A “silver lining” to the pandemic? Expedited reforms in Egypt, Al-Mashat says: Egypt has moved quicker over the past couple of months on a host of structural reforms, including moving quicker to digitize the financial system, promoting financial inclusion, and driving online learning and work from home, International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat told CNN’s Richard Quest last week (watch, runtime: 3:02). “The silver lining in the Covid-19 cloud is that many of the reforms have been expedited … all of these efforts have taken place and it does provide for a good story,” Al-Mashat said. The minister also reiterated other points she made in a previous interview, including government support to 1.5 mn seasonal workers identified as vulnerable to the economic fallout.

Want to hear more from the IMF and CBE veteran? We recently spoke with Al-Mashat for Enterprise After Hours, our new podcast featuring business leaders, policymakers and cultural icons. You can listen to the episode on our website, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anghami, Omny, or Spotify (for non-MENA accounts). You can also check out edited excerpts of our conversation.