Latest news with #Maghreb
Zawya
3 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Haleon captures over 20% market share in Egypt, locally manufactures 90% of product portfolio
Egypt - Haleon, the global consumer health leader, has reinforced its footprint in Egypt following its demerger from GSK in July 2022. The company now holds over 20% of Egypt's consumer health market and manufactures approximately 90% of its flagship brands locally, according to Asif Alavi, General Manager for North Africa at Haleon. Speaking to Daily News Egypt, Alavi said that local production covers trusted household names such as Sensodyne, Parodontax, Panadol, Otrivin, and Voltaren Emulgel, underscoring Haleon's commitment to supply chain resilience and economic contribution through technology transfer and export capabilities. Egypt serves as a key regional base for exports to the Maghreb, Gulf countries, and Saudi Arabia. Alavi emphasized that local manufacturing has helped shield the company from global economic volatility, including inflation, currency fluctuations, and supply chain disruptions. 'Our strategy has significantly minimized exposure to global shocks, enabling us to maintain stability and accessibility in the Egyptian market,' he noted. Globally, Haleon is advancing its innovation pipeline, including a £130m investment in a new Global Oral Health Innovation Centre in Weybridge, UK, slated to open in 2027. The facility will support Haleon's category leadership in oral health and accelerate R&D for key brands like Sensodyne, which Alavi described as resilient due to its therapeutic value and strong dentist recommendations—even during economic downturns. Recognizing the price sensitivity in emerging markets, Haleon has adopted a multi-format, tiered pricing strategy to ensure broad accessibility. The company also champions self-care as a cornerstone of sustainable healthcare. Alavi cited research by the Global Self-Care Federation, which estimates self-care interventions have already delivered $119bn in global healthcare cost savings and $1.9trn in welfare gains—divs projected to rise to $179bn and $2.8trn, respectively. Looking ahead, Alavi reaffirmed Haleon's long-term vision in Egypt: 'We are committed to being a core contributor to the Egyptian healthcare ecosystem—by making everyday health more accessible, inclusive, and sustainable.' © 2024 Daily News Egypt. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Wall Street Journal
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Shifting Sands' Review: Roads Into the Sahara
In the Western imagination, the Sahara is an empty space, a state of nature. Some locals shared this view before Europeans discovered the savannah south of the sands. Ibn Khaldun, the polymath born in Tunis in 1332, witnessed the fragility of political power as he moved between the capitals of the Maghreb in North Africa. His 'Muqaddimah' (1377) interprets the history of the world as a cyclical struggle between the badu, whose lives are shaped by their struggle against the wilderness, and the hadar, the settled urbanites who achieve political development and other amenities of the easy life. In Ibn Khaldun's view, the badu are not the anarchist prelude to polite society that Rousseau imagined. They are its structural counterpart, who, toughened by their environment, keep the cycle going through conquest, only to be softened by urban comforts. Ibn Khaldun knew what he was talking about. A veteran courtier, he started the 'Muqaddimah' after retreating to the badu fortress of Beni Salama, now in Algeria, in the 1370s. In 'Shifting Sands,' Judith Scheele calls Ibn Khaldun the only major thinker to develop 'a political theory rooted in Saharan history.' Ms. Scheele contrasts his view with the Enlightenment-era notion of the Sahara as a wasteland to be managed and improved. This perception was as much economic as geological. It assumed, she writes, that desertification was a punishment for poor resource management. Ms. Scheele, an anthropologist who has worked in Algeria, Mali and Chad, pursues a synthesis. By 'taking our cue from Saharans themselves,' she writes, we can 'find new ways of thinking about the Sahara.' Her book presents a detailed, often gritty, picture of a fragile world. Her travels trace the web of exchanges, linguistic and material, that crisscross a harsh, vast and sometimes impassable terrain. The Sahara's ramshackle nodes are densely populated and littered with plastic goods, and its camel trails have been replaced by roads for trucks, but the deep structures of the desert and Islam continue to shape badu life.
Morocco World
12-05-2025
- Health
- Morocco World
Violence, Lack of Resources Among Top Challenges for Moroccan Child Welfare
Rabat – Despite national efforts to protect children, Morocco still faces major challenges that require stronger cooperation and a more unified approach, said Minister of Solidarity, Social Inclusion, and Family, Naïma Ben Yahya, during a national meeting on child protection held Monday in Sale. Speaking at the opening of the event, titled 'Child Protection: Local Implementation and Quality of Services,' and organized with support from UNICEF, the minister said that challenges remain in many areas. These include improving prevention programs, better coordination among services, and making sure local actors take full responsibility in carrying out the national child protection plan. Ben Yahya also pointed to issues related to limited human and financial resources, the need to strengthen civil society's role, and the importance of creating an integrated digital system to track children under protection. She noted the growing threat of violence against children, especially online abuse, and said there is a pressing need for more research and data on children's issues. To address these problems, especially those faced by institutions caring for children in vulnerable situations, the minister announced that the government is working on a plan to establish a National Agency for Children in Need of Protection. This new agency would improve institutional support and ensure better governance and quality services for children. Morocco ranked 54th out of 194 countries worldwide in the 2024 Kids Rights Index, with a score of 0.776, placing it second among Maghreb countries, just behind Tunisia. The index evaluates countries based on their commitment to children's rights across five core areas: life, health, education, protection, and enabling environment. When climate change considerations are included as a sixth experimental domain, Morocco's ranking drops to 73rd with a score of 0.65. Tags: child protectionchildren
Russia Today
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
African state orders expulsion of French embassy staff
Algeria has ordered the immediate dismissal of a number of French diplomatic personnel who were allegedly appointed by Paris without the established protocols being followed, the North African state's press service (APS) reported on Sunday. According to the outlet, at least fifteen French employees have been assigned to diplomatic or consular positions in Algiers without France complying with the appropriate procedures, such as official notification or accreditation requests. On Sunday, Algeria's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned a senior French embassy official to protest 'serious and repeated' breaches of international conventions governing diplomatic appointments. 'These employees, who previously held mission passports, have been granted diplomatic passports to facilitate their entry into Algeria… The same list included two employees from the French Ministry of the Interior, who were intended to perform part of the duties of those recently declared persona non grata,' APS reported, citing sources. The alleged diplomatic breach comes as relations between the two countries remain strained on several fronts. Algeria has accused France of repeatedly denying entry to holders of Algerian diplomatic passports. The accreditation process for the former French colony's newly appointed Consuls General in Paris and Marseille, as well as seven other consular officials, has reportedly also been stalled for over five months. The latest move follows a similar expulsion in April, when Algeria ordered 12 French embassy staff to leave the country over what it described as 'hostile acts' and interference in internal affairs. The decision came shortly after the arrest of an Algerian consular official in France, who is one of three Algerians charged with kidnapping government critic Amir Boukhors in 2024. The arrest sparked outrage in Algiers, which condemned it as a violation of diplomatic immunity. Tensions have since worsened, fueled by disputes over visa policies, unresolved colonial-era grievances, and France's support for Morocco's position on the Western Sahara issue. Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron held a phone call with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in an effort to mend fraying ties, during which both leaders agreed to maintain dialogue.
Arab News
16-03-2025
- General
- Arab News
Ramadan on patrol: Pakistani policeman balances duty with devotion in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: As the daylight fades and residents sit together to break their fast amid a call for Maghreb prayer in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, the call for duty rings louder for Constable Malik Muhammad Ikram than the call to iftar, compelling him to break his fast with a date and water. The 47-year-old, who has been serving in the Islamabad police for 18 years and is currently part of their Dolphin patrolling squad, says he is proud of efficiently discharging his duty, which takes on a different meaning in Ramadan that not only tests his endurance but also his devotion to faith. Ikram's duty schedule remains the same in Ramadan as any other day of the year, with an eight-hour shift varying between 7am-3pm, 3pm-11pm or 11pm-7am. But the fatigue feels different while fasting, he says. 'Indeed, performing our duties during Ramadan feels different,' he told Arab News while on duty in Islamabad's G-6 sector within the remits of the Aabpara police station. 'Nonetheless, it is our responsibility and our profession. We can choose to work with a positive attitude or do it out of obligation, so we try to do it happily.' The capital city police department doesn't provide any formal iftar or sehri meals but offers whatever it can to on-duty staff, according to Ikram. The policemen manage to have quick sehri meals before heading out for duty on most days, and if not, they swing by a government mess or food stalls at the nearby G6 market to munch something quickly. Ikram, who leads a team of three other cops, says the iftar hour is particularly 'unpredictable' as they often break their fast with dates, water and fruit while being caught up in patrolling, chasing suspects or responding to emergency calls. 'If we're on duty during iftar, we have to manage on our own,' he said. 'If there's a station nearby, we go there but there are times, when the Azaan is being called and we're going for some task.' Ikram recalls how he received an emergency call from the police control room about an accident near Zero Point just when he was about to break his fast this month and had to rush to the site to respond to the situation. 'If we are having iftar and we get a call regarding an emergency case or an accident, we have to leave everything and respond to the call,' he explained. 'We also need to report our response time to the control room, letting them know how long it took us to respond after receiving the call.' He said he was able to save a young man's life following that call from the police control room. 'I felt really happy from the bottom of my heart,' he said, reminiscing the moments like this that remind him why he had joined the police force. 'The life of the man was saved due to timely treatment.' For a policeman, being patient is part of the job, particularly in Ramadan, as fatigue and hunger could flare up tempers that hampers their duty, according to the 47-year-old. 'We have to tolerate our anger because it's the public,' he said. 'Our profession and nature of duties are such that anger cannot work here and we have to be patient.' Recalling another incident, he said they were stationed near a traffic signal in the G6 sector when his team signaled two youths riding a bike to stop, but they sped up and were eventually stopped after a long chase. 'We verified and found out that their bike was stolen. That's why they tried to flee,' he said, highlighting that his team calmly handled the situation even though it could have turned tense. Ikram says he is often assigned to the Red Zone, a high-security area housing key government buildings, embassies and key institutions, where the shift runs up to 16 hours even during Ramadan, but he accepts it as part of his calling. The 47-year-old, whose other family members have also served in police, says he always wanted to contribute to the society's betterment, which was the reason he joined the force. 'If there is an emergency during Ramadan, duty comes first,' he said. 'I took up this profession because firstly, it's all about Rizq (livelihood) — Allah had written our Rizq in this profession. Secondly, it was my personal choice to join the Islamabad police.' Looking back at his years of service, Ikram says he finds fulfillment in small yet powerful moments. 'Iftar and suhoor are secondary. Duty is our responsibility, and the government pays us for it. So, duty always comes first,' he said as he picked up his radio and moved on with the routine patrol while fasting with an unwavering faith.
