Minorities and Networking: The Way to Entrepreneurial Success

Abstract

The entrepreneurs of the Jewish and Greek minorities successfully dominated a significant portion of the economic activities in Egypt, 1860-1960. The tide of events in the mid twentieth century Middle East, especially the departure and expulsion of foreign minorities from Egypt, affected the perception of the histories of these minorities, and limited it in political and ideological analysis. Scholarship dealing with minorities in Egyptian history has a general nature, where economic activities have a subordinate function, and remains descriptive. This article aims to go a step further and analyze the economic role beyond the political and ideological context. The interrelation of entrepreneurship and networking developed business know how that led to success. The development of networks and shifting from their religious and/ or ethnic nature to networks of common visions for future investments guaranteed the success continuation.