Before October 17, 2019, most 4- and 5-star hotels in Beirut reported annual average room occupancy rates of 75 to 80 percent before the first coronavirus case in Lebanon was reported on February 21, 2020. This occupancy rate had been the norm since 2009 and most hotels expected that in 2019, they would exceed that…
Check-up or check-in?
Year one AC (After Covid)
After a year of living face to face with SARS-CoV-2, it is high time to recognize the relationship existentially and give credit where credit is due. The coronavirus is confronting our species with questions and challenges that we never have consciously dealt with. For starters, humankind has not really inquired in the past if a…
THE PLAIN PICTURE
February 26Lebanese citizens protest in Riad El Solh square against economic conditions and demand access to their bank deposits. January 17Lebanon initiates a total lockdown and curfew from January 14 to 25 as COVID-19 cases skyrocket afterthe end-of-year holidays. February 11Lebanese citizens and foreign ambassadors gather to mourn slain journalist Lokman Slim and denounce terror.…
Hedging on real estate
Real estate, long perceived in Lebanon as a long-term investment which would allow reaping profits in an economy of services, was in addition seen as an attractive investment due to a high number of expats and tourists willing to buy local housing for vacation purposes. However, since the beginning of the financial crisis in Lebanon,…
Lost in the fog
Lost in the fog Lebanese insurers seek to ward off economic pressures and evil opinion spells The best thing to say about the performance of insurance companies in the year to date is that they are slowly reappearing from what seemed an organizational stupor that during the past year enveloped the sector up to the…
Deal or no deal
The Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020 resulted in the loss of more than 200 lives, countless wounded, and also massive insured losses now estimated to range between $1 billion and $1.5 billion by the website ReinsuranceNe.ws. While some of the damages have been repaid, according to the specifics of insurance policies, others have…
Inflection anniversaries
One has to assume that there are many reasons why somewhat articulate people tend to intellectualize social and economic moments of despair or change. Distancing ourselves in various ways from the direct emotions of shocks and despair, some talk of inflection points, some of tipping or turning points, and some perhaps of nadirs. All these…
Solidere rides the real estate wave
With Solidere having registered positive stock performance since the beginning of the economic crisis in Lebanon, and with Lebanese rushing to buy real estate in order to hedge against the depreciation of the Lebanese currency, Executive sat with Ziad Abou Jamra, Secretary of the Board of Directors at Solidere and Deputy General Manager, to talk…
Executive is hiring a Sections Editor!
Executive Magazine is looking to hire a new sections editor. The sections editor will research and write analytical pieces that satisfy the highest journalistic standards. She/he will contribute to special reports for our coverage of new economic sectors in Lebanon, as well as traditional economic pillars that continue to play important roles in the Lebanese economy, from hospitality to trade and…
Executive is hiring a Freelance Writer(s)!
Executive Magazine is looking to hire a new freelance writer. The freelance writer will research and write analytical pieces that satisfy the highest journalistic standards. Role/Responsibilities: Research and prepare questions and interview stakeholders in the public and private sectors; Conduct in-depth background research to further develop content related to the stories covered; Based on story pitches, conduct interviews and research agreed upon in the magazine’s…
Do we dare?
Elephants are the epitome of power. These times of mystifying power tugs-of-war remind us that Lebanon’s economy has a fundamental right to security and stability. If you personally like the company of an elephant is thus secondary, as long as their power is wielded democratically. The scary downside of this equation is that when out…
Cedar Oxygen: a ventilator for Lebanese industrialists?
Established in early 2020 as a private initiative to address the pressing social and economic difficulties of the Lebanese industrial sector, Cedar Oxygen was later approached by the Lebanese central bank (BDL) which invested $175 million of financing in order to address the need of local industries. In light of the financial crisis in Lebanon…
Please hold for institutional reforms
Eight months after Beirut’s deadly port explosion, the French initiative seems a lost opportunity in need of resurrection. Post-blast, French President Emmanuel Macron was welcomed in the streets of Beirut on August 6, 2020, while overseeing damages, which was followed by a second visit less than a month later, on August 31, 2020. During his…
If the price is right…
Along with the reform of capital markets and the strengthening of judicial independence, the modernization of public procurement is on top of Lebanon’s reform agenda and a major condition to unlock international assistance. Public procurement is a fundamental economic activity for public authorities at both the central and the local levels, as it encourages the…
Financial family lifelines
Beirut-based financial company OMT is a family-owned and managed enterprise that has morphed from being simply a ubiquitous sight – the yellow and black logos of OMT agencies are scattered around Beirut, urban centers, and Lebanese villages in all of the country’s provinces – in an overbanked country to an existential supply channel of stable…