Seven years is the age of the 30th of June 2013 revolution, which ushered in another revolution of a new kind, the “development revolution”, in which new methods and ideas were launched in managing the country’s resources, in the largest practical application of thinking out the box. This was embodied in the financial, economic and social indicators that are reflected in the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics data that we relied on in preparing this file.
Figure No. (1): The unemployment rate (%) during the period (2013-2020)
Unemployment rates rose to their highest rates after the outbreak of the January 2011 revolution, as a result of the exit of many investments from Egypt due to the state of insecurity. They reached their peak in 2013 with a total unemployment rate of 13.2%. Unemployment rates among males were 9.8% and 24.2% among females.
In the aftermath of the June 30 revolution, with the stability of the security and political conditions, the return of foreign investments again, and the national projects that attracted more than 5 million workers, the total unemployment rates in the first quarter of the year 2020 reached 7.7%. Unemployment rates reached between males in rural areas 2.9%, and 6.8% among males in urban areas. As for the females, unemployment rates reached 16.3% among females in rural areas, and 28.4% among females in urban areas.
Figure No. (2): Evolution of the amount of generated electrical energy (gigawatt hours) in Egypt during the period 2012/2013 – 2016/2017
One of the most obvious crises affecting the life of the Egyptian citizen during the rule of the terrorist Brotherhood group was the frequent power outages, which exposed many citizens to material and moral damages, and even threatened the lives of some. This crisis was the result of mismanagement as well as problems rooted in the Egyptian state that resulted from the dilapidation of old stations, and the insufficient power generated to satisfy the needs of all citizens.
But thanks to the state’s vision of the risks threatening the future of energy security in Egypt, it adopted a policy of diversifying energy production sources (solar energy – winds – hydroelectric), which resulted in an increase in production capacities during the period 2013 to 2017 by 70%. The amount of energy produced increased from 164,629 gigawatts in the year 2012/2013 to 189,550 gigawatts in the year 2016/2017, through increased investment in the electricity sector which reached 22.3 billion EGP. This resulted in an improvement in Egypt’s ranking in international reports, as it rose from 145th among 185 to 77 out of 190. Therefore, we have advanced 68 places over the past five years.
Figure (3): The evolution of the number of housing units implemented in urban areas and their investments in million pounds in Egypt during the period (2011/2012 – 2017/2018)
Among the most important projects that the state has paid great attention to is the housing crisis and random construction, as well as the development of unsafe slum areas and unplanned areas, in order to provide a decent life for citizens.
Till June 2020, 414 thousand housing units were implemented within the National Social Housing Project for the youth and low-income segment, at a cost of 51 billion pounds. 38% of them in the governorates, and other 194 thousand units are being implemented, at a cost of 37 billion pounds. In the Dar Masr Middle-class Housing Project 41,424 units have been completed, at a cost of 13 billion pounds, and other 15480 units, at a cost of 4.6 billion, are being implemented.
As for the development of slum areas, 165,958 thousand units have been implemented in 298 developed areas, at a cost of 41 billion pounds (26 billion for projects + 15 billion for land), and other 74,927 thousand units are being implemented, in 59 areas under development, at a cost of 22 billion EGP (14 billion for projects + 8 billion for land), 53 unplanned areas have been developed, and 17 other areas are being developed, at a total cost of 318 billion EGP. This data is according to the statements of Dr. Assem El-Jazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities.
Figure No. (4): Development of the new agricultural land area (in feddans) in Egypt during the period (2011-2017)
The agricultural sector is one of the pillars of the Egyptian economy, with more than 25% of the Egyptian population working in it. It is the main guarantor of Egyptian food security. Therefore, it was a primary goal for Egyptian institutions to increase the agricultural area despite the challenges that the Egyptian state faced from the shrinkage of the agricultural area as a result of urban encroachments on agricultural lands during the insecurity time, to the dwindling of water resources due to the increase in the population.
This is what the state has overcome through good management of available resources, and adding new areas to the agricultural area by looking for alternatives to its challenges, including recycling water until it is again suitable for agriculture, and relying on agricultural wastewater treatment plants, where it is relied upon to cultivate more than 600,000 feddans. Also, desert reclamation in light of state projects in Sinai, South Valley, Toshka, East Owainat, and the One and a Half Million Feddans Project, which increased the cultivated areas in Egypt for strategic products such as wheat, sugar beets, vegetables and fruits.
The agricultural area in Egypt has now become 9.4 million feddans, compared to about 2.5 million feddans in 2011. This contributed to self-sufficiency in some agricultural commodities, and an increase in agricultural exports, which reached 3.5 million tons of agricultural exports during the first half of the year, giving Egypt the lead in the export of citrus fruits after Spain was the leading exporter for a long time.
Figure No. (5): Development of fish and livestock production in Egypt during the period (2012-2017)
In continuation of the state’s plan to achieve food sufficiency and security, Egypt achieves only 55.9% of self-sufficiency in red meat production, according to 2017 estimates, as 792 thousand tons are produced locally, out of a total of 1,417 thousand tons consumed, which means that nearly half of the annual consumption is imported. The degree of self-sufficiency in poultry and birds is estimated at 91.5%, and fish at 85.6%, while self-sufficiency in eggs and milk is estimated at about 100%.
The Egyptian government’s plan revolved around three main axes regarding meat production in particular: the numerical and quantitative increase of livestock heads and the quantities of meat produced, raising the performance rates of farms and pens to obtain the highest performance rates for farm animals, and genetic improvement and the dissemination of distinct genotypes on the breeders and producers of livestock.
In this regard, the One Million Head of Cattle Project was launched in October 2017, at a cost of 211 million, in addition to the “National Project for Veal Revival”, which targets small farmers.
Figure No. (6): Evolution of the total value of production and net agricultural income (in thousand pounds) in Egypt during (2011/2012 – 2016/2017)
The fish wealth also had a wealth of development that appeared in the interest in the lakes in the country – especially the Qarun and Nasser lakes – and their development and improvement of their productivity to maintain the survival and continuity of the fish wealth in them, and the inauguration of the fish city of Ghalioun, the first of its kind in the Middle East and the African continent, as it is considered a city integrated for the fish industry, at a cost of one billion and 700 million pounds, which led to an increase in the per capita share of fish, which reached 14.5 kilos during 2017, and the percentage of self-sufficiency in fish reached 79.5% in 2018.
Figure No. (7): The evolution of the number of ships passing through the Suez Canal during the period (2012-2018)
The Suez Canal is one of the most important commercial waterways in the world, and it plays an important role in increasing the Egyptian national income. A new parallel canal has been dug to maximize the use of the canal and its current branches, by reducing the transit time to 11 hours instead of 18 hours for the northern convoy, and reducing the time waiting for ships to be 3 hours in the worst conditions instead of 8 to 11 hours. This is reflected in reducing the cost of the cruise for shipowners and increasing the degree of estimation of the Suez Canal.
The new channel aims to increase the capacity of the canal to become 97 standard vessels in 2023 instead of 49 ships in 2014, achieving direct non-stop transit of 45 vessels in both directions with the possibility of allowing vessels to pass up to a draft of 66 feet in all parts of the channel. It also aims for the Suez Canal revenue to increase by 259% in 2023 to be 13.226 billion dollars. The data indicates an increase in the number of ships passing through the Suez Canal after the opening of the new Suez Canal in 2015, as the number of ships passing through the canal reached 18174 ships in 2018.
Figure No. (8): Development of revenues and tax revenues (in million pounds) in Egypt during the period (2010/2011 – 2017/2018)
As for the state’s fiscal and tax policy during the last seven years, it has focused on developing the tax system in Egypt through two basic frameworks, namely the development of tax policies and tax administration, and the sub-axes that this entails including the development of legislation and laws related to taxes, the automation of procedures of payment and collection, the application of digital transformation through electronic tax returns, the development of infrastructure and headquarters of the Tax Authority, and the development of the capabilities of the human element. All this was reflected in the merit of the mechanisms for collecting tax revenues and increasing them to 629,302 million pounds in 2017/2018, compared to 192072 million pounds in 2010/2011.
Figure No. (9): Evolution of foreign investment flows and net foreign direct investment (in million dollars) in Egypt during the period (2011/2012 – 2017/2018)
The state has set an ambitious plan to localize many industries in Egypt in many sectors such as: (communications and information technology, transportations, armament, chemicals, space and remote sensing, energy, electronic games, pharmaceutical industries), so as to work on reducing product prices, developing the investment environment, and possessing of manufacturing and export rights to neighboring countries. Egypt was able to attract many foreign investments due to the stability of the internal situation and the provision of a good environment for investment. In 2017/2018, foreign investment inflows reached 13.16 billion dollars.
Figure No. (10): The evolution of the number of tourists (in millions) in Egypt during the period (2013-2018)
Tourism is one of the most important sources of foreign currency and national income in Egypt. In addition, it contributes to employing thousands of manpower through direct and indirect employment opportunities. Therefore, the state is striving to develop all kinds of tourism to attract more tourists.
Recent years have witnessed a gradual increase in the number of tourists coming to Egypt after a general decline during the last decade when the number of arrivals reached its lowest levels in 2016 with a value of 5.4 million tourists. Then, the numbers witnessed a gradual increase, until they reached 11.3 million tourists in 2018. But these numbers are expected to be affected in light of the emerging Corona Virus pandemic. World Tourism Organization estimated the size of the expected losses in the tourism sector due to the pandemic to be approximately (20% -30%), with losses estimated at (300-450) billion dollars around the world.
Figure No. (11): The evolution of the number of beds and the number of hospitals in Egypt during the period (2012-2017)
The health sector is one of the first and most prominent files on the agenda of the political leadership and state institutions, whose feasibility appeared during the recent pandemic. The strategic plan was intended to develop the sector through several axes, including increasing the number of hospitals, beds, and developing existing hospitals, in addition to raising the technical level and the medical team through training medical cadres of doctors and nurses abroad, and launching a comprehensive health insurance system, in which the origin is the family and not the individual, to obtain service without resorting to other measures such as treatment at the expense of the state.
This is in addition to President Sisi personally intervening to eliminate some health challenges, such as the President’s initiative to eliminate waiting lists, the launch of the “100 Million Health” initiative to eliminate virus C and detect non-communicable diseases, as well as the detection campaign for obesity, anemia and stunting, and the initiative to discover and treat weakness hearing loss for newborns, the Nour Hayat Initiative to uncover the causes of vision impairment and work to treat it, and the Egyptian Women’s Health Initiative.
During the period from 2014 to 2018, 67 hospitals and 44 specialized centers for gynecology, obstetrics and children were established and developed in all sectors and agencies of the Ministry of Health during the fiscal years from 2015 to 2018, at a total cost of 9.2 billion. The number of intensive care beds increased from 1968 to 5144. The number of nurseries increased by 161% from 2,269 to 5,046 nurseries with an increase of 122%. 8 new emergency centers were established. The number of equipped ambulances increased from 2,058 to 2,833 cars, with an increase of 40%. Mobile nurseries increased from 50 To 95 nurseries, with an increase of 95%. Samannoud Central Hospital’s at Samanoud Center, in Gharbia, was developed at a total cost of 115 million pounds.
1,315 ambulances were equipped and operated with satellite tracking devices, accounting for 46% of the total number of cars. The number of first aid points increased from 1100 in 2014 to 1,374 in 2017, with an increase of 25%. In addition to developing 4 main aid centers, and increasing the number of ambulance services provided from 1.1 million services in 2013-2014 to 1.5 million services in 2016-2017 with an increase of 40%.
Figure No. (12): Development of the size of the gross domestic product at the market price (billion pounds) in Egypt during the period (2012/2013 – 2018/2019)
The interest in all economic and service sectors in the state was reflected in the state’s gross national product. Egypt was able to achieve the highest growth rate in Africa, Arab countries and the Middle East region. It also succeeded in ranking third in the world in terms of future growth expectations.
The fiscal and monetary policy in Egypt was able to achieve a steady increase in the recent period, as the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2018/2019 reached 5322.3 billion pounds, and the proportion of the budget deficit of GDP is estimated at 8.3% in 2018/2019, compared to 9.7% in the previous year. In addition to achieving a first surplus estimated at 1.9% in 2018/2019, compared to 0.1% in the previous year. The estimated percentage of government debt to GDP was 90.5% at the end of June 2019, compared to 97.3% during the same month in 2018. The total foreign reserves of Egypt amounted to 44.97 billion dollars at the end of August 2019. In addition to the improvement of the Egyptian pound against the dollar by 16%, since it reached its weakest point in mid-December 2016.
