Egypt’s economic crisis

Carilyn Pointer - The President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, has reached out to his political oppositionto give them a greater voice. As an authoritarian leader and government, these talks have only gone so far. Crucial leaders, topics, and political parties were excluded, limiting the effectiveness of the conversation. The scale of this conversation and the political actions the President has recently taken, may have devastating effects for Egypt’s people if action is not taken soon.

Scale defines the geographic extent of the political actions we are looking at. It starts at the individual level and slowly increases in size until it reaches a global level. For example, on the individual scale, the economic crisis in Egypt is experienced by the citizens as rising inflation, threats of poverty, and food insecurity. On the national level, President el-Sisi’s decisions to invest in weapons and a temporary construction boom, have led to a staggering amount of debt. With an unstable economy, the government may have to decide between paying their debts or feeding the citizens that depend on the government-subsidized bread. Considering the global scale, the economies of Russia and Ukraine have been affected by the war which has cost Egypt money in the form of tourism and foreign investors. It is important to remember however, that all scales are interconnected, and that the actions taken on each level affect real individuals and livelihoods

In the face of the impending worsening of the economic crisis, President el-Sisi held talks with his political opposition. Many see it as a mere spectacle though, to appease the frightened population. Real action is not being taken on the national level, and as a result the individual level is getting increasingly restless - which may make President el-Sisi’s popularity drop before the next election.

_{Photo Credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0, Donald Trung Quoc Don}