by Zaid M. Belbagi -Arab news - Having been almost stationary for an hour in a Beirut traffic jam, I asked the driver about the difficulties of working with Uber. Much to my surprise, he defended the transportation and delivery service, claiming it has done away with sectarian tensions and prejudices that are prevalent in the local taxi market. Across the Arab world, the use of new technology in service delivery is balancing market imperfections, creating opportunity and equality. Taxi drivers in Beirut have always faced inconveniences due to the myriad religious, ethnic and regional differences that make up Lebanon’s political situation. Drivers working for companies can expect jobs to be divided along sectarian lines, passengers will at times decline to use companies associated with a specific sect, and often companies will restrict their operations to neighborhoods familiar to them.
The advent of transportation apps has transformed this situation; drivers are allocated work based on their appetite and availability for it, and have only the faceless master of free-market economics to report to. Technology has increased opportunities for sections of society that have hitherto been marginalized or restricted from operating in an economic context. According to the World Bank, different rules for men and women exist across the Middle East and North Africa, and only 17.4 percent of companies in the region employ women in high-level management. Women face difficulties starting businesses, registering properties and enforcing contracts. Gender gaps in women’s entrepreneurship and labor-force participation account for an estimated loss of 27 percent in total income across the region.
But social media has provided a new and burgeoning platform for both formal and informal economic activity to take place. In Saudi Arabia, where 57 percent of university graduates are female, Instagram businesses have created a competitive market among women; stay-at-home mothers are setting up profitable online businesses alongside foreign graduates and experienced businesswomen. The boom has been so great that the Labor Ministry has yet to understand the contribution of these informal businesses on the national economy. In providing a channel for women to successfully impact the world of business, online companies have not only contributed to the economy but are also forcing an increased element of service-oriented delivery and sophistication in the market. In such a geographically dispersed and politically and economically fragmented region, technology has allowed businesses to compete transnationally. Local businesses are able to market their items to regional customers inexpensively, offering international delivery on items that were previously stuck behind borders and suffered from over-regulation.
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