Spinneys CEO Saves Beirut Store from Watery Grave

There is no time frame mentioned for this anecdote but Spinneys Group CEO, Michael Wright,  brought it up in an interview with Arabian Business:

It’s three o’clock in the morning, and a freak rainstorm is in danger of washing a Beirut supermarket — and its contents — down the street and into the Mediterranean. Flood water is overwhelming the pumps, and in a matter of minutes the basement level of the store will be more akin to a reservoir than a retail outlet. Panicked staff and watchmen agree on one thing: it’s time to call the boss.

“I got a call and rushed down; it was chaos,” recalls Michael Wright, smiling at the memory. “The whole store was in danger of floating down the street if we didn’t get another pump working. I took a jackhammer, and smashed straight though the floor in the middle of the store, to make a hole so we could put an extra pump in. I guess you could call it micromanaging, but then who else but the boss would be prepared to jackhammer through the middle of a $12m shop?”

Who knew? Thankfully, that has not discouraged Spinneys from further investments in the country:

…further down the line, the retailer is examining the feasibility of offering online shopping in Lebanon.

“So many have tried around the world, and so many have failed,” Wright cautions. “You have to be very specific and you can only manage it in small communities where it can be really worthwhile.

“We believe we can do it when we have a few more stores in certain areas — Beirut, for example – but it’s probably two years down the road,” he continues. “It will be very localised, and taken store by store.”

But of course, there is the well-known and publicized problem in Lebanon:

According to Wright the relatively slow speed of the internet in Lebanon, coupled with the fact that “trying to find a house in the first place can be a nightmare in this part of the world”, means online shopping will never form a significant component of the Spinneys Group business model.

Nice to see a CEO that is willing to get his hands dirty with a little DIY work, though.

Arabian Business: The market forces behind Spinneys Group

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Lebanon to be on Par with Finland

Can you believe it! Lebanon and Finland are going to have something in common. The land of a thousand lakes which is ranked within the top ten countries in the Global Peace Index and the Corruption Perception Index, as well as within the top 15 in the UN’s Human Development Index and has just passed a law making broadband Internet a legal right will stand alongside Lebanon as the only two countries in the world to offer: Online Tax Free Shopping!

Global Blue, the inventor of online tax free shopping, plans to implement its technology in the Lebanese market in August 2010.

[...]

The digital tax free shopping technology has only been implemented in Finland so far, making Lebanon a leader in this domain, the company said.

The thought of it gives me goosebumps. It gives me great relief to know that while I wait 15 minutes for my shopping cart to load, I will not be taxed for my purchases.

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Lebanon’s Internet to Get Worse Unless You Stop It

A rallying cry from Lebanese Bloggers everywhere to Lebanese everywhere. Get in touch with you MP ASAP!

Here are the details from Darine:

Tomorrow, Parliament is scheduled to vote on a new E-Transactions law that could have terrible implications for the Lebanese economy and for professional and personal privacy. To date, private sector and civil society have not been allowed to comment on the the law.

Among the articles of concern are:

• Article 92, saying anyone providing online services must apply for a license. Result: More paperwork, more bureaucracy, more delays, less revenue.
• Article 82, allowing for the warrantless search and seizure of financial, managerial, and electronic files, including hard drives, computers, etc. Result: The government has pre-approval to seize your company and personal assets and information, without cause.
• Article 70, establishing the Electronic Signature & Services Authority, a new regulatory and licensing body with practically unchecked powers. Result: Another agency, who can make or break your organization at their whim.

This is a complete farce and shows incredible short-sightedness in our un-progressive parliament. Don’t know how to get in touch with your MP? Check the official parliament website for details.

Word circulating on Twitter seems to suggest that the campaign has worked and parliament’s session tomorrow has been postponed. In any case, you still need to get in touch with your MP and ensure that this law remains locked up in some drawer and not in our law books.

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Internet Improvements: Should Be Happening

I’m guessing from this article that Lebanon ‘should’ be improving its Internet infrastructure:

The project to launch an auction for broadband Internet licenses is being prepared, said the executive director of the telecommunication regulatory committee Kamal Shehadeh on Friday.
[...]
He said that the committee was dedicated to providing national and international broadband services in Lebanon in order to make the country a leader in broadband technology.

Big words: “a leader in broadband technology”. SHOW US THE MONEY! You honestly have to do better than that. Plus, the words you use are quite telling: “the project to launch an auction”. They are not launching an auction, they are preparing the ground works to look into launching an auction. So let’s call it a 3 to 5-year program.

Shehadeh also said that Lebanon should adopt the sixth version of the Internet protocol because the fourth version it was currently adopting would no longer be useful in 2011 and 2012.

Again, he used the word ‘should’, not ‘would’ or even ‘could’. Its like saying “I should be saving 10% of my salary”. I should be but I’m not. I’d like to but I can’t. Enough talk – show us the 1GB/S!

Check out these great posts:

• Spinneys CEO Saves Beirut Store from Watery Grave
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Food, Medicine, Shelter and a Phone Call

NGOs the world over are known for their immediate action whenever there is trouble brewing in any part of the world. They are there to provide people with the basic needs in order to survive traumatic times. However, one NGO has learned that sometimes people need to also contact their loved ones too:

Télécoms Sans Frontières provides communication to victims of disasters and emergencies all over the world. [...] The idea for TSF was born out of a situation that the founders were confronted  by many times during their work with humanitarian charities around the world. [...] [They were] often approached by refugees clutching scraps of paper pleading with them to call their relatives when they returned to France.

Besides its headquarters in France, TSF has permanent bases in Nicaragua and Thailand, and now they are looking for a another base either in the Middle East or Africa:

“We are thinking of setting up a base in Burkina Faso, or perhaps in a country in the Middle East, such as Lebanon. That would give us a good strategic position.”

Both options in my opinion would be ideal but the question is: which area do they feel that this new base would primarily serve, Africa or the Middle East? A flight to Africa would take at least 3 hours with another 3 to reach the heart of Africa. Otherwise Lebanon would be a good choice if the focus is on the Middle East. Let’s not kid ourselves, there will be another war between Hezbollah and Israel which would give TSF direct access to the action.

I honestly do believe that communications, particularly the Internet, should be a basic human right (along with electricity). I know it’s beginning to sound like a Christmas list to Santa but the world has changed drastically and food, shelter and medicine just doesn’t cut it anymore.

On that note, I’d like end this post with two articles from 2009 on telecommunications and how behind we are in the Arab World:

Finland: Where Broadband Is A Right

The country’s Ministry of Transport and Communications has ordered telecom providers to be ready to provide “every residence and business office with access to a reasonably priced and high-quality connection,” the AP reports.

Korea: Internet Speed to Get 10 Times Faster by 2012

The government said Internet service providers will provide 1 Gbps Internet services, 10 times faster than existing optical networks. [...] Fixed-line and wireless networks will be gradually changed to an Internet protocol-based network. Once the phone networks are changed to an Internet-protocol-based one, all existing phones will be replaced with voice over Internet protocol phones.

We can only dream…

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