global development agenda as an important vehicle for both productivity growth and job creation. Entrepreneurial Activity in the Arab world In Arab countries, there were about 0.77 newly registered corporations per 1,000 working-age people (aged 15–64) in 2011, with Morocco, Oman,...Read More
State Banks and Limited Banking Competition in the Arab World
Wafik Grais, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
For a long time, in most of the Arab world, the dominance of state banks and often weak regulatory environments have significantly limited competition among financial services providers. State banks continue to overshadow private institutions particularly in countries such as Algeria, Libya, and Syria. The same holds true for Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, despite the significant role now played by private banks in financial intermediation. Restrictive entry requirements inhibit market contestability. Inadequate credit information...Read More
Tunisia: Mineral Resources and the Energy Deficit
Sofiane Ghali - Co-Author: Sami Rezgui, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
Compared to its neighbors Algeria and Libya, Tunisia’s energy resources are relatively modest. Since 2000, Tunisia has had a primary energy deficit, (including oil and natural gas), estimated at 1.6 million tons equivalent oil (Mteo) (2012), representing 19 percent of primary energy demand. Natural gas accounts for 53 percent of energy consumption, followed by oil (44 percent). The main energy consumers are industry (36 percent), transport (31 percent), and residential (25 percent). Primary energy consumption per capita is estimated at 0.78 tons equivalent oil (teo). ...Read More
Egypt's Economy: Growth and Its Composition
Wafik Grais, 04 Mar 2015 | 0 Comments
From 1990 to 2005, Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) saw an average growth rate of 4.2 percent per year (figure 1), associated with a shift away from agriculture towards industry and service. The service sector remains the largest contributor to GDP (figure 2) (AfDB 2013). A burst of liberalizing reforms enabled a short-lived acceleration of growth during 2005–08, interrupted by several shocks. Since the 1990s, growth has been driven mainly by domestic demand and capital accumulation. Total factor productivity and human capital accumulation due to education showed no...Read More
Worker Benefits in the Arab World
Zafiris Tzannatos, 17 Feb 2015 | 0 Comments
Since 2010, most Arab countries—including many not visibly affected by the uprisings—have introduced or expanded worker benefits and, more broadly, social protection. These changes were additional to measures taken after the 2008 financial crisis. But the recent social benefits have been reactive and ad hoc at best, rather than being part of a clear, long-term social protection vision and development strategy. While short-term political pressures are understandable, the approach to employment creation and setting the composition and levels of benefits should be part of the overall...Read More
Minimum Wage in the Arab World
Zafiris Tzannatos, 17 Feb 2015 | 0 Comments
Since the Arab Spring, most Arab states have increased minimum wages in the private sector, while others introduced them—as Egypt did in 2012—or ratified the Minimum Wage International Convention (C131)—as Morocco did in 2013. While other countries, such as Comoros, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Maldives, Oman, Sudan, and Tunisia, have not ratified the convention, they have, nevertheless, various forms of mandated minimum wages. The Republic of Yemen has ratified the convention since 1971, but as yet, has not introduced a minimum wage. Political considerations aside,...Read More
Job Creation and Job Quality in the Arab World
Zafiris Tzannatos, 17 Feb 2015 | 0 Comments
From the 1980s to the early-to-mid-1990s, many countries in the Arab world experienced slow economic growth, rising unemployment, and even declining per capita incomes, reflecting macroeconomic mismanagement, lack of competitiveness, and low international oil prices. Reforms were introduced to address fiscal and structural imbalances (including high deficit, debt and inflation rates), while recognizing that the public sector could no longer act as the “employer of last resort.” The outcome—some described it as an “Arab Renaissance”—resulted in an acceleration of economic growth and...Read More