How and Why El Gouna could and should become a golden hub for living in the Middle East

Important notice: This article is designed to be both somewhat controversial and thought provoking. There are many constraints to what is written in the article, the least of which is land availability, but I believe that people with true entrepreneurial spirit are those who will see opportunity when others see impossibility and who are resourceful when faced with a lack of resources.  

El Gouna, the 37 square kilometer beach haven of German Tourists, affluent Egyptian retirees, millenials, and Gen Zs. When you visit El Gouna you can’t help but fall in love with the place. What’s not to like? Great weather year-round, check. Relaxed and laid back environment, Check. Great parties, check. Yet I can’t help but think that El Gouna has the potential to become a golden hub for urban living for people from all countries of the world. It truly has the potential to become a guiding beacon for a nation searching for the correct path, an example to be followed. Yet El Gouna must shed it’s current skin, and undergo a transformation, it must go from a caterpillar to a butterfly. To do that, the city, through its developers, Orascom Hotels and Development, has to transform its mission and vision and focus on the following key elements.

1.      Becoming A Startup Hub in Every sense of the word: Recently France has decided to build what is called Station F, the world’s largest startup hub. El Gouna must follow in it’s footsteps and build what will be the region’s largest startup hub. It must follow it up with a simultaneous investment in the necessary infrastructure that will help create this unique startup Ecosystem. Aaccess to everything ranging from ultra-fast internet connections to an internet of things connected ecosystem to give talented individuals a chance to focus on their craft is non-negotiable (you wont attract anyone with internet speeds slower than that of Gazza Strip). The best talents in the world are now roaming the world and we must recognize that we are now competing for Entrepreneurial minds rather than simply Foreign Direct Investment. This competition is now Global rather than simply local or regional, and that’s something we must directly recognize and respond to by not only thinking globally but competing globally.

2.      Marine Biology – El Gouna should aim to become the Mecca of Marine Biology in the World. Situated along the Red Sea, the sea region surrounding El Gouna is considered one of the best, if not the best place in the world, for marine life. A world class Marine Biology University and Research center should be built in the city with a fund set up for the World’s best researchers to bring in their teams along with Egyptian students to help create this Mecca of Marine Biology. Alongside that, naturally, the marine tourism infrastructure and business will develop into a much more complex ecosystem that will include a whole range of niches in this category.  

3.      Sports: It’s natural that a city which will be inhabited by at least a 60% youthful demographic will look to both participate in Sports as well as enjoy global sporting events. As it is located directly on the Red Sea, and with the exception of surfing, El Gouna residents should enjoy watersports as easily and as cheaply as they enjoy a gym subscription. Not only that, El Gouna should develop its sporting infrastructure to play host to global sporting events as well as host out of the box sporting events. Creating a sense of belonging to the city during this time will only happen through sporting teams and El Gouna’s developers should invest in creating and integrating local sports teams into the identity of the city.

4.      A Smart City based on Internet of Things: As the world becomes more connected, El Gouna has a chance to become an IoT city. Everything from government services to garbage pickup request should be available to you at the tip of your fingers on your mobile device. This won’t be a nice to have feature of future cities, it will be the future city. While Dubai currently leads in this avenue, El Gouna, with the correct vision, strategy, investments, and policies won’t be far behind at all.

5.      Open Data – Data is the gold of the 21st century. It is also the foundation of many entrepreneurial ventures and government innovations. Egypt has largely shunned creating open data platforms which provide data metrics on all areas of daily life. A change in that could see the rise of many tech based businesses, yet this chance will only occur if the country sees a live example and the potential that awaits from such an open platform. It is worth mentioning that the technology revolution which the United States underwent in the last decade was aided largely by the various open data policies of the Obama administration (not pro or against the guy just stating a fact). Since then many countries have followed suit and created their own open data platforms to spur innovation. It is also worth noting that most cities in the United States and Europe now have both a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and a CDO (Chief Data Officer) who report directly to the mayor / governor, further underlying the importance of Data.  

6.      Renewable Energy – The sun and wind are in abundance in El Gouna - and if all of Germany will be run by renewables in 2020, then its safe to assume that the same can happen for El Gouna. (Enough said there!)

7.      The Arts – Create hubs for artists to paint, theaters for actors to act, museums of various kinds, and embrace the city as one big and open artistic pavilion. Everything in the city should speak art with precedence given to small artists still at the beginning of their career, for it is those who create the most amazing works. LET THE ARTISTS CREATE THE CITY! Most importantly, establish a world class school of arts and cinematography.

8.      Gastronomy – For all it’s history, and its long love affair with food, Egypt has fallen down the list of “amazing cuisine” countries. What El Gouna needs to do is lead an Egyptian Gastronomy revival. The renaissance must begin at the base, and that is the raw materials used to cook (See point 10 below to understand further). Moving upwards Chefs must be brought in teach the current Chefs the science of gastronomy. Many people think that gastronomy is the art of creating great food but in fact it is the science of creating great food. Along with that a world class cooking school should be established to ensure the continuity of education and to provide a home for budding chefs from all around the world. People will come for the sea but will stay for the gastronomy.

9.      Future Thinker Conferences- Consistently host future trends and thinker conferences in all topics. This will enable great knowledge transfer and will enable entrepreneurs to interact with these future thinkers and exchange ideas, that’s where the real development happens. It is also a great forum to introduce these thinkers (who are also more likely than not entrepreneurs as well) to El Gouna and possibly get them to relocate. Tourism benefits greatly as well.

10.  Sustainability: While sustainability is a very broad term I will try to give a dummy’s guide of it in the context of which I am speaking. El Gouna, simply put, must endeavor to grow and provide as much of it’s own food as much as possible, generate its own energy, and have a self-sustaining economic system. It must greatly reduce its dependency on other cities.

To be able to create the above ecosystem El Gouna will need to clear a few major hurdles

1.      It will need to have its own mayor and governing system:  Someone will need to be at the top of El Gouna, someone who is young but very well educated in Urban Development, Development Economics, and Public Policy; someone elected by the Citizens of El Gouna. This man will run the internal policies which shape El Gouna’s development and will negotiate with the country the leverage that El Gouna may have to see out its vision and amend certain laws to be applicable to it including the ability to levy taxes or give tax exemptions. And yes when a town has its own mayor, it will need to have some sort of governing structure. However, here’s El Gouna’s chance to show the country how to establish a lean and efficient government and do things the right way.

2.      Establish Citizenship: El Gouna should embrace citizenship to create an authentic community. One should have the ability to apply for El Gouna citizenship if they meet certain entrepreneurial, home ownership, or work criteria. People will think that this is an exclusionary step, and that this is sort of like a visa, but in fact El Gouna will always remain open to Egyptian and foreign citizens alike just like it is today. On the contrary, this step will give those actually living in El Gouna, and whose livelihoods are affected by everything that happens within its “pseudo borders” a voice in all things happening in the town. It also creates a great sense of community which usually leads to positive shared action and civic engagement regarding many important issues. Hand in hand with citizenship should be the establishment of a town / city hall where El Gouna’s affairs can be publicly debated by its stakeholders. Until now the haves have suppressed the voice of the have nots. Citizenship will allow your average waiter or tuxi driver who is as much of a stakeholder as any homeowner in El Gouna, and who is in fact more of a stakeholder than any of the 4 day tourists to have a voice. And, just before that you say anything about how exclusionary this process may be, or about how tragically unconstitutional or ludicrous this idea may be,  always remember that you can’t go into any of the North Coast resorts unless you are a “citizen homeowner”. Futhermore, all “citizen homeowners” get to vote for representatives in the owner’s union who actually have the power to levy different fees yearly for maintenance, and amongst other things decide the rules which will apply within the borders of this “compound” (so it’s not a first). On a more controversial note, non- Egyptians who will come to invest, live, and work in El Gouna should enjoy the same rights of citizenship that an Egyptian has including electing the mayor and other officials.

3.      Somehow figure out a way to open entrepreneurial immigration. As the benefits of entrepreneurial immigration are very well documented (aka. The Brain Drain) - (60% of innovations in the United States in the past 15 years were by immigrants or sons of immigrants) El Gouna must find a way to embrace this. I say this, because in a way, there is a great opportunity to not only reverse the Egyptian brain drain but to capture European minds. Spanish, Greek, Portuguese, and other very well educated youth are struggling to find jobs in their countries. These well - educated youth can help elevate the level of entrepreneurship, work ethic, and the way business is done in our country. This is a topic in which I will dive deeper into in future posts. But, for the record, recently the Egyptian Cabinet submitted a request to parliament for a approval of a 5-year residency permit to those who pay $400,000 USD; so similar ideas have already been floated and have received positive acclaim from legislators. There’s nothing to prevent the proposal of additional similar schemes.

4.      Invest in its Urbanity & The Environment: El Gouna will need to think about how it wants to grow in an urban sense. Invest in creating urban congregations that promote walkability, interaction with nature, and social interaction as oppose to building a modern city. Think Amsterdam not Dubai. Think low rise and dense not high rise and dispersed. Think biking and walking not cars. Think affordability for the most part rather than luxury. Think smaller apartments and spaces rather than large villas. Think local architecture and using local materials and colors in buildings rather than steel, concrete, and glass facades. Most importantly think clean air at any cost. This will require a set of tough laws that are to be implemented under any circumstances.

5.      Work to control inflation to keep it accessible to entrepreneurs from all over the world. If El Gouna is to become a hub for entrepreneurship then it must recognize that most entrepreneurs are constantly bootstrapping and the same goes for those working mid and low level jobs. At times of rapid growth, which El Gouna should experience if it sheds its current skin in favor of the new identity, inflation will be rampant and speculation will be the law of the land. For this we must always remember the examples of 6th of October, New Cairo, and the North Coast and always take into account the disastrous effects of unchecked speculation. Collectively, citizens and those running the city should find a mechanism to control prices even as the population increases and the demand for real estate and services rise. Finally, someone must pronounce the age of the Four Seasons tourist dead, and that we have now entered the age where the global tourist is more frugal and looking for adventure and enjoyment on a budget, and that inflation will only drive that tourist away (but that’s another conversation for another day).

6.      Invest in the Various Tiers of Education and R&D: Invest in a world class University with proper systems which ensure the development and sustainability of research and development labs. This could be done through a multi-tiered corporate sponsor system or a special tax on businesses. What is most crucial about this, is that for this system to work it must graduate all discoveries, advancements, and businesses into sustainable and profitable companies. It must also have an open lab system in that those conducting R&D are openly cooperating with startups and technology companies for cross development.  The investment should also include a public education system with Science, Technology, and Maths at it’s core and one that engages the student through an appealing and non- taxing curriculum using a blend of modern technology and old school methods. This public school should be a model for what Egypt’s public schools should be. In the long term, the undeniable social divide seen in our country will begin to diminish, and maybe, just maybe, when you have the right environment with great teachers and a great curriculum the good manners which we all crave will gradually come back. As for private schools, they should be capped at what they are now and given strict restrictions to adhere to in terms of admission numbers, fees, and curricula.

Wow, all of this is great so what about the money to perform all of this? I personally don’t believe that money will be an object to development. There are many local and global financing schemes which can be implemented to finance these large developments. The bulk of the money needs to come from the private sector. I also loved the crowd funding scheme through which the Suez Canal expansion was financed. Promise of returns based on the income the city generates from its various modes (tourism, business taxes, etc) will definitely lure many to invest in the city and simultaneously will force those in charge to operate a lean operation. Just remember that 70 Billion EGP was collected in 4 days!

To end it all, it may seem that I’m putting too much pressure on El Gouna, but the fact of the matter is, it’s actually the most successful thing we have and our best shot at something great. It’s geographically small and can achieve visible results quickly. I think at this time El Gouna is at an inflection point in it’s development. It can realize what it can become, reshape its identity, and take a massive leap to become a leader in our country’s development and a benchmark city, not only for our country, but the world. It can give all that youth potential in our country a chance to hit the reset button and realize their potential. Or it can be just another Sharm El Sheikh, receiving German, British, and Russian, tourists who sit on the beach and leave a week later. In my heart, I believe it can be a Singapore with a twist.

I want this article to spark interest, conversation, and debate. I want people to agree and disagree, but most importantly is that we converse; converse about our future and talk about how we can find a common path. We will not agree on everything, yet I’m sure we can find common interest points where we can start. I would only wish that the developers of El Gouna take interest in this article even if on a superficial level and start a conversation about El Gouna’s true purpose and the potential it has waiting for it.

But maybe all of this is too much to ask, and maybe it will happen but over a long period of time. All I can tell you is that it doesn’t hurt to dream, and certainly it doesn’t hurt to talk and explore ideas which could be in the long run for the benefit of the country. 

This Article has been written by Mohamed Dessouki. Mohamed is a Construction Engineering Graduate from the American University in Cairo with various coursework in poverty economics, social development, urban development, education, and public policy. Mohamed also has a Masters of Sports Management from the UEM Madrid (Real Madrid Masters Program), is a UEFA C certified Football (Soccer) Coach, and an avid football, tennis, and sports fan.