In the past, a growing gap between what Egypt’s governing elites delivered and the population’s legitimate aspirations would have been addressed by imposing further repression. The new Egypt will not allow this. The empowerment of ordinary Egyptians has fundamentally changed things. Egypt’s political elites do not have unlimited time, and current economic trends are making the need to act increasingly urgent.
Egypt’s energy sector, specifically its electricity, oil and natural gas subsectors, is a large, important and promising part of the national economy. Egypt faces the challenges of growth in population, energy demand, and the energy production needed to meet its modern development goals. The economy is energy-intensive, especially the manufacturing and tourism components that together represented about 25 percent of GDP in recent years.
The European Union, along with other institutions and countries, are likely to discuss ways on how to provide more financial support for Egypt when newly elected Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi arrives in Brussels this week, reported Reuters on Wednesday, after a senior EU official claimed that the $4.8 billion loan from the IMF to Cairo was unlikely to be enough to revive the Egyptian economy.
The United States government is nearing a deal to forgive $1 billion in debt for Egypt’s newly-established Islamist government, said the New York Times on Monday, with the agreement set to be part international assistance package intended to “bolster Egypt’s transition to democracy,” according to administration officials.
Egypt’s Olympic Committee (EOC) Chairman, Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed Ali, has admitted to purchasing counterfeit Nike apparel for their representatives at the upcoming London games, claimed a report by the Associated Press on Thursday, following complaints by their athletes that the officially-issued tracksuits and bags had bore the Nike logo on the front but the Adidas logo on the zippers.
Cash-strapped Egypt has signed a $1 billion deal with the Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank to finance its energy and food imports. Egypt’s economy has been hit by last year’s uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak, with deep cuts to its tourism and investment revenues.
The agreement between the Egyptian government and IDB was signed on Sunday in Cairo by Waleed Abdul Mohsen al-Wohaib, chief executive of the institution and Egypt’s international cooperation minister, Fiza Abu el-Naga.
Egypt’s political transition has had deep economic consequences. Though the country is now free of a repressive and tyrannical regime, the economy has entered into a steep decline, which threatens the main goals of the revolution. What’s more, Egyptian politicians now favour populist rhetoric; and unless the upcoming presidential elections can lead to economic stabilization and revival, Egyptians’ hard-won political gains may well be lost.
Tourist figures to Egypt could pick up to between 12 and 13 million visitors this year, said an official from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism on Sunday, after revenues from Egypt’s tourism sector plunged by nearly 30 percent in 2011 due to ongoing violence stemming from the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Exactly one year ago, as the World Economic Forum convened in Davos, Egyptians took to the streets in a relatively peaceful protest to overthrow a regime that had ruled over them with an iron fist for 30 years. Today, their revolution is, unfortunately, incomplete and imperfect, but make no mistake: Egyptians will finish what they started.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby said in an interview with Al Jazeera and discussed that Cairo was working to permanently open the Rafah border crossing with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
