President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s sweeping victory in the latest presidential election, whose results were declared yesterday, came as no surprise to a large number of ordinary people and observers, even as the three candidates contesting the election with him campaigned seriously to win. Deep under Sisi’s election win are the achievements he made in the past ten years in the office of president. These achievements cover almost all walks of life in Egypt.
Promoting Egyptians’ health
Developing the health sector has always been a top priority for the state since President Abdel Fattah El Sisi took over about ten years ago. This has been evident in the rise of public spending on health to LE222 billion in FY budgets 2022-2023, compared to LE32 billion in 2014.
Several initiatives have been carried out to care for Egyptians’ health and improve quality of their lives, topped with ‘100 Million Healthy Lives Initiative’ and ‘100 Healthy Days’ which have benefited millions of people all over the country.
The initiatives covered elimination of hepatitis C, early detection of non-communicable diseases, maternal healthcare, early detection of genetic diseases in newborns, early detection and treatment of hearing impairment for children, early examination of anemia, and obesity for school students, follow-up of women’s health and treatment of chronic diseases, early detection of kidney disease, and ending waiting surgery lists. The government offers comprehensive healthcare by improving medical services in all state-run hospitals and medical facilities.
Last October, the World Health Organisation (WHO) awarded Egypt the Gold Level certificate for eliminating hepatitis C, a chronic viral infection that affects millions of people worldwide. Egypt was the first country in the world to receive this certification, after reducing its infection rate from 14.7 per cent in 2015 to less than 1 per cent in 2021.
The certificate was presented to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on October 9.
Food security as crucial as ever
President Sisi always stressed the prime importance that Egypt attaches to the issue of food security and many projects have been implemented in the sector over the past years.
One of the major projects is the mega national one of the New Delta, which aims to reclaim one million feddans and provide over 200,000 various job opportunities.
Over the past years the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade launched major national projects that led to enhancing services provided to citizens, preserved the strategic stock of all basic food commodities, and provided thousands of job opportunities through the establishment of logistics and commercial zones.
The two leading initiatives Hayah Karima (Decent Life) and Takaful and Karama (Solidarity and Dignity) projects, have been playing a key role in state efforts to better services and achieve food security by developing the Egyptian countryside and securing livelihoods for scores of millions of the Egyptian people.
The ministry has also launched a broad national project to establish seven giant strategic food warehouses in collaboration with the private sector, with the aim of increasing the stock of basic goods and provide the people’s needs throughout the year. The foundation stones for the first warehouse was laid in Suez, to be built on 10 acres, with total costs of LE800 million to LE 1 billion. A second one is being built in Luxor, also on 10 acres, with total costs of about LE1.5 billion, to serve four governorates in Upper Egypt, according to the minister of supply.
Electricity issue of national security
Energy, electricity in particular, has always been a “national security” issue in Egypt, and over the past ten years it has experienced an unprecedented boom thanks to strong support from President Sisi.
New service stations have been established, and existing were developed, and an additional 29,000 megawatts were added to the national grid, bringing the total to 56,000 megawatts, according to Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable energy.
Egypt aims to reach 60 per cent dependence on renewable energy by 2040, an update to the previous target of 42 per cent by 2030, Shaker noted.
In the meantime, Egypt has signed a number of deals with international alliance for the production of green hydrogen and its derivatives in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone). The country is seeking to become a global hub for green hydrogen production.
The country is seeking to reduce emissions and develop the use of renewable and alternative energy sources over the coming years, including green hydrogen, as part of its National Climate Strategy 2050.
Per this strategy, Egypt aims to produce green hydrogen at the lowest cost worldwide by 2050 at $1.7 per kg and capture 8 per cent of the global hydrogen market.
Transport: Linking Egypt together
The transport sector has received great attention from the state under President Sisi over the past years, covering all areas of the sector, roads, railway, ports and bridges.
Egypt has built new 13 road axes and 935 bridges nationwide to increase their numbers to 51 axes and 2,435 bridges, respectively, over the past ten years, according to Minister of Transport Kamel al-Wazir.
Up to LE530 billion were spent to create 7,000 new main roads, creating a network of 30,500km.
For first time, a high-speed rail, will reach Abu Simbel in Egypt’s Aswan, Wazir said also referring to major transport projects like Light Rail Transit (LRT), and building 6 factories to produce railway sleepers, he continued.
By 2030, Egypt will have 7 land ports that serve 3 million transit, 3 dry ports and 2 logistical areas, the minister told the “Story of Homeland” Conference in October.
“What has been done [when it comes to piers] in the port of Alexandria from [the period] 2021 to 2030 will be equivalent to twice the piers implemented in 200 years or since the era of Muhammad Ali” Pasha, Wazir noted.
The total costs of the Ministry of Transport’s projects over the period 2014-2024 have hit LE2 trillion.
Proper, decent housing for all
The housing was just as fortunate as other sectors, receiving unprecedented attention under President Sisi, as part of the enormous efforts to achieve overall development across the nation.
Over the past ten years under President Sisi, the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities have offered various housing progremmes to meet the rising demand both in rural and urban areas. These aimed at providing proper housing units for people of all classes, giving priority to young people.
Up to 1.05 million housing units have been completed in the various projects in new cities, and more 350,000 are under construction, totaling 1.4 million with total costs of LE607 billion, according to Housing Minister Assem el-Gazzar. The largest share of these units is part of the National Social Programme.
Up to 226 drinking water and sanitation projects have been either completed or under construction, with total costs of more than LE94 billion, and 1,516 service ones to benefit residents in new cities, with total costs of more than LE17.2 billion, in addition to the implementation of 18,216km of roads, 136 bridges, 20 car tunnels, and 42 pedestrian tunnels and bridges, have been completed over the past years.
By the same token, Deputy Chairman of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), Walid Abbas, said that the real estate map in Egypt has gone through utter changes under President Sisi.
The number of fourth-generation cities in Egypt currently stands at 39, foremost of which is the New Alamein.
Total of investments in the new cities across the nation has reached LE705 billion so far, including LE163 billion in the New Administrative Capital (NAC), he said.
The urban area across the nation increased from 7 per cent to 14 per cent over the past ten years under Sisi, thanks to the fourth generation cities.
Fourth generation cities offer the only hope for the government to face a potential disaster that threatens the governorates in Greater Cairo and some of the Delta provinces, namely frightening over population and crowding, he explained.
Women: Further social, political opportunities
Over the recent years, Egypt has been able to achieve unprecedented breakthrough in empowering women and gender equality, thanks to the genuine political will of the government which sincerely believes that empowering women means empowering the whole community.
The announcement of President Sisi of the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women in March 2017 laid the groundwork for many women empowerment achievements on the political, economic and social levels.
The Egyptian National Women’s Strategy 2030 envisions that by 2030, “Egyptian women will become active contributors to the achievement of sustainable development in a nation that guarantees their constitutional rights, ensures their full protection, and provides – without discrimination – political, social, and economic opportunities that enable them to develop their capacities and achieve their full potential.
Supporting female breadwinners through a national initiative launched in 2017 that work on financing small businesses for women through the Tahya Misr (Long Live Egypt) Fund and the Nasser Social Bank has been part of the state’s efforts for the economic empowerment of women.
Women are the main breadwinners in around 30 per cent of households across the country, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Under the leadership of President Sisi, great progress has also been made for women in positions of state power. In 2013 there were three female ministers. Now, for the first time, there are eight female ministers in Egypt’s cabinet.
In February 2017, President Sisi appointed for the first time a woman governor, Nadia Abdo for the governorate of Beheira and, later, Manal Awad Mikhail was appointed as a governor of Damietta in August 2018.
Egyptian women have also achieved an unprecedented percentage of representation in the Parliament.
Historically, women have not had strong representation in the Egyptian parliament. Over the years, quotas to encourage their participation have been instituted, abolished, and reinstated. After the 2011 uprising, the quota was abolished for the 2012 parliament and women’s representation was confined to 2 per cent. However, in the 2015 parliament, a quota was once again reinstated and the number of female representatives reached 89 seats. Meanwhile, in the 2020 parliamentary elections, women won 148 seats, accounting for 25 per cent of the total available seats. This is considered the highest in Egypt’s history.
