Egypt found itself back on the international front pages in the second half of this year. The country played host to the Sharm el-Sheikh conference in October when US President Donald Trump rallied global and regional powers alike behind his ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip. Shortly after, in November, Cairo invited world leaders to attend the spectacular opening of the new Grand Egyptian Museum next to the pyramids.
Amid these eye-catching events, other domestic developments have received less attention. Most notable were Egypt’s parliamentary elections, with the first round held in November, and runoffs planned for early December.
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The elections have been dominated by a coalition of pro-government parties running unopposed for the party list seats, which are half of the parliamentary seats being voted for. Individual candidates can run for the other half of the seats in contention, but those seats are difficult to win for candidates without the necessary financial resources and connections.
Critics, therefore, believe that the race is essentially only between loyalists to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, with a group of Egyptian human rights groups saying that the elections had occurred “under chronic and severe restrictions on meaningful political participation”.
With that context in mind, the elections have not attracted a groundswell of attention from Egyptians, continuing a pattern since el-Sisi took power in the country more than a decade ago, after a coup against Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi.
“They are even less important than under [former President Hosni] Mubarak, it is not the talk of the day,” said a businessman in the textile industry, who did not wish to give their full name for fear of reprisals. “There are fewer banners and posters than during previous elections.”
Capital injections
In the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, it is often forgotten that less than two years ago, Egypt experienced the worst economic crisis seen under el-Sisi. Billions of dollars worth of capital injections from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the European Union, and massive investment pledges from the UAE in early 2024 prevented an economic crisis in Egypt.
Leading to the question, how is Egypt’s economy faring now? On paper, the picture looks promising. Recently, Egypt’s credit rating was upgraded, GDP growth is increasing, skyrocketing inflation rates that battered the population for years have cooled down, and investment from the Gulf continues. For example, Qatar is planning to develop a prime coastal strip near el-Alamein on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, not far from a similar UAE-funded project now under construction.
Earlier this year, the IMF completed its fourth review of Egypt’s economic reforms as part of conditions attached to its loan, and distributed a further $1.2bn – part of a loan worth $8bn in total, of which Egypt has now withdrawn $3.2bn.
The IMF continues to voice concern about state and military control in the economy – issues that have been on the table continuously under el-Sisi’s rule – but the overall message has been that Egypt is performing as desired. Between the lines, one can read that el-Sisi’s Egypt, especially as the precious peace agreement between Egypt and Israel has held steady amid Israel’s war in Gaza, is simply too big to fail.
Dollars available
The capital injections have had their impact on the ground. There are dollars in the banks and after a major devaluation in 2024, the Egyptian pound is relatively stable. It serves the business community well.
“Our exports rise every quarter,” said a textile company owner. “There are many Turkish textile companies opening in Egypt, drawn by our cheap labour costs.”
That is the intended effect of the devaluation: translated into foreign currency, labour costs decrease, making Egypt an attractive destination to move production that depends on low-skilled labour.
While Turkish companies are a new competitor to his business, the company owner sees the benefit for Egyptian workers. “I