Egypt's revolutions have been kind to Ahmed El-Kerdany. The young entrepreneur has raised millions of dollars of funding and kept his business growing through the country's worst political and economic turmoil in decades.
In 2010, he and several friends in the city of Alexandria launched Mashaweer, a service which helps customers avoid the traffic in Egypt's gridlocked cities by running errands for them. In December that year, the firm began operating in Cairo. Two months later, president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by mass protests across the country, triggering an economic slump that has not yet lifted. This month, president Mohamed Mursi was ousted by the army during another wave of national unrest.
But Mashaweer has continued to grow, raising $4 million from Egyptian investors and expanding its staff to 300 people, whose orange scooters are a common sight on Cairo's streets. It bought a speedboat for deliveries on Egypt's north coast and opened an office in Beirut last November; it aims to open one in Dubai by the end of 2013. "For some people, the revolution was a disaster for business. For us it was an advantage," said Kerdany, 27, speaking at Mashaweer's sparsely furnished Cairo offices on several floors of a shabby apartment building.
He said waves of political instability over the past 30 months had slowed growth; corporate clients periodically became more cautious about spending, and mass protests made it harder for Mashaweer personnel to move around Cairo and Alexandria. But the unrest created opportunities, he said. The firm was able to start an advertising blitz in Cairo as media advertising rates sank during the uncertain period around Mubarak's ouster, and it could buy scooters from desperate distributors on 36-month payment plans instead of the usual 12 months.
Economy
Egypt's economy has been hit hard by the political instability. Gross domestic product grew an annual 2.2 in the first quarter of this year, far below the level of about six per cent needed to absorb young job-seekers.
Many big, established companies have struggled with poor security, labour unrest, fuel shortages and difficulties obtaining foreign exchange. Last year net profit at Ezz Steel, Egypt's biggest steel maker, plunged by more than half to 250.4 million Egyptian pounds ($35.7 million).
But such figures do not tell the whole story. The post-Mubarak period has also seen a surge of interest among young Egyptians in starting their own companies, some involving new technologies and markets that were not explored before the revolution, businessmen say.
In some cases, push factors are at work; people are being forced to become entrepreneurs because of the growing difficulty of finding secure jobs at established firms.
But there are also pull factors. By disrupting some of the big, dominant companies, Egypt's unrest created more space for small, nimble start-ups to operate. And, by removing Mubarak's authoritarian government, it gave young Egyptians a sense of empowerment which encouraged some to start businesses.
"Many companies started after the revolution - the main reason is psychological. Many young people realised they can do what they want," said Ahmed Zahran, who helped to found solar energy firm KarmSolar in October 2011."Egyptians became risk-takers after the revolution."
Data from the investment ministry supports this theory. Capital invested in new firms fell to £897 million in May this year from £1.11 billion in May 2010, as the economic slump hit corporate financing. But the number of new firms founded during the month actually rose, to 823 from 690. Abdelrahman Magdy, chief executive of Egypreneur, which helps local entrepreneurs find the contacts and services they need, said that before the 2011 revolution, Egypreneur had 2,000 to 3,000 followers on Twitter. It now has over 45,000.
Small
By themselves, Egypt's start-up companies are too small to re-ignite economic growth or solve the problem of youth unemployment, estimated at over 20 per cent. According to the investment ministry, firms established in May 2010 created 16,851 jobs; those established in May this year, just 7,151.But the ability of Egyptian entrepreneurs to operate in the current environment suggests room for much faster economic growth when the political situation eventually stabilises.
Zahran, 33, who worked for a oil firm in Tunisia and in the energy industry in London before returning to Cairo, said Egypt's economy was "massively underserviced" after years of stagnation, leaving opportunities for expansion. Many recent start-ups try to address inefficiencies in the economy, using new tech or business models to grapple with issues such as traffic congestion, vocational training and jobs for young people, and fuel shorta