Credit Management December 2022

COUNTRY FOCUS
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
IT’S no surprise that many
associate Egypt with pharaonic
dynasties and biblical tales. And
for the most part they’d be right
in light of the pyramids, various
lost and found temples, the Nile,
Cleopatra, mummies and Tutankhamun.
While Egypt has a history that goes back
8,000 years to the dawn of creation, its
modern history and resources, including
the prized Suez Canal, has made it into
one of Africa’s biggest economies.
Egypt might not be the centre of
attention right now, but the value of
its economy and physical position
should place it high up on the agenda of
any exporter.
Modern history
Officially called the Arab Republic of
Egypt, it sits at the north eastern corner
of Africa and the south western corner
of Asia. With the Mediterranean to the
north, Gaza and Israel to the northeast,
Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south
and Libya to the west, it’s well placed for
businesses wanting to access the region.
Modern day Egypt can be dated back
to 1922 and independence from Britain.
A monarchy from that date until 1952, a
revolution led primarily by Gamal Abdel
Nasser saw the creation of a new republic.
In 1958, Egypt merged with Syria to form
the United Arab Republic but that entity
dissolved three years later in 1961 when
Syria seceded.
In recent times Egypt has seen a
mixture of leaders including – in order –
the reformer Sadat, the dictator Mubarak,
and currently, the authoritarian el-Sisi.
As the CIA World Factbook summarises,
despite Egypt’s mixed record for attracting
foreign investment over the past two
decades, poor living conditions and
limited job opportunities contributed to
public discontent: “These socioeconomic
pressures were a major factor leading to
the January 2011 revolution that ousted
Mubarak. The uncertain political, security,
and policy environment since 2011 has
restricted economic growth and failed
to alleviate persistent unemployment,
especially among the young.”
The land
With 1,001,450 sq.km, Egypt is the world
30th largest country by area. It has a
very dry desert-like climate and the vast
majority of the population live either
along the Nile or in the Nile Delta – 98
percent live on just 3 percent of the land.
The UN Population Fund recorded
a 2022 population estimate of 106.2m
people and a growth rate of 1.8 percent
TBrave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com /December 2022 / PAGE 37
between 2020 and 2025. The same source
reckons that 34 percent were aged 14 or
under, 61 percent between 15 to 64 years
of age, and 5 percent were 65 years or
older. Egypt is the most populous country
in the Middle East.
Finding reliable city population figures
is difficult, but sticking a stake in the sand,
the 2010 census indicated that Cairo had
some 12.3m people, Alexandria had 5.04m,
Giza 4.02m, Shubra El Kheima 3.07m
and Port Said 1.6m. Beyond that
were another 20 cities with between
1.34m and 164,830 people. In contrast,
Worldpopulationreview.com suggested
that Cairo had only 7.73m people,
Alexandria 3.81m, Giza 2.44m, and Port
Said just 538,378 people.
Clearly, these numbers should be
treated as indicative only. But regardless,
it’s easy to see why a plan was mooted in
2015 to move the capital and its functions
to the New Administrative Capital – with a
name still to be given. Part of an initiative
called Egypt Vision 2030, it’s being built
some 45km east of Cairo – halfway to
the Suez Canal – and seeks to reduce the
congestion in present-day Cairo.
In more detail, Egypt Vision 2030 was
launched in 2016 and set eight national
goals that are in tune with the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goals
and the Sustainable Development Strategy
for Africa 2063. In essence, Egypt Vision
2030 seeks to improve the economy,
quality of life, regional peace and security,
equality and its international presence.
Beyond the new capital, various
projects featured in Egypt Vision 2030
include Hayah Karima, which aims to
provide decent housing, quality medical
and educational services infrastructure to
deprived rural villages and remote areas in
Egypt, and an integrated plan to develop
the country's military manufacturing
capability for the country’s armed forces.
The economy
The economy was formerly highly
centralised under Nasser, but later
fully opened up under Presidents Sadat
and Mubarak.
The Fanack Foundation states that
Egypt’s economy relies on seven industries
that comprise more than 80 percent of
industrial organisations. Textile, food
and beverage, and furniture industries
are the three largest, followed by mining
and chemicals.
The Egyptian economy is considered to
be relatively diverse. Notably, even during
the height of the pandemic, it maintained
positive economic growth of 3.3 percent
in 2021.
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