2024-07-07 09:29:13
Sitting on a plastic chair placed on the sidewalk in front of his shop, staring out into space, Aboud patiently waited for the power to return. On his territory in the Shobra district of Cairo, the electricity went out half an hour ago. “It was like this every day for several months, the outings continued for an hour or two, sometimes morewitnessed phlegmatically the shoe seller. The problem is that during this time, customers do not come because there is no more light in the store. »
A short that Aboud will not be able to recover later because from July 1 all businesses, except for pharmacies, restaurants and supermarkets, must close at 10 pm by the decision of the national authorities. “We are stuck, we have no choice, we have to stop and turn our backs”blurted the grizzled merchant.
Extreme heat and supply problems
It is about showing “An apology from the government” to the Egyptians that Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Tuesday June 25 a new set of measures against the fire division. On the plan: the closing of businesses in the evening, but also the extension of load shedding to three hours per day on average throughout the region. The reason is the high heat, usually above 40 degrees, in this year from June which leads to abuse. But above all the problems of the State is supplying power stations with fuel.
If the Ministry of Electricity and Energy ensures that it manages the cuts to maintain the strategic sectors (transportation, hospitals, administrations, etc.), five large petrochemical companies have already announced that they have stop their work due to shortage. “The government has a long-term plan to end power cuts before the end of the year. And so in November or December, there will be no more cuts”we promised Mostafa Madbouly.
At this time, 110 million inhabitants of the country were forced to adapt. If some traders or companies use producers to pay compensation for outings, they seek exclusivity. “If I do that, all my income goes into oil”Aboud explained. “The hardest part is still at home”insisted Nabil, chicken in the souk neighborhood “There are six of us in the house and what can we do without air conditioning or a refrigerator in these temperatures? »said this seventy-seven-year-old father.
The worst economic crisis in its history
Established in July 2023, this load shedding program is one of the most visible results of the serious economic crisis that Egypt is going through, the worst in its history according to many observers. Hampered by heavy external debt, the Arab world’s most populous country has seen its currency lose half its value by 2022 and an additional 40%.
Cairo today mainly depends on financial aid from the Gulf, the International Monetary Fund or the European Union to keep its head above water. But the authorities are reluctant to use the free float of money or the private ones demanded in return by the donors. In the Egypt of Marshal-President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, the army takes a negative view of any attempt that may call into question its control over the economy.
The strongman of the country, who came to power by military coup in 2014, and re-elected at the end of 2023 for the third time, still makes the issue of power important. Between 2014 and 2020, almost 12 billion euros were invested in the sector and 31 new energy facilities were built, including several solar energy plants (the energy mix is still 89% on carbon capacities). A nuclear power plant from the Russian group Rosatom is also being built in El-Dabaa.
Import gas from Israel
It is true that for one year, local gas production has not been enough to satisfy demand, forcing the State to reimport imports for the first time in six years. An emergency order for gas and oil worth $1.8 billion was placed at the end of June, the Prime Minister announced. Added to this is an aging electricity distribution network which “record critical levels of losses”consider the economic activity of the French embassy.
“While the president wants to make Egypt a gas exporting country, it now turns out that it imports gas from Israelrefers to Ammar Ali Hassan, an Egyptian researcher specializing in political science. And this did not please the Egyptians who expressed it widely on social networks. »
Many think that the days of electricity shortages are over for good. “This takes us back to the period of change and instability that followed, the cuts could last 7 or 8 hours.Nabil remembers with concern, poor Egypt. »
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