Over at the Global Post, Basil El-Baz, CEO of Carbon Holdings, an Egyptian oil and gas company has said the hard truth about the hard truth is that the economies of the Middle East. The obvious exception to his depressing remarks is Israel. For a Palestinsian stste to prosper, it would need to heal ther wonunds with the Israelis and Jews. Imagine the power of an Israeli/Palestinian economy!
According to a 2014 World Bank report, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) would need to create 100 million jobs by 2020 in order to sustain the present rate of unemployment. At the same time, the youth population is soaring.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported a MENA youth unemployment figure of around 25 percent, the highest in the world.
In addition, income inequality is growing. Normally, education is a route for renewal and revitalization, but as the IMF notes, MENA is unusual. Unemployment tends to increase with education.
Today’s MENA youth are better educated than ever before and have high expectations for their future. Unfortunately, their expectations are being crushed.
Among the region’s youth, it is a common belief that they are being forgotten and that their governments do not care about their future.