Revolution: North Africa's Real Economic Challenges

North Africa's Real Economic Challenges

Tunisia to Egypt 5 - 7% growth

but nothing for the people...

700,000 new entrants to the labor force each year Egypt

The spread of political protest from Tunisia to Egypt gives the situation in the Middle East and North Africa a new economic significance.Egypt $230bn economy

Egypt's $230 billion economy is roughly five times the size of Tunisia's, and the country is one of the "Next Eleven" emerging countries picked by Goldman Sachs as likely to play a key role in the global economy. But the protests highlight the big challenges facing the region.

Autocratic regimes have failed

But growth will require the kind of ambitious structural overhauls that autocratic regimes have failed to deliver.

At one level, these economies have been performing well. Growth averaged 7% in Egypt and 5.3% in Tunisia from 2006-2008, according to Moody's; both countries comfortably avoided recession in 2009 and retained fiscal room for maneuver. Their banking systems largely have been untouched by the global crisis.

source: online.wsj.com