A hunger for change

ISTANBUL: Talking to young tech entrepreneurs gathered at a conference here, you hear the hunger for change that is pervasive in the Middle East. They’re frustrated and angry about the status quo, not least because they fear it has helped spawn the extremism of jihadist groups such as the Islamic State.

“Youth in Egypt want change and they’re not going to wait for it,” says Waleed Abd El Rahman, who runs a tech business forum in Cairo. One of the start-ups he’s working with is building an app to help navigate Cairo’s notorious traffic jams; another is creating online alternatives to expensive private tutoring.