Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Sherif Kamel

Author

Sherif Kamel
Professor of Management and Dean of the School of Business, The American University in Cairo

Kamel is a professor of management and dean of the School of Business at the American University in Cairo. Before joining the university, he was the director of the Regional Information Technology Institute and managed the training department of the Cabinet of Egypt Information and Decision Support Center. He is a trustee and an international board member of the Association of MBAs and the Business Graduate Association. He is a member of the board of directors of AACSB International. He co-chairs the board of stewards of the African Women Entrepreneurship Cooperative. He is a member of the Egypt-U.S. Business Council and a founding member of the Internet Society of Egypt. He served as the 18th president of the board of governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. He was an independent board member of the Egyptian American Enterprise Fund and the Commercial International Bank. His research and teaching interests include digital transformation, IT transfer to emerging economies, decision support systems, and entrepreneurship. His work is broadly published in information systems and management journals and books. He is the editor of three books; E-Strategies for Technological Diffusion and Adoption: National ICT Approaches for Socioeconomic Development; Electronic Business in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities; and Managing Globally with Information Technology. He serves on the editorial board of Case Focus: The Journal of Business and Management Teaching Cases in the Middle East and Africa and is the associate editor of the Journal of IT for Development and the Journal of Cases on Information Technology. He is the author of the NileView article series. He is an Eisenhower Fellow and holds a Ph.D. in information systems from the London School of Economics; an MBA; an M.A. in Islamic Art and Architecture; and a B.A. in business administration from the American University in Cairo.

Content by this Author

The year ahead: a view from the Nile

In 2023, what lies ahead for Egypt, the Middle East and North Africa, and the wider world? This column, first published by The NileView, suggests that this year is likely to be a blend of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.

The way forward for Egypt

As Egypt prepares to host the 27th Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in November, there may be an opportunity to restart the post-pandemic economic recovery. This column, first published by The NileView, is firmly optimistic about the country’s potential and prospects, with the author opening: ‘I am not an economist, but here is some food for thought on the way forward for Egypt.’

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Empowering Egypt’s young people for the future of work

Egypt’s most urgent priority is creating more and better jobs for its growing youth population. This column reports on the first Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at Cairo University to confront the country’s labour market challenge. The conversation explored why youth inclusion matters, what the data show and how dialogue and the forthcoming Country Economic Memorandum can inform practical pathways to accelerate job creation.

Preparing youth for the workforce of the future

As economies undergo rapid digital and green transformations, young people face a growing mismatch between their skills and what the modern labour market needs. This column argues that enabling youth to compete in the workforce of the future requires systemic reforms in education, skills formation and labour market institutions, especially in developing economies.

Connectivity and conflict: understanding the risks of inequality in the Middle East

While high inequality does not always lead to conflict, new research reported in this column shows that widespread internet access acts as a catalyst, transforming economic grievances into political instability. For policy-makers in the Middle East and North Africa, this means that as digital connectivity expands, the security costs of ignoring economic disparities rise dramatically. The combination of idle youth, high inequality and high-speed internet is a volatile mix.

The political economy of stalled structural reforms in MENA

There is a persistent pattern to the structural reforms that are required to underpin economic progress in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa: ambitious strategies are announced and partially implemented, but ultimately they are diluted or reversed. This column argues that the repeated stalling of reform is not primarily a failure of economic design. Rather, it reflects deep-seated political economy constraints rooted in rent dependence, elite bargaining and weak institutional credibility. Without addressing these underlying dynamics, reform efforts are likely to remain symbolic rather than transformative.

Closing the gender gap in political participation in MENA

Women across the Middle East and North Africa participate less than men in politics – not only in political parties and elections, but also in petitions, boycotts, protests and strikes. This column reports evidence from ten countries showing that differences in education, employment and political attitudes explain part of this disparity, yet a significant gender gap remains.




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