Egypt’s Ministry of Planning & Economic Development participates in a series of webinars on the regional report on jobs & growth in North Africa

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development represented by Dr. Ahmed Kamaly, Deputy Minister, participated recently in a series of webinars on the regional report on jobs and growth in North Africa.

The seminars discussed a study on the main macroeconomic indicators, labor market trends and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The seminars are organized by the Economic Research Forum in cooperation with the International Labor Organization and with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.

The seminars will be held from 5 to 8 July. 


The seminars include a group of policy makers, academics, international organizations and other actors.

 During his speech, on the first day of a series of seminars, which was held under the title “The degree to which the labor market is affected by changes and patterns of economic growth: the case of Egypt,” Dr. Ahmed Kamaly explained that the issue of the labor market is one of the major challenges facing Egypt, especially since the competitiveness index shows the situation of the labor market. 


Kamaly stressed the importance of updating some data related to the labor market, noting another challenge in the rate of female participation in the labor market.


Kamaly pointed out that the poverty index decreased to 29.7 in 2020, which is a positive thing.

He explained that the unemployment rate in Egypt is 7.7%, which is a good rate compared to the unemployment rate in the Middle East, which reaches 26%.

Kamaly highlighted the timing of preparing the study of the main macroeconomic indicators and labor market trends. 

He added that the timing was the end of 2018 .
The aforementioned timing marked the peak of the negative repercussions of economic stabilization, including an increase in the unemployment rate, which at that time exceeded 10%.
According to Kamaly ,2018 end witnessed an increase in the inflation rate, which negatively affected the real wage.

There was also an increase in the informal sector, but this situation has now changed and the indicators are getting better.

On the impact of Covid 19, Kamaly stressed that the government has intensified its efforts, by taking many decisions and measures aimed at confronting the crisis of the spread of the pandemic, and its economic and social repercussions.

Kamaly touched on the second package of economic reforms, as the national structural reforms program targets the three interconnected markets: the capital market, the trade market, and the labor market. With an increased focus on diversifying the productivity structure of three major priority sectors: agriculture, industry, and communications and information technology.